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Wikipedia

Dragon

April 17, 2023

Not to be confused with Dragon lizard, Komodo dragon, Draconian, Dracones, or Dragoon.
This article is about the legendary creature. For other uses, see Dragon (disambiguation).

A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of feline, reptilian, and avian features. Scholars believe vast extinct or migrating crocodiles bear the closest resemblance, especially when encountered in forested or swampy areas, and are most likely the template of modern Oriental dragon imagery.[1][2]

Illustration of a winged, fire-breathing dragon by Friedrich Justin Bertuch from 1806
Qing-era carved imperial Chinese dragons at Nine-Dragon Wall, Beihai Park, Beijing
Dragon-shaped bows on ships in Ystad, Sweden resembling Viking longships

Etymology

 
An early appearance of the Old English word dracan in Beowulf[3]

The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which, in turn, comes from the Latin: draconem (nominative draco) meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from Ancient Greek δράκων, drákōn (genitive δράκοντος, drákontos) "serpent".[4][5] The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological.[6] The Greek word δράκων is most likely derived from the Greek verb δέρκομαι (dérkomai) meaning "I see", the aorist form of which is ἔδρακον (édrakon).[5] This is thought to have referred to something with a "deadly glance,"[7] or unusually bright[8] or "sharp"[9][10] eyes, or because a snake's eyes appear to be always open; each eye actually sees through a big transparent scale in its eyelids, which are permanently shut. The Greek word probably derives from an Indo-European base *derḱ- meaning "to see"; the Sanskrit root दृश् (dr̥ś-) also means "to see".[11]

Myth origins

 
Several bones purported to belong to the Wawel Dragon hang outside of Wawel Cathedral, but actually belong to a Pleistocene mammal.

Draconic creatures appear in virtually all cultures around the globe[12] and the earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Near Eastern and Indo-European mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia; Apep in Egyptian mythology; Vṛtra in the Rigveda; the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible; Grand'Goule in the Poitou region in France; Python, Ladon, Wyvern, and Kulshedra in Albanian Mythology and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology; Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology; and the dragon from Beowulf.

Nonetheless, scholars dispute where the idea of a dragon originates from[13] and a wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed.[13]

In his book An Instinct for Dragons (2000), David E. Jones (anthropologist) suggests a hypothesis that humans, like monkeys, have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, large cats, and birds of prey.[14] He cites a study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes[15] and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children, even in areas where snakes are rare.[15] The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes.[16] Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans' primate ancestors.[17] Dragons are usually said to reside in "dank caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches, sea bottoms, haunted forests", all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors.[18]

In her book The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2000), Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.[19] She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the Siwalik Hills below the Himalayas"[20] and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the Monster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils of Samotherium, an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region.[20] In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones"[21] and are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine.[21] Mayor, however, is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils[21] and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils."[21] In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such as Komodo dragons, Gila monsters, iguanas, alligators, or, in California, alligator lizards, though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region."[22]

Robert Blust in The Origin of Dragons (2000) argues that, like many other creations of traditional cultures, dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre-scientific speculation about the world of real events. In this case, the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought, with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of the rainbow.[23]

African folklore

Egypt

 
Illustration from an ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript showing the god Set spearing the serpent Apep as he attacks the sun boat of Ra

In Egyptian mythology, Apep or Apophis is a giant serpentine creature who resides in the Duat, the Egyptian Underworld.[24][25] The Bremner-Rhind papyrus, written around 310 BC, preserves an account of a much older Egyptian tradition that the setting of the sun is caused by Ra descending to the Duat to battle Apep.[24][25] In some accounts, Apep is as long as the height of eight men with a head made of flint.[25] Thunderstorms and earthquakes were thought to be caused by Apep's roar[26] and solar eclipses were thought to be the result of Apep attacking Ra during the daytime.[26] In some myths, Apep is slain by the god Set.[27] Nehebkau is another giant serpent who guards the Duat and aided Ra in his battle against Apep.[26] Nehebkau was so massive in some stories that the entire earth was believed to rest atop his coils.[26] Denwen is a giant serpent mentioned in the Pyramid Texts whose body was made of fire and who ignited a conflagration that nearly destroyed all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon.[28] He was ultimately defeated by the Pharaoh, a victory which affirmed the Pharaoh's divine right to rule.[29]

The ouroboros was a well-known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail.[30] The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced",[30] a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat, the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively.[30] The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun.[30] In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians[31] and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth".[31] In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.[30] A famous image of the dragon gnawing on its tail from the eleventh-century Codex Marcianus was copied in numerous works on alchemy.[30]

Asian folklore

West Asia

Ancient

Mesopotamia
 
The mušḫuššu is a serpentine, draconic monster from ancient Mesopotamian mythology with the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird.[32] Here it is shown as it appears in the Ishtar Gate from the city of Babylon.[32]

Ancient people across the Near East believed in creatures similar to what modern people call "dragons".[33] These ancient people were unaware of the existence of dinosaurs or similar creatures in the distant past.[33] References to dragons of both benevolent and malevolent characters occur throughout ancient Mesopotamian literature.[33] In Sumerian poetry, great kings are often compared to the ušumgal, a gigantic, serpentine monster.[33] A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind-legs, tail, and wings of a bird appears in Mesopotamian artwork from the Akkadian Period (c. 2334 – 2154 BC) until the Neo-Babylonian Period (626 BC–539 BC).[34] The dragon is usually shown with its mouth open.[34] It may have been known as the (ūmu) nā’iru, which means "roaring weather beast",[34] and may have been associated with the god Ishkur (Hadad).[34] A slightly different lion-dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 BC–609 BC).[34] A relief probably commissioned by Sennacherib shows the gods Ashur, Sin, and Adad standing on its back.[34]

Another draconic creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC).[32] This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem.[32] It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu,[32] but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida, the Babylonian national god Marduk, the scribal god Nabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.[32]

Scholars disagree regarding the appearance of Tiamat, the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos, slain by Marduk in the Babylonian creation epic Enûma Eliš.[35][36] She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent,[36] but several scholars have pointed out that this shape "cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty"[36] and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic.[35][36] Nonetheless, in some texts, she seems to be described with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate,[35] all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness.[35]

Levant
 
The Destruction of Leviathan (1865) by Gustave Doré

In the Ugaritic Baal Cycle, the sea-dragon Lōtanu is described as "the twisting serpent / the powerful one with seven heads."[37] In KTU 1.5 I 2–3, Lōtanu is slain by the storm-god Baal,[37] but, in KTU 1.3 III 41–42, he is instead slain by the virgin warrior goddess Anat.[37] In the Book of Psalms, Psalm 74, Psalm 74:13–14, the sea-dragon Leviathan, is slain by Yahweh, god of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as part of the creation of the world.[37][38] In Isaiah 27:1, Yahweh's destruction of Leviathan is foretold as part of his impending overhaul of the universal order:[39][40]

Original Hebrew text[41] English translation

א בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפְקֹד יְהוָה בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהַחֲזָקָה, עַל לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ
בָּרִחַ, וְעַל לִוְיָתָן, נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן; וְהָרַג אֶת-הַתַּנִּין, אֲשֶׁר בַּיָּם. {ס}

On that day The LORD shall punish
with his sharp, great, and strong sword,
Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent;
He will slay the dragon that is in the sea.[37]

Job 41:1–34 contains a detailed description of the Leviathan, who is described as being so powerful that only Yahweh can overcome it.[42] Job 41:19–21 states that the Leviathan exhales fire and smoke, making its identification as a mythical dragon clearly apparent.[42] In some parts of the Old Testament, the Leviathan is historicized as a symbol for the nations that stand against Yahweh.[38] Rahab, a synonym for "Leviathan", is used in several Biblical passages in reference to Egypt.[38] Isaiah 30:7 declares: "For Egypt's help is worthless and empty, therefore I have called her 'the silenced Rahab'."[38] Similarly, Psalm 87:3 reads: "I reckon Rahab and Babylon as those that know me..."[38] In Ezekiel 29:3–5 and Ezekiel 32:2–8, the pharaoh of Egypt is described as a "dragon" (tannîn).[38] In the story of Bel and the Dragon from the Book of Daniel, the prophet Daniel sees a dragon being worshipped by the Babylonians.[43] Daniel makes "cakes of pitch, fat, and hair";[43] the dragon eats them and bursts open.[44][43]

Ancient and Post-classical

Iran/Persia

Azhi Dahaka (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon.[45] The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", Old Armenian mythological figure Aždahak, Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها), as well as the Kurdish ejdîha (ئەژدیها). The name also migrated to Eastern Europe, assumed the form "azhdaja" and the meaning "dragon", "dragoness" or "water snake" in the Balkanic and Slavic languages.[46][47][48]

Despite the negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples.

The Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka.

In Zoroastrian literature

Aži Dahāka is the most significant and long-lasting of the ažis of the Avesta, the earliest religious texts of Zoroastrianism. He is described as a monster with three mouths, six eyes, and three heads, and as being cunning, strong, and demonic. In other respects, Aži Dahāka has human qualities, and is never a mere animal. In a post-Avestan Zoroastrian text, the Dēnkard, Aži Dahāka is possessed of all possible sins and evil counsels, the opposite of the good king Jam (or Jamshid). The name Dahāg (Dahāka) is punningly interpreted as meaning "having ten (dah) sins".

In Persian Sufi literature, Rumi writes in his Masnavi[49] that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul (nafs), greed and lust, that need to be mortified in a spiritual battle.[50][51]

 
Rustam kills the dragon, folio from Shahnameh of Shah Ismail II, attrib. Sadegi (Beg), Iran, Tabriz, c. 1576 AD, view 1 – Aga Khan Museum – Toronto, Canada

In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, the Iranian hero Rostam must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse, Rakhsh. As Rostam is sleeping, the dragon approaches; Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam, but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon. Rakhsh bites the dragon, while Rostam decapitates it. This is the third trial of Rostam's Seven Labors.[52][53][54]

Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in the Shahnameh and in other Iranian oral traditions, notably in the myth of Babr-e-Bayan. In this tale, Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the "Orient" (either India or China, depending on the source) by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades. The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts, after which Rostam flays the dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called the babr-e bayān. In some variants of the story, Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights, but is guarded by his steed Rakhsh. On reviving, he washes himself in a spring. In the Mandean tradition of the story, Rostam hides in a box, is swallowed by the dragon, and kills it from inside its belly. The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as a reward.[55][56]

East Asia

China

Main article: Chinese dragon
 
A dragon from the Nine Dragons Scroll by Chen Rong, 1244 AD.
 
Illustration of the dragon Zhulong from a seventeenth-century edition of the Shanhaijing
 
Dragon art on a vase, Yuan dynasty

The word "dragon" has come to be applied to the legendary creature in Chinese mythology, loong (traditional 龍, simplified 龙, Japanese simplified 竜, Pinyin lóng), which is associated with good fortune, and many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions. Dragons were also identified with the Emperor of China, who, during later Chinese imperial history, was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles.

Archaeologist Zhōu Chong-Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is an onomatopoeia of the sound of thunder[57] or lùhng in Cantonese.[58]

The Chinese dragon (simplified Chinese: 龙; traditional Chinese: 龍; pinyin: lóng) is the highest-ranking creature in the Chinese animal hierarchy. Its origins are vague, but its "ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels."[59] A number of popular stories deal with the rearing of dragons.[60] The Zuo zhuan, which was probably written during the Warring States period, describes a man named Dongfu, a descendant of Yangshu'an, who loved dragons[60] and, because he could understand a dragon's will, he was able to tame them and raise them well.[60] He served Emperor Shun, who gave him the family name Huanlong, meaning "dragon-raiser".[60] In another story, Kong Jia, the fourteenth emperor of the Xia dynasty, was given a male and a female dragon as a reward for his obedience to the god of heaven,[60] but could not train them, so he hired a dragon-trainer named Liulei, who had learned how to train dragons from Huanlong.[60] One day, the female dragon died unexpectedly, so Liulei secretly chopped her up, cooked her meat, and served it to the king,[60] who loved it so much that he demanded Liulei to serve him the same meal again.[60] Since Liulei had no means of procuring more dragon meat, he fled the palace.[60]

The image of the Chinese dragon was roughly established in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but there was no great change for a long time. In the Han dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.), Yinglong, as a symbol of feudal imperial power, frequently appeared in Royal Dragon vessels, which means that most of the dragon image designs used by the royal family in the Han dynasty are Yinglong patterns. Yinglong is a winged dragon in ancient Chinese legend. At present, the literature records of Yinglong's winged image can be tested from "Guangya"（广雅), "wide elegant" during the Three Kingdoms period, but Yinglong's winged design has been found in bronze ware from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to stone carvings, silk paintings, and lacquerware of the Han dynasty. The literature records of Yinglong can be traced back to the documents of the pre-Qin period, such as "Classic of Mountains and Seas", "Chuci", and so on. According to the records in "Classic of Mountains and Seas", the Chinese mythology 2200 years ago, Ying long had the main characteristics of later Chinese dragons – the power to control the sky and the noble mythical status.[61]

