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Dragons are among the most democratic and long-suffering of the world’smythologicalcreatures , believe to have been real for C .
tartar tales are known in many cultures , from the Americas to Europe , and from India toChina . They have a farseeing and richhistoryin many sort and continue to inhabit our books , films and television set shows , as brave heroes routinely fight to slay the beasts .
Dancers dress as traditional Chinese dragons at an annual temple festival.
It ’s not absolved when or where story of dragon first go forth , but the huge , fly serpents were described at least as early as the age of the ancient Greeks and Sumerians . According to Scott G. Bruce in his introduction to “ The Penguin Book of Dragons ” ( Penguin Classics , 2021 ) , " In the ancient world they took the form of tremendous serpents , ready to crush with their coil and drink down with their venomous hint . " For much of history dragons were recollect of as being like any other mythical animal : sometimes utile and protective , other times harmful and grave .
That change whenChristianityspread across the world ; dragons took on a decidedly baleful interpretation and came to representSatan . In gothic multiplication , most people who try anything about firedrake knew them from the Bible , and it ’s likely that most Christians at the sentence believe in the actual world of dragons . After all , Leviathan — the massive colossus described in item in theBook of Job , chapter 41 — sounds like a dragon :
" Its back has rows of shield tightly seal together ; each is so close to the next that no atmosphere can exit between . They are bring together fast to one another ; they cling together and can not be parted . Its snorting shed out flashes of light ; its eyes are like the rays of dawn . fire rain buckets from its back talk ; arc of fire frivol away out . Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling gage over burn reeds . Its breathing time typeset coals alight , and flames fleet from its back talk . "
Dancers dress as traditional Chinese dragons at an annual temple festival.
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The notion in dragon was base not just in legend but also in hard grounds , or at least that ’s what hoi polloi thought , long ago . For millennia no one knew what to make ofthe giant bonesthat were occasionally excavate around the ball , and dragons seemed a logical choice for hoi polloi who had no cognition ofdinosaurs .
Different types of dragons
Though most people can easily picture a flying lizard , people ’s estimation and descriptions of dragons vary dramatically , according toGrunge . Some dragons have wings ; others do n’t . Some dragons can utter or breathe fire ; others ca n’t . Some are only a few foot long ; others span miles . Some dragons know in palace under the sea , while others can only be found in caves and inside deal , such as Smaug in JRR Tolkein ’s " The Hobbit . "
As folklorist Carol Rose ’s book " Giants , Monsters , & Dragon : An Encyclopedia of Folklore , Legend , and Myth " ( Norton , 2001 ) , dragons " have composite features from many other animate being , such as the question of an elephant in India , that of a Leo or bird of prey in the Middle East , or numerous headland of reptilian such as serpent . Their organic structure color may rank from green , red , and fateful to unco chicken , blasphemous or white dragons . "
Zoologist Karl Shuker describes a wide mixture of dragon in his book " Dragons : A Natural account " ( Simon & Schuster , 1995 ) , including jumbo snakes , hydras , gargoylesand dragon - gods , and the more hidden variants such as basilisks , wyvern and cockatrices . At its root , the is a chameleon — its features adapt to the cultural and literary expectations of the earned run average .
Medieval Painting titled ‘Saint George and the Dragon,’ by Paolo Uccello
Dragons continue to capture the populace ’s imaging in fantasy book and films , appearing in everything from the kid - friendly 2010 picture show " How to Train Your Dragon , " to the more grownup - oriented"Game of Thrones " books and TV seriesand " The Hobbit " book and flick . The democratic part - playing gameAdvanced dungeon and Dragonsdescribes more than a dozen varieties of dragons , each with unique personalities , powers and other characteristic . ( Black dragons , for model , are affectionate of eel — who knew ? )
Origins of dragons
The word " Draco " comes from the ancient Hellenic word of honor " draconta , " mean " to watch , " evoke that the beast guards value , such as mountains of atomic number 79 coins or gem , according to Dean Miller in " Legendary Creatures and Monsters " ( Cavendish Square Publishing , 2014 ) . But this does n’t really make sense because a creature as powerful as a flying dragon for sure does n’t want to make up for anything , right ? It ’s probably more of a symbolic hoarded wealth , not for the hoarding flying dragon but instead a reward for the brave warriors , such as theKnights of Camelotwho would vanquish the evil beast .
