Adragon is a mythical creature found in thefolklore of cultures throughout the world. It is roughly serpentine in form, and often possesses features drawn from different animals, such as wings and claws.[1] In nearly all cultures, it is conceived of as a powerful and awe-inspiring creature.[2]
Dragon-like creatures appear inancient Mesopotamian art, where they could be hostile or benevolent.[3] InEast Asia, dragons were usually regarded as positive beings;[4]Chinese dragons were thought to govern the rain, the sea, and other forms of water, and from theHan dynasty onwards they were emblems of imperial power.[5] Ancient Greekdrakontes were large serpents endowed with supernatural qualities; in myth they were defeated byheroes or gods, whereas incult they were gentle figures associated with healing and wealth.[6] In the Western tradition, dragons have been depicted as fire-breathing embodiments of evil, associated with death.[7] In the modern world, dragons have featured in works by writers such asJ. R. R. Tolkien,Ursula Le Guin, andGeorge R. R. Martin.[8]
The worddragon entered theEnglish language in the early 13th century fromOld Frenchdragon, which, in turn, comes fromLatindraco (genitivedraconis), meaning "huge serpent, dragon", fromAncient Greek:δράκων,drákōn (genitiveδράκοντος,drákontos) "serpent".[10][11] The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological.[12] The Greek wordδράκων is most likely derived from the Greek verbδέρκομαι (dérkomai) meaning "I see", theaorist form of which isἔδρακον (édrakon).[11] This is thought to have referred to something with a "deadly glance",[13] or unusually bright[14] or "sharp"[15][16] eyes, or because a snake's eyes appear to be always open; each eye actually sees through a big transparent scale in its eyelids, which are permanently shut. The Greek word probably derives from anIndo-European base*derḱ- meaning "to see"; theSanskrit rootदृश् (dr̥ś-) also means "to see".[17]
In his bookAn Instinct for Dragons (2000), anthropologist David E. Jones suggests a hypothesis that humans, likemonkeys, have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes,large cats, andbirds of prey.[20] He cites a study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes[21] and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children, even in areas where snakes are rare.[21] The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes.[22] Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans' primate ancestors.[23] Dragons are usually said to reside in "dark caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches, sea bottoms, haunted forests", all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors.[24]
In her bookThe First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2000),Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging todinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.[25] She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of theSiwalik Hills below theHimalayas"[26] and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of theMonster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils ofSamotherium, an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region.[26] In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones"[27] and are commonly used intraditional Chinese medicine.[27] Mayor, however, is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils[27] and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils."[27] In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such asKomodo dragons,Gila monsters,iguanas,alligators, or, in California,alligator lizards, though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region."[28]
Robert Blust inThe Origin of Dragons (2000) argues that, like many other creations of traditional cultures, dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre-scientific speculation about the world of real events. In this case, the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought, with particular attention paid to the phenomenon of the rainbow.[29]
Illustration from an ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscript showing the godSet spearing the serpentApep as he attacks thesun boat ofRa
InEgyptian mythology,Apep or Apophis is a giant serpentine creature who resides in theDuat, the Egyptian underworld.[30][31] The Bremner-Rhind papyrus, written around 310 BC, preserves an account of a much older Egyptian tradition that the setting of the sun is caused byRa descending to the Duat to battle Apep.[30][31] In some accounts, Apep is as long as the height of eight men with a head made offlint.[31] Thunderstorms and earthquakes were thought to be caused by Apep's roar[32] andsolar eclipses were thought to be the result of Apep attacking Ra during the daytime.[32] In some myths, Apep is slain by the godSet.[33]Nehebkau is another giant serpent who guards the Duat and aided Ra in his battle against Apep.[32] Nehebkau was so massive in some stories that the entire earth was believed to rest atop his coils.[32] Denwen is a giant serpent mentioned in thePyramid Texts whose body was made of fire and who ignited a conflagration that nearly destroyed all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon.[34] He was ultimately defeated by thePharaoh, a victory which affirmed the Pharaoh's divine right to rule.[35]
Theouroboros was a well-known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail.[36] The precursor to the ouroboros was the "Many-Faced",[36] a serpent with five heads, who, according to theAmduat, the oldest survivingBook of the Afterlife, was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively.[36] The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines inthe tomb ofTutankhamun.[36] In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol byGnostic Christians[37] and chapter 136 of thePistis Sophia, an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth".[37] In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail.[36] A famous image of the dragon gnawing on its tail from the eleventh-centuryCodex Marcianus was copied in numerous works on alchemy.[36]
Ancient people across theNear East believed in creatures similar to what modern people call "dragons".[39] These ancient people were unaware of the existence ofdinosaurs or similar creatures in the distant past.[39] References to dragons of both benevolent and malevolent characters occur throughout ancientMesopotamian literature.[39] InSumerian poetry, great kings are often compared to theušumgal, a gigantic, serpentine monster.[39] A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind-legs, tail, and wings of a bird appears inMesopotamian artwork from theAkkadian Period (c. 2334 – 2154 BC) until theNeo-Babylonian Period (626 BC–539 BC).[40] The dragon is usually shown with its mouth open.[40] It may have been known as the(ūmu) nā'iru, which means "roaring weather beast",[40] and may have been associated with the godIshkur (Hadad).[40] A slightly different lion-dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from theNeo-Assyrian Period (911 BC–609 BC).[40] A relief probably commissioned bySennacherib shows the godsAshur,Sin, and Adad standing on its back.[40]
