Dragon

**Dragons** are magical flying and fire-breathing reptilian creatures. They existed on the continent of Essos, but the only remaining dragons are found in Westeros.

Newborn dragons are known as hatchlings; dragons that are older but not full-grown are known as drakes. Unbonded and unridden dragons are referred to as wild dragons, whereas dragons that have lost their riders are sometimes referred to as castle dragons.

## Appearance

Dragons are scaled, reptilian creatures. They have four limbs: two wings, which are used as forelegs like bats and pterosaurs, and two rear legs. George R. R. Martin's dragons thereby differ from the traditional depiction of dragons as six-limbed creatures. Martin came to his decision because he was bothered by the fact that no animal in nature has ever evolved in such a way (i.e. four legs and two wings).

Dragons have strong jaws, sharp teeth and claws, leathery wings, and long necks and tails, with horns on their heads. As young hatchlings, they are around the size of a cat. If it has enough food and freedom, a dragon never stops growing. A dragon given such freedom can reach a span width of twenty feet within a year and a half. Dragons which are locked up, e.g., the Targaryen dragons housed in the Dragonpit in King's Landing, do not grow as large as dragons left free to fly as they wish. Although increasing age means increasing size, a larger size does not necessarily show a higher age: for example, the wild dragon Cannibal, reportedly living on Dragonstone even before the Targaryens arrived there, was smaller than Vhagar and Vermithor, and Vermithor was considered bigger than Dreamfyre, despite being a few years younger than the other dragon. Balerion, the largest Targaryen dragon in history, was large enough to swallow an aurochs or a mammoth from Ibben whole.

According to Martin, the colour of a dragon has no bearing on its character.

Dragon bones are black, due to their high iron content. The polished skulls of the Targaryen dragons look like glittering onyx, and their teeth look like curved daggers of black diamond.

## Characteristics

It is said that dragons are fire made flesh. Great heat emanates from dragons' bodies, to the point that they steam during cold nights. When a dragon is wounded, their blood is known to smoke. Smoke often comes from a dragon's mouth and nostrils, and dragonflame is expelled from a dragon's gullet and out of its mouth.

Dragons are carnivore creatures, eating meat as well as fish, and breathing fire to cook their food before consuming it. They are also known to exhibit behaviour of opportunistic cannibalism.

A dragon's scales are largely, but not entirely, impervious to flame, and serve as protection for the more vulnerable flesh and musculature beneath. As a dragon ages, its scales thicken and grow harder, affording even more protection, leaving dragons nearly immune to fire, although they can still be wounded by dragonflame (e.g., Moondancer's eyes being blinded by Sunfyre's fire during the Dance of the Dragons). Similarly, as dragons age, the fire they breathe becomes hotter and fiercer. Where a hatchling's flame can set straw aflame, the flames of older dragons, like Balerion and Vhagar in the fullness of their power, could melt steel and stone.

Dragons are believed to be intrinsically tied to magic in the world.

### Life and death

The lifespan of dragons is many times that of a human, though their maximum natural lifespan is difficult to determine: as beasts of war, most of the known examples died in battle. Balerion, the largest and oldest Targaryen dragon, was already alive when House Targaryen moved from Valyria to Dragonstone in 114 B.C., and died of old age in 94 A.C. during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Balerion was at least two hundred and seven years old when he died, but as the only known example of a dragon who died of old age, it is unclear if this should be considered typical. It is possible that the wild dragon Cannibal, whose date and cause of death is unknown, was about two hundred and fifty years old during the reign of Aemon I Targaryen, if there is truth to the claim that he was living on Dragonstone even before the Targaryen's arrived there.

Dragons are not invulnerable. The eyes are where a dragon is most vulnerable, and the brain behind them. A scorpion's iron bolt through the eye killed Meraxes, and three arrows through the eye mercy killed a greatly wounded Tessarion. Unlike in stories, a dragon's underbelly scales are just as strong as those along their back and flanks. Young dragons, with their softer scales, are more vulnerable than older ones; on his rider's first flight, Stormcloud was hit by a scorpion bolt through his neck and shot by dozens of arrows into his belly, and died within the hour. Vermax's belly may have been torn by a grapnel, though the dragon definitely died when it became tangled in a sinking ship. Tales also speak of killing dragons with a spear down the gullet, but this is known to be impossible. Still, five dragons were killed in the storming of the Dragonpit, some with axes, spears, and swords, some crushed under stone or by strangulation.

