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Dragon History & Folklore

The Oldest culture in the world to utilize dragons in their mythology and beliefs, are the Chinese. For them, the dragon is a divine, mythical creature that brings good fortune, prosperity and bounty. In Eastern culture, the dragon represents the essential forces of Nature. In the Western culture, the dragon developed a very different persona.  Where Eastern dragons are perceived as good and benevolent, western dragons are all fire, and flinging their tails about. However, if you were to read a range of literature from both hemispheres, you might find this to be opposite. In the West, there were dragons whose whole existence was to serve and protect a kingdom, or a knight while displaying the most sterling qualities of loyalty and sacrifice. The definition of Dragoon is stated as: a member of a European military unit trained and armed to fight mounted or on foot, such as a gallant knight.  

The mythical Western Dragon is the largest of all serpents and beast of the earth. Dragon's name and shape has multiplied through time. Known throughout the world, it is the greatest of all mythical dragons. Some have wings, others have no feet, varing in size and name depending upon the cultures that adopted the legend and made it their own. All dragons have teeth, many have horns or even antlers. Dragons came in a variety of colors; black, green, red, yellow, and ash gray. Dragons can infect the air with their poisonous breath and scorch with fire. Most dragons guard a treasure buried deep in the earth away from curious knights and villagers. Those with four legs are like the Dragon of Wales, others with two legs are called Wyvern. These dragons both have scaly bodies that shake the earth when they are moving. Dragons also have a barbed tail, spiny wings, teeth and claws as sharp as blades. Their breathe and roar is terrifing enough to make people die of frieght. Thru legends, they have battled saints, knights and gods to the death.

Dragons are also known for their blood, that is a miraculous elixir that heals wounds and can aide a dragon warrior the ability to understand speech of other living things. When dragon's fat is mixed with oil and honey it can restore sight. Like alot of mythological creatures and gods, the dragon also claims a spot among the stars. In the Northern Hemisphere, the beast can be seen nightly as the constellation "Draco".

The Chinese Dragon is a benevolent, but powerful ruler of the sky, earth and sea. A bringer of good fortune and one of four spiritual animals, the Chinese dragon is the founding figure of royal families. This dragon is not a malignant monster like its western counterparts, but a joyous dragon whirling, leaping and twisting among the clouds. It has a horned horse-like head and bearded muzzle with long whiskers. It has four legs and a scaly elongated body. Chinese dragons usually play with a silver or gold ball of light considered a sacred pearl. This globe of light is thought to be a source of power of the dragon.

Dragons begin as water snakes, evolving over a millennia. All Chinese dragons have the power to change their shape and size at will- eventually shrinking to the size of a worm or expanding to cover the sky. The greatest ruler of the sky is Lung. Legend has it , that Lung has horns of a deer, a camel's head, oxen ears, devil eyes, a belly of a clam, snake's neck, tiger paws and talons of an eagle. Lung's voice sounds like jangling copper pans and its breath forms clouds. Other Chinese dragons are weather lords, commanding the rain, wind, lightning and thunder. When angered these dragons can flood villages and sink ships. These dragon kings rule the four oceans from their shining undersea palaces. The supreme dragon of earth is named Chiao. According to Chinese legend the five-toed Imperial Dragon had a tail and the Chinese rulers used them to pull their chariots. To this day, dragon figures made of paper or cloth are highlighted in New Years celebrations and parades. Dragonheaded boats race every year in Dragon Boat Festivals.

Tiamat is the mother of all dragons. Before the skies and the earth were named this Babylonian dragon was the saltwater of the dark water of a primitive sea. Later she became a Dragoness with a dragon hide so thick that no weapons could peirce it. As part of legend, her mate Apsu was the freshwater. From brackish waters, Tiamat and Apsu mated producing pairs of offspring. Apsu plotted to destroy his unruly progency for annoying him. The younger gods heard of his plan and bound him with spells and killed him. Tiamat was incited to seek vengeance by her older offspring and battled Upsurpes, horned serpents, scorpion-men, demons, bull-men and fish-men.

The younger gods declared Marduk their King and sent him to do battle with Tiamat as she assembled to crush them. Marduk was armed with a net, bow and arrows as he gathered the winds beside him and drove his chariot to do battle with the mother of dragons and abominations. As he directed the winds into her face, Marduk ensnared the dragon into his net as Tiamat opened her throat and detracted her belly to swallow his directed wind, Marduk shot a piercing arrow straight into her heart. As she fell, her monster hordes scattered to the winds. The mighty king split her in half and made half her body into the earth and the other half the sky above. Marduk caught and killed her leader of legions, Kingu, and from his blood created mankind. In the nineteenth century a British archealogical team excavated this account of Babylonian legend from King Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh.