Another draconic creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until theHellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC).[38] This creature, known inAkkadian as themušḫuššu, meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as a general protective emblem.[38] It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld godNinazu,[38] but later became the attendant to theHurrian storm-godTishpak, as well as, later, Ninazu's sonNingishzida, the Babyloniannational godMarduk, the scribal godNabu, and the Assyrian national god Ashur.[38]
Scholars disagree regarding the appearance ofTiamat, the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos, slain by Marduk in the Babylonian creation epicEnûma Eliš.[41][42] She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent,[42] but several scholars have pointed out that this shape "cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty"[42] and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic.[41][42] Nonetheless, in some texts, she seems to be described with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate,[41] all features which suggest she was conceived as some form of dragoness.[41]
In the mythologies of theUgarit region, specifically theBaal Cycle from theUgaritic texts, the sea-dragonLōtanu is described as "the twisting serpent / the powerful one with seven heads."[43] InKTU 1.5 I 2–3, Lōtanu is slain by the storm-godBaal,[43] but, inKTU 1.3 III 41–42, he is instead slain by the virgin warrior goddessAnat.[43]
In theHebrew Bible, in theBook of Psalms,Psalm 74, Psalm 74:13–14, the sea-dragonLeviathan, is slain byYahweh, god of the kingdoms ofIsrael andJudah, as part of the creation of the world.[43][44] Isaiah describes Leviathan as atanin (תנין), which is translated as "sea monster", "serpent", or "dragon".[45] In Isaiah 27:1, Yahweh's destruction of Leviathan is foretold as part of his impending overhaul of the universal order:[46][47]
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent — Leviathan the coiling serpent — and He will slay the dragon of the sea.[48]
Job 41:1–34 contains a detailed description of Leviathan, who is described as being so powerful that only Yahweh can overcome it.[49] Job 41:19–21 states that Leviathan exhales fire and smoke, making its identification as a mythical dragon clearly apparent.[49] In some parts of the Old Testament, Leviathan is historicized as a symbol for the nations that stand against Yahweh.[44] Rahab, a synonym for "Leviathan", is used in several Biblical passages in reference toEgypt.[44] Isaiah 30:7 declares: "For Egypt's help is worthless and empty, therefore I have called her 'the silencedRahab'."[44] Similarly, Psalm 87:3 reads: "I reckon Rahab and Babylon as those that know me..."[44] In Ezekiel 29:3–5 and Ezekiel 32:2–8, thepharaoh of Egypt is described as a "dragon" (tannîn).[44] In thedeuterocanonical story ofBel and the Dragon from theBook of Daniel, the prophetDaniel sees a dragon being worshipped by the Babylonians.[50] Daniel makes "cakes of pitch, fat, and hair";[50] the dragon eats them and bursts open.[51][50]
Azhi Dahaka (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon.[52] The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and the Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", OldArmenian mythological figureAzhdahak, Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها).The name also migrated to Eastern Europe, assumed the form "azhdaja" and the meaning "dragon", "dragoness" or "water snake" in the Balkanic and Slavic languages.[53][54][55]
Despite the negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples.
TheAzhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka.
In PersianSufi literature,Rumi writes in hisMasnavi[56] that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul (nafs), greed and lust, that need to be mortified in a spiritual battle.[57][58]
Rustam kills the dragon, folio from Shahnameh of Shah Ismail II, attrib. Sadegi (Beg), Iran, Tabriz, c. 1576 AD, view 1 – Aga Khan Museum – Toronto, Canada
In Ferdowsi'sShahnameh, theIranian heroRostam must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse,Rakhsh. As Rostam is sleeping, the dragon approaches; Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam, but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon. Rakhsh bites the dragon, while Rostam decapitates it. This is the third trial of Rostam'sSeven Labors.[59][60][61]
Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in theShahnameh and in other Iranian oral traditions, notably in the myth ofBabr-e-Bayan. In this tale, Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the "Orient" (either India or China, depending on the source) by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades. The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts, after which Rostam flays the dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called thebabr-e bayān. In some variants of the story, Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights, but is guarded by his steedRakhsh. On reviving, he washes himself in a spring. In theMandean tradition of the story, Rostam hides in a box, is swallowed by the dragon, and kills it from inside its belly. The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as a reward.[62][63]
The word "dragon" has come to be applied to thelegendary creature inChinese mythology,loong (traditional 龍, simplified 龙, Japanese simplified 竜,Pinyinlóng), which is associated with good fortune, and manyEast Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions. Dragons were also identified with theEmperor of China, who, during later Chinese imperial history, was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles.Archaeologist Zhōu Chong-Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is anonomatopoeia of the sound of thunder[64] orlùhng inCantonese.[65]
The Chinese dragon (simplified Chinese:龙;traditional Chinese:龍;pinyin:lóng) is the highest-ranking creature in the Chinese animal hierarchy. Its origins are vague, but its "ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels."[66] A number of popular stories deal with the rearing of dragons.[67] TheZuo zhuan, which was probably written during theWarring States period, describes a man named Dongfu, a descendant of Yangshu'an, who loved dragons[67] and, because he could understand a dragon's will, he was able to tame them and raise them well.[67] He served Emperor Shun, who gave him the family name Huanlong, meaning "dragon-raiser".[67] In another story,Kong Jia, the fourteenth emperor of theXia dynasty, was given a male and a female dragon as a reward for his obedience to the god of heaven,[67] but could not train them, so he hired a dragon-trainer named Liulei, who had learned how to train dragons from Huanlong.[67] One day, the female dragon died unexpectedly, so Liulei secretly chopped her up, cooked her meat, and served it to the king,[67] who loved it so much that he demanded Liulei to serve him the same meal again.[67] Since Liulei had no means of procuring more dragon meat, he fled the palace.[67]
