Next, veteran warriors "clad in bronze armor and armed with swords and shields. Sow these in the furrows you have prepared, cover lightly, and stand well away." Easy, peasy, right? Next, catch and kill any convenient dragon and draw all its teeth. First, prepare a piece