However, since the Tang and Song dynasties (618–1279 A.D.), the image of the real dragon symbolizing China's imperial power was no longer the Yinglong with wings, but the common wingless Yellow Dragon in modern times. For the evolution of Yinglong and Huanglong (Yellow Dragon), scholar Chen Zheng proposed in "Yinglong – the origin of the image of the real dragon" that from the middle of the Zhou dynasty, Yinglong's wings gradually became the form of flame pattern and cloud pattern at the dragon's shoulder in artistic creation, which derived the wingless long snake shape. The image of Huanglong was used together with the winged Yinglong. Since then, with a series of wars, Chinese civilization suffered heavy losses, resulting in the forgetting of the image of winged Yinglong, and the image of wingless Yellow Dragon replaced the original Yinglong and became the real dragon symbolizing China's imperial power. On this basis, scholars Xiao Congrong（肖聪榕）put forward that the simplified artistic creation of Ying Long's wings by Chinese ancestors is a continuous process, that is, the simplification of dragon's wings is an irreversible trend. Xiao Congrong believes that the phenomenon of "Yellow Dragon" Replacing "Ying Long" can not be avoided regardless of whether Chinese civilization has suffered disaster or not.[61]

One of the most famous dragon stories is about the Lord Ye Gao, who loved dragons obsessively, even though he had never seen one.[62] He decorated his whole house with dragon motifs[62] and, seeing this display of admiration, a real dragon came and visited Ye Gao,[62] but the lord was so terrified at the sight of the creature that he ran away.[62] In Chinese legend, the culture hero Fu Hsi is said to have been crossing the Lo River, when he saw the lung ma, a Chinese horse-dragon with seven dots on its face, six on its back, eight on its left flank, and nine on its right flank.[63] He was so moved by this apparition that, when he arrived home, he drew a picture of it, including the dots.[63] He later used these dots as letters and invented Chinese writing, which he used to write his book I Ching.[63] In another Chinese legend, the physician Ma Shih Huang is said to have healed a sick dragon.[64] Another legend reports that a man once came to the healer Lo Chên-jen, telling him that he was a dragon and that he needed to be healed.[64] After Lo Chên-jen healed the man, a dragon appeared to him and carried him to heaven.[64]

In the Shanhaijing, a classic mythography probably compiled mostly during the Han dynasty, various deities and demigods are associated with dragons.[65] One of the most famous Chinese dragons is Ying Long ("responding dragon"), who helped the Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, defeat the tyrant Chiyou.[66] The dragon Zhulong ("torch dragon") is a god "who composed the universe with his body."[66] In the Shanhaijing, many mythic heroes are said to have been conceived after their mothers copulated with divine dragons, including Huangdi, Shennong, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun.[66] The god Zhurong and the emperor Qi are both described as being carried by two dragons,[67] as are Huangdi, Zhuanxu, Yuqiang, and Roshou in various other texts.[60] According to the Huainanzi, an evil black dragon once caused a destructive deluge,[60] which was ended by the mother goddess Nüwa by slaying the dragon.[60]

 
Hongwu Emperor with dragon emblem on his chest. c. 1377

A large number of ethnic myths about dragons are told throughout China.[60] The Houhanshu, compiled in the fifth century BC by Fan Ye, reports a story belonging to the Ailaoyi people, which holds that a woman named Shayi who lived in the region around Mount Lao became pregnant with ten sons after being touched by a tree trunk floating in the water while fishing.[66] She gave birth to the sons and the tree trunk turned into a dragon, who asked to see his sons.[66] The woman showed them to him,[66] but all of them ran away except for the youngest, who the dragon licked on the back and named Jiu Long, meaning "sitting back".[66] The sons later elected him king and the descendants of the ten sons became the Ailaoyi people, who tattooed dragons on their backs in honor of their ancestor.[66] The Miao people of southwest China have a story that a divine dragon created the first humans by breathing on monkeys that came to play in his cave.[60] The Han people have many stories about Short-Tailed Old Li, a black dragon who was born to a poor family in Shandong.[62] When his mother saw him for the first time, she fainted[62] and, when his father came home from the field and saw him, he hit him with a spade and cut off part of his tail.[62] Li burst through the ceiling and flew away to the Black Dragon River in northeast China, where he became the god of that river.[68] On the anniversary of his mother's death on the Chinese lunar calendar, Old Li returns home, causing it to rain.[69] He is still worshipped as a rain god.[69]

 
Diagram representing the Four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas in relation to the central Dragon King of the Earth

In China, a dragon is thought to have power over rain. Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs of dragon dancing and dragon boat racing. Dragons are closely associated with rain[70] and drought is thought to be caused by a dragon's laziness.[71] Prayers invoking dragons to bring rain are common in Chinese texts.[70] The Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, attributed to the Han dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu, prescribes making clay figurines of dragons during a time of drought and having young men and boys pace and dance among the figurines in order to encourage the dragons to bring rain.[70] Texts from the Qing dynasty advise hurling the bone of a tiger or dirty objects into the pool where the dragon lives;[71] since dragons cannot stand tigers or dirt, the dragon of the pool will cause heavy rain to drive the object out.[71] Rainmaking rituals invoking dragons are still very common in many Chinese villages, where each village has its own god said to bring rain and many of these gods are dragons.[71] The Chinese dragon kings are thought of as the inspiration for the Hindu myth of the naga. [71] According to these stories, every body of water is ruled by a dragon king, each with a different power, rank, and ability,[71] so people began establishing temples across the countryside dedicated to these figures.[71]

 
Head of a dragon from a Chinese dragon dance performed in Helsinki in the year 2000.

Many traditional Chinese customs revolve around dragons.[72] During various holidays, including the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, villagers will construct an approximately sixteen-foot-long dragon from grass, cloth, bamboo strips, and paper, which they will parade through the city as part of a dragon dance.[73] The original purpose of this ritual was to bring good weather and a strong harvest,[73] but now it is done mostly only for entertainment.[73] During the Duanwu festival, several villages, or even a whole province, will hold a dragon boat race, in which people race across a body of water in boats carved to look like dragons, while a large audience watches on the banks.[73] The custom is traditionally said to have originated after the poet Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River and people raced out in boats hoping to save him.[73] But most historians agree that the custom actually originated much earlier as a ritual to avert ill fortune.[73] Starting during the Han dynasty and continuing until the Qing dynasty, the Chinese emperor gradually became closely identified with dragons,[73] and emperors themselves claimed to be the incarnations of a divine dragon.[73] Eventually, dragons were only allowed to appear on clothing, houses, and articles of everyday use belonging to the emperor[73] and any commoner who possessed everyday items bearing the image of the dragon was ordered to be executed.[73] After the last Chinese emperor was overthrown in 1911, this situation changed and now many ordinary Chinese people identify themselves as descendants of dragons.[74]

The impression of dragons in a large number of Asian countries has been influenced by Chinese culture, such as Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and so on. Chinese tradition has always used the dragon totem as the national emblem, and the "Yellow Dragon flag" of the Qing dynasty has influenced the impression that China is a dragon in many European countries.

Korea

Main article: Korean dragon
 
The Blue Dragon mural depiction at the Goguryeo tombs.

The Korean dragon is in many ways similar in appearance to other East Asian dragons such as the Chinese and Japanese dragons. It differs from the Chinese dragon in that it developed a longer beard. Very occasionally, a dragon may be depicted as carrying an orb known as the Yeouiju (여의주), the Korean name for the mythical Cintamani, in its claws or its mouth. It was said that whoever could wield the Yeouiju was blessed with the abilities of omnipotence and creation at will, and that only four-toed dragons (who had thumbs with which to hold the orbs) were both wise and powerful enough to wield these orbs, as opposed to the lesser, three-toed dragons. As with China, the number nine is significant and auspicious in Korea, and dragons were said to have 81 (9×9) scales on their backs, representing yang essence. Dragons in Korean mythology are primarily benevolent beings related to water and agriculture, often considered bringers of rain and clouds. Hence, many Korean dragons are said to have resided in rivers, lakes, oceans, or even deep mountain ponds. And human journeys to undersea realms, and especially the undersea palace of the Dragon King (용왕), are common in Korean folklore.[75]

In Korean myths, some kings who founded kingdoms were described as descendants of dragons because the dragon was a symbol of the monarch. Lady Aryeong, who was the first queen of Silla, is said to have been born from a cockatrice,[76] while the grandmother of Taejo of Goryeo, founder of Goryeo, was reportedly the daughter of the dragon king of the West Sea.[77] And King Munmu of Silla who, on his deathbed, wished to become a dragon of the East Sea in order to protect the kingdom. Dragon patterns were used exclusively by the royal family. The royal robe was also called the dragon robe (용포). In the Joseon dynasty, the royal insignia, featuring embroidered dragons, were attached to the robe's shoulders, the chest, and back. The King wore five-taloned dragon insignia while the Crown Prince wore four-taloned dragon insignia.[78]

Korean folk mythology states that most dragons were originally Imugis (이무기), or lesser dragons, which were said to resemble gigantic serpents. There are a few different versions of Korean folklore that describe both what imugis are and how they aspire to become full-fledged dragons. Koreans thought that an Imugi could become a true dragon, yong or mireu, if it caught a Yeouiju which had fallen from heaven. Another explanation states they are hornless creatures resembling dragons who have been cursed and thus were unable to become dragons. By other accounts, an Imugi is a proto-dragon which must survive one thousand years in order to become a fully-fledged dragon. In either case, they are said to be large, benevolent, python-like creatures that live in water or caves, and their sighting is associated with good luck.[79]

Japan

Main article: Japanese dragon
 
Painting of a Japanese dragon by Hokusai (c. 1730 – 1849)

Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China. Like some other dragons, most Japanese dragons are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Gould writes (1896:248),[80] the Japanese dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws". A story about the samurai Minamoto no Mitsunaka tells that, while he was hunting in his own territory of Settsu, he dreamt under a tree and had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared to him and begged him to save her land from a giant serpent which was defiling it.[64] Mitsunaka agreed to help and the maiden gave him a magnificent horse.[64] When he woke up, the seahorse was standing before him.[64] He rode it to the Sumiyoshi temple, where he prayed for eight days.[64] Then he confronted the serpent and slew it with an arrow.[64]

It was believed that dragons could be appeased or exorcised with metal.[64] Nitta Yoshisada is said to have hurled a famous sword into the sea at Sagami to appease the dragon-god of the sea[64] and Ki no Tsurayuki threw a metal mirror into the sea at Sumiyoshi for the same purpose.[64] Japanese Buddhism has also adapted dragons by subjecting them to Buddhist law;[64] the Japanese Buddhist deities Benten and Kwannon are often shown sitting or standing on the back of a dragon.[64] Several Japanese sennin ("immortals") have taken dragons as their mounts.[64] Bômô is said to have hurled his staff into a puddle of water, causing a dragon to come forth and let him ride it to heaven.[64] The rakan Handaka is said to have been able to conjure a dragon out of a bowl, which he is often shown playing with on kagamibuta.[64] The shachihoko is a creature with the head of a dragon, a bushy tail, fishlike scales, and sometimes with fire emerging from its armpits.[64] The fun has the head of a dragon, feathered wings, and the tail and claws of a bird.[64] A white dragon was believed to reside in a pool in Yamashiro Province[81] and, every fifty years, it would turn into a bird called the Ogonchô, which had a call like the "howling of a wild dog".[81] This event was believed to herald terrible famine.[81] In the Japanese village of Okumura, near Edo, during times of drought, the villagers would make a dragon effigy out of straw, magnolia leaves, and bamboo and parade it through the village to attract rainfall.[81]

South Asia

India

 
Head of the dragon-god Pakhangba depicted on a musical instrument from Manipur, India

In the Rigveda, the oldest of the four Vedas, Indra, the Vedic god of storms, battles Vṛtra, a giant serpent who represents drought.[82] Indra kills Vṛtra using his vajra (thunderbolt) and clears the path for rain,[83][84] which is described in the form of cattle: "You won the cows, hero, you won the Soma,/You freed the seven streams to flow" (Rigveda 1.32.12).[85] In another Rigvedic legend, the three-headed serpent Viśvarūpa, the son of Tvaṣṭṛ, guards a wealth of cows and horses.[86] Indra delivers Viśvarūpa to a god named Trita Āptya,[86] who fights and kills him and sets his cattle free.[86] Indra cuts off Viśvarūpa's heads and drives the cattle home for Trita.[86] This same story is alluded to in the Younger Avesta,[86] in which the hero Thraētaona, the son of Āthbya, slays the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka and takes his two beautiful wives as spoils.[86] Thraētaona's name (meaning "third grandson of the waters") indicates that Aži Dahāka, like Vṛtra, was seen as a blocker of waters and cause of drought.[86]

The Druk (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་), also known as 'Thunder Dragon', is one of the national symbols of Bhutan. In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as Druk Yul "Land of Druk", and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo, "Thunder Dragon Kings". The druk was adopted as an emblem by the Drukpa Lineage, which originated in Tibet and later spread to Bhutan.[87]

Southeast Asia

Vietnam

Main article: Vietnamese dragon
 
Stylised map of Đại Nam (Minh Mạng period)
 
Nguyễn dynasty dragon, Imperial City of Huế
 
Dragons on antiques from the Lý– Trần dynasties
 
Dragons on antiques from the Lê–Nguyễn dynasties

The Vietnamese dragon (Vietnamese: rồng 龍) was a mythical creature that was often used as a deity symbol and was associated with royalty.[88] Similar to other cultures, dragons in Vietnamese culture represent yang and godly beings associated with creation and life.

