Dragons

VHS cover

Dragons is the second episode of Creatures Fantastic, which aired in 1997 on the Discovery Channel and Arts Channel. The topic of this episode is the different roles of dragons in mythology, with their links to living reptiles and amphibians as well as exploring their relevance in the modern day.

## Episode

Click here for the full transcript for Dragons.

### Introduction

"*Enter the kingdom of the dragon. Ferocious, terrifying, benevolent, fire-breathing. Dragons are universal, known to everyone in the world. Sometimes they’re serene, sometimes terrifying, always beyond human control. But where did dragon myths come from? When ancient people found dinosaur bones, did they then imagine dragons? From trademarks to national flags to tales from mythology, the dragon can take many forms. But what do these dragon myths mean to us today?*"

### Episode outline

The episode opens by explaining that, in mythology, dragons are basically the same as snakes and serpents. It then introduces the six-thousand-year-old Egyptian story of the serpent-dragon Apep.

*The storyteller tells his first story, of how Apep would try to swallow Ra’s boat in the Nile of the Heavens, and night would fall when the sun set down Apep’s throat.*

The narrator then talks about how this story of a boat-attacking monster may have also been inspired by crocodiles. The ancient Egyptians tried to appease the crocodiles of the Nile by worshipping them at a temple in Crocodilopolis. The god Sobek had many dragon qualities, being associated with both the sun and its bounty and also with evil. A sacred crocodile kept in the temple was fed meals prepared by the priests and when it died, it was mummified and buried with jewellery. The discovery of dead crocodiles on piles of gold may have led to the belief that dragons guarded treasure. The Greeks also associated the dragon with crocodiles.

*The second story from the storyteller are the words of the Greek historian Herodotus, who describes how the animal was a master of both the land and the water.*

The word dragon comes from the Greek word drakon, which means watchfulness – this is an accurate representation of a hunting crocodile. The long lifespan of crocodiles may have also led to the belief that dragons were immortal. Many of the features of dragons such as the rough skin, the eyes, the teeth and the talons may have come from crocodiles and are also shared with monitor lizards. While Komodo dragons were discovered too late by the outside world to have influenced dragon lore, when it was first discovered no other description came to mind but dragon. Amphibians too have contributed to dragon biology, including the toxic fire salamander.

*The third story from the storyteller are the words of the ancient Roman natural historian Pliny, who describes the fire salamander being born of fire and also being able to quench fire with the frigidity of its body.*

This links to the dragon’s most destructive weapon, fire. Human responses to dragons vary depending on the culture. In China, dragons are positive spiritual beings that represent yin, the masculine force. Chinese dragons control everything and no Chinese person would ever try to slay one. Instead, they try to live peacefully with the beasts and receive blessings in the form of fertility – the rain and sunshine that farmers depend on were controlled by dragons. The Chinese New Year is done to wake the dragon up gently so there will be a fertile spring. The Year of the Dragon is the most important in the Chinese calendar and parents try to have children in this year, as it is believed they will be lucky, wise and powerful. The ancient earth science known as Feng Shui states that all energy in the world is either yin or yang. Yin includes dragons, mountains and the breezes they control, while yang is water and other constantly moving forces. Feng Shui is applied to architecture in China. Dragons are also a style of Kung Fu, representing a vision of truth felt in the body rather than the mind. Visions of truth felt in the mind are the pearls of wisdom, which fall from the heavens to Earth and either lodge in people’s minds or are caught by a dragon. A dragon with a pearl of wisdom may have inspired European ball-and-claw furniture legs. In Europe too, dragons were associated with the sky including constellations, comets and meteors.

*The fourth story from the storyteller is an eighth-century observation about how ‘dragons’ seen in the air were ominous signs of famine and war that soon followed.*

This story came from a Christian monk. The Bible never gave particularly good press to reptiles. Both early and medieval monks knew dragons very well, as they drew their images in bestiaries.

*The fifth story from the storyteller outlines the different kinds of reptiles – serpents that creep on their bellies, four-legged ones like lizards and newts and the Devil, which is compared to a dragon, that can fly and makes the air around him blaze.*

Unlike the Chinese, Christianity made the dragon into the Devil. It was the solemn duty of any Christian hero to slay a dragon whenever he could, with the most famous such hero being Saint George, who is generally accepted as being a Christian horseman who rode through the Roman empire in search of noble adventure which he found by the walled city of Silene.