One of the most famous dragon stories is about the Lord Ye Gao, who loved dragons obsessively, even though he had never seen one.[68] He decorated his whole house with dragon motifs[68] and, seeing this display of admiration, a real dragon came and visited Ye Gao,[68] but the lord was so terrified at the sight of the creature that he ran away.[68] In Chinese legend, the culture heroFu Hsi is said to have been crossing theLo River, when he saw thelung ma, a Chinese horse-dragon with seven dots on its face, six on its back, eight on its left flank, and nine on its right flank.[69] He was so moved by this apparition that, when he arrived home, he drew a picture of it, including the dots.[69] He later used these dots as letters and inventedChinese writing, which he used to write his bookI Ching.[69] In another Chinese legend, the physician Ma Shih Huang is said to have healed a sick dragon.[70] Another legend reports that a man once came to the healer Lo Chên-jen, telling him that he was a dragon and that he needed to be healed.[70] After Lo Chên-jen healed the man, a dragon appeared to him and carried him to heaven.[70]
In theShanhaijing, a classic mythography probably compiled mostly during theHan dynasty, various deities and demigods are associated with dragons.[71] One of the most famous Chinese dragons is Ying Long ("responding dragon"), who helped theHuangdi, the Yellow Emperor, defeat the tyrantChiyou.[72] The dragonZhulong ("torch dragon") is a god "who composed the universe with his body."[72] In theShanhaijing, many mythic heroes are said to have been conceived after their mothers copulated with divine dragons, including Huangdi,Shennong,Emperor Yao, andEmperor Shun.[72] The godZhurong and the emperorQi are both described as being carried by two dragons,[73] as are Huangdi,Zhuanxu,Yuqiang, and Roshou in various other texts.[67] According to theHuainanzi, an evil black dragon once caused a destructive deluge,[67] which was ended by the mother goddessNüwa by slaying the dragon.[67]
A large number of ethnic myths about dragons are told throughout China.[67] TheHouhanshu, compiled in the fifth century BC byFan Ye, reports a story belonging to the Ailaoyi people, which holds that a woman named Shayi who lived in the region aroundMount Lao became pregnant with ten sons after being touched by a tree trunk floating in the water while fishing.[72] She gave birth to the sons and the tree trunk turned into a dragon, who asked to see his sons.[72] The woman showed them to him,[72] but all of them ran away except for the youngest, who the dragon licked on the back and named Jiu Long, meaning "sitting back".[72] The sons later elected him king and the descendants of the ten sons became the Ailaoyi people, whotattooed dragons on their backs in honor of their ancestor.[72] TheMiao people of southwest China have a story that a divine dragon created the first humans by breathing on monkeys that came to play in his cave.[67] TheHan people have many stories about Short-Tailed Old Li, a black dragon who was born to a poor family inShandong.[68] When his mother saw him for the first time, she fainted[68] and, when his father came home from the field and saw him, he hit him with a spade and cut off part of his tail.[68] Li burst through the ceiling and flew away to theBlack Dragon River in northeast China, where he became the god of that river.[74] On the anniversary of his mother's death on the Chinese lunar calendar, Old Li returns home, causing it to rain.[75] He is still worshipped as a rain god.[75]
Diagram representing the Four Dragon Kings of theFour Seas in relation to the central Dragon King of the Earth
In China, a dragon is thought to have power over rain. Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs ofdragon dancing anddragon boat racing. Dragons are closely associated with rain[76] anddrought is thought to be caused by a dragon's laziness.[77] Prayers invoking dragons to bring rain are common in Chinese texts.[76] TheLuxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals, attributed to the Han dynasty scholarDong Zhongshu, prescribes making clay figurines of dragons during a time of drought and having young men and boys pace and dance among the figurines in order to encourage the dragons to bring rain.[76] Texts from theQing dynasty advise hurling the bone of a tiger or dirty objects into the pool where the dragon lives;[77] since dragons cannot stand tigers or dirt, the dragon of the pool will cause heavy rain to drive the object out.[77] Rainmaking rituals invoking dragons are still very common in many Chinese villages, where each village has its own god said to bring rain and many of these gods are dragons.[77] The Chinese dragon kings are thought of as the inspiration for the Hindu myth of the naga.[77] According to these stories, every body of water is ruled by a dragon king, each with a different power, rank, and ability,[77] so people began establishing temples across the countryside dedicated to these figures.[77]
Head of a dragon from a Chinesedragon dance performed inHelsinki in the year 2000.
Many traditional Chinese customs revolve around dragons.[78] During various holidays, including theSpring Festival andLantern Festival, villagers will construct an approximately sixteen-foot-long dragon from grass, cloth, bamboo strips, and paper, which they will parade through the city as part of adragon dance.[79] The original purpose of this ritual was to bring good weather and a strong harvest,[79] but now it is done mostly only for entertainment.[79] During theDuanwu festival, several villages, or even a whole province, will hold adragon boat race, in which people race across a body of water in boats carved to look like dragons, while a large audience watches on the banks.[79] The custom is traditionally said to have originated after the poetQu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in theMiluo River and people raced out in boats hoping to save him.[79] But most historians agree that the custom actually originated much earlier as a ritual to avert ill fortune.[79] Starting during the Han dynasty and continuing until the Qing dynasty, theChinese emperor gradually became closely identified with dragons,[79] and emperors themselves claimed to be the incarnations of a divine dragon.[79] Eventually, dragons were only allowed to appear on clothing, houses, and articles of everyday use belonging to the emperor[79] and any commoner who possessed everyday items bearing the image of the dragon was ordered to be executed.[79] After the last Chinese emperor was overthrown in 1911, this situation changed and now many ordinary Chinese people identify themselves as descendants of dragons.[80]
The impression of dragons in a large number of Asian countries has been influenced by Chinese culture, such as Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and so on. Chinese tradition has always used the dragon totem as the national emblem, and the "Yellow Dragon flag" of the Qing dynasty has influenced the impression that China is a dragon in many European countries.