European folklore

Proto-Indo-European

Further information: Chaoskampf, Sea serpent, Serpent slayer, and Serpents in the Bible

The story of a hero slaying a giant serpent occurs in almost all Indo-European mythology.[89][90] In most stories, the hero is some kind of thunder-god.[90] In nearly every iteration of the story, the serpent is either multi-headed or "multiple" in some other way.[89] Furthermore, in nearly every story, the serpent is always somehow associated with water.[90] Bruce Lincoln has proposed that a Proto-Indo-European dragon-slaying myth can be reconstructed as follows:[91][92] First, the sky gods give cattle to a man named *Tritos ("the third"), who is so named because he is the third man on earth,[91][92] but a three-headed serpent named *Ngwhi steals them.[91][92] *Tritos pursues the serpent and is accompanied by *Hanér, whose name means "man".[91][92] Together, the two heroes slay the serpent and rescue the cattle.[91][92]

Ancient Greek and Roman

Main article: Dragons in Greek mythology
 
Greek red-figure vase painting depicting Heracles slaying the Lernaean Hydra, c. 375–340 BC

The ancient Greek word usually translated as "dragon" (δράκων drákōn, genitive δράκοντοϛ drákontos) could also mean "snake",[93][6] but it usually refers to a kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power.[94] The first mention of a "dragon" in ancient Greek literature occurs in the Iliad, in which Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate.[95] In lines 820–880 of the Theogony, a Greek poem written in the seventh century BC by the Boeotian poet Hesiod, the Greek god Zeus battles the monster Typhon, who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises.[85] Zeus scorches all of Typhon's heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon into Tartarus.[96] In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the god Apollo uses his poisoned arrows to slay the serpent Python, who has been causing death and pestilence in the area around Delphi.[97][96][98] Apollo then sets up his shrine there.[96]

The Roman poet Virgil in his poem Culex, lines 163–201 [1], describing a shepherd having a fight with a big constricting snake, calls it "serpens" and also "draco", showing that in his time the two words were probably interchangeable.

 
Attic red-figure kylix painting from c. 480–470 BC showing Athena observing as the Colchian dragon disgorges the hero Jason[99][100]

Hesiod also mentions that the hero Heracles slew the Lernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna.[101] The name "Hydra" means "water snake" in Greek.[96][102] According to the Bibliotheka of Pseudo-Apollodorus, the slaying of the Hydra was the second of the Twelve Labors of Heracles.[103][96] Accounts disagree on which weapon Heracles used to slay the Hydra,[96] but, by the end of the sixth century BC, it was agreed that the clubbed or severed heads needed to be cauterized to prevent them from growing back.[104][96] Heracles was aided in this task by his nephew Iolaus.[104] During the battle, a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles's foot,[103] but he crushed it under his heel.[105] Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellation Cancer.[105] One of the Hydra's heads was immortal, so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off.[96][105] For his Eleventh Labor, Heracles must procure a golden apple from the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides, which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps,[106] which Pseudo-Apollodorus calls "Ladon".[107] In earlier depictions, Ladon is often shown with many heads.[108] In Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, Ladon is immortal,[108] but Sophocles and Euripides both describe Heracles as killing him, although neither of them specifies how.[108] Some suggest that the golden apple was not claimed through battle with Ladon at all but through Heracles charming the Hesperides.[109] The mythographer Herodorus is the first to state that Heracles slew him using his famous club.[108] Apollonius of Rhodes, in his epic poem, the Argonautica, describes Ladon as having been shot full of poisoned arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra.[110]

In Pindar's Fourth Pythian Ode, Aeëtes of Colchis tells the hero Jason that the Golden Fleece he is seeking is in a copse guarded by a dragon, "which surpassed in breadth and length a fifty-oared ship".[111] Jason slays the dragon and makes off with the Golden Fleece together with his co-conspirator, Aeëtes's daughter, Medea.[112] The earliest artistic representation of this story is an Attic red-figure kylix dated to c. 480–470 BC,[113] showing a bedraggled Jason being disgorged from the dragon's open mouth as the Golden Fleece hangs in a tree behind him and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, stands watching.[113][100] A fragment from Pherecydes of Athens states that Jason killed the dragon,[112] but fragments from the Naupactica and from Herodorus state that he merely stole the Fleece and escaped.[112] In Euripides's Medea, Medea boasts that she killed the Colchian dragon herself.[112] In the final scene of the play, Medea also flies away on a chariot pulled by two dragons.[114] In the most famous retelling of the story from Apollonius of Rhodes's Argonautica, Medea drugs the dragon to sleep, allowing Jason to steal the Fleece.[115] Greek vase paintings show her feeding the dragon the sleeping drug in a liquid form from a phialē, or shallow cup.[116]

 
Paestan red-figure kylix-krater (c. 350–340 BC) showing Cadmus fighting the dragon of Ares[117]

In the founding myth of Thebes, Cadmus, a Phoenician prince, was instructed by Apollo to follow a heifer and found a city wherever it laid down.[118] Cadmus and his men followed the heifer and, when it laid down, Cadmus ordered his men to find a spring so he could sacrifice the heifer to Athena.[118] His men found a spring, but it was guarded by a dragon, which had been placed there by the god Ares, and the dragon killed them.[118] Cadmus killed the dragon in revenge,[118][119] either by smashing its head with a rock or using his sword.[118] Following the advice of Athena, Cadmus tore out the dragon's teeth and planted them in the earth.[118][119] An army of giant warriors (known as spartoi, which means "sown men") grew from the teeth like plants.[118][119] Cadmus hurled stones into their midst, causing them to kill each other until only five were left.[118] To make restitution for having killed Ares's dragon, Cadmus was forced to serve Ares as a slave for eight years.[118] At the end of this period, Cadmus married Harmonia, the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite.[118] Cadmus and Harmonia moved to Illyria, where they ruled as king and queen, before eventually being transformed into dragons themselves.[120]

In the fifth century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus reported in Book IV of his Histories that western Libya was inhabited by monstrous serpents[121] and, in Book III, he states that Arabia was home to many small, winged serpents,[122][123] which came in a variety of colors and enjoyed the trees that produced frankincense.[122][121] Herodotus remarks that the serpent's wings were like those of bats[124] and that, unlike vipers, which are found in every land, winged serpents are only found in Arabia.[124] The second-century BC Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 190 BC – c. 120 BC) listed the constellation Draco ("the dragon") as one of forty-six constellations.[125] Hipparchus described the constellation as containing fifteen stars,[126] but the later astronomer Ptolemy (c. 100 – c. 170 AD) increased this number to thirty-one in his Almagest.[126]

 
Ancient Greek mosaic from Caulonia, Italy, depicting a cetus or sea-dragon

In the New Testament, Revelation 12:3, written by John of Patmos, describes a vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail,[127] an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel[128] and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages.[129] The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun ... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out the sky[130] and pursues the Woman of the Apocalypse.[130] Revelation 12:7–9 declares: "And war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against Dragon. Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World – he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him."[131] Then a voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" (ho Kantegor).[132]

In 217 AD, Flavius Philostratus discussed dragons (δράκων, drákōn) in India in The Life of Apollonius of Tyana (II,17 and III,6–8). The Loeb Classical Library translation (by F.C. Conybeare) mentions (III,7) that, "In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine's, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as unabraded as sharks' teeth." According to a collection of books by Claudius Aelianus called On Animals, Ethiopia was inhabited by a species of dragon that hunted elephants and could grow to a length of 180 feet (55 m) with a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals.[133] In the 4th century, Basil of Caesarea, on chapter IX of his Address to Young Men on Greek Literature, mentions mythological dragons as guarding treasures and riches.

Post-classical Germanic

Main article: Germanic dragon
 
Drawing of the Ramsund carving from c. 1030, illustrating the Völsunga saga on a rock in Sweden. At (5), Sigurd plunges his sword into Fafnir's underside.

In the Old Norse poem Grímnismál in the Poetic Edda, the dragon Níðhöggr is described as gnawing on the roots of Yggdrasil, the world tree.[134] In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr is a giant serpent that encircles the entire realm of Miðgarð in the sea around it.[135] According to the Gylfaginning from the Prose Edda, written by the thirteenth-century Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson, Thor, the Norse god of thunder, once went out on a boat with the giant Hymnir to the outer sea and fished for Jörmungandr using an ox-head as bait.[135] Thor caught the serpent and, after pulling its head out of the water, smashed it with his hammer, Mjölnir.[135] Snorri states that the blow was not fatal: "and men say that he struck its head off on the sea bed. But I think the truth to tell you is that the Miðgarð Serpent still lives and lies in the surrounding sea."[135]

Towards the end of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, a slave steals a cup from the hoard of a sleeping dragon,[136] causing the dragon to wake up and go on a rampage of destruction across the countryside.[137] The eponymous hero of the poem insists on confronting the dragon alone, even though he is of advanced age,[138][139] but Wiglaf, the youngest of the twelve warriors Beowulf has brought with him, insists on accompanying his king into the battle.[140] Beowulf's sword shatters during the fight and he is mortally wounded,[141][142] but Wiglaf comes to his rescue and helps him slay the dragon.[142] Beowulf dies and tells Wiglaf that the dragon's treasure must be buried rather than shared with the cowardly warriors who did not come to the aid of their king.[143]

In the Old Norse Völsunga saga, the hero Sigurd catches the dragon Fafnir by digging a pit between the cave where he lives and the spring where he drinks his water[144] and kills him by stabbing him in the underside.[144] At the advice of Odin, Sigurd drains Fafnir's blood and drinks it, which gives him the ability to understand the language of the birds,[145] who he hears talking about how his mentor Regin is plotting to betray him so that he can keep all of Fafnir's treasure for himself.[145][146] The motif of a hero trying to sneak past a sleeping dragon and steal some of its treasure is common throughout many Old Norse sagas.[147] The fourteenth-century Flóres saga konungs ok sona hans describes a hero who is actively concerned not to wake a sleeping dragon while sneaking past it.[147] In the Yngvars saga víðförla, the protagonist attempts to steal treasure from several sleeping dragons, but accidentally wakes them up.[147]

Post-classical Western

Main articles: European dragon, Welsh Dragon, Wyvern, Saint George and the Dragon, Margaret the Virgin, and Dacian Draco
 
Fifteenth-century manuscript illustration of the battle of the Red and White Dragons from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain

The modern, western image of a dragon developed in western Europe during the Middle Ages through the combination of the snakelike dragons of classical Graeco-Roman literature, references to Near Eastern dragons preserved in the Bible, and western European folk traditions.[148] The period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries represents the height of European interest in dragons as living creatures.[149] The twelfth-century Welsh monk, Geoffrey of Monmouth, recounts a famous legend in his Historia Regum Britanniae in which the child prophet Merlin witnesses the Romano-Celtic warlord Vortigern attempt to build a tower on Mount Snowdon to keep safe from the Anglo-Saxons,[150] but the tower keeps being swallowed into the ground.[150] Merlin informs Vortigern that, underneath the foundation he has built, is a pool with two dragons sleeping in it.[150] Vortigern orders for the pool to be drained, exposing a red dragon and a white dragon, who immediately begin fighting.[150] Merlin delivers a prophecy that the white dragon will triumph over the red, symbolizing England's conquest of Wales,[150] but declares that the red dragon will eventually return and defeat the white one.[151] This story remained popular throughout the fifteenth century.[151]

 
MS Harley 3244, a medieval manuscript dated to around 1260 AD, contains the oldest recognizable image of a fully modern, western dragon[13]

The oldest recognizable image of a fully modern, western dragon appears in a hand-painted illustration from the medieval manuscript MS Harley 3244, which was produced in around 1260 AD.[13] The dragon in the illustration has two sets of wings and its tail is longer than most modern depictions of dragons,[13] but it clearly displays many of the same distinctive features.[13] Dragons are generally depicted as living in rivers or having an underground lair or cave.[152] They are envisioned as greedy and gluttonous, with voracious appetites.[148] They are often identified with Satan, due to the references to Satan as a "dragon" in the Book of Revelation.[148] The thirteenth-century Golden Legend, written in Latin, records the story of Saint Margaret of Antioch,[43] a virgin martyr who, after being tortured for her faith in the Diocletianic Persecution and thrown back into her cell, is said to have been confronted by a monstrous dragon,[43] but she made the sign of the cross and the dragon vanished.[43] In some versions of the story, she is actually swallowed by the dragon alive and, after making the sign of the cross in the dragon's stomach, emerges unharmed.[43]

