In the year 2941 of the Third Age the town was attacked by the dragon Smaug, but Bard the Bowman, who had indirectly learned of a weakness in Smaug's armour that had first been noticed by Bilbo Baggins, slew the dragon. Although the town was wrecked by the dragon's fall, it was rebuilt using some of the treasure that Smaug had stolen, but not before the town's Master had gone mad and run off into the wild with some of the gold. Bard subsequently became the King of Dale and Esgaroth.