The Drakon of Greece is sharp-sighted and watchful as it guards treasure and sacred springs of the ancient world. Anyone trespassing this dragon's earthy lair does at their own risk. The largest of these dragons is a she-dragon termed the Python. One of these serpents lived on the slopes of Parnassus beside a spring. The area later became a sanctuary after the god Apollo killed the dragon and established a shrine. Rennactments of the battle with the dragon were celebrated at the site centuries after.

Mythology continued as Cadmus, the founder of Thebes was instructed by the Oracle at Delphi of another dragon by a spring that had triple rows of teeth and a forked tongue. With a rock, Cadmus crushed the dragon's head and saved the dragon's teeth as told by the goddess Athena, who later gave some of the dragon's teeth to Jason for a task in the quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason plowed a field and planted the teeth as seeds. Warriors appeared from the seeds and fought with him. Jason and the warriors then fought a thousand-coiled Drakon for the golden skin. Tales are written that a witch Medea cast a spell on the dragon, others accounts mention Jason being eaten and spit out. Drakon dragons remained an icon in Greek Mythology.

A water serpent with many heads, the Hydra of Lerna could regenerate it's heads after they were cut off. This marsh dragon would lay waste to the countryside with its poisonous breathe. A nightmarish serpent with heads moving in different directions shares it's name with a freshwater polyp that carries similar aspects. Different accounts of the number of heads of the Hydra vary from a hundred to a thousand- most mention there were nine. One of the dragons heads was immortal and made of gold.

Hercules was sent by King Eurystheus to slay the Hydra as part of his Twelve Labors. In the battle, Hercules crushed the Hydra's heads and another would grow in its place. His friend and charioteer Iolaus came to his side with burning brands and when Hercules cut off a head, Iolaus seared the stumps to imped the regeneration of the dragon's many heads. Legend has it, after Hercules severed the last immortal head, it was buried under a rock where it hisses to this day.

The Red Dragon of the Apocalypse was one of the Hydra's many relatives. With seven crowned heads and ten horns, this dragon was cast out by St. Michael and his angels and thrown into a bottomless pit. Another relative was the many-headed Scylla, a dangerous dragon that guarded the Greek Legend of the Golden Apples of Hesperides.

In ancient Joppa on the coastline of Philistia, the two most famous dragons resided. One was a pestilent dragon in the swamps and the other dragon of the sea. Cetus was the dragon of the sea that Poseidon called upon to destroy the countryside of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cepheus was told by an oracle how to defeat the dragon, by sacrificing his daughter Andromeda to the sea monster. With winged sandals and after beheading Medusa, Perseus witnessed Andromeda chained to the rocks for sacrifice. Legend varies on the battle itself, some accounts tell of Perseus stabbing the dragon repeatedly and turning the beast to stone when it gazed upon Medusa's head- saving the kingdom.

Tales of an account of St. George's battle in medieval times with the dragon was reminiscent of Perseus' victory. George noticed a king's daughter sent to appease the dragon in a nearby marsh. George attacked the dragon with his lance as it rised from the murky swamp. With the dragon wounded, the maiden and the dragon were led into Joppa. The dragon was beheaded and the villagers were converted to Christainity. The skeleton of the dragon was brought to Rome and George became a patron saint of early England.

This dragon has two heads one on each end of its body, and it is called the Amphisbaena which is Greek for goes both ways. The dragon spawned from Medusa's blood when Perseus carried her head over the Libyan desert. The dragon's heads are the same size as the rest of the body. one head is awake while the other sleeps and when they attacked one head grips the neck of the other and roll like a wheel across the land. This dragon's skin is a remedy for swelling hands and feet that are inflamed by cold. The name of this dragon is also a scientific term for legless lizards that can move both ways and lift their tails to look like another head. The Amphisbaena Dragon is widespread in the desert where animals and travelers fall prey to the dragon's poison.

A similar serpent, the Jaculus is like a javelin when it springs from trees and shoots its body on its prey. Another serpent known as Scytale is sluggish but has beautiful markings that leave a traveler transfixed and pawn to their poisonous bite causing the victim to burst into flames. Others are so small that when stepping on it, the bite is so painless that the traveler is unaware they will die soon.