 
Manuscript illustration from Verona of Saint George slaying the dragon, dating to c. 1270

The legend of Saint George and the Dragon may be referenced as early as the sixth century AD,[153][154] but the earliest artistic representations of it come from the eleventh century[153] and the first full account of it comes from an eleventh-century Georgian text.[155] The most famous version of the story from the Golden Legend holds that a dragon kept pillaging the sheep of the town of Silene in Libya.[153] After it ate a young shepherd, the people were forced to placate it by leaving two sheep as sacrificial offerings every morning beside the lake where the dragon lived.[153] Eventually, the dragon ate all of the sheep[156] and the people were forced to start offering it their own children.[156] One day, the king's own daughter came up in the lottery and, despite the king's pleas for her life, she was dressed as a bride and chained to a rock beside the lake to be eaten.[156] Then, Saint George arrived and saw the princess.[156] When the dragon arrived to eat her, he stabbed it with his lance and subdued it by making the sign of the cross and tying the princess's girdle around its neck.[156] Saint George and the princess led the now-docile dragon into the town and George promised to kill it if the townspeople would convert to Christianity.[157] All the townspeople converted and Saint George killed the dragon with his sword.[157] In some versions, Saint George marries the princess,[157] but, in others, he continues wandering.[157]

Gargoyles are carved stone figures sometimes resembling dragons that originally served as waterspouts on buildings.[158][159] Precursors to the medieval gargoyle can be found on ancient Greek and Egyptian temples,[158][160][161] but, over the course of the Middle Ages, many fantastic stories were invented to explain them.[162] One medieval French legend holds that, in ancient times, a fearsome dragon known as La Gargouille had been causing floods and sinking ships on the river Seine,[163] so the people of the town of Rouen would offer the dragon a human sacrifice once each year to appease its hunger.[163] Then, around 600 AD, a priest named Romanus promised that, if the people would build a church, he would rid them of the dragon.[163] Romanus slew the dragon and its severed head was mounted on the walls of the city as the first gargoyle.[163][164]

Dragons are prominent in medieval heraldry.[165] Uther Pendragon was famously said to have had two gold dragons crowned with red standing back-to-back on his royal coat of arms.[166] Originally, heraldic dragons could have any number of legs,[165] but, by the late Middle Ages, due to the widespread proliferation of bestiaries, heraldry began to distinguish between a "dragon" (which could only have exactly four legs) and a "wyvern" (which could only have exactly two).[165] In myths, wyverns are associated with viciousness, envy, and pestilence,[165] but, in heraldry, they are used as symbols for overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and his demonic forces.[165] Late medieval heraldry also distinguished a draconic creature known as a "cockatrice".[165] A cockatrice is supposedly born when a serpent hatches an egg that has been laid on a dunghill by a rooster[165] and it is so venomous that its breath and its gaze are both lethal to any living creature, except for a weasel, which is the cockatrice's mortal enemy.[165] A basilisk is a serpent with the head of a dragon at the end of its tail that is born when a toad hatches an egg that has been laid in a midden by a nine-year-old cockatrice.[165] Like the cockatrice, its glare is said to be deadly.[165]

Post-classical Eastern

Main articles: Slavic dragon and Kulshedra
 
Illustration of the Wawel Dragon from Sebastian Münster's Cosmographie Universalis (1544).

In Albanian mythology and folklore, stihi, ljubi, bolla, bollar, errshaja, and kulshedra are mythological figures described as serpentine dragons. It is believed that bolla, a water and chthonic demonic serpent, undergoes metamorphosis passing through four distinct phases if it lives many years without being seen by a human. The bollar and errshaja are the intermediate stages, while the kulshedra is the ultimate phase, described as a huge multi-headed fire-spitting female serpent which causes drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes, and other natural disasters against mankind. She is usually fought and defeated by a drangue, a semi-human winged divine hero and protector of humans. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles.[167][168]

In Slavic mythology, the words "zmey", "zmiy", or "zmaj" are used to describe dragons. These words are masculine forms of the Slavic word for "snake", which are normally feminine (like Russian zmeya). In Romania, there is a similar figure, derived from the Slavic dragon and named zmeu. Exclusively in Polish and Belarusian folklore, as well as in the other Slavic folklores, a dragon is also called (variously) смок, цмок, or smok. In South Slavic folklores, the same thing is also called lamya (ламя, ламjа, lamja). Although quite similar to other European dragons, Slavic dragons have their peculiarities.

In Russian and Ukrainian folklore, Zmey Gorynych is a dragon with three heads, each one bearing twin goatlike horns.[169] He is said to have breathed fire and smelled of sulfur.[169] It was believed that eclipses were caused by Gorynych temporarily swallowing the sun.[170] According to one legend, Gorynych's uncle was the evil sorcerer Nemal Chelovek, who abducted the daughter of the tsar and imprisoned her in his castle in the Ural Mountains.[170] Many knights tried to free her, but all of them were killed by Gorynych's fire.[170] Then a palace guard in Moscow named Ivan Tsarevich overheard two crows talking about the princess.[171] He went to the tsar, who gave him a magic sword, and snuck into the castle.[172] When Chelovek attacked Ivan in the form of a giant, the sword flew from Ivan's hand unbidden and killed him.[172] Then the sword cut off all three of Gorynych's heads at once.[172] Ivan brought the princess back to the tsar, who declared Ivan a nobleman and allowed him to marry the princess.[172]

A popular Polish folk tale is the legend of the Wawel Dragon,[173][174][175] which is first recorded in the Chronica Polonorum of Wincenty Kadłubek, written between 1190 and 1208.[174][175] According to Kadłubek, the dragon appeared during the reign of King Krakus[174] and demanded to be fed a fixed number of cattle every week.[174] If the villagers failed to provide enough cattle, the dragon would eat the same number of villagers as the number of cattle they had failed to provide.[174] Krakus ordered his sons to slay the dragon.[174] Since they could not slay it by hand,[174] they tricked the dragon into eating calfskins filled with burning sulfur.[174] Once the dragon was dead, the younger brother attacked and murdered his older brother and returned home to claim all the glory for himself,[174] telling his father that his brother had died fighting the dragon.[174] The younger brother became king after his father died, but his secret was eventually revealed and he was banished.[174] In the fifteenth century, Jan Długosz rewrote the story so that King Krakus himself was the one who slew the dragon.[173][174][175] Another version of the story told by Marcin Bielski instead has the clever shoemaker Skuba come up with the idea for slaying the dragon.[174][176] Bielski's version is now the most popular.[174]

Modern depictions

See also: List of dragons in fiction
 
Modern fan illustration by David Demaret of the dragon Smaug from J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 high fantasy novel The Hobbit

Dragons and dragon motifs are featured in many works of modern literature, particularly within the fantasy genre.[177][178] As early as the eighteenth century, critical thinkers such as Denis Diderot were already asserting that too much literature had been published on dragons: "There are already in books all too many fabulous stories of dragons".[179] In Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel Through the Looking-Glass (1872), one of the inset poems describes the Jabberwock, a kind of dragon.[12] Carroll's illustrator John Tenniel, a famous political cartoonist, humorously showed the Jabberwock with the waistcoat, buck teeth, and myopic eyes of a Victorian university lecturer, such as Carroll himself.[12] In works of comedic children's fantasy, dragons often fulfill the role of a magic fairy tale helper.[180] In such works, rather than being frightening as they are traditionally portrayed, dragons are instead represented as harmless, benevolent, and inferior to humans.[180] They are sometimes shown living in contact with humans, or in isolated communities of only dragons.[180] Though popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, "such comic and idyllic stories" began to grow increasingly rare after the 1960s, due to demand for more serious children's literature.[180]

One of the most iconic modern dragons is Smaug from J. R. R. Tolkien's classic novel, The Hobbit.[177] Dragons also appear in the best-selling Harry Potter series of children's novels by J. K. Rowling.[12] Other prominent works depicting dragons include Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle, George R. R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire, and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle. Sandra Martina Schwab writes, "With a few exceptions, including McCaffrey's Pern novels and the 2002 film Reign of Fire, dragons seem to fit more into the medievalized setting of fantasy literature than into the more technological world of science fiction. Indeed, they have been called the emblem of fantasy. The hero's fight against the dragon emphasizes and celebrates his masculinity, whereas revisionist fantasies of dragons and dragon-slaying often undermine traditional gender roles. In children's literature the friendly dragon becomes a powerful ally in battling the child's fears."[181] The popular role-playing game system Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) makes heavy use of dragons.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Stromberg, Joseph (23 January 2012). "Where Did Dragons Come From?". Smithsonian. from the original on 4 October 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Archeologists Find Crocodile is Prototype of Dragon". People's Daily. 29 April 2000. from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  3. ^ Beowulf; a heroic poem of the 8th century, with tr., note and appendix by T. Arnold, 1876, p. 196.
  4. ^ Ogden 2013, p. 4.
  5. ^ a b Δράκων 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus project
  6. ^ a b Ogden 2013, pp. 2–4.
  7. ^ "Dragon | Origin and meaning of dragon by Online Etymology Dictionary".
  8. ^ "Greek Word Study Tool".
  9. ^ "Guns, herbs, and sores: Inside the dragon's etymological lair". 25 April 2015.
  10. ^ Wyld, Henry Cecil (1946). The Universal Dictionary Of The English Language. p. 334.
  11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1888). An etymological dictionary of the English language. Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press. p. 178.
  12. ^ a b c d e Malone 2012, p. 96.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Malone 2012, p. 98.
  14. ^ Jones 2000, p. 32-40.
  15. ^ a b Jones 2000, p. 63.
  16. ^ Jones 2000, pp. 166–168.
  17. ^ Jones 2000, p. 32.
  18. ^ Jones 2000, p. 108.
  19. ^ Mayor 2000, pp. xiii–xxii.
  20. ^ a b Mayor 2000, p. xxii.
  21. ^ a b c d Mayor 2000, p. xix.
  22. ^ Mayor 2005, p. 149.
  23. ^ Blust, Robert. “The Origin of Dragons.” Anthropos, vol. 95, no. 2, 2000, pp. 519–536. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40465957. Accessed 6 June 2020.
  24. ^ a b Ogden 2013, p. 11.
  25. ^ a b c Niles 2013, p. 35.
  26. ^ a b c d Niles 2013, p. 36.
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External links

  •   Media related to Dragons at Wikimedia Commons
  •   The dictionary definition of dragon at Wiktionary
  •   Quotations related to Dragons at Wikiquote