The Korean dragon is in many ways similar in appearance to other East Asian dragons such as theChinese andJapanese dragons. It differs from the Chinese dragon in that it developed a longer beard. Very occasionally, a dragon may be depicted as carrying an orb known as the Yeouiju (여의주), the Korean name for the mythicalCintamani, in its claws or its mouth. It was said that whoever could wield the Yeouiju was blessed with the abilities of omnipotence and creation at will, and that only four-toed dragons (who had thumbs with which to hold the orbs) were both wise and powerful enough to wield these orbs, as opposed to the lesser, three-toed dragons. As with China, the number nine is significant and auspicious in Korea, and dragons were said to have 81 (9×9) scales on their backs, representing yang essence. Dragons in Korean mythology are primarily benevolent beings related to water and agriculture, often considered bringers of rain and clouds. Hence, many Korean dragons are said to have resided in rivers, lakes, oceans, or even deep mountain ponds. And human journeys to undersea realms, and especially the undersea palace of the Dragon King (용왕), are common in Korean folklore.[81]
In Korean myths, some kings who founded kingdoms were described as descendants of dragons because the dragon was a symbol of the monarch.Lady Aryeong, who was the first queen ofSilla, is said to have been born from acockatrice,[82] while the grandmother ofTaejo of Goryeo, founder ofGoryeo, was reportedly the daughter of the dragon king of the West Sea.[83] AndKing Munmu of Silla who, on his deathbed, wished to become a dragon of the East Sea in order to protect the kingdom. Dragon patterns were used exclusively by the royal family. The royal robe was also called the dragon robe (용포). In theJoseon period, the royal insignia, featuring embroidered dragons, were attached to the robe's shoulders, the chest, and back. The King wore five-taloned dragon insignia while the Crown Prince wore four-taloned dragon insignia.[84]
Korean folk mythology states that most dragons were originallyimugis [ko] (이무기), or lesser dragons, which were said to resemble gigantic serpents. There are a few different versions of Korean folklore that describe both what imugis are and how they aspire to become full-fledged dragons. Koreans thought that an Imugi could become a true dragon,yong ormireu, if it caught a Yeouiju which had fallen from heaven. Another explanation states they are hornless creatures resembling dragons who have been cursed and thus were unable to become dragons. By other accounts, an Imugi is aproto-dragon which must survive one thousand years in order to become a fully-fledged dragon. In either case, they are said to be large, benevolent,python-like creatures that live in water or caves, and their sighting is associated with good luck.[85]
Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China. Like some other dragons, most Japanese dragons arewater deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Gould writes (1896:248),[86] the Japanese dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws". A story about thesamuraiMinamoto no Mitsunaka tells that, while he was hunting in his own territory ofSettsu, he dreamt under a tree and had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared to him and begged him to save her land from a giant serpent which was defiling it.[70] Mitsunaka agreed to help and the maiden gave him a magnificent horse.[70] When he woke up, the seahorse was standing before him.[70] He rode it to theSumiyoshi temple, where he prayed for eight days.[70] Then he confronted the serpent and slew it with an arrow.[70]
It was believed that dragons could be appeased orexorcised with metal.[70]Nitta Yoshisada is said to have hurled a famous sword into the sea atSagami to appease the dragon-god of the sea[70] andKi no Tsurayuki threw a metal mirror into the sea at Sumiyoshi for the same purpose.[70] Japanese Buddhism has also adapted dragons by subjecting them toBuddhist law;[70] the Japanese Buddhist deitiesBenten andKwannon are often shown sitting or standing on the back of a dragon.[70] Several Japanesesennin ("immortals") have taken dragons as their mounts.[70] Bômô is said to have hurled his staff into a puddle of water, causing a dragon to come forth and let him ride it to heaven.[70] Therakan Handaka is said to have been able to conjure a dragon out of a bowl, which he is often shown playing with onkagamibuta.[70] Theshachihoko is a creature with the head of a dragon, a bushy tail, fishlike scales, and sometimes with fire emerging from its armpits.[70] Thefun has the head of a dragon, feathered wings, and the tail and claws of a bird.[70] A white dragon was believed to reside in a pool inYamashiro Province[87] and, every fifty years, it would turn into a bird called the Ogonchô, which had a call like the "howling of a wild dog".[87] This event was believed to herald terrible famine.[87] In the Japanese village of Okumura, nearEdo, during times of drought, the villagers would make a dragon effigy out of straw,magnolia leaves, andbamboo and parade it through the village to attract rainfall.[87]
The Vietnamese dragon (Vietnamese:rồng) was a mythical creature that was often used as a deity symbol and was associated with royalty.[88][better source needed] Similar to other cultures, dragons in Vietnamese culture represent yang and godly beings associated with creation and life. In the creation myth of theVietnamese people, they are descended from the dragon lordLạc Long Quân and the fairyÂu Cơ, who bore 100 eggs. When they separated, Lạc Long Quân brought 50 children to the sea while Âu Cơ brought the rest up the mountains. To this day, Vietnamese people often describe themselves as "Children of the dragon, grandchildren of the fairy" (Con rồng cháu tiên).[89]
Head of the dragon-godPakhangba depicted on a musical instrument fromManipur, India
In theRigveda, the oldest of the fourVedas,Indra, the Vedic god of storms, battlesVṛtra, a giant serpent who represents drought.[90] Indra kills Vṛtra using hisvajra (thunderbolt) and clears the path for rain,[91][92] which is described in the form of cattle: "You won the cows, hero, you won theSoma,/You freed the seven streams to flow" (Rigveda 1.32.12).[93] In another Rigvedic legend, the three-headed serpentViśvarūpa, the son ofTvaṣṭṛ, guards a wealth of cows and horses.[94] Indra delivers Viśvarūpa to a god namedTrita Āptya,[94] who fights and kills him and sets his cattle free.[94] Indra cuts off Viśvarūpa's heads and drives the cattle home for Trita.[94] This same story is alluded to in theYounger Avesta,[94] in which the heroThraētaona, the son of Āthbya, slays the three-headed dragonAži Dahāka and takes his two beautiful wives as spoils.[94] Thraētaona's name (meaning "third grandson of the waters") indicates that Aži Dahāka, like Vṛtra, was seen as a blocker of waters and cause of drought.[94]
TheDruk (Dzongkha:འབྲུག་), also known as 'Thunder Dragon', is one of thenational symbols of Bhutan. In theDzongkha language,Bhutan is known asDruk Yul "Land of Druk", and Bhutanese leaders are calledDruk Gyalpo, "Thunder Dragon Kings". The druk was adopted as an emblem by theDrukpa Lineage, which originated inTibet and later spread to Bhutan.[95]
