Bard the Bowman

He fires his favourite shaft, the family heirloom "Black Arrow", and kills Smaug, who falls onto Lake-town, destroying it.

The survivors receive assistance from the elves of Mirkwood, and together Thranduil and the able-bodied men of Lake-town travel to the Lonely Mountain to claim a share of the dragon hoard.

[T 2] To break the stalemate, Bilbo Baggins slips out of the mountain at night and offers the Arkenstone to Bard in order to put pressure on Thorin to make peace with the Elves and Men.

However, Thorin is unwilling to share any of Smaug's treasure with an armed host at his gates, which causes the elves and men to prepare to besiege the mountain.

[T 6] His grandson, Brand, fought alongside Dain II Ironfoot in the Battle of Dale against a horde of Sauron's Easterling invaders during the War of the Ring.

[2] Tolkien's notes for chapter nine show him considering the option of Bilbo killing the dragon in his sleep, piercing his weak point with a lance,[3] similar to the events in Jack the Giant Killer.

[5] Bard appears during the drafting for chapter thirteen, when it is said that he kills the dragon with his ancestor Girion's favourite Black Arrow.

[8] Rateliff believes that Bard is the first human character in Tolkien's work to experience a happy fate, unlike Beren, Húrin and Túrin Turambar.

[6] Marjorie Burns believes that Bard is a humble hero like Aragorn, Faramir and Gandalf, all brought into Tolkien's legendarium to replace the powerful unworthy, such as the mayor of Lake-town, Denethor, Boromir and Saruman.