A title given to two Dragons, the word here is used in its Old English sense of 'serpent' or 'dragon', and so in principle would be applicable to any similar creature of Dragon-kind. The earliest Dragon to be explicitly referred to in this way was Glaurung the Great Worm in the First Age, who was thus named by Túrin after his slaying. The same title was applied in the Third Age to the Long-worm Scatha, slain by Fram son of Frumgar. Fram recovered the Worm's hoard, and remnants of that hoard could still be found in the treasuries of the Rohirrim centuries later. A related title was also given to Smaug, who was referred to as the 'Worm of Dread'.
Notes
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The various divisions and sub-types of Dragon-kind are not defined in any detail, and are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, Scatha was specifically said to have been a 'long-worm', but this does not necessarily mean that he was not also a fire-drake (or indeed some other kind of drake).
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Glaurung and Scatha are the only two Dragons specifically titled as 'the Worm', but in principle that name simply meant 'the Dragon', so it might apply to any being of that kind. In particular, though Smaug of Erebor is never described in the exact words 'Smaug the Worm', it seems perfectly reasonable that he might have been given that title (and indeed he was titled the 'Worm of Dread' by the Dwarves).
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- Updated 21 January 2023
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