The tale of a hero slaying a giant serpent occurs in almost allIndo-European mythology.[96][97] In most stories, the hero is some kind ofthunder-god.[97] In nearly every iteration of the story, the serpent is either multi-headed or "multiple" in some other way.[96] Furthermore, in nearly every story, the serpent is always somehow associated with water.[97]Bruce Lincoln has proposed that a Proto-Indo-European dragon-slaying myth can be reconstructed as follows:[98][99] First, the sky gods give cattle to a man named*Tritos ("the third"), who is so named because he is the third man on earth,[98][99] but a three-headed serpent named*Ngʷhi steals them.[98][99]*Tritos pursues the serpent and is accompanied by*Hanér, whose name means "man".[98][99] Together, the two heroes slay the serpent and rescue the cattle.[98][99]
The ancient Greek word usually translated as "dragon" (δράκωνdrákōn,genitiveδράκοντοϛdrákontos) could also mean "snake",[100][12] but it usually refers to a kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power.[101] Scholar Daniel Ogden characterizes the ancient Greek word as meaning"a snake and something more".[102] The first mention of a "dragon" inancient Greek literature occurs in theIliad, in whichAgamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate.[103] In lines 820–880 of theTheogony, a Greek poem written in the seventh century BC by theBoeotian poetHesiod, the Greek godZeus battles the monsterTyphon, who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises.[93] Zeus scorches all of Typhon's heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon intoTartarus. In other Greek sources, Typhon is often depicted as a winged, fire-breathing serpent-like dragon.[104] In theHomeric Hymn to Apollo, the godApollo uses hispoisoned arrows to slay the serpentPython, who has been causing death and pestilence in the area aroundDelphi.[105][104][106] Apollo then sets up his shrine there.[104]
Hesiod also mentions that the heroHeracles slew theLernaean Hydra, a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps ofLerna.[109] The name "Hydra" means "water snake" in Greek.[104][110] According to theBibliotheka of Pseudo-Apollodorus, the slaying of the Hydra was the second of theTwelve Labors of Heracles.[111][104] Accounts disagree on which weapon Heracles used to slay the Hydra,[104] but, by the end of the sixth century BC, it was agreed that the clubbed or severed heads needed to becauterized to prevent them from growing back.[112][104] Heracles was aided in this task by his nephewIolaus.[112] During the battle, a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles's foot,[111] but he crushed it under his heel.[113]Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellationCancer.[113] One of the Hydra's heads was immortal, so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off.[104][113] For his Eleventh Labor, Heracles must procure agolden apple from the tree in theGarden of the Hesperides, which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps,[114] which Pseudo-Apollodorus calls "Ladon".[115] In earlier depictions, Ladon is often shown with many heads.[116] In Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, Ladon is immortal,[116] butSophocles andEuripides both describe Heracles as killing him, although neither of them specifies how.[116] Some suggest that the golden apple was not claimed through battle with Ladon at all but through Heracles charming the Hesperides.[117] The mythographerHerodorus is the first to state that Heracles slew him using his famous club.[116]Apollonius of Rhodes, in his epic poem, theArgonautica, describes Ladon as having been shot full of poisoned arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra.[118]
InPindar'sFourth Pythian Ode,Aeëtes ofColchis tells the heroJason that theGolden Fleece he is seeking is in acopse guarded by a dragon, "which surpassed in breadth and length a fifty-oared ship".[119] Jason slays the dragon and makes off with the Golden Fleece together with his co-conspirator, Aeëtes's daughter,Medea.[120] The earliest artistic representation of this story is an Attic red-figurekylix dated toc. 480–470 BC,[121] showing a bedraggled Jason being disgorged from the dragon's open mouth as the Golden Fleece hangs in a tree behind him andAthena, the goddess of wisdom, stands watching.[121][108] A fragment fromPherecydes of Athens states that Jason killed the dragon,[120] but fragments from theNaupactica and from Herodorus state that he merely stole the Fleece and escaped.[120] In Euripides'sMedea, Medea boasts that she killed the Colchian dragon herself.[120] In the final scene of the play, Medea also flies away on a chariot pulled by two dragons.[122] In the most famous retelling of the story from Apollonius of Rhodes'sArgonautica, Medea drugs the dragon to sleep, allowing Jason to steal the Fleece.[123] Greek vase paintings show her feeding the dragon the sleeping drug in a liquid form from aphialē, or shallow cup.[124]
In thefounding myth ofThebes,Cadmus, aPhoenician prince, was instructed by Apollo to follow a heifer and found a city wherever it laid down.[126] Cadmus and his men followed the heifer and, when it laid down, Cadmus ordered his men to find a spring so he could sacrifice the heifer to Athena.[126] His men found a spring, but it was guarded by a dragon, which had been placed there by the godAres, and the dragon killed them.[126] Cadmus killed the dragon in revenge,[126][127] either by smashing its head with a rock or using his sword.[126] Following the advice of Athena, Cadmus tore out the dragon's teeth and planted them in the earth.[126][127] An army of giant warriors (known asspartoi, which means "sown men") grew from the teeth like plants.[126][127] Cadmus hurled stones into their midst, causing them to kill each other until only five were left.[126] To make restitution for having killed Ares's dragon, Cadmus was forced to serve Ares as a slave for eight years.[126] At the end of this period, Cadmus marriedHarmonia, the daughter of Ares andAphrodite.[126] Cadmus and Harmonia moved toIllyria, where they ruled as king and queen, before eventually being transformed into dragons themselves.[128]
In theNew Testament, Revelation 12:3, written byJohn of Patmos, describes a vision of aGreat Red Dragon with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail,[135] an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of thefour beasts from the sea in theBook of Daniel[136] and theLeviathan described in various Old Testament passages.[137] The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun ... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out of the sky[138] and pursues theWoman of the Apocalypse.[138] Revelation 12:7–9 declares: "And war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against Dragon. Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World – he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him."[139] Then a voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" (ho Kantegor).[140]
In217 AD,Flavius Philostratus discussed dragons (δράκων, drákōn) in India inThe Life ofApollonius of Tyana (II,17 and III,6–8). TheLoeb Classical Library translation (by F.C. Conybeare) mentions (III,7) that, "In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine's, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as unabraded as sharks' teeth." According to a collection of books byClaudius Aelianus calledOn Animals,Ethiopia was inhabited by a species of dragon that hunted elephants and could grow to a length of 180 feet (55 m) with a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals.[141] In the 4th century,Basil of Caesarea, on chapter IX of hisAddress to Young Men on Greek Literature, mentions mythological dragons as guarding treasures and riches.