April 17, 2023
dragon, confused, with, lizard, komodo, dragon, draconian, dracones, dragoon, this, article, about, legendary, creature, other, uses, disambiguation, dragon, reptilian, legendary, creature, that, appears, folklore, many, cultures, worldwide, beliefs, about, dr. Not to be confused with Dragon lizard Komodo dragon Draconian Dracones or Dragoon This article is about the legendary creature For other uses see Dragon disambiguation A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged horned and capable of breathing fire Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless four legged serpentine creatures with above average intelligence Commonalities between dragons traits are often a hybridization of feline reptilian and avian features Scholars believe vast extinct or migrating crocodiles bear the closest resemblance especially when encountered in forested or swampy areas and are most likely the template of modern Oriental dragon imagery 1 2 Illustration of a winged fire breathing dragon by Friedrich Justin Bertuch from 1806Qing era carved imperial Chinese dragons at Nine Dragon Wall Beihai Park BeijingDragon shaped bows on ships in Ystad Sweden resembling Viking longships Contents 1 Etymology 2 Myth origins 3 African folklore 3 1 Egypt 4 Asian folklore 4 1 West Asia 4 1 1 Ancient 4 1 1 1 Mesopotamia 4 1 1 2 Levant 4 1 2 Ancient and Post classical 4 1 3 Iran Persia 4 2 East Asia 4 2 1 China 4 2 2 Korea 4 2 3 Japan 4 3 South Asia 4 3 1 India 4 4 Southeast Asia 4 4 1 Vietnam 5 European folklore 5 1 Proto Indo European 5 2 Ancient Greek and Roman 5 3 Post classical Germanic 5 4 Post classical Western 5 5 Post classical Eastern 6 Modern depictions 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Bibliography 9 External linksEtymology Edit An early appearance of the Old English word dracan in Beowulf 3 The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon which in turn comes from the Latin draconem nominative draco meaning huge serpent dragon from Ancient Greek drakwn drakōn genitive drakontos drakontos serpent 4 5 The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent not necessarily mythological 6 The Greek word drakwn is most likely derived from the Greek verb derkomai derkomai meaning I see the aorist form of which is ἔdrakon edrakon 5 This is thought to have referred to something with a deadly glance 7 or unusually bright 8 or sharp 9 10 eyes or because a snake s eyes appear to be always open each eye actually sees through a big transparent scale in its eyelids which are permanently shut The Greek word probably derives from an Indo European base derḱ meaning to see the Sanskrit root द श dr s also means to see 11 Myth origins Edit Several bones purported to belong to the Wawel Dragon hang outside of Wawel Cathedral but actually belong to a Pleistocene mammal Draconic creatures appear in virtually all cultures around the globe 12 and the earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature Stories about storm gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Near Eastern and Indo European mythologies Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the musḫussu of ancient Mesopotamia Apep in Egyptian mythology Vṛtra in the Rigveda the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible Grand Goule in the Poitou region in France Python Ladon Wyvern and Kulshedra in Albanian Mythology and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology Jormungandr Nidhoggr and Fafnir in Norse mythology and the dragon from Beowulf Nonetheless scholars dispute where the idea of a dragon originates from 13 and a wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed 13 In his book An Instinct for Dragons 2000 David E Jones anthropologist suggests a hypothesis that humans like monkeys have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes large cats and birds of prey 14 He cites a study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes 15 and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children even in areas where snakes are rare 15 The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes 16 Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans primate ancestors 17 Dragons are usually said to reside in dank caves deep pools wild mountain reaches sea bottoms haunted forests all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors 18 In her book The First Fossil Hunters Dinosaurs Mammoths and Myth in Greek and Roman Times 2000 Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals 19 She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by observations of oversized extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the Siwalik Hills below the Himalayas 20 and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the Monster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils of Samotherium an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region 20 In China a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common these remains are frequently identified as dragon bones 21 and are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine 21 Mayor however is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils 21 and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters but has long been considered barren of large fossils 21 In one of her later books she states that Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles such as Komodo dragons Gila monsters iguanas alligators or in California alligator lizards though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends as no such animals historical or otherwise have ever been found in this region 22 Robert Blust in The Origin of Dragons 2000 argues that like many other creations of traditional cultures dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre scientific speculation about the world of real events In this case the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of the rainbow 23 African folklore EditEgypt Edit Illustration from an ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript showing the god Set spearing the serpent Apep as he attacks the sun boat of Ra In Egyptian mythology Apep or Apophis is a giant serpentine creature who resides in the Duat the Egyptian Underworld 24 25 The Bremner Rhind papyrus written around 310 BC preserves an account of a much older Egyptian tradition that the setting of the sun is caused by Ra descending to the Duat to battle Apep 24 25 In some accounts Apep is as long as the height of eight men with a head made of flint 25 Thunderstorms and earthquakes were thought to be caused by Apep s roar 26 and solar eclipses were thought to be the result of Apep attacking Ra during the daytime 26 In some myths Apep is slain by the god Set 27 Nehebkau is another giant serpent who guards the Duat and aided Ra in his battle against Apep 26 Nehebkau was so massive in some stories that the entire earth was believed to rest atop his coils 26 Denwen is a giant serpent mentioned in the Pyramid Texts whose body was made of fire and who ignited a conflagration that nearly destroyed all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon 28 He was ultimately defeated by the Pharaoh a victory which affirmed the Pharaoh s divine right to rule 29 The ouroboros was a well known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail 30 The precursor to the ouroboros was the Many Faced 30 a serpent with five heads who according to the Amduat the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively 30 The earliest surviving depiction of a true ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun 30 In the early centuries AD the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians 31 and chapter 136 of the Pistis Sophia an early Gnostic text describes a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth 31 In medieval alchemy the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings legs and a tail 30 A famous image of the dragon gnawing on its tail from the eleventh century Codex Marcianus was copied in numerous works on alchemy 30 Asian folklore EditWest Asia Edit Ancient Edit Mesopotamia Edit The musḫussu is a serpentine draconic monster from ancient Mesopotamian mythology with the body and neck of a snake the forelegs of a lion and the hind legs of a bird 32 Here it is shown as it appears in the Ishtar Gate from the city of Babylon 32 Ancient people across the Near East believed in creatures similar to what modern people call dragons 33 These ancient people were unaware of the existence of dinosaurs or similar creatures in the distant past 33 References to dragons of both benevolent and malevolent characters occur throughout ancient Mesopotamian literature 33 In Sumerian poetry great kings are often compared to the usumgal a gigantic serpentine monster 33 A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind legs tail and wings of a bird appears in Mesopotamian artwork from the Akkadian Period c 2334 2154 BC until the Neo Babylonian Period 626 BC 539 BC 34 The dragon is usually shown with its mouth open 34 It may have been known as the umu na iru which means roaring weather beast 34 and may have been associated with the god Ishkur Hadad 34 A slightly different lion dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from the Neo Assyrian Period 911 BC 609 BC 34 A relief probably commissioned by Sennacherib shows the gods Ashur Sin and Adad standing on its back 34 Another draconic creature with horns the body and neck of a snake the forelegs of a lion and the hind legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period 323 BC 31 BC 32 This creature known in Akkadian as the musḫussu meaning furious serpent was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem 32 It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu 32 but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm god Tishpak as well as later Ninazu s son Ningishzida the Babylonian national god Marduk the scribal god Nabu and the Assyrian national god Ashur 32 Scholars disagree regarding the appearance of Tiamat the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos slain by Marduk in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elis 35 36 She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent 36 but several scholars have pointed out that this shape cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty 36 and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic 35 36 Nonetheless in some texts she seems to be described with horns a tail and a hide that no weapon can penetrate 35 all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness 35 Levant Edit The Destruction of Leviathan 1865 by Gustave Dore In the Ugaritic Baal Cycle the sea dragon Lōtanu is described as the twisting serpent the powerful one with seven heads 37 In KTU 1 5 I 2 3 Lōtanu is slain by the storm god Baal 37 but in KTU 1 3 III 41 42 he is instead slain by the virgin warrior goddess Anat 37 In the Book of Psalms Psalm 74 Psalm 74 13 14 the sea dragon Leviathan is slain by Yahweh god of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah as part of the creation of the world 37 38 In Isaiah 27 1 Yahweh s destruction of Leviathan is foretold as part of his impending overhaul of the universal order 39 40 Original Hebrew text 41 English translationא ב י ו ם ה הו א י פ ק ד י הו ה ב ח ר ב ו ה ק ש ה ו ה ג דו ל ה ו ה ח ז ק ה ע ל ל ו י ת ן נ ח ש ב ר ח ו ע ל ל ו י ת ן נ ח ש ע ק ל תו ן ו ה ר ג א ת ה ת נ ין א ש ר ב י ם ס On that day The LORD shall punish with his sharp great and strong sword Leviathan the fleeing serpent Leviathan the twisting serpent He will slay the dragon that is in the sea 37 Job 41 1 34 contains a detailed description of the Leviathan who is described as being so powerful that only Yahweh can overcome it 42 Job 41 19 21 states that the Leviathan exhales fire and smoke making its identification as a mythical dragon clearly apparent 42 In some parts of the Old Testament the Leviathan is historicized as a symbol for the nations that stand against Yahweh 38 Rahab a synonym for Leviathan is used in several Biblical passages in reference to Egypt 38 Isaiah 30 7 declares For Egypt s help is worthless and empty therefore I have called her the silenced Rahab 38 Similarly Psalm 87 3 reads I reckon Rahab and Babylon as those that know me 38 In Ezekiel 29 3 5 and Ezekiel 32 2 8 the pharaoh of Egypt is described as a dragon tannin 38 In the story of Bel and the Dragon from the Book of Daniel the prophet Daniel sees a dragon being worshipped by the Babylonians 43 Daniel makes cakes of pitch fat and hair 43 the dragon eats them and bursts open 44 43 Ancient and Post classical Edit Iran Persia Edit Azhi Dahaka Avestan Great Snake is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu Alternate names include Azi Dahak Dahaka and Dahak Azi nominative azis is the Avestan word for serpent or dragon 45 The Avestan term Azi Dahaka and the Middle Persian azdahag are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed Az Old Armenian mythological figure Azdahak Modern Persian azdeha azdaha Tajik Persian azhdaha Urdu azhdaha اژدها as well as the Kurdish ejdiha ئەژدیها The name also migrated to Eastern Europe assumed the form azhdaja and the meaning dragon dragoness or water snake in the Balkanic and Slavic languages 46 47 48 Despite the negative aspect of Azi Dahaka in mythology dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples The Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for dragon that ultimately comes from Azi Dahaka In Zoroastrian literatureAzi Dahaka is the most significant and long lasting of the azis of the Avesta the earliest religious texts of Zoroastrianism He is described as a monster with three mouths six eyes and three heads and as being cunning strong and demonic In other respects Azi Dahaka has human qualities and is never a mere animal In a post Avestan Zoroastrian text the Denkard Azi Dahaka is possessed of all possible sins and evil counsels the opposite of the good king Jam or Jamshid The name Dahag Dahaka is punningly interpreted as meaning having ten dah sins In Persian Sufi literature Rumi writes in his Masnavi 49 that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul nafs greed and lust that need to be mortified in a spiritual battle 50 51 Rustam kills the dragon folio from Shahnameh of Shah Ismail II attrib Sadegi Beg Iran Tabriz c 1576 AD view 1 Aga Khan Museum Toronto Canada In Ferdowsi s Shahnameh the Iranian hero Rostam must slay an 80 meter long dragon which renders itself invisible to human sight with the aid of his legendary horse Rakhsh As Rostam is sleeping the dragon approaches Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon Rakhsh bites the dragon while Rostam decapitates it This is the third trial of Rostam s Seven Labors 52 53 54 Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in the Shahnameh and in other Iranian oral traditions notably in the myth of Babr e Bayan In this tale Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the Orient either India or China depending on the source by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts after which Rostam flays the dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called the babr e bayan In some variants of the story Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights but is guarded by his steed Rakhsh On reviving he washes himself in a spring In the Mandean tradition of the story Rostam hides in a box is swallowed by the dragon and kills it from inside its belly The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as a reward 55 56 East Asia Edit China Edit Main article Chinese dragon A dragon from the Nine Dragons Scroll by Chen Rong 1244 AD Illustration of the dragon Zhulong from a seventeenth century edition of the Shanhaijing Dragon art on a vase Yuan dynastyThe word dragon has come to be applied to the legendary creature in Chinese mythology loong traditional 龍 simplified 龙 Japanese simplified 竜 Pinyin long which is associated with good fortune and many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions Dragons were also identified with the Emperor of China who during later Chinese imperial history was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house clothing or personal articles Archaeologist Zhōu Chong Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is an onomatopoeia of the sound of thunder 57 or luhng in Cantonese 58 The Chinese dragon