Dragons
Different cultures saw and depicted dragons in different ways, all are reptilian or serpentine, large, scaly or feathery, with large eyes. Some of the dragon races have wings like a bat although not all of them can fly. Their breath are deadly with either fire, ice or acid. Some don't have any legs, while others have two, four or more. Early European depictions of dragons show them in the size of bears or even smaller, like a butterfly.
Dragons are monstrous airborne members of the reptile kingdom, classified as serpents [the name derives from the Greek draca which means serpent] and divided into four orders and numerous families, species and sub-species.
The four orders of dragon are the European [Draconis teutonica], found throughout northern Germany, in Scandinavia, and in numerous islands of the North Atlantic; the Occidental [D. gallii] of France, Italy, and Spain; the British [D. albionensis] of which the main species is commonly known as the Firedrake and the two principal sub-species are the two-legged Wyvern [D. bipedes] and the winged but legless Worm [D. nematoda]; the Mediterranean or levantine [D. cappadociae] of Greece, Asia Minor, southern Russia, and north Africa; and the Oriental [D. sinoensis] of Asia and Indonesia.
A few species of draconis have been reported from other parts of the world but they have never been seen in North America, Australia, the Pacific islands or tropical and southern Africa.
The Greek word draca is related to words implying keen vision, which is the common characteristic of every species of dragon. They are all sharpsigthed, cunning, shrewd, and wise, but apart from these qualities there are many differences between the various orders, families and species. Some have more than one head (D. ladonii has 100 heads); a sub-species of the Mediterranean dragon never sleeps; the Wyvern and Worm differ from all other dragons which are quadrupeds.
The vast majority are able to fly, although they do not always employ this ability. All except the Oriental dragons propel themselves by membraneous wings, and use a vertical take-off and landing technique. Oriental dragons are distinguished from all other species by their lack of wings, horselike heads, and sharp horns. They fly by a specific mode of balancing between the earth's magnetic field and the prevailing winds.
Most dragons have inflammatory glands, which permit the nasal emission of fire. Usually dragons employ firebreathing only as a warning or defence mechanism. A burst of fire is normally sufficient to warn off marauders, and it may be that the inflammatory glands contain only enough fire for short spurts before they replenish themselves. There are, however, numerous instances of infuriated dragons punishing a community by burning up all its crops and houses.
It is strange that alchemists, sorcerers, and other magicologists have not carried out more research into dragons (perhaps because of the difficulty of obtaining undamaged specimens). The bodies of these creatures provides potent supernatural resources. Anyone who eats a dragon's heart will be able to understand the language of birds; a meal of dragon's tounge enables the consumer to win any argument; and dragon's blood is a certain prophylactic against stab wounds. The blood of the dragon Fafnir gave the German hero Siegfried immunity from such wounds, but when he bathed in the dragon's blood he failed to notice that a leaf had stuck to his back. This unprotected spot allowed his enemy Hagen to stab him to death.
Before the advent of Christianity, the dragons of the western world lived in an uneasy co-existence with mankind. Their physical powers, awesome appearance, keen vision, and alert shrewdness of intellect made them the ideal guardians of all kinds of treasure, including the Golden Fleece and the Golden Apples of the Hesperides, and they were commonly employed for this purpose. No doubt a special class of wizards and sorcerers had the ability to persuade dragons to act as sentinels. Dragons, like other reptiles, always stay close to their own territory (dragonhaunts); they eat rarely and are content with the occasional ox, sheep, or human; and they mate only once or twice a century. Consequently a dragon which had taken guard over a treasure was almost always at its post, either curled up at the entrance to the hoard or flying above it to keep watch for marauders.
A dragon did not normally pester humans, apart from occasional snack, but when thieves made an attempt on the treasure then a dragon's wrath was terrible indeed.
A notable example of drachenstahl [stealing treasure from a dragon] occured in Götaland, South Sweden, in about 512 AD. Some centuries earlier, a Göta king had been buried in the usual style, surrounded by all his treasure inside a great hollow mound or barrow, and a dragon had been placed on guard. For several hundred years the dragon lived in peace with the Göta's, emerging only at long intervals to eat a bullock or pig. On one of these occasions, a runaway slave entered the barrow and stole some of the treasure.
The dragon was so furious that it ravaged Götaland, burning orchards, farmhouses, and even the royal palace, and eating most of the livestock. The hero Beowulf was then the king of Götaland, but he had reigned for fifty years and was a very old man. Nevertheless he girded himself to face the dragon's teeth and claws, and with his henchman Wiglaf he tracked it back to the barrow. When they approached, the dragon rushed out at them with terrible roars and jets of flame. They dodged its first rush and attacked it with their swords, hacking again and again at the tough hide until at last the dragon died from its countless wounds. But Beowulf also was mortally wounded by a slash from one of the great claws, and when he died he was buried with the dragon's treasure.
The prevalence of dragons in the western world is indicated by such place names as Drakelow (which means 'dragon's barrow'), Drakeford, and Dragon's Hill in England; Drachenfels and Drakensberg ['dragon's mountains'] in Germany; and Dracha, Dragashani, Draga and Draconis in south-eastern Europe. There is a strong likelihood that Vlad Drakul [Count Dracula] was in some manner related to a dragon.
The day of the dragon ended during the first few centuries of Christianity, when wandering prophets and missionaries chose to represent these comparatively harmless and usefull creatures as emissaries of the devil. They had little difficulty in convincing superstitious knights, yeomen, and peasants that the firebreathing monsters, with their scaled bodies and fearsome claws and teeth, were incarnations of sin and must therefore be destroyed. Unfortunately, a certain number of sorcerers reinforced this belief, by using dragons to guard virgins stolen from the community or to protect themselves against investigation.
Good Christian knights, eager to prove their faith and chivalry, quickly discovered that dragon-hunting was a profitable venture. A young knight could establish his reputation and set himself up for a life by killing a dragon and taking its treasure. At the very least, he might ride away from the combat with a beautiful virgin perched on his saddelbow. Improved armour for knights and their charges, mailed gauntlets, lances up to 4 metres long, and even swords with supernatural strength, took a lot of the danger out of dragon-hunting and the creatures quickly became a rare and endangered species. Many of the noble houses of Europe were founded on the hoards of treasure stolen from dragons. Proabably it was at this time that fairy communities moved into the grave mounds and hollow hills for Britain, one occupied by dragons and their treasures.
A British or European dragon is now a highly unusual sight, and the merest hint of a dragonflight is enough to attract mobs of dragonwatchers. Fortunately, the same situation does not prevail in the Orient, where dragons have never been subjected to the remorseless hunting practised in the western world.
Oriental dragons are totally unlike those of other regions. Instead of acting as mere treasure-guards they involve themselves with all manner of human and cosmic affairs. The largest family of Oriental dragons lives in China, and comprises innumerable species ranging in size from a few metres long up to the Great Chien-Tang, who stretches 300 metres from nose to tail. Most of them are of an extrovert nature and they frequently intervene, for good or ill, in the fontunes of mankind.
The appearance of a dragon in the sky may usually be regarded as an omen of good fortune, unless its actions demonstrate otherwise. Dragonwatchers may predict the future of any community by studying the quarter of the sky in which a dragon appears, its attitudes and behaviour, and any significant actions such as roaring or fire-breathing.
Dragons - Content | Myths and Legends