Myths and legends are basically all
we know about dragons. But, there is lots of information on dragons in these legends and myths, and that is what this page
is about.
Greek Mythology
In the time of ancient Greece, there were
many storys about dragons. Most were evil dragons that a hero ends up defeating. Some examples of these are the "Hydra", which
I know more about because my brother did a report on it.
-The Hydra:
a dog like monster with nine invincible heads and extremely poisonous blood. When ever a head was cut off, 2 would sprout
up in it's place! Hercules, a greek hero, was sent to kill the Hydra... but he didn't get any credit because Iolaus, a relative
of his, helped him.
-The dragon of Boeotia:
Was once a cruel prince named Abas, who mocked Demeter, the Godess of the Harvest. Since mocking godesses doesn't come without
punishment, she turned him into a helpless lizard. After being recommended to be the destruction of mankind and eating the
shoulder bone of the buried Uranus, he became the king of the dragons. He was slayed by himself for swallowing his fire breath
after a surprise attack by Cadmus, prince of Phoenicia.
-Ladon:
Dragon with many heads who watched over the garden of the Hesperides. This dragon was slayed by Hercules with an arrow over
the garden wall.
-Boa:
Cross between a dragon and a huge snake who drank cattle dry before eating it. It's name comes from the word meaning cow,
because of it's eating habits. It had purple and green scales and a forked tail. Had long fangs.
-Python:
A huge serpant that was sent to torment Leto, one of the people that Zues had an affair with. The serpant was sent by Hera.
Long after Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis, Apollo became angry at the python for hunting his mother, so... he killed
it.
-Cetus:
Had the head of a greyhound, body of a dolphin, and a forked tail. Often drawn with pieces of him sticking out of the water
instead of the whole thing.
Switzerland
Hmm, Switzerland doesn't have that many dragons
to note about...
-Stollenwurm:
Had the face of a cat with a lizard's head. Red veins ran down it's sides, accompanied with red scales. It had a dragon's
body with a very long tail. Said to be terrifying to all who saw it. Same creature was spotted in the Alpines, from Frane
and Austria. There, it is commonly known as the tazelwurm.
Africa Mayan/ Aztecs, England, Japan, and
China
Since I will do a separate page for the
dragons from the area listed above in orange, I will not list any here, for research shouldn't have to be repeated. :)
Ireland
Oh, I think that Ireland is such a mysterious
place! Most of the dragons there were largely effected by Christianity.
-Apocalyptic:
Said to be part salmon and part serpant who was able to breath fire. Was to live in Loch-Bel-Dracon, or "Lake of the Dragon's
Mouth". Is said to signal the end of the world on Saint John's Day.
-Muirdris:
A sea serpant of fearsome proportions, sometimes refered to as a water horse. A man encountered this dragon, and left alive
with a twisted ugly face. The nobles tried to hide this from him, but, once he found out, he slew the beast.
-Paiste:
A huge, eleven foot wurm with ram-like horns on either side of its head. Had a thick, black tongue, long fangs, and poisonous
venom. Scales were the size of dinner plates.
-Suileach:
Was known for it's many eyes and its size, which was huge. No one knew who slayed it, but they only knew when it disappered.
Celtic
The Celtic Mythology was known for it's dragons...
but like Switzerland, doesn't have that many to note about.
-Master Stoorworm:
had a large head and was a huge thick sea serpant. Was said to have created Iceland.
Babylon and Sumeria
Like most other dragons, the dragons in this
mythology were evil. These are some of those dragons.
-Humbaba:
had a human-like body with the legs of a lion and the talons of a vulture. It had scalesall over it, the horns of a bull,
and its tail was long, and had the head and body of a snake.
- Apsu and Tiamat:
Both were cansidered to be the ocean, but they were sea serpants. Tiamat had a huge serpant like body that weapons couldn't
harm. She also had two forelegs, a huge tail, and horns.
- Nebuchadnezzar's Dragon:
Had a long, slender body and a tail that was covered in scales. They had serpant like heads, a forked tongue, and around their
heads there were flaps of skin and horns to top everything off.
Egypt
Mentioned dragons in the hieroglyphics and
influenced what dragons are today.
-Apep: At first,
this was the sun god, but was soon replaces by Ra. Apep became the symbol for evil. Was described as a large, whale shaped
serpant instead of the usuall skinny eel shaped serpant, and had no wings. If you haven't guessed, was huge.
-Wadjet: Was usually
considered the Misteress of Lower Egypt. She and her sister were tomb guards, and could breathe fire. She was a cobra like
serpant, and has extended wings.
-Ka-en-ankh Nereru:
A cosmic serpant who covers the night sky. A very vast serpant who doesn't fight the sun god like most of the other dragons.
France
French dragons are mostly for religious reasons and in
religious stories.
-Tarasque: A sea serpant
with four limbs: 2 fore legs and 2 hind legs. Said to have emerged from a lake and had to walk to a village. Sometimes it
is said to have wings, but not usually.
-Gargouille: Monsterous
sea serpant with fins instead of legs. Often spewing water or water running down the beast. Said to have one day emerged from
a lake spewing water on the country side. Was brought down by a bishop, and taken into town were the towns people gave it
the death sentence by fire.
-Melusine: A beautiful
western style serpant. Maybe half sea serpant.
-Le Succube's Dragon Steed:
Le Succubue was a french spirit who looked for male adventurors to drain them with kisses. She rode a dragon that allowed
her to go where ever she wished. Dragon was a huge, elongated wyvern with short arms.
-Dracs: Invisible to
most humans, no one really knows what it looked like, but it was said to have been a huge winged sea serpant.
-Vouivre: A cyclopes
dragon. Prehaps the only one of her kind.... was invunerable to attack.
Russia
Amazingly there is a hydra in this mythology also. I didn't
know that.
-Chudo-Yudo: This is
that hydra I was talking about. Had many heads. It could spit fire and controll the weather.
-Gorynytch: Hey, this
is another hydra. Had three heads and seven tails. Also had iron claws. Often is depicted with fire and smoke about him.
-Kashchei: a boney snakelike
dragonthat stands on 2 legs and has 2 arms. Was a symbol of winter and death. The dragon was killed by a man smashing an egg
against the dragons head... the egg was hiding his soul, so the dragon was destroyed by himself.
-Alklha: Had black wings
that would, when outspread, cover the sky, making earth without light. Was the cause of problems with the sun and moon.