Though it is rare for a man to be a dragonslayer, dragons have often been known to wound and kill other dragons, both in Westeros and Valyria. Many dragons killed each other during the Dance of the Dragons (129–131 A.C.), using their teeth and claws. Meleys half tore off Sunfyre's wing, and Sunfyre was also wounded by Moondancer, though not without blinding the other dragon's eyes with his flame. In a three-way fight between dragons, Vermithor ripped Seasmoke's head off, before he died from the wounds given to him by that dragon and by Tessarion. Earlier, Balerion crushed Quicksilver's neck with his teeth while tearing off her wing with his claws. When Balerion returned from a possible journey to Valyria with Princess Aerea Targaryen, the dragon had half-healed scars and bloody wounds from an unknown cause, including a nearly nine foot rent down his side.

### Reproduction

Historians, like Septon Barth, Grand Maester Munkun, and Maester Thomax, disagree on the mating habits of dragons. Dragons lay large, scaled eggs to reproduce. According to Archmaester Gyldayn, and agreed upon by Maester Yandel, the ability of a dragon to lay eggs is proof that said dragon is female. When a dragon is never observed to have laid eggs, this is taken as proof that it must have been male. However, according to Barth, dragons have no fixed gender, but are *“now one and now the other, as changeable as flame”*. Barth believed that dragons can change sex at need, but some believe this to be erroneous, and that Barth's statement is simply a misunderstood esoteric metaphor.

Dragons believed to be female, e.g., Syrax, Dreamfyre, Tessarion, and Meleys, are referred to as a *she-dragon* or sometimes a *queen*.

It is implied that the bonds of a dragonrider and their dragon may affect the dragon's mating habits. King Jaehaerys I Targaryen's dragon Vermithor often coiled with his Queen Alysanne Targaryen's Silverwing, even five decades after their riders' deaths. Daemon Targaryen and his wife, Laena Velaryon, often visited Dragonstone on their dragons Caraxes and Vhagar to fly with Rhaenyra Targaryen and Syrax, and during that period Syrax produced several clutches of eggs.

Traditionally, Targaryen princes received a dragon's egg in their cradle, allowing the infants to bond with the dragons as soon as the eggs hatched. This tradition supposedly started during the reign of King Aegon I Targaryen, when Princess Rhaena Targaryen placed a dragon egg in the cradles of her younger siblings, Jaehaerys and Alysanne shortly after their births. From these two eggs, the dragons Vermithor and Silverwing hatched. During the rule of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the king placed an egg in the cradle of his newborn son, Aemon, in 55 A.C., at the suggestion of Queen Alysanne Targaryen. During the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, placing a dragon egg in the cradle of a newborn princeling became truly customary. Jacaerys Velaryon, Lucerys Velaryon, Joffrey Velaryon, Viserys Targaryen, Jaehaerys Targaryen, Jaehaera Targaryen, and Maelor Targaryen are all known to have received an egg in their cradle during Viserys I's reign. During the reign of King Aeric I Targaryen, eggs were placed in the cradles of Aemon (and his sons, Maegor and Aerys), Vaegon, Aerion, Jaeghar, Daelaena, Rhaenerys and Lucerys.

Un-hatched eggs can become petrified at an old age, turning to stone, as seen by the egg that was placed in Aerion's cradle and would never hatch. Aerion consequently claimed his grandfather's castle dragon, Gaelithox.

## Culture

Dragons are depicted in the sigils of several Westerosi Houses and personal arms.

Dragonbone is as strong as steel, but lighter and far more flexible, and impervious to fire. It has been used to make brooches, bows, hilts of Valyrian steel daggers, and whip handles.

Dragon eggs are highly valuable, for their beauty and rarity, as well as their link to monarchial legitimacy and potential to hatch a dragon.

There are many songs and tales of legendary dragonslayers, most existing long before dragons definitely arrived in Westeros.

