Dragon

Dragons are creatures who appear in the myths of almost every culture in the world.

## Appearance

The body of a dragon is generally similar to that of either a crocodile or a snake, depending on the particular dragon, and their bodies are generally covered in scales. Their forelimbs (if present) and head are occasionally depicted as being similar to those of a lion, eagle, or hawk. Many dragons are depicted with wings.

Their exact physical appearance changes throughout the world, and most animals are incorporated in some way, shape, or form into a dragon somewhere. Examples of more unusual combinations include the Indian Yali and the Chinese Qilin, which have features of elephants and deer respectively.

Dragons in Christian traditions often have leathery, webbed feet and a pointed tail.

## Characteristics

Dragons often have some sort of breath weapon, often fire.

They often have the capability of making a great noise, such as a roar.

They often live in a cave, lake, stream, or the clouds, and guard a hoard of treasure. They are generally associated with water and/or earth, depending on the tradition.

Most dragons require human sacrifices, often a virgin princess.

Dragons are often associated with gods, and some, like Tiamat, are depicted as both dragon and god.

In the Indo-European tradition, dragons may have originally been associated with the Earth Mother, who uses them to keep humanity in check. Dragon-slayers are then to be considered the champions of humanity who stand against the will of a deity who is (somewhat) hostile to them.

## Dragon-Slayer Myths

Dragon-slayers are almost as common as dragons themselves in myths. Their stories typically involve the dragon being killed, having its head(s) cut off, and its tongue(s) removed. The dragon-slayer is then allowed to marry the princess he rescued as a reward for killing the dragon. Some versions have the dragon-slayer then going travelling before marrying the princess, returning after a number of years (typically 7) to find her about to be married to an imposter who claims to have killed the dragon, with the dragon-slayer proving he killed the dragon by producing the tongues he cut from it and then marrying the princess.

Greek mythology has an additional theme where the founder of a city sows the teeth of the dragon to create people.

In some cultures, the line between dragon and ogre is blurred, with multi-headed, fire-breathing ogres who kidnap princesses and live in similar lairs to dragon appearing. In Abrahamic traditions, dragons are associated with the devil, either being his minions, or one of his forms.

Famous dragon-slayers include:

* Apollo
* King Arthur
* Beowulf
* Daniel
* St. George
* Hercules
* Marduk
* St. Michael
* Perseus
* Siegfried
* Tristan
* Yahweh

## Origin

It was believed in the 20th century that dragons originated in Egypt, spreading first to the middle-east where most of the elements of their stories were developed, and from there both eastwards, through India to China, and westwards through Greece and into Europe.

We now know this to be false though: whereas cultural diffusion *is* responsible for the idea of dragons spreading throughout the world, there is no one origin for dragons - instead there are a number of origin points:

* Indo-European dragons, who have the largest geographical spread, originated in what is now modern Ukraine. From there they spread to Northern and Eastern Europe, and to Eastern Asia, from where they spread to northern Africa, Southern Europe, and India, where they were conflated with nagas, and from there into South-Eastern Asia through to Japan, and Eastern Asia, where they were conflated with Chinese dragons. From Western Europe in more recent times, they eventually spread to the Americas, southern parts of Africa, and Australia, amongst other places. This is the tradition that the dragon-slayer story is most closely associated with, with Trito being the reconstructed slayer of the Proto-Indo-European Dragon Ngwhi.
* Nagas were originally a serpent-worshipping ethnic group from Sri Lanka, who were adapted into the myths of India as serpent people. In Northern India, they were conflated with Indo-European dragons, and then were spread to Western Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Eastern Asia, where they were conflated with Chinese dragons.
* Chinese dragons are the earliest known dragons in the archaeological record, with the earliest known dating to C. 8KBP at a site on the Chinese-Mongolian border. Their spread is discussed in more detail in Chinese Folklore, including the influence from India, but these dragons spread throughout Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Asia, as far west as Eastern Iran by the medieval period, and to Istanbul by the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
* Mesoamerican dragons likely have an origin point in southern Mexico. Whether this is the origin point of dragons from native cultures further north and south is not yet known. There is also a small possibility of Indo-European influence on the dragons of the eastern parts of North America due to the Vinland colonies.
* There is likely at least one origin point in Africa which, combined with Indo-European dragons, influenced Egypt.
* Another origin point is thought to exist in Australia.
* There is a possibility of a middle-eastern origin point, though a study of middle-eastern dragons was inconclusive in determining whether there was an origin there separate from the Indo-European tradition that is common throughout the region.

## See Also

* Bear's Ear
* Bear's Son

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Leach, M. & Fried, J (1972). "Dragon", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.323
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Leach, M. (1972). "Dragon-fight or dragon-slaying theme", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.323-324
3. ↑ Unknown. (1972). "Rahab", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.920