In Latin, dragons were known asdracones (sg.draco) – a term derived from the Greekdrakōn – orserpentēs ('serpents'). The Roman conception of dragons was largely borrowed from Greece, though the Romans provided more elaborate and extensive accounts of dragon battles that appeared in Greek mythology. In these retellings, they often gave greater emphasis to the dragons themselves, who were sometimes anthropomorphised and – according to Ogden – "treated with a certain degree of sympathy". The Romans created few original dragon myths, the only notable example being the story of the Dragon of the Bagrada river (now known as theMedjerda River, located in modern-dayAlgeria andTunisia).[142] In this tale, which is attested from the 1st century BC and set during theFirst Punic War,Marcus Atilius Regulus and his army encounter a giant snake, which does not allow them to pass through the river, consuming and crushing a number of soldiers. The serpent is impervious to javelins, and is defeated by means ofballistas; its skin, measuring 120 feet, is stripped from its corpse.[143]Silius Italicus provides the most detailed account of the story, writing that the serpent inhabited a cave and exuded a pungent odour.[144] The Roman poetVirgil, in his poemCulex, describes a shepherd having a fight with a largeconstricting snake.[145]
In theOld Norse poemGrímnismál in thePoetic Edda, the dragonNíðhöggr is described as gnawing on the roots ofYggdrasil, the world tree.[146] InNorse mythology,Jörmungandr is a giant serpent that encircles the entire realm ofMiðgarð in the sea around it.[147] According to theGylfaginning from theProse Edda, written by the thirteenth-century Icelandic mythographerSnorri Sturluson,Thor, the Norse god of thunder, once went out on a boat with the giant Hymnir to the outer sea and fished for Jörmungandr using an ox-head as bait.[147] Thor caught the serpent and, after pulling its head out of the water, smashed it with his hammer,Mjölnir.[147] Snorri states that the blow was not fatal: "and men say that he struck its head off on the sea bed. But I think the truth to tell you is that the Miðgarð Serpent still lives and lies in the surrounding sea."[147]
Towards the end of theOld English epic poemBeowulf, a slave steals a cup from the hoard ofa sleeping dragon,[148] causing the dragon to wake up and go on a rampage of destruction across the countryside.[149]Beowulf insists on confronting the dragon alone, even though he is of advanced age,[150][151] butWiglaf, the youngest of the twelve warriors Beowulf has brought with him, insists on accompanying his king into the battle.[152] Beowulf's sword shatters during the fight and he is mortally wounded,[153][154] but Wiglaf comes to his rescue and helps him slay the dragon.[154] Beowulf dies and tells Wiglaf that the dragon's treasure must be buried rather than shared with the cowardly warriors who did not come to the aid of their king.[155]
In the Old NorseVölsunga saga, the heroSigurd catches the dragonFafnir by digging a pit between the cave where he lives and the spring where he drinks his water[156] and kills him by stabbing him in the underside.[156] At the advice ofOdin, Sigurd drains Fafnir's blood and drinks it, which gives him the ability to understand thelanguage of the birds,[157] who he hears talking about how his mentorRegin is plotting to betray him so that he can keep all of Fafnir's treasure for himself.[157][158] The motif of a hero trying to sneak past a sleeping dragon and steal some of its treasure is common throughout manyOld Norse sagas.[159] The fourteenth-centuryFlóres saga konungs ok sona hans describes a hero who is actively concerned not to wake a sleeping dragon while sneaking past it.[159] In theYngvars saga víðförla, the protagonist attempts to steal treasure from several sleeping dragons, but accidentally wakes them up.[159]
The modern, western image of a dragon developed inwestern Europe during theMiddle Ages through the combination of the snakelike dragons of classical Graeco-Roman literature, references to Near Eastern dragons preserved in the Bible, and western European folk traditions.[160] The period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries represents the height of European interest in dragons as living creatures.[161] The twelfth-centuryWelsh monk,Geoffrey of Monmouth, recounts a famous legend in hisHistoria Regum Britanniae in which the child prophetMerlin witnesses the Romano-Celtic warlordVortigern attempt to build a tower onSnowdon to keep safe from theAnglo-Saxons,[162] but the tower keeps being swallowed into the ground.[162] Merlin informs Vortigern that, underneath the foundation he has built, is a pool with two dragons sleeping in it.[162] Vortigern orders for the pool to be drained, exposing ared dragon and awhite dragon, who immediately begin fighting.[162] Merlin delivers a prophecy that the white dragon will triumph over the red, symbolizing England's conquest of Wales,[162] but declares that the red dragon will eventually return and defeat the white one.[163] This story remained popular throughout the fifteenth century.[163]
Dragons are generally depicted as living in rivers or having an underground lair or cave.[164] They are envisioned as greedy and gluttonous, with voracious appetites.[160] They are often identified withSatan, due to the references to Satan as a "dragon" in theBook of Revelation.[160] The thirteenth-centuryGolden Legend, written in Latin, records the story ofSaint Margaret of Antioch,[50] a virgin martyr who, after being tortured for her faith in theDiocletianic Persecution and thrown back into her cell, is said to have been confronted by a monstrous dragon,[50] but she made thesign of the cross and the dragon vanished.[50] In some versions of the story, she is actually swallowed by the dragon alive and, after making the sign of the cross in the dragon's stomach, emerges unharmed.[50]
