The Blood Relation Between Girion and Bard

Girion, the last Lord of Dale, is the direct ancestor of Bard the Bowman, who slays the dragon Smaug and reclaims his ancestral heritage. This bloodline, established through the narrative of Dale's ruin and Bard's heroic shot, provides the moral and legal foundation for Bard's claim to a share of the treasure and his subsequent kingship.

Ancestral Lineage and the Fall of Dale

Girion was the Lord of Dale in the days before Smaug's coming. When the dragon descended upon the Mountain, Girion's wife and child escaped down the Running River from the ruin, preserving his line. Bard is explicitly identified as a descendant in long line of Girion, a fact that shapes his identity and his role in the story. The necklace of Girion, made of five hundred emeralds green as grass, which he gave for the arming of his eldest son in a coat of dwarf-linked rings, is a key treasure recovered from Smaug's hoard and later given to the Elvenking.

Bard's Claim and the Slaying of Smaug

Bard's lineage is central to his confrontation with Thorin. When he parleys at the Gate, he declares himself "by right descent the heir of Girion of Dale," and argues that in the dwarves' hoard "is mingled much of the wealth of his halls and towns, which of old Smaug stole." This claim is not merely rhetorical; it is grounded in the historical fact of Girion's lordship and the dragon's theft. Bard's heroic act of slaying Smaug with a black arrow, saved from his father and passed down from of old, is the culmination of his ancestral destiny. After the dragon's fall, the people acclaim him "King Bard!" and he is hailed as "Bard the Dragon-shooter of the line of Girion!"

Restoration and Legacy

Following the Battle of Five Armies, Bard's lineage is formally recognized. Dain, the new King under the Mountain, restores to Bard the emeralds of Girion, which Bard then gives to the Elvenking. Bard himself receives a fourteenth share of the treasure, wealth greater than that of many mortal kings, and uses it to reward his followers and rebuild Dale. He becomes the new lord of the restored town, fulfilling the old songs that spoke of the return of Girion's line. The narrative thus traces a complete arc from the fall of Dale through the preservation of Girion's bloodline to its restoration in the person of Bard, the dragon-slayer and rightful heir.