### Dragonriders

Main article: Dragonrider

Dragons are intelligent creatures which can be trained to serve as battle mounts and understand vocal commands. They are said to be capricious in nature, and have to be trained to keep them from laying waste to everything around them. However, dragons will not allow everyone to mount them. In Valyria, the noble-born dragonriding families, the dragonlord families, frequently married brother to sister to keep the bloodline pure, and it is generally believed that Valyrian heritage plays a part. During the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon called upon Targaryen bastards and their descendants, the so-called dragonseeds, to try and mount a dragon. Regardless, men without Valyrian descent made their attempts as well. Having Valyrian blood (no matter how directly) is not a guarantee that bonding with a dragon will be successful.

Once a dragon has bonded with a rider, that dragon will not allow anyone else to mount it alone while its rider lives, no matter how familiar said person might be to the dragon. But when the person bonded to the dragon is on the dragon's back, they may take a passenger. When the rider of a dragon dies, that dragon can bond with a new rider. No rider has ever been known to ride a different dragon while their current dragon was alive. However, when Prince Viserys Targaryen's dragon Balerion died, according to Martin, "[Viserys] did not take a second dragon", leaving the possibility that a rider might bond with a new dragon after his/her first dragon has died. Indeed, Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, following the death of her dragon Syrax, insisted on finding more dragon eggs, as she "must have another dragon", as did King Aegon II Targaryen after the death of his dragon Sunfyre. Dragons who have had a rider once before are easier to bond with than wild dragons.

A dragon might to be able to sense when its current rider is in distress or has died. This is implied in the case of the dragon Dreamfyre, who, despite being locked and chained in the Dragonpit, is said to have sensed when her rider Helaena Targaryen committed suicide in Maegor's Holdfast, at the other side of King's Landing. The sense of connection between dragon and rider may also be mutual.

Dragonriders usually ride their dragons using special saddles. Chains attached to the saddle are fastened to the rider's belt, for security. However, a rider, such as Daemon Targaryen, can leave their chains dangling, if they wish. A dragonrider may also ride without a saddle, their legs around the dragon's back or neck.

## History

### Ancient Dragons

The Valyrians claimed that dragons sprang forth from the Fourteen Flames, a ring of volcanoes on the Valyrian peninsula. In Qarth, tales state dragons came from a second moon in the sky, which was scalded by the sun and cracked like an egg, and a million dragons poured forth. Dragons are also said to have originated from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai and the islands of the Jade Sea. Ancient tales from Asshai claim that an unnamed people first tamed these dragons, brought them to Valyria, and taught the Valyrians their arts before departing from the annals of history. Some theorise that dragons were created by Valyrian bloodmages using wyverns, which are flying reptiles that do not breathe flame. Dragons may also be related to firewyrms, which are wingless reptilian creatures that do breathe flame, that may have lived in the Fourteen Flames before the dragons arrived there.

Dragons populated most of the known world in ages past, and ancient dragon bones have been found as far north as Ib and as south as the jungles of Sothoryos. The yellow emperor Chai Duq of Yi Ti is said to have kept a dragon at his court after marrying a noblewoman from Valyria.

In Westeros, Ser Galladon of Morne is said to have slain a dragon with the Just Maid, Crackbones allegedly twisted a dragon's neck into a knot, and Serwyn of the Mirror Shield slew the dragon Urrax. Davos the Dragonslayer is a hero beloved in the Reach, and dragons are also said to have once roosted on Battle Isle until the first Hightower put an end to them. Smallfolk claim that the hot springs below Winterfell are warmed by the breath of a subterranean dragon.

Outside of Westeros, dragons, demons, and other creatures are said to inhabit the cliff caves above the Ash north of Asshai. Sea dragons in the Sunset Sea and ice dragons in the Shivering Sea are recalled in legends and folklore, but scholars have no proof of their existence, or how closely related they are to dragons. Nagga is said to have been the first sea dragon.

### Valyrian Freehold

See also: Valyrian Freehold

The Valyrians were originally a civilization of humble shepherds, who discovered dragons in the Fourteen Flames, a ring of volcanoes on the Valyrian peninsula. They mastered the art of raising dragons, and used them as weapons of war to carve out a massive empire, the Valyrian Freehold. Valyrians told tales of themselves that claimed they were descended from dragons, and were kin to the ones they now controlled. The Valyrians are said to have used binding spells and sorcerous dragon horns to control their dragons.

The Valyrians used dragons to conquer the Old Empire of Ghis in the Ghiscari wars, and hundreds of dragons were employed by Valyria during the Rhoynish Wars.

