Worm of Morgoth

A mocking title given to the great Dragon Glaurung by his slayer Túrin Turambar, referring to the Dragon's master, Morgoth the first Dark Lord. The Dragons of Morgoth were indeed sometimes known as Worms (and indeed Glaurung himself was sometimes titled the 'Great Worm'), but Túrin clearly meant the title contemptuously. Túrin's triumph over the Dragon proved brief: as he drew his sword Gurthang from the monster's belly, the Dragon's black blood burned Túrin, and the dying creature turned its powerful glare on him, so that Túrin fell senseless beside the mortally wounded Worm of Morgoth.

When Glaurung died, the Dragon-spell that it had laid years earlier on the maiden Níniel was lifted. She had been found by the Men of Brethil wandering with no memory of her former life; she had been accepted by them, and eventually married Túrin. With the lifting of the Dragon's spell, she suddenly understood that she was Niënor, the sister of Túrin. Appalled at the discovery, she leapt to her death in the waters of Teiglin, and after Túrin recovered, he too took his own life. So the Worm of Morgoth had its revenge on its slayer and his family.