The legend ofSaint George and the Dragon may be referenced as early as the sixth century AD,[165][166] but the earliest artistic representations of it come from the eleventh century[165] and the first full account of it comes from an eleventh-centuryGeorgian text.[167] The most famous version of the story from theGolden Legend holds that a dragon kept pillaging the sheep of the town of Silene inLibya.[165] After it ate a young shepherd, the people were forced to placate it by leaving two sheep as sacrificial offerings every morning beside the lake where the dragon lived.[165] Eventually, the dragon ate all of the sheep[168] and the people were forced to start offering it their own children.[168] One day, the king's own daughter came up in the lottery and, despite the king's pleas for her life, she was dressed as a bride and chained to a rock beside the lake to be eaten.[168] Then, Saint George arrived and saw the princess.[168] When the dragon arrived to eat her, he stabbed it with his lance and subdued it by making the sign of the cross and tying the princess'sgirdle around its neck.[168] Saint George and the princess led the now-docile dragon into the town and George promised to kill it if the townspeople would convert to Christianity.[169] All the townspeople converted and Saint George killed the dragon with his sword.[169] In some versions, Saint George marries the princess,[169] but, in others, he continues wandering.[169]
Dragons are well known in myths and legends ofSpain, in no small part because St. George (Catalan Sant Jordi) is the patron saint ofCatalonia. Like most mythical reptiles, the Catalan dragon (Catalan drac) is an enormous serpent-like creature with four legs and a pair of wings, or rarely, a two-legged creature with a pair of wings, called a wyvern. As in many other parts of the world, the dragon's face may be like that of some other animal, such as a lion or a bull. As is common elsewhere, Catalan dragons are fire-breathers, and the dragon-fire is all-consuming. Catalan dragons also can emit a fetid odor, which can rot away anything it touches.[170]
Gargoyles are carved stone figures sometimes resembling dragons that originally served as waterspouts on buildings.[171][172] Precursors to the medieval gargoyle can be found onancient Greek andEgyptian temples,[171][173][174] but, over the course of the Middle Ages, many fantastic stories were invented to explain them.[175] One medieval French legend holds that, in ancient times, a fearsome dragon known asLa Gargouille had been causing floods and sinking ships on the riverSeine,[176] so the people of the town ofRouen would offer the dragon ahuman sacrifice once each year to appease its hunger.[176] Then, around 600 AD, a priest namedRomanus promised that, if the people would build a church, he would rid them of the dragon.[176] Romanus slew the dragon and its severed head was mounted on the walls of the city as the first gargoyle.[176][177]
Dragons are prominent in medievalheraldry.[178]Uther Pendragon was famously said to have had two gold dragons crowned with red standing back-to-back on his royalcoat of arms.[179] Originally, heraldic dragons could have any number of legs,[178] but, by the late Middle Ages, due to the widespread proliferation of bestiaries, heraldry began to distinguish between a "dragon" (which could only have exactly four legs) and a "wyvern" (which could only have exactly two).[178] In myths, wyverns are associated with viciousness, envy, and pestilence,[178] but, in heraldry, they are used as symbols for overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and his demonic forces.[178] Late medieval heraldry also distinguished a draconic creature known as a "cockatrice".[178] A cockatrice is supposedly born when a serpent hatches an egg that has been laid on a dunghill by a rooster[178] and it is so venomous that its breath and its gaze are both lethal to any living creature, except for a weasel, which is the cockatrice's mortal enemy.[178] Abasilisk is a serpent with the head of a dragon at the end of its tail that is born when a toad hatches an egg that has been laid in amidden by a nine-year-old cockatrice.[178] Like the cockatrice, its glare is said to be deadly.[178]
InAlbanian mythology and folklore,stihi,ljubi,bolla, bollar, errshaja, and kulshedra are mythological figures described as serpentine dragons. It is believed thatbolla, a water and chthonic demonic serpent, undergoesmetamorphosis passing through four distinct phases if it lives many years without being seen by a human. Thebollar anderrshaja are the intermediate stages, while thekulshedra is the ultimate phase, described as a huge multi-headed fire-spitting female serpent which causes drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes, and other natural disasters against mankind. She is usually fought and defeated by adrangue, a semi-human winged divine hero and protector of humans. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles.[180][181]
InSlavic mythology, the words"zmey","zmiy", or"zmaj" are used to describe dragons. These words are masculine forms of the Slavic word for "snake", which are normally feminine (like Russianzmeya). InRomania, there is a similar figure, derived from the Slavic dragon and namedzmeu. Exclusively in Polish and Belarusian folklore, as well as in the other Slavic folklores, a dragon is also called (variously)смок,цмок, orsmok. In South Slavic folklores, the same thing is also calledlamya (ламя, ламjа, lamja). Although quite similar to otherEuropean dragons, Slavic dragons have their peculiarities.