On the day of the Doom of Valyria in 102 B.C., the Fourteen Flames and every hill for five hundred miles exploded, filling the air with ash and smoke and fire, which killed even the dragons in the sky. The dragonlords and dragons gathered in Valyria were all killed. A few dragonlords in Lys and Tyrosh survived, but they were soon killed in the political chaos after the Doom, along with their dragons. In Qohor, the dragonlord Aurion declared himself Emperor of Valyria and led a host of thirty thousand men toward Valyria, but he, his great dragon, and his followers were not seen again. The time of dragons in Essos was over.

### The Targaryen Dragons

See also: House Targaryen

After the Doom and the chaos afterward, the only dragons known to have survived were on the island of Dragonstone. They belonged to House Targaryen, who had brought five dragons from Valyria when Lord Aenar Targaryen and his family emigrated twelve years before, in 114 B.C. Four of these dragons eventually died on Dragonstone, leaving only Balerion. However, the other dragons left eggs behind, and from these hatched Vhagar and Meraxes.

Balerion was eventually claimed by Lord Aegon Targaryen, some time before he married his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys. Aegon became involved in the wars in the Disputed Lands when Pentos and Tyrosh approached him, inviting him to join a grand alliance against Volantis. Aegon flew Balerion to meet the Prince of Pentos and the magisters of the Free City, then flew to Lys in time to set ablaze a Volantene fleet trying to take the city.

As the Century of Blood came to an end, Aegon's interest in Westeros grew. His sister-wife Visenya had claimed Vhagar, and his other sister-wife Rhaenys rode Meraxes. In 2 B.C .– 1 A.C., Aegon and his sisters used Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes in their Wars of Conquest against the Seven Kingdoms. Dragons were instrumental in the Burning of Harrenhal and the Field of Fire, and the threat of dragons led to the submissions of Torrhen Stark and Sharra Arryn. Dragons were also used in the First Dornish War, which caused the death of Rhaenys and Meraxes at the Hellholt in 10 A.C.

Many dragons were hatched after Aegon's Conquest. During Aegon I's reign, "half a dozen" hatchlings were born on Dragonstone. One of the first was Quicksilver, hatched in 7 A.C., who bonded with Aegon I's elder son and heir, Aenys. Another two dragons hatched during the first year of Aenys' reign, in 38 A.C. Dragon fought dragon for the first time since the Doom of Valyria in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, resulting in the death of Quicksilver in 43 A.C.

Over the course of one hundred and fifty years, the Targaryens rode their dragons as a symbol of their power, and as a means of transport. In addition, a valuable golden coin of the kingdom became known as a golden dragon. It is said that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen took six dragons with him to the north, including Jaehaerys's Vermithor and Queen Alysanne's Silverwing, to visit the Warden of the region; however, it is possible that the story is just a fable, since the historical record of the visit does not mention that number of dragons.

Balerion died of old age in 94 A.C., late in the reign of Jaehaerys I. Jaehaerys's grandson and eventual successor Viserys I was Balerion's rider at the time of its death. This left Vhagar as the largest living dragon, and by 129 A.C. she was approaching Balerion's size.

By 129 A.C., on the eve of civil war between Rhaenyra and Aegon II, there were twenty living dragons. The largest and oldest dragons were Vhagar, Vermithor, Silverwing, Dreamfyre, Meleys, Caraxes, and Syrax. Younger dragons still large enough to be ridden to war were Seasmoke, Sunfyre, Tessarion, Vermax, Arrax, Tyraxes, and Moondancer. Stormcloud, Morghul, and Shrykos were very young dragons, not yet big enough to ride.

There were also three wild dragons living on Dragonstone which had never been successfully claimed by any rider: Grey Ghost, Sheepstealer, and the Cannibal. Sheepstealer hatched when Jaehaerys I was still young, and the Cannibal was even older (none knew for certain when it had hatched), and thus they were also quite large by the time of the Dance of the Dragons, while Grey Ghost was a younger and smaller beast.

## Books and Scrolls about Dragons

* *Blood and Fire* by an anonymous author
* *Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History* by Septon Barth
* *The Death of Dragons* by Maester Thomax
* *Truth* by Maester Anson
* *Against the Unnatural* by Maester Vanyon
* *The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling* by Grand Maester Munkun
* *Dragonkin* by Maester Thomax