A Tarasque Dragon is larger than an ox, has a head of a lion, serpent body ending with a barb, paws, spiked back of a bear and had six legs. It originated as the bane of Southern France's Rhone Valley. In the town of Nerluc, the hideous dragon sank ships in the Rhone; devouring their crews, and in the surrounding forest the dragon would carry off townspeople. St. Martha was called to aid the survivors after converting much of the townspeople to Catholic faith. Guided by the dragon's roars St. Martha entered the woods and encountered the dragon eating another victim. With her crucifix in hand, she approached the dragon and sprinkled holy water on it. The dragon dropped its victim, and let her tie a belt around its neck. She then led the dragon into the town and the villagers killed it. Upon the death of the dragon, the villagers changed the name of the town to Tarascon and named the dragon, Tarasque. The villagers would have festivals and a cloth dragon with movable limbs, head and tail parading through the town.  A virgin, named Margaret fought another cousin of the dragon in a prison cell where it tried to devour her. She made the sign of the cross and the dragon vanished. Other versions of the story differ from Margaret being swallowed and bursting from the dragon's stomach unharmed.

The Worm (Wyrm, Wurm) Dragon was widespread in northern countries and one of the most fearsome of dragons. A treasure dragon, it guards gold and age old gems deep in the earth. With scales as hard as steel the Worm Dragon was very large. Its soft throat and underbelly were protected by the dragon's fangs, claws and fire. A cousin of this dragon could coil itself around hills while both dragons would devastate the countryside.

The dragon is best known in the tales of Beowulf. As legend has it, a slave ventured into the dragon's lair and stold a jeweled cup while the dragon was asleep. The Worm Dragon noticed that the cup was stolden and wreaked a fiery vengeneance upon the land. The aging King, Beowulf confronted the dragon in its lair. The dragon crept up on Beowulf and shot fire at the warrior's shield. As the dragon began to hurl another flame from its breath, Prince Wiglaf came to aid the king. Beowulf split the dragon's chest with his dagger as the prince thrust his sword into the dragon's neck. Unfortunately the dragon and the king died together as the battle ended. Prince Wiglaf buried the treasure that was hoarded by the dragon in the burial mound of his king.

In Germany, another hero and legend fought another Worm Dragon, known as Fafnir, who guarded the Cursed Ring of the Nibelungs. The warrior, Sigurd was urged by a dwarf to set out and destroy the dragon. As the dragon emerged from its cave, a hidden Sigurd lept out and plunged his sword into the dragon's soft stomach. Legend tells that when Sigurd and the dwarf tasted the blood of the slain dragon and understood the language of the birds. In England there is a mound whose ridges are said to have been formed by coils of this Worm-like dragon, known as the Dragon of Wantley which was slewed by the Heir of Lambton. The dragon was slain with spiked armor of the warrior according to legend.

The Indian and Ethiopian dragons are the largest of earthbound dragons. These dragons can grow to a length of 180 feet or relatively 55 meters and it is the longest lived of any animal. This dragon's mortal enemy is elephants and hunters seeking the magical gem in the dragon's head. The swift mountain dragons have gold scales, a tall fiery bright crest and a bushy beard. Another type of dragon is the Black Dragon which has no crest and is sluggish living in the marshes. Its hypnotic teeth-filled gaze can paralyze man and beast. This dragon lives deep within the earth and kills with its tail. Four or five of these dragons fly over the ocean while they entwine their tails.

Mountain Dragons feed on elephants to satisfy their hunger. But the struggle when battling can result with either one surviving or both dying. Hunters seeking the jewel (in the dragon's head that can cure all diseases) would place embroidered gold runes outside its mountainous dragons den and wait until the dragon falls under its spell. The hunters attack, but if the dragon awakes it could grasp the hunter and drag him deep into the earth.

These creatures are dragons of water, earth, heavens and sky. They vary in different forms from Indian legend. They are mixtures of humans and snakes; some have upper parts of humans and lower parts of the dragon while others may have serpents crowning their heads. Earth Nagas guard hidden treasures deep in the earth. According to legend there is a glittering underground city of Bhogavati ruled by Takshaka.

Water Nagas Dragons live in springs, rivers and lakes; have palaces of gold, rubies and emeralds. The Sky Nagas Dragons form clouds and produce moisture for rain. When any of these Nagas Dragons get mad they have a tendency to devastate the earth with floods. These dragons are vunerable when they leave their homes, and are preyed upon by a gigantic Garuda Bird. These dragons possess divinity and knowledge in their coils and will give rubies to people who win their favor. When these dragons caused rain to fall, they were captured and confined to a box, which led to seven years of drought. Scuplted Dragons, called Nagas guard doorways of sacred palaces to this day. The dragon's inscribed image on stone slabs are placed around Asvattha trees for fertility. The Nagas Dragons are related to Chinese Dragons and the Rainbow Serpent.