*The sixth story from the storyteller is about Saint George setting out, following the trail of skulls and bones from the dragon’s former victims until he finds the cave that the dragon is hiding in. This is followed by an un-narrated sequence showing Saint George being surprised by the dragon before he bests it and finally kills it.*

The dragon may never truly be slain – it is a representation of nature’s chaos. In ancient times, the smiting of a dragon was synonymous with the mastering of destructive natural forces, such as the control of fire. To the modern day, people have continued to harness more powerful and dangerous things.

*The final story from the storyteller is about the exploding of nuclear bombs on sacred aboriginal grounds in Australia in the 1950s. When the aborigines, who had never been informed about what was to happen, saw the first mushroom clouds, they recognised it as a dragon.*

In some ways, we have brought the dragon under control. But as we try to impose order on chaos, the dragon simply becomes more unstoppable. Ultimately, the dragon represents the human challenge and as the dragon gets bigger, so does the human response. It may be that our biggest dragons now lay in our exploration of the universe – a dragon so big that it is infinite.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Sinaloan milk snake, *Lampropeltis triangulum sinaloae*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Fire salamander, *Salamandra salamandra*

### Stock footage

* Rat snake, *Colubridae*
* Viper, *Viperidae*
* Indian rock python, *Python molurus*
* Cottonmouth, *Agkistrodon piscivorus*
* Saltwater crocodile, *Crocodylus porosus*
* Thomson’s gazelle, *Eudorcas thomsonii*
* Nile crocodile, *Crocodylus niloticus*
* Asian water monitor lizard, *Varanus salvator*
* Komodo dragon, *Varanus komodoensis*
* Javan rusa, *Rusa timorensis*
* Fire salamander, *Salamandra salamandra*
* Domestic cattle, *Bos taurus*
* Mallard, *Anas platyrhynchos*
* Egyptian fruit bat, *Rousettus aegyptiacus*
* Yellow-bellied sea snake, *Hydrophis platurus*
* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*

## Stock footage sources

Land of the Eagle: The Great Encounter (1990) – Cottonmouth

Land of the Tiger: Sacred Waters (1997) – Indian rock python

Nomads of the Wind (1994) – Polynesian dancing

The Natural World: The Serpent’s Embrace (1990) – Sea snake

Wildlife on One

* A Graze with Danger (1994) – Crocodiles attacking gazelles
* Enter the Dragons (1991) – Komodo dragon

## Credits

* Director - Simon Everson
* Narrator - Zoë Wanamaker
* Storyteller - John Shrapnel
* With thanks to:
	+ Bristol City Council
	+ Acacia Productions Film Images
	+ NASA
	+ Space Telescope Science Institute / AURA
* Script Consultant - David Helton
* Series Adviser - Marina Walker
* Production Designer - Graeme Thomson
* Make-up Designers - Pam Haddock and Daphne Croker-Saunders
* Production Buyer - Geoff Royall
* Lighting Cameraman - Terry Flaxton
* Lighting Gaffer - Chris Thompson
* Dubbing Mixer - Jonathan Jenkins
* Picture Editor - William Ennals
* Music - The Insects
* Graphics - 4:2:2 Videographics
* First Assistant Director - Nick Gorman
* Runner - Richard Simpkins
* Researcher - Rebecca Cole-Morgan
* Production Co-ordinator - Jessica Powell
* Production Manager - Anne Bamber
* Unit Manager - Teresa Watts
* BBC Wildvision Executive Producer - David Wallace
* Discovery Channel Executive Producer - Tomi Landis
* Dorling Kindersley Vision Executive Producer - Simon Jollands
* Series Producer - Michael Waterhouse

## Home media releases

As with all Creatures Fantastic episodes, Dragons has only been released on VHS. The cover of the box shows a rocky cave wall, with the main picture being of the episode's CGI dragon spewing fire from its nostrils. Also on the cover is a small stained glass window depicting a knight on horseback killing a dragon, and a picture of the Golden Snake, an 18th century serpent motif found on a cafe in Prague.

The picture on the spine and back cover is a screenshot of the episode's CGI dragon standing and surrounded by flickering flames.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

Enter the kingdom of the **Dragon**. Follow St George into the dragon’s lair. Travel to Egypt and the Far East to discover how dragons mean different things to the world’s cultures. What does the dragon mean to people today? Discover how to some it is the embodiment of their fears, to others it is something evil to be slain, to others it is a benevolent creature to be worshipped.

Back cover of Dragons VHS

**Narrators** Zoë Wanamaker (primary narrator) • John Shrapnel (storyteller narrator)
**Episodes**: Creatures of the Night • **Dragons** • Creatures of the Deep • Mythical Cats • The Apocalypse • Werewolves • The Underworld • Man Beasts • Spirits of the Forest • Mythical Horses • Birds and Things with Wings • Tricky Tricksters • Aliens