simplified Chinese 龙 traditional Chinese 龍 pinyin long is the highest ranking creature in the Chinese animal hierarchy Its origins are vague but its ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels 59 A number of popular stories deal with the rearing of dragons 60 The Zuo zhuan which was probably written during the Warring States period describes a man named Dongfu a descendant of Yangshu an who loved dragons 60 and because he could understand a dragon s will he was able to tame them and raise them well 60 He served Emperor Shun who gave him the family name Huanlong meaning dragon raiser 60 In another story Kong Jia the fourteenth emperor of the Xia dynasty was given a male and a female dragon as a reward for his obedience to the god of heaven 60 but could not train them so he hired a dragon trainer named Liulei who had learned how to train dragons from Huanlong 60 One day the female dragon died unexpectedly so Liulei secretly chopped her up cooked her meat and served it to the king 60 who loved it so much that he demanded Liulei to serve him the same meal again 60 Since Liulei had no means of procuring more dragon meat he fled the palace 60 The image of the Chinese dragon was roughly established in the Shang and Zhou dynasties but there was no great change for a long time In the Han dynasty 202 B C 220 A D Yinglong as a symbol of feudal imperial power frequently appeared in Royal Dragon vessels which means that most of the dragon image designs used by the royal family in the Han dynasty are Yinglong patterns Yinglong is a winged dragon in ancient Chinese legend At present the literature records of Yinglong s winged image can be tested from Guangya 广雅 wide elegant during the Three Kingdoms period but Yinglong s winged design has been found in bronze ware from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to stone carvings silk paintings and lacquerware of the Han dynasty The literature records of Yinglong can be traced back to the documents of the pre Qin period such as Classic of Mountains and Seas Chuci and so on According to the records in Classic of Mountains and Seas the Chinese mythology 2200 years ago Ying long had the main characteristics of later Chinese dragons the power to control the sky and the noble mythical status 61 However since the Tang and Song dynasties 618 1279 A D the image of the real dragon symbolizing China s imperial power was no longer the Yinglong with wings but the common wingless Yellow Dragon in modern times For the evolution of Yinglong and Huanglong Yellow Dragon scholar Chen Zheng proposed in Yinglong the origin of the image of the real dragon that from the middle of the Zhou dynasty Yinglong s wings gradually became the form of flame pattern and cloud pattern at the dragon s shoulder in artistic creation which derived the wingless long snake shape The image of Huanglong was used together with the winged Yinglong Since then with a series of wars Chinese civilization suffered heavy losses resulting in the forgetting of the image of winged Yinglong and the image of wingless Yellow Dragon replaced the original Yinglong and became the real dragon symbolizing China s imperial power On this basis scholars Xiao Congrong 肖聪榕 put forward that the simplified artistic creation of Ying Long s wings by Chinese ancestors is a continuous process that is the simplification of dragon s wings is an irreversible trend Xiao Congrong believes that the phenomenon of Yellow Dragon Replacing Ying Long can not be avoided regardless of whether Chinese civilization has suffered disaster or not 61 One of the most famous dragon stories is about the Lord Ye Gao who loved dragons obsessively even though he had never seen one 62 He decorated his whole house with dragon motifs 62 and seeing this display of admiration a real dragon came and visited Ye Gao 62 but the lord was so terrified at the sight of the creature that he ran away 62 In Chinese legend the culture hero Fu Hsi is said to have been crossing the Lo River when he saw the lung ma a Chinese horse dragon with seven dots on its face six on its back eight on its left flank and nine on its right flank 63 He was so moved by this apparition that when he arrived home he drew a picture of it including the dots 63 He later used these dots as letters and invented Chinese writing which he used to write his book I Ching 63 In another Chinese legend the physician Ma Shih Huang is said to have healed a sick dragon 64 Another legend reports that a man once came to the healer Lo Chen jen telling him that he was a dragon and that he needed to be healed 64 After Lo Chen jen healed the man a dragon appeared to him and carried him to heaven 64 In the Shanhaijing a classic mythography probably compiled mostly during the Han dynasty various deities and demigods are associated with dragons 65 One of the most famous Chinese dragons is Ying Long responding dragon who helped the Huangdi the Yellow Emperor defeat the tyrant Chiyou 66 The dragon Zhulong torch dragon is a god who composed the universe with his body 66 In the Shanhaijing many mythic heroes are said to have been conceived after their mothers copulated with divine dragons including Huangdi Shennong Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun 66 The god Zhurong and the emperor Qi are both described as being carried by two dragons 67 as are Huangdi Zhuanxu Yuqiang and Roshou in various other texts 60 According to the Huainanzi an evil black dragon once caused a destructive deluge 60 which was ended by the mother goddess Nuwa by slaying the dragon 60 Hongwu Emperor with dragon emblem on his chest c 1377 A large number of ethnic myths about dragons are told throughout China 60 The Houhanshu compiled in the fifth century BC by Fan Ye reports a story belonging to the Ailaoyi people which holds that a woman named Shayi who lived in the region around Mount Lao became pregnant with ten sons after being touched by a tree trunk floating in the water while fishing 66 She gave birth to the sons and the tree trunk turned into a dragon who asked to see his sons 66 The woman showed them to him 66 but all of them ran away except for the youngest who the dragon licked on the back and named Jiu Long meaning sitting back 66 The sons later elected him king and the descendants of the ten sons became the Ailaoyi people who tattooed dragons on their backs in honor of their ancestor 66 The Miao people of southwest China have a story that a divine dragon created the first humans by breathing on monkeys that came to play in his cave 60 The Han people have many stories about Short Tailed Old Li a black dragon who was born to a poor family in Shandong 62 When his mother saw him for the first time she fainted 62 and when his father came home from the field and saw him he hit him with a spade and cut off part of his tail 62 Li burst through the ceiling and flew away to the Black Dragon River in northeast China where he became the god of that river 68 On the anniversary of his mother s death on the Chinese lunar calendar Old Li returns home causing it to rain 69 He is still worshipped as a rain god 69 Diagram representing the Four Dragon Kings of the Four Seas in relation to the central Dragon King of the Earth In China a dragon is thought to have power over rain Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs of dragon dancing and dragon boat racing Dragons are closely associated with rain 70 and drought is thought to be caused by a dragon s laziness 71 Prayers invoking dragons to bring rain are common in Chinese texts 70 The Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals attributed to the Han dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu prescribes making clay figurines of dragons during a time of drought and having young men and boys pace and dance among the figurines in order to encourage the dragons to bring rain 70 Texts from the Qing dynasty advise hurling the bone of a tiger or dirty objects into the pool where the dragon lives 71 since dragons cannot stand tigers or dirt the dragon of the pool will cause heavy rain to drive the object out 71 Rainmaking rituals invoking dragons are still very common in many Chinese villages where each village has its own god said to bring rain and many of these gods are dragons 71 The Chinese dragon kings are thought of as the inspiration for the Hindu myth of the naga 71 According to these stories every body of water is ruled by a dragon king each with a different power rank and ability 71 so people began establishing temples across the countryside dedicated to these figures 71 Head of a dragon from a Chinese dragon dance performed in Helsinki in the year 2000 Many traditional Chinese customs revolve around dragons 72 During various holidays including the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival villagers will construct an approximately sixteen foot long dragon from grass cloth bamboo strips and paper which they will parade through the city as part of a dragon dance 73 The original purpose of this ritual was to bring good weather and a strong harvest 73 but now it is done mostly only for entertainment 73 During the Duanwu festival several villages or even a whole province will hold a dragon boat race in which people race across a body of water in boats carved to look like dragons while a large audience watches on the banks 73 The custom is traditionally said to have originated after the poet Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River and people raced out in boats hoping to save him 73 But most historians agree that the custom actually originated much earlier as a ritual to avert ill fortune 73 Starting during the Han dynasty and continuing until the Qing dynasty the Chinese emperor gradually became closely identified with dragons 73 and emperors themselves claimed to be the incarnations of a divine dragon 73 Eventually dragons were only allowed to appear on clothing houses and articles of everyday use belonging to the emperor 73 and any commoner who possessed everyday items bearing the image of the dragon was ordered to be executed 73 After the last Chinese emperor was overthrown in 1911 this situation changed and now many ordinary Chinese people identify themselves as descendants of dragons 74 The impression of dragons in a large number of Asian countries has been influenced by Chinese culture such as Korea Vietnam Japan and so on Chinese tradition has always used the dragon totem as the national emblem and the Yellow Dragon flag of the Qing dynasty has influenced the impression that China is a dragon in many European countries Silk painting depicting a man riding a dragon dated to 5th 3rd centuries BC Tang dynasty painting of a dragon boat race attributed to Li Zhaodao Flag of the Qing dynasty from 1889 to 1912 showing a Chinese dragon Dragon sculpture on top of Lungshan Temple Taipei Taiwan Members of the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne performing for Chinese New Year at Crown Casino demonstrate a basic corkscrew routineKorea Edit Main article Korean dragon The Blue Dragon mural depiction at the Goguryeo tombs The Korean dragon is in many ways similar in appearance to other East Asian dragons such as the Chinese and Japanese dragons It differs from the Chinese dragon in that it developed a longer beard Very occasionally a dragon may be depicted as carrying an orb known as the Yeouiju 여의주 the Korean name for the mythical Cintamani in its claws or its mouth It was said that whoever could wield the Yeouiju was blessed with the abilities of omnipotence and creation at will and that only four toed dragons who had thumbs with which to hold the orbs were both wise and powerful enough to wield these orbs as opposed to the lesser three toed dragons As with China the number nine is significant and auspicious in Korea and dragons were said to have 81 9 9 scales on their backs representing yang essence Dragons in Korean mythology are primarily benevolent beings related to water and agriculture often considered bringers of rain and clouds Hence many Korean dragons are said to have resided in rivers lakes oceans or even deep mountain ponds And human journeys to undersea realms and especially the undersea palace of the Dragon King 용왕 are common in Korean folklore 75 In Korean myths some kings who founded kingdoms were described as descendants of dragons because the dragon was a symbol of the monarch Lady Aryeong who was the first queen of Silla is said to have been born from a cockatrice 76 while the grandmother of Taejo of Goryeo founder of Goryeo was reportedly the daughter of the dragon king of the West Sea 77 And King Munmu of Silla who on his deathbed wished to become a dragon of the East Sea in order to protect the kingdom Dragon patterns were used exclusively by the royal family The royal robe was also called the dragon robe 용포 In the Joseon dynasty the royal insignia featuring embroidered dragons were attached to the robe s shoulders the chest and back The King wore five taloned dragon insignia while the Crown Prince wore four taloned dragon insignia 78 Korean folk mythology states that most dragons were originally Imugis 이무기 or lesser dragons which were said to resemble gigantic serpents There are a few different versions of Korean folklore that describe both what imugis are and how they aspire to become full fledged dragons Koreans thought that an Imugi could become a true dragon yong or mireu if it caught a Yeouiju which had fallen from heaven Another explanation states they are hornless creatures resembling dragons who have been cursed and thus were unable to become dragons By other accounts an Imugi is a proto dragon which must survive one thousand years in order to become a fully fledged dragon In either case they are said to be large benevolent python like creatures that live in water or caves and their sighting is associated with good luck 79 Japan Edit Main article Japanese dragon Painting of a Japanese dragon by Hokusai c 1730 1849 Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China Like some other dragons most Japanese dragons are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water and are typically depicted as large wingless serpentine creatures with clawed feet Gould writes 1896 248 80 the Japanese dragon is invariably figured as possessing three claws A story about the samurai Minamoto no Mitsunaka tells that while he was hunting in his own territory of Settsu he dreamt under a tree and had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared to him and begged him to save her land from a giant serpent which was defiling it 64 Mitsunaka agreed to help and the maiden gave him a magnificent horse 64 When he woke up the seahorse was standing before him 64 He rode it to the Sumiyoshi temple where he prayed for eight days 64 Then he confronted the serpent and slew it with an arrow 64 It was believed that dragons could be appeased or exorcised with metal 64 Nitta Yoshisada is said to have hurled a famous sword into the sea at Sagami to appease the dragon god of the sea 64 and Ki no Tsurayuki threw a metal mirror into the sea at Sumiyoshi for the same purpose 64 Japanese Buddhism has also adapted dragons by subjecting them to Buddhist law 64 the Japanese Buddhist deities Benten and Kwannon are often shown sitting or standing on the back of a dragon 64 Several Japanese sennin immortals have taken dragons as their mounts 64 Bomo is said to have hurled his staff into a puddle of water causing a dragon to come forth and let him ride it to heaven 64 The rakan Handaka is said to have been able to conjure a dragon out of a bowl which he is often shown playing with on kagamibuta 64 The shachihoko is a creature with the head of a dragon a bushy tail fishlike scales and sometimes with fire emerging from its armpits 64 The fun has the head of a dragon feathered wings and the tail and claws of a bird 64 A white dragon was believed to reside in a pool in Yamashiro Province 81 and every fifty years it would turn into a bird called the Ogoncho which had a call like the howling of a wild dog 81 This event was believed to herald terrible famine 81 In the Japanese village of Okumura near Edo during times of drought the villagers would make a dragon effigy out of straw magnolia leaves and bamboo and parade it through the village to attract rainfall 81 South Asia Edit India Edit Head of the dragon god Pakhangba depicted on a musical instrument from