The most beautiful of all dragons, the Rainbow Serpent is all the colors of the sky and earth. The Australian dragon lives in the ocean and waves are created when it rolls. Some live in ponds and rivers. It is believed these shiny dragons can be seen all over the world. According to Australian Dreamtime these dragons crawled through the land and carved out the rivers, formed the mountains and when it slept drought would follow. One of the Australian ancestors disturbed one of these dragons and it rose up from a lake in a rage causing rain to pour from the sky and flood the plains. Adding to the story of the great biblical flood that engulfed the earth. To this day, when a shaman sits beside a pool of water where the dragon resides it is told that he gains power to heal and foretell the future.

The African Rainbow Serpent to the west of Australia was created by the god Mawu. The dragon would carry the god upon its back while it carved out the rivers. Once it was done the dragon would curl up on the ocean floor with its tail in its mouth; supporting the world. The ancient Ouroboros and the extinct Midgard Serpent of Scandinavia are this dragon's relatives. The Rainbow Serpent was associated with fertility and rain alike Chinese Dragons. Through Chinese artwork the dragons symbols and icons were made of wood and paper when there was a drought- if the drought continued the images were destroyed.

In Native American folklore, the Piasa Dragon lived along the Mississippi River. This dragon was known to the Algonquin-speaking peoples as a bird that devours men. This hideous dragon had talons of an eagle on its four bird legs, scaly body, spiny wings, antlers of a deer, and a face of an angry man with sharp teeth. It also has a scorpion-like tail with a fish fluke at the end. The Piasa dragon would carry off men and deer; and carvings on rocks of the beast resided near turbulent and dangerous waters. These carvings were first found by French missionaries Jacques Marquette and Louis Joilet along the Mississippi River. Some of these painted rocks are now tourist attractions in Alton, Illnois.

As the legend continued into the modern age, travelers and fisherman were warned of the markings along the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley to avoid areas were these paintings were seen. A close relative to the Piasa, is the Horned Serpent and the giant reptile of the Tennessee and Carolinas known as the winged Uktena. This dragon has a gem in its head, but humans are unable to remove it, because the dragon's breath kills animals and humans alike. According to Native American legend, these winged dragons have one red horn and one green horn, live deep in the water and swallow any human being that comes around them. When captured and burned all that is left is the dragon's heart which can be used to heal the sick. It is said that this horned dragon's enemy is the Thunderbird, a sky snake- and when they battle lightning and rain pour down on the earth.

The Basilisk Dragon is a deadly king of small serpents. The smallest of dragons and one of the most dangerous, the Basilisk Dragon is less than a foot tall with a white mark around its head like a crown. The dragon has toxic breath that withers forests, splits rocks and poisons streams. Even the largest snake shrivels from its red glaring eyes and birds drop from the sky from its stench.

Legend has it that the dragon's venom is so poisonous, that with any contact of it an animal or human will quickly die. A knight wounded a Basilisk Dragon leaving the venom dripping down his spear, the venom traveled down the blade contacting the rider and his steed killing them both. The dragon's natural enemy is the weasel. When a weasel comes into its lair the dragon retreats, but the weasel will hunt it down and kill it. Another creature, an enemy to this dragon is the rooster because the bird's crowing drives the dragon into convulsions. To this day, Libyan travelers carry roosters to assure safe passage. Legends persist thru history, with Alexander the Great - who tricked the dragon by reflecting its image and red glaring eyes back on the dragon with a mirror to kill the dragon. St. George also reflected the dragon's image with his shield when confronted- causing the dragon to expire.

Scientists reflect on the existence of dragons and if they had existed- where would we find the remaining descendants of this species? One that can be recalled is the Ornate Bichir which lives in lakes of the African Continent. This water dragon, unlike its relatives, breathes air and water and is a predator to small fish and bugs that land on the waters surface. It can get as large as 30 inches and live years in the mud during drought. It has a snake-like head, half serpent body with dragon fins along its back, small fins were arms and legs may have existed. They usually don't attack other fish of equal size or larger- but they will attack each other. They are friends with Knife Fish which are also known as Ghost Fish for their wrath-like persona. These dragon-like fish can be found domesticated in fresh water aquariums through out the world. They hunt in packs like wolves under the cover of darkness and have a ferocious appetite. Once domesicated these fascinating water dragons should not be released into the wild, they could undermine non-native eco-systems and destroy other habital environments.