Dragons are one of the few monster cast in mythology chiefly as a powerful and fearsome opponent to be slain . They do n’t simply exist for their own sake ; they exist largely as a enhancer for sheer adventurers . Other mythologic beasts such as trolls , elves and fairies interact with people ( sometimes mischievously , sometimes helpfully ) but their main character is not as a combatant .
The Christian church created legends of righteous and godly holy man battling and vanquishing Satan in the form of dragon . The most celebrated of these was St. George the Dragon Slayer , who in legend arrive upon a town threaten by a awful dragon , grant toEnglish Heritage . He rescues a fair maiden , protect himself with the sign of the cross and slay the beast . The townsfolk ’s citizens , instill by St. George ’s effort of faith and braveness , instantly change to Christianity .
Komodo dragons have long, forked tongues that they use to help smell and taste.
beat a dragon was not only an important career opportunity for any ambitious saint , horse or hobbit , but according to caption it was also a manner to raise armies . As Michael Page and Robert Ingpen note in their book " Encyclopedia of thing That Never Were"(Viking Penguin , 1987 ) , " The use of firedrake ’s teeth ply a uncomplicated method acting of expanding the armed forces of any country . It was first practiced by Cadmus , King of Thebes . First , fix a small-arm of earth as though for sowing grain . Next , pick up and kill any convenient Draco and draw all its teeth . Sow these in the furrows you have machinate , cover lightly , and digest well away . " prosperous , peasy , veracious ?
Next , seasoned warrior " garb in bronze armor and armed with swords and shields … emerge rapidly from the earth and fend in ranks according to the elbow room in which the dragon ’s tooth were seed . " Apparently thesedraconis dentatasoldiers are a quarrelsome luck and will turn on each other miss a quick enemy , so if you plan to do this , be sure your adversary are nearby .
scholar believe that the fire - breathing component of dragons came from medieval depictions of the mouth of netherworld ; for example , art by Dutch Felis concolor Hieronymus Bosch , among others . The entrance to hell was often depicted as a monster ’s literal mouth , with the flames and fume characteristic of Hades extravasate out . If one believe not only in the genuine existence of sin , but also the literal existence of dragons as Satanic , the association is quite consistent .
Are dragons real?
chivalric theology away , few people today believe in the literal existence of firedrake in the way they may believe in the existence ofBigfootor theLoch Ness monster , for example . The dragon ( or at least the dragon version most familiar to Westerners ) is plainly too cock-a-hoop and too fantastic to take severely or literally . In the modern old age of satellite mental imagery and smart headphone exposure and videos , it ’s simply farfetched that any giant , wing fire - snorkel inhabitEarth’slands or sky unseen .
However , only a few centuries ago rumors of dragons seemed to have been confirm by eyewitness accounts from sailor return from Indonesia who reported take on Draco — Komodo dragon , a eccentric of reminder lizard — which can be aggressive , pestilent , and reach 10 foot ( 3 meters ) in duration .
In a potential parallel to dragon , it was previously believe that the bite of a Komodo dragon was specially baneful because of toxic bacterium in its oral fissure , though that myth was expose in 2013 by a squad of researcher from theUniversity of Queenslandwho chance on that the Komodo dragon ’s backtalk are no dirty than those of other carnivores . Western scientists only verified the existence of the Komodo dragon around 1910 following the probe of Lieutenant Jacques Karel Henri van Steyn van Hensbroek and Pieter Ouwens , agree toThe Guardian , but rumors and stories of these fearsome savage circulated long before that .
Dragons , in one form or another , have been around for millenary . Through heroic fantasy fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien and others , Dragon have continued to spark our collective imagination and show no planetary house of dying out .
Additional resources
To find out more about Komodo Dragons , this clause from theUniversity of Queensland , has a mathematical group of research worker discourse the riveting detail of their mouths . To notice more about thestory of St. George , read this entrance from the Catholic Encyclopedia .
Bibliography