InRussian andUkrainian folklore,Zmey Gorynych is a dragon with three heads, each one bearing twin goatlike horns.[182] He is said to have breathed fire and smelled ofsulfur.[182] It was believed thateclipses were caused by Gorynych temporarily swallowing the sun.[183] According to one legend, Gorynych's uncle was the evil sorcerer Nemal Chelovek, who abducted the daughter of thetsar and imprisoned her in his castle in theUral Mountains.[183] Many knights tried to free her, but all of them were killed by Gorynych's fire.[183] Then a palace guard inMoscow namedIvan Tsarevich overheard two crows talking about the princess.[184] He went to the tsar, who gave him a magic sword, and snuck into the castle.[185] When Chelovek attacked Ivan in the form of a giant, the sword flew from Ivan's hand unbidden and killed him.[185] Then the sword cut off all three of Gorynych's heads at once.[185] Ivan brought the princess back to the tsar, who declared Ivan a nobleman and allowed him to marry the princess.[185]
A popular Polish folk tale is the legend of theWawel Dragon,[186][187][188] which is first recorded in theChronica Polonorum ofWincenty Kadłubek, written between 1190 and 1208.[187][188] According to Kadłubek, the dragon appeared during the reign ofKing Krakus[187] and demanded to be fed a fixed number of cattle every week.[187] If the villagers failed to provide enough cattle, the dragon would eat the same number of villagers as the number of cattle they had failed to provide.[187] Krakus ordered his sons to slay the dragon.[187] Since they could not slay it by hand,[187] they tricked the dragon into eating calfskins filled with burning sulfur.[187] Once the dragon was dead, the younger brother attacked and murdered his older brother and returned home to claim all the glory for himself,[187] telling his father that his brother had died fighting the dragon.[187] The younger brother became king after his father died, but his secret was eventually revealed and he was banished.[187] In the fifteenth century,Jan Długosz rewrote the story so that King Krakus himself was the one who slew the dragon.[186][187][188] Another version of the story told byMarcin Bielski instead has the clever shoemaker Skuba come up with the idea for slaying the dragon.[187][189] Bielski's version is now the most popular.[187]
Dragons and dragon motifs are featured in many works of modern literature, particularly within thefantasy genre.[190][191] As early as the eighteenth century, critical thinkers such asDenis Diderot were already asserting that too much literature had been published on dragons: "There are already in books all too many fabulous stories of dragons".[192] InLewis Carroll's classicchildren's novelThrough the Looking-Glass (1871), one of the inset poems describes theJabberwock, a kind of dragon.[18] Carroll's illustratorJohn Tenniel, a famouspolitical cartoonist, humorously showed the Jabberwock with thewaistcoat,buck teeth, andmyopic eyes of aVictorian university lecturer, such as Carroll himself.[18] In works of comedic children's fantasy, dragons often fulfill the role of a magic fairy tale helper.[193] In such works, rather than being frightening as they are traditionally portrayed, dragons are instead represented as harmless, benevolent, and inferior to humans.[193] They are sometimes shown living in contact with humans, or in isolated communities of only dragons.[193] Though popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, "such comic and idyllic stories" began to grow increasingly rare after the 1960s, due to demand for more serious children's literature.[193]
^For Azi Dahaka as dragon see: Ingersoll, Ernest, et al., (2013). The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN B00D959PJ0
^Appears numerous time in, for example: D. N. MacKenzie, Mani's Šābuhragān, pt. 1 (text and translation), BSOAS 42/3, 1979, pp. 500–34, pt. 2 (glossary and plates), BSOAS 43/2, 1980, pp. 288–310.
^Detelić, Mirjana. "St Paraskeve in the Balkan Context" In: Folklore 121, no. 1 (2010): 101 (footnote nr. 12). Accessed March 24, 2021.JSTOR29534110.
^Hesiod (1914). "To Pythian Apollo".Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns. Translated by Hine, Daryl. University of Chicago Press (published 2005). pp. 122–134.
^Ørmen, Torfinn (2005).Drager, mellom myte og virkelighet (Dragons: between myth and reality) (in Norwegian) (1st ed.). Oslo: Humanist forlag A/S. p. 252.ISBN978-82-90425-76-5.
^Diderot, Denis (8 August 2008)."Dragons".Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project.Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved1 April 2015.
Cipa, Shawn (2008),Carving Gargoyles, Grotesques, and Other Creatures of Myth: History, Lore, and 12 Artistic Patterns, Petersburg, Pennsylvania: Fox Chapel Publishing Inc.,ISBN978-1-56523-329-4
Friar, Stephen; Ferguson, John (1993),Basic Heraldry, New York City, New York and London, England: W. W. Norton & Company,ISBN0-393-03463-1,archived from the original on 19 February 2024, retrieved5 October 2020
Garrett, Valery M.Chinese Dragon Robes. Oxford University Press, 1999.ISBN0-195-90499-0.
Grasshoff, Gerd (1990), Toomer, Gerald (ed.),The History of Ptolemy's Star Catalogue, Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, vol. 14, New York City, New York, Berlin, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany, London, England, Paris, France, Tokyo, Japan, and Hong Kong, China: Springer-Verlag,ISBN978-1-4612-8788-9
Haimerl, Edgar (2013),"Sigurðr, a Medieval Hero", in Acker, Paul; Larrington, Carolyne (eds.),Revisiting the Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Heroic Legend, New York City, New York and London, England: Routledge,ISBN978-0-203-09860-8,archived from the original on 19 February 2024, retrieved5 October 2020
Hughes, Jonathan (2005),"Politics and the Occult in the Court of Edward IV", in Gosman, Martin; MacDonald, Alasdair; Vanderjagt, Arjo (eds.),Princes and Princely Culture: 1450-1650, Leiden, The Netherlands and Boston, Massachusetts: Brill,ISBN90-04-13690-8,archived from the original on 19 February 2024, retrieved5 October 2020
Ingersoll, Ernest; Henry Fairfield Osborn (2013).The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore.Chiang Mai,Thailand: Cognoscenti Books.ISBN9781304112422.
Jones, David E. (2000),An Instinct for Dragons, New York City, New York and London, England: Routledge,ISBN0-415-92721-8,archived from the original on 27 December 2016, retrieved22 September 2016
Kelly, Henry Ansgar (2006),Satan: A Biography, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0521604024,archived from the original on 19 January 2023, retrieved5 October 2020
Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D.Q. (2006),The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-929668-2
Nikolajeva, Maria (2012),"The development of children's fantasy", in James, Edward; Mendlesohn, Farah (eds.),The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 50–61,ISBN978-0-521-72873-7,archived from the original on 19 February 2024, retrieved5 October 2020
Sikorski, Czesław (1997), "Wood Pitch as Combat Chemical in the Light of the Jan Długosz's Annals and Some of the Old Polish Military Treatises",Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Wood Tar and Pitch: 235
Thurston, Herbert (1909),"St. George",The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 6, New York City, New York: Robert Appleton Company, pp. 453–455,archived from the original on 27 April 2019, retrieved25 March 2018
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![John Tenniel's illustration of the Jabberwock for Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, showing the dragon as a myopic professor[18]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aJabberwocky.jpg)
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