Dragons

Poor fellow fleeing from dragon

Dragons come up in the mythology of almost every continent. They are mentioned in the St. George and the Dragon myth. One quote from Flavius Philostatus's book The Life of Apollonius of Tyana says, "The whole of India is girt with dragons of enormous size; for not only the marshes are full of them but the mountains as well, and there is not a single ridge without one." It goes on to talk about all the different types of dragons, where they live, and what they look like. Even in Jewish/Christian culture dragons are mentioned. Job 41 is a whole chapter that describes what the Bible calls the Leviathan, a dragon-like creature with dragon-like characteristics. It also hints that some one may have 'pierced the monster through.' In the book of Revelation, the dragon is the Devil himself, red and seven-headed. He is so big that when he sweeps his tail, a third of the stars are smashed out of course. Modern interpretations of dragons are everywhere. Books such as J.R.R. Tolkien's works, the inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Bryan Davis' many books, and Donita K. Paul's series, the Dragon Keeper Chronicles, all have dragons.

       So what are dragons? Dragons are generally described as scaly lizards that are winged and breathe fire. There are many interpretations of what dragons would look like, depending on which culture the dragon is from.
       Basically, there are two main categories of dragons--the Eastern dragon and the Chinese dragon. The Eastern dragon's origin is from European folk traditions, which, down to the basics, came from Greek and Middle-Earth...uh...Middle-Eastern mythology (this is supported partially by the fact that the Greek word 'drάkon' (drakon) means serpent of huge size or water snake). The Chinese dragon came from places like Japan, Korea, and other East Asian countries. The main differences between these two types of dragons are that the Eastern dragon has large, bat-like wings, while the Chinese dragon has little or now wings, and that the Eastern dragon has a lizard-like body while the Chinese has a long, snake-like one. Also the Chinese dragon is often seen with whiskers and is usually more brightly colored than the Eastern. 
       Note that the Eastern dragons are not to be confused with their cousins, the wyverns, which cannot breathe fire and have only hind legs and claws on their wings, instead of two sets of arms/legs and wings with or without claws. Dragons hatch from eggs, but in most tales they drink milk from their mother, so they aren't mammals or reptiles. Occasionally the have fur or hair, but are usually armored with brilliant and diamond-hard scales. Dragons, in many cultures, are respected and revered, and hold symbolism in various ways. For instance, in China, the emperor is depicted as a dragon. Dragons are highly intelligent in most stories and are often magically endowed and wise beyond understanding. They are often asssociated with bodies of water or weather. They are, more often than not, capable of speaking many languages, and in some tales, like the Old English, the drinking of their blood can grant the gift of tongues, or the ability to speak many languages. There are various animals that the dragon may have been derived from: the Nile crocodile, the spitting cobra, whales, snakes (the skeletons of both), and Komodo monitor lizards (Komodo dragons in English).

A dragon from Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls V

       In Greek mythology there were tellings of a species of dragon lived in Ethiopia and ate elephants, growing up to 180 feet long and outliving all other animals. 
       In European culture, they usually lived in rivers, had an underground lair, or lived in a cave. They rarely flew at all, and had thick hides.
       In Chinese mythology, dragons are long, snaky beasts, multicolored and in possession of the ability to fly. Dragons represented the emperor, and they are the only mythological creature in the Chinese calendar. 2012 is the year of the water dragon! Wooo!
       The Japanese myths depict the dragon the same way the Chinese do because they adopted the idea from the Chinese. The only difference is that the dragon is described as having three claws.
       In India, the Vedic religion had a creature called Vritra which was an Asura (a group of power-seeking deities in Hinduism) and also a naga (a snake/human deity in both Hinduism and Buddhism).
       In Persian culture, baby dragons were the same color as their mother's eyes. 

Saphira and Eragon from the live-action movie of Eragon

       In Slavic mythology, there were three words used for dragon--zmey, zmiy, and zmaj. The Romanian word zmeu was derived from the previous words. Russian dragons almost always had three heads, and if only one was cut off, another would grow back eventually.
       In Judaism, Christianity, and Catholicism, dragons are mentioned in the Bible or Torah in several places (Isaiah, Job, Psalms, Revelations). In Psalm 89, there is a water-demon called Rahab in Hebrew, not to be confused with Rahab from the fall of Jericho. In Isaiah 27, the Leviathan is mentioned.
       Dragons are often used as a symbol of sin, but should not be labeled because, honestly, they're pretty flippin' awesome and are powerful and kick-butt fighters. Not all dragons were depicted as evil, although in a lot of mythology there are dragon slayers, including St. George. They are often seen in videogames (Final Fantasy, the Elder Scrolls series, the Lord of the Rings Online, World of Warcraft...).
       The word 'draco' is associated with dragons, but is actually the genus (see [upcoming] classification guide) for a species of gliding lizard.
       In some books, such as Cornelia Funke's Dragon Rider and Chris Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, there are Dragon Riders. In the Inheritance Cycle, the dragons and Riders share a special bond and can use magic. Note that neither the Rider nor the dragon control one another! They are in balance, which is key.
       There was also an early firearm that released flames when fired, and therefore was dubbed with the name 'dragon'. The infantry that carried this gun were called dragoon. 


Hic sunt dracones, mates! Here be dragons! 




This post was written by Nihm and BlackSheik!

Sources--
•Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon 
•Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
•The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as J.R.R. Tolkien's other works
•The Harry Potter series!!! by J.K. Rowling
•The Dragon Keeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul
•All of Bryan Davis' books on dragons
•The Holy Bible, inspired and written by God


Picture Sources--
•Draconika.com http://www.draconika.com/chinese.php
http://www.draconika.com/types.php
•Pop Culture Playpen.com http://popcultureplaypen.com/2011/04/23/dragon-age/
•Vision Widget.com http://visionwidget.com/showcase/graphics/411-dragon-illustrations.html
•Hello Quizzy.com http://www.helloquizzy.com/quizzy/results?quizzyid_185974706679257538&resultid+46681671