Manipur India In the Rigveda the oldest of the four Vedas Indra the Vedic god of storms battles Vṛtra a giant serpent who represents drought 82 Indra kills Vṛtra using his vajra thunderbolt and clears the path for rain 83 84 which is described in the form of cattle You won the cows hero you won the Soma You freed the seven streams to flow Rigveda 1 32 12 85 In another Rigvedic legend the three headed serpent Visvarupa the son of Tvaṣṭṛ guards a wealth of cows and horses 86 Indra delivers Visvarupa to a god named Trita Aptya 86 who fights and kills him and sets his cattle free 86 Indra cuts off Visvarupa s heads and drives the cattle home for Trita 86 This same story is alluded to in the Younger Avesta 86 in which the hero Thraetaona the son of Athbya slays the three headed dragon Azi Dahaka and takes his two beautiful wives as spoils 86 Thraetaona s name meaning third grandson of the waters indicates that Azi Dahaka like Vṛtra was seen as a blocker of waters and cause of drought 86 The Druk Dzongkha འབ ག also known as Thunder Dragon is one of the national symbols of Bhutan In the Dzongkha language Bhutan is known as Druk Yul Land of Druk and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo Thunder Dragon Kings The druk was adopted as an emblem by the Drukpa Lineage which originated in Tibet and later spread to Bhutan 87 Southeast Asia Edit Vietnam Edit Main article Vietnamese dragon Stylised map of Đại Nam Minh Mạng period Nguyễn dynasty dragon Imperial City of Huế Dragons on antiques from the Ly Trần dynasties Dragons on antiques from the Le Nguyễn dynasties The Vietnamese dragon Vietnamese rồng 龍 was a mythical creature that was often used as a deity symbol and was associated with royalty 88 Similar to other cultures dragons in Vietnamese culture represent yang and godly beings associated with creation and life European folklore EditProto Indo European Edit Further information Chaoskampf Sea serpent Serpent slayer and Serpents in the Bible The story of a hero slaying a giant serpent occurs in almost all Indo European mythology 89 90 In most stories the hero is some kind of thunder god 90 In nearly every iteration of the story the serpent is either multi headed or multiple in some other way 89 Furthermore in nearly every story the serpent is always somehow associated with water 90 Bruce Lincoln has proposed that a Proto Indo European dragon slaying myth can be reconstructed as follows 91 92 First the sky gods give cattle to a man named Tritos the third who is so named because he is the third man on earth 91 92 but a three headed serpent named Ngwhi steals them 91 92 Tritos pursues the serpent and is accompanied by Haner whose name means man 91 92 Together the two heroes slay the serpent and rescue the cattle 91 92 Ancient Greek and Roman Edit Main article Dragons in Greek mythology Greek red figure vase painting depicting Heracles slaying the Lernaean Hydra c 375 340 BC The ancient Greek word usually translated as dragon drakwn drakōn genitive drakontoϛ drakontos could also mean snake 93 6 but it usually refers to a kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power 94 The first mention of a dragon in ancient Greek literature occurs in the Iliad in which Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three headed dragon on his breast plate 95 In lines 820 880 of the Theogony a Greek poem written in the seventh century BC by the Boeotian poet Hesiod the Greek god Zeus battles the monster Typhon who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises 85 Zeus scorches all of Typhon s heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon into Tartarus 96 In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo the god Apollo uses his poisoned arrows to slay the serpent Python who has been causing death and pestilence in the area around Delphi 97 96 98 Apollo then sets up his shrine there 96 The Roman poet Virgil in his poem Culex lines 163 201 1 describing a shepherd having a fight with a big constricting snake calls it serpens and also draco showing that in his time the two words were probably interchangeable Attic red figure kylix painting from c 480 470 BC showing Athena observing as the Colchian dragon disgorges the hero Jason 99 100 Hesiod also mentions that the hero Heracles slew the Lernaean Hydra a multiple headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna 101 The name Hydra means water snake in Greek 96 102 According to the Bibliotheka of Pseudo Apollodorus the slaying of the Hydra was the second of the Twelve Labors of Heracles 103 96 Accounts disagree on which weapon Heracles used to slay the Hydra 96 but by the end of the sixth century BC it was agreed that the clubbed or severed heads needed to be cauterized to prevent them from growing back 104 96 Heracles was aided in this task by his nephew Iolaus 104 During the battle a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles s foot 103 but he crushed it under his heel 105 Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellation Cancer 105 One of the Hydra s heads was immortal so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off 96 105 For his Eleventh Labor Heracles must procure a golden apple from the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps 106 which Pseudo Apollodorus calls Ladon 107 In earlier depictions Ladon is often shown with many heads 108 In Pseudo Apollodorus s account Ladon is immortal 108 but Sophocles and Euripides both describe Heracles as killing him although neither of them specifies how 108 Some suggest that the golden apple was not claimed through battle with Ladon at all but through Heracles charming the Hesperides 109 The mythographer Herodorus is the first to state that Heracles slew him using his famous club 108 Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic poem the Argonautica describes Ladon as having been shot full of poisoned arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra 110 In Pindar s Fourth Pythian Ode Aeetes of Colchis tells the hero Jason that the Golden Fleece he is seeking is in a copse guarded by a dragon which surpassed in breadth and length a fifty oared ship 111 Jason slays the dragon and makes off with the Golden Fleece together with his co conspirator Aeetes s daughter Medea 112 The earliest artistic representation of this story is an Attic red figure kylix dated to c 480 470 BC 113 showing a bedraggled Jason being disgorged from the dragon s open mouth as the Golden Fleece hangs in a tree behind him and Athena the goddess of wisdom stands watching 113 100 A fragment from Pherecydes of Athens states that Jason killed the dragon 112 but fragments from the Naupactica and from Herodorus state that he merely stole the Fleece and escaped 112 In Euripides s Medea Medea boasts that she killed the Colchian dragon herself 112 In the final scene of the play Medea also flies away on a chariot pulled by two dragons 114 In the most famous retelling of the story from Apollonius of Rhodes s Argonautica Medea drugs the dragon to sleep allowing Jason to steal the Fleece 115 Greek vase paintings show her feeding the dragon the sleeping drug in a liquid form from a phiale or shallow cup 116 Paestan red figure kylix krater c 350 340 BC showing Cadmus fighting the dragon of Ares 117 In the founding myth of Thebes Cadmus a Phoenician prince was instructed by Apollo to follow a heifer and found a city wherever it laid down 118 Cadmus and his men followed the heifer and when it laid down Cadmus ordered his men to find a spring so he could sacrifice the heifer to Athena 118 His men found a spring but it was guarded by a dragon which had been placed there by the god Ares and the dragon killed them 118 Cadmus killed the dragon in revenge 118 119 either by smashing its head with a rock or using his sword 118 Following the advice of Athena Cadmus tore out the dragon s teeth and planted them in the earth 118 119 An army of giant warriors known as spartoi which means sown men grew from the teeth like plants 118 119 Cadmus hurled stones into their midst causing them to kill each other until only five were left 118 To make restitution for having killed Ares s dragon Cadmus was forced to serve Ares as a slave for eight years 118 At the end of this period Cadmus married Harmonia the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite 118 Cadmus and Harmonia moved to Illyria where they ruled as king and queen before eventually being transformed into dragons themselves 120 In the fifth century BC the Greek historian Herodotus reported in Book IV of his Histories that western Libya was inhabited by monstrous serpents 121 and in Book III he states that Arabia was home to many small winged serpents 122 123 which came in a variety of colors and enjoyed the trees that produced frankincense 122 121 Herodotus remarks that the serpent s wings were like those of bats 124 and that unlike vipers which are found in every land winged serpents are only found in Arabia 124 The second century BC Greek astronomer Hipparchus c 190 BC c 120 BC listed the constellation Draco the dragon as one of forty six constellations 125 Hipparchus described the constellation as containing fifteen stars 126 but the later astronomer Ptolemy c 100 c 170 AD increased this number to thirty one in his Almagest 126 Ancient Greek mosaic from Caulonia Italy depicting a cetus or sea dragon In the New Testament Revelation 12 3 written by John of Patmos describes a vision of a Great Red Dragon with seven heads ten horns seven crowns and a massive tail 127 an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of the four beasts from the sea in the Book of Daniel 128 and the Leviathan described in various Old Testament passages 129 The Great Red Dragon knocks a third of the sun a third of the moon and a third of the stars out the sky 130 and pursues the Woman of the Apocalypse 130 Revelation 12 7 9 declares And war broke out in Heaven Michael and his angels fought against Dragon Dragon and his angels fought back but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven Dragon the Great was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan the one deceiving the whole inhabited World he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him 131 Then a voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of the Accuser ho Kantegor 132 In 217 AD Flavius Philostratus discussed dragons drakwn drakōn in India in The Life of Apollonius of Tyana II 17 and III 6 8 The Loeb Classical Library translation by F C Conybeare mentions III 7 that In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine s but they are slighter in build and twisted and have a point as unabraded as sharks teeth According to a collection of books by Claudius Aelianus called On Animals Ethiopia was inhabited by a species of dragon that hunted elephants and could grow to a length of 180 feet 55 m with a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals 133 In the 4th century Basil of Caesarea on chapter IX of his Address to Young Men on Greek Literature mentions mythological dragons as guarding treasures and riches Post classical Germanic Edit Main article Germanic dragon Drawing of the Ramsund carving from c 1030 illustrating the Volsunga saga on a rock in Sweden At 5 Sigurd plunges his sword into Fafnir s underside In the Old Norse poem Grimnismal in the Poetic Edda the dragon Nidhoggr is described as gnawing on the roots of Yggdrasil the world tree 134 In Norse mythology Jormungandr is a giant serpent that encircles the entire realm of Midgard in the sea around it 135 According to the Gylfaginning from the Prose Edda written by the thirteenth century Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson Thor the Norse god of thunder once went out on a boat with the giant Hymnir to the outer sea and fished for Jormungandr using an ox head as bait 135 Thor caught the serpent and after pulling its head out of the water smashed it with his hammer Mjolnir 135 Snorri states that the blow was not fatal and men say that he struck its head off on the sea bed But I think the truth to tell you is that the Midgard Serpent still lives and lies in the surrounding sea 135 Towards the end of the Old English epic poem Beowulf a slave steals a cup from the hoard of a sleeping dragon 136 causing the dragon to wake up and go on a rampage of destruction across the countryside 137 The eponymous hero of the poem insists on confronting the dragon alone even though he is of advanced age 138 139 but Wiglaf the youngest of the twelve warriors Beowulf has brought with him insists on accompanying his king into the battle 140 Beowulf s sword shatters during the fight and he is mortally wounded 141 142 but Wiglaf comes to his rescue and helps him slay the dragon 142 Beowulf dies and tells Wiglaf that the dragon s treasure must be buried rather than shared with the cowardly warriors who did not come to the aid of their king 143 In the Old Norse Volsunga saga the hero Sigurd catches the dragon Fafnir by digging a pit between the cave where he lives and the spring where he drinks his water 144 and kills him by stabbing him in the underside 144 At the advice of Odin Sigurd drains Fafnir s blood and drinks it which gives him the ability to understand the language of the birds 145 who he hears talking about how his mentor Regin is plotting to betray him so that he can keep all of Fafnir s treasure for himself 145 146 The motif of a hero trying to sneak past a sleeping dragon and steal some of its treasure is common throughout many Old Norse sagas 147 The fourteenth century Flores saga konungs ok sona hans describes a hero who is actively concerned not to wake a sleeping dragon while sneaking past it 147 In the Yngvars saga vidforla the protagonist attempts to steal treasure from several sleeping dragons but accidentally wakes them up 147 Post classical Western Edit Main articles European dragon Welsh Dragon Wyvern Saint George and the Dragon Margaret the Virgin and Dacian Draco Fifteenth century manuscript illustration of the battle of the Red and White Dragons from Geoffrey of Monmouth s History of the Kings of Britain The modern western image of a dragon developed in western Europe during the Middle Ages through the combination of the snakelike dragons of classical Graeco Roman literature references to Near Eastern dragons preserved in the Bible and western European folk traditions 148 The period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries represents the height of European interest in dragons as living creatures 149 The twelfth century Welsh monk Geoffrey of Monmouth recounts a famous legend in his Historia Regum Britanniae in which the child prophet Merlin witnesses the Romano Celtic warlord Vortigern attempt to build a tower on Mount Snowdon to keep safe from the Anglo Saxons 150 but the tower keeps being swallowed into the ground 150 Merlin informs Vortigern that underneath the foundation he has built is a pool with two dragons sleeping in it 150 Vortigern orders for the pool to be drained exposing a red dragon and a white dragon who immediately begin fighting 150 Merlin delivers a prophecy that the white dragon will triumph over the red symbolizing England s conquest of Wales 150 but declares that the red dragon will eventually return and defeat the white one 151 This story remained popular throughout the fifteenth century 151 MS Harley 3244 a medieval manuscript dated to around 1260 AD contains the oldest recognizable image of a fully modern western dragon 13 The oldest recognizable image of a fully modern western dragon appears in a hand painted illustration from the medieval manuscript MS Harley 3244 which was produced in around 1260 AD 13 The dragon in the illustration has two sets of wings and its tail is longer than most modern depictions of dragons 13 but it clearly displays many of the same distinctive features 13 Dragons are generally depicted as living in rivers or having an underground lair or cave 152 They are envisioned as greedy and gluttonous with voracious appetites 148 They are often identified with Satan due to the references to Satan as a dragon in the Book of Revelation 148 The thirteenth century Golden Legend written in Latin records the story of Saint Margaret of Antioch 43 a virgin martyr who after being tortured for her faith in the Diocletianic Persecution and thrown back into her cell is said to have been confronted by a monstrous dragon 43 but she made the sign of the cross and the dragon vanished 43 In some versions of the story she is actually swallowed by the dragon alive and after making the sign of the cross in the dragon s stomach emerges unharmed 43 Manuscript illustration from Verona of Saint George slaying the dragon dating to c 1270 The legend of Saint George and the Dragon may be referenced as early as the sixth century AD 153 154 but the earliest artistic representations of it come from the eleventh century 153 and the first full account of it comes from an eleventh century Georgian text 155 The most famous version of the story from the Golden Legend holds that a dragon kept pillaging the sheep of the town of Silene in Libya 153 After it ate a young shepherd the people were forced to placate it by leaving two sheep as sacrificial offerings every morning beside the lake where the dragon lived 153 Eventually the dragon ate all of the sheep 156 and the people were forced to start offering it their own children 156 One day the king s own daughter came up in the lottery and despite the king s pleas for her life she was dressed as a bride and chained to a rock beside the lake to be eaten 156 Then Saint George arrived and saw the princess 156 When the dragon arrived to eat her he stabbed it with his lance and subdued it by making the sign of the cross and tying the princess s girdle around its neck 156 Saint George and the princess led the now docile dragon into the town and George promised to kill it if the townspeople would convert to Christianity 157 All the townspeople converted and Saint George killed the dragon with his sword 157 In some versions Saint George marries the princess 157 but in others he continues wandering 157 Gargoyles are carved stone figures sometimes resembling dragons that originally served as waterspouts on buildings 158 159 Precursors to the medieval gargoyle can be found on ancient Greek and Egyptian temples 158 160 161 but over the course of the Middle Ages many fantastic stories were invented to explain them 162 One medieval French legend holds that in ancient times a fearsome dragon known as La Gargouille had been causing floods and sinking ships on the river Seine 163 so the people of the town of Rouen would offer the dragon a human sacrifice once each year to appease its hunger 163 Then around 600 AD a priest named Romanus promised that if the people would build a church he would rid them of the dragon 163 Romanus slew the dragon and its severed head was mounted on the walls of the city as the first gargoyle 163 164 Dragons are prominent in medieval heraldry 165 Uther Pendragon was famously said to have had two gold dragons crowned with red standing back to back on his royal coat of arms 166 Originally heraldic dragons could have any number of legs 165 but by the late Middle Ages due to the widespread proliferation of bestiaries heraldry began to distinguish between a dragon which could only have exactly four legs and a wyvern which could only have exactly two 165 In myths wyverns are associated with viciousness envy and pestilence 165 but in heraldry they are used as symbols for overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and his demonic forces 165 Late medieval heraldry also distinguished a draconic creature known as a cockatrice 165 A cockatrice is supposedly born when a serpent hatches an egg that has been laid on a dunghill by a rooster 165 and it is so venomous that its breath and its gaze are both lethal to any living creature except for a weasel which is the cockatrice s mortal enemy 165 A basilisk is a serpent with the head of a dragon at the end of its tail that is born when a toad hatches an egg that has been laid in a midden by a nine year old cockatrice 165 Like the cockatrice its glare is said to be deadly 165 Post classical Eastern Edit Main articles Slavic dragon and Kulshedra Zmey Gorynych a three headed dragon from Russian folklore Illustration of the Wawel Dragon from Sebastian Munster s Cosmographie Universalis 1544 In Albanian mythology and folklore stihi ljubi bolla bollar errshaja and kulshedra are mythological figures described as serpentine dragons It is believed that bolla a water and chthonic demonic serpent undergoes metamorphosis passing through four distinct phases if it lives many years without being seen by a human The bollar and errshaja are the intermediate stages while the kulshedra is the ultimate phase described as a huge multi headed fire spitting female serpent which causes drought storms flooding earthquakes and other natural disasters against mankind She is usually fought and defeated by a drangue a semi human winged divine hero and protector of humans Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles 167 168 In Slavic mythology the words zmey zmiy or zmaj are used to describe dragons These words are masculine forms of the Slavic word for snake which are normally feminine like Russian zmeya In Romania there is a similar figure derived from the Slavic dragon and named zmeu Exclusively in Polish and Belarusian folklore as well as in the other Slavic folklores a dragon is also called variously smok cmok or smok In South Slavic folklores the same thing is also called lamya lamya lamja lamja Although quite similar to other European dragons Slavic dragons have their peculiarities In Russian and Ukrainian folklore Zmey Gorynych is a dragon with three heads each one bearing twin goatlike horns 169 He is said to have breathed fire and smelled of sulfur 169 It was believed that eclipses were caused by Gorynych temporarily swallowing the sun 170 According to one legend Gorynych s uncle was the evil sorcerer Nemal Chelovek who abducted the daughter of the tsar and imprisoned her in his castle in the Ural Mountains 170 Many knights tried to free her but all of them were killed by Gorynych s fire 170 Then a palace guard in Moscow named Ivan Tsarevich overheard two crows talking about the princess 171 He went to the tsar who gave him a magic sword and snuck into the castle 172 When Chelovek attacked Ivan in the form of a giant the sword flew from Ivan s hand unbidden and killed him 172 Then the sword cut off all three of Gorynych s heads at once 172 Ivan brought the princess back to the tsar who declared Ivan a nobleman and allowed him to marry the princess 172 A popular Polish folk tale is the legend of the Wawel Dragon 173 174 175 which is first recorded in the Chronica Polonorum of Wincenty Kadlubek written between 1190 and 1208 174 175 According to Kadlubek the dragon appeared during the reign of King Krakus 174 and demanded to be fed a fixed number of cattle every week 174 If the villagers failed to provide enough cattle the dragon would eat the same number of villagers as the number of cattle they had failed to provide 174 Krakus ordered his sons to slay the dragon 174 Since they could not slay it by hand 174 they tricked the dragon into eating calfskins filled with burning sulfur 174 Once the dragon was dead the younger brother attacked and murdered his older brother and returned home to claim all the glory for himself 174 telling his father that his brother had died fighting the dragon 174 The younger brother became king after his father died but his secret was eventually revealed and he was banished 174 In the fifteenth century Jan Dlugosz rewrote the story so that King Krakus himself was the one who slew the dragon 173 174 175 Another version of the story told by Marcin Bielski instead has the clever shoemaker Skuba come up with the idea for slaying the dragon 174 176 Bielski s version is now the most popular 174 Modern depictions EditSee also List of dragons in fiction Modern fan illustration by David Demaret of the dragon Smaug from J R R Tolkien s 1937 high fantasy novel The Hobbit Dragons and dragon motifs are featured in many works of modern literature particularly within the fantasy genre 177 178 As early as the eighteenth century critical thinkers such as Denis Diderot were already asserting that too much literature had been published on dragons There are already in books all too many fabulous stories of dragons 179 In Lewis Carroll s classic children s novel Through the Looking Glass 1872 one of the inset poems describes the Jabberwock a kind of dragon 12 Carroll s illustrator John Tenniel a famous political cartoonist humorously showed the Jabberwock with the waistcoat buck teeth and myopic eyes of a Victorian university lecturer such as Carroll himself 12 In works of comedic children s fantasy dragons often fulfill the role of a magic fairy tale helper 180 In such works rather than being frightening as they are traditionally portrayed dragons are instead represented as harmless benevolent and inferior to humans 180 They are sometimes shown living in contact with humans or in isolated communities of only dragons 180 Though popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such comic and idyllic stories began to grow increasingly rare after the 1960s due to demand for more serious children s literature 180 One of the most iconic modern dragons is Smaug from J R R Tolkien s classic novel The Hobbit 177 Dragons also appear in the best selling Harry Potter series of children s novels by J K Rowling 12 Other prominent works depicting dragons include Anne McCaffrey s Dragonriders of Pern Ursula K Le Guin s Earthsea Cycle George R R Martin s series A Song of Ice and Fire and Christopher Paolini s Inheritance Cycle Sandra Martina Schwab writes With a few exceptions including McCaffrey s Pern novels and the 2002 film Reign of Fire dragons seem to fit more into the medievalized setting of fantasy literature than into the more technological world of science fiction Indeed they have been called the emblem of fantasy The hero s fight against the dragon emphasizes and celebrates his masculinity whereas revisionist fantasies of dragons and dragon slaying often undermine traditional gender roles In children s literature the friendly dragon becomes a powerful ally in battling the child s fears 181 The popular role playing game system Dungeons amp Dragons D amp D makes heavy use of dragons 13 John Tenniel s illustration of the Jabberwock for Lewis Carroll s Through the Looking Glass showing the dragon as a myopic professor 12 Fire breathing statue of the Ukrainian Ironbelly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at Universal Studios Florida Representation of a dragon as it appears in the role playing game Dungeons amp DragonsSee also Edit Mythology portalBalaur Basilisk Bat heraldry Behemoth Cockatrice Dragonology Feilong mythology Guivre Ichneumon medieval zoology Lambton Worm Lernaean Hydra Mokele mbembe Peluda Partridge Creek monster Scylla Sea serpent Snallygaster Wyvern The Last Dragon fictional 2004 documentary List of dragons in literature List of dragons in mythology and folklore List of dragons in popular cultureReferences Edit Stromberg Joseph 23 January 2012 Where Did Dragons Come From Smithsonian Archived from the original on 4 October 2019 Retrieved 2 September 2019 Archeologists Find Crocodile is Prototype of Dragon People s Daily 29 April 2000 Archived from the original on 2 September 2019 Retrieved 2 September 2019 Beowulf a heroic poem of the 8th century with tr note and appendix by T Arnold 1876 p 196 Ogden 2013 p 4 a b Drakwn Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon at Perseus project a b Ogden 2013 pp 2 4 Dragon Origin and meaning of dragon by Online Etymology Dictionary Greek Word Study Tool Guns herbs and sores Inside the dragon s etymological lair 25 April 2015 Wyld Henry Cecil 1946 The Universal Dictionary Of The English Language p 334 Skeat Walter W 1888 An etymological 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kategoria miejsca w przestrzeni kultury Towarzystwo Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Scientific Society of the Catholic University of Lublin ISBN 9788387703745 Littleton C Scott 2002 Mythology The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling Thunder Bay Press CA ISBN 1 57145 827 1 MacCulloch J A 1998 1948 The Celtic and Scandinavian Religions Chicago Illinois Academy Chicago Publishers ISBN 0 897 33 434 5 Mallory J P Adams D Q 2006 The Oxford Introduction to Proto Indo European and the Proto Indo European World Oxford England Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 929668 2 Malone Michael S 2012 The Guardian of All Things The Epic Story of Human Memory New York City New York St Martin s Press ISBN 978 1 250 01492 4 Mayor Andrienne 2000 The First Fossil Hunters Dinosaurs Mammoths and Myth in Greek and Roman Times Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 05863 6 Mayor Adrienne 2005 Fossil Legends of the First Americans Princeton New Jersey Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 11345 9 Morgan Giles 21 January 2009 St George Knight Martyr Patron Saint and Dragonslayer Edison New Jersey Chartwell Books Inc ISBN 978 0785822325 Manning Sanders Ruth 1977 A Book of Dragons London Methuen ISBN 0 416 58110 2 Nikolajeva Maria 2012 The development of children s fantasy in James Edward Mendlesohn Farah eds The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Cambridge England Cambridge University Press pp 50 61 ISBN 978 0 521 72873 7 Niles Doug 2013 Dragons The Myths Legends and Lore Avon Massachusetts Adams Media ISBN 978 1 4405 6216 7 Ogden Daniel 2013 Drakon Dragon Myth and Serpent Cult in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds Oxford England Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 955732 5 Osmond Andrew 2002 Dragons in Film Cinefantastique Vol 34 pp 58 59 Phillips Walter Alison 1911 Dragon Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 8 11th ed pp 466 468 Rauer Christine 2000 Beowulf and the Dragon Parallels and Analogues Cambridge England D S Brewer ISBN 0 85991 592 1 Rozek Michal 1988 Cracow A Treasury of Polish Culture and Art Krakow Poland Interpress Publishers p 27 ISBN 9788322322451 archived from the original on 12 June 2020 retrieved 31 March 2018 Schwab Sandra Martina 2005 Dragons In Gary Westfahl ed The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Themes Works and Wonders Vol 1 Westport CT Greenwood Press pp 214 216 ISBN 0 313 32951 6 Shuker Karl 1995 Dragons a Natural History New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 684 81443 9 Sikorski Czeslaw 1997 Wood Pitch as Combat Chemical in the Light of the Jan Dlugosz s Annals and Some of the Old Polish Military Treatises Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Wood Tar and Pitch 235 Sherman Josepha 2015 2008 Storytelling An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore New York City New York and London England Routledge ISBN 978 0 7656 8047 1 Swaddling Judith 1989 The Ancient Olympic Games London England British Museum Press ISBN 0 292 77751 5 Thurston Herbert 1909 St George The Catholic Encyclopedia vol 6 New York City New York Robert Appleton Company pp 453 455 archived from the original on 27 April 2019 retrieved 25 March 2018 Unerman Sandra 2000 Dragons in Fantasy Vector 211 14 16 Visser Marinus Willem de The Dragon in China and Japan Archived 28 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine Amsterdam J Muller 1913 Volker T 1975 1950 The Animal in Far Eastern Art And Especially in the Art of the JapaneseNetsukewith Reference to Chinese Origins Traditions Legends and Art Leiden The Netherlands Brill ISBN 90 04 04295 4 Walter Christopher 2003 The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition Farnham England Ashgate Publishing ISBN 9781840146943 West Martin Litchfield 2007 Indo European Poetry and Myth Oxford England Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 928075 9 Williamson Jamie 2015 The Evolution of Modern Fantasy From Antiquarianism to the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series New York City New York and Basingstoke England doi 10 1057 9781137515797 ISBN 978 1 137 51579 7 Yang Lihui An Deming Turner Jessica Anderson 2005 Handbook of Chinese Mythology Handbooks of World Mythology Oxford England Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 533263 6External links Edit Media related to Dragons at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of dragon at Wiktionary Quotations related to Dragons at Wikiquote Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dragon amp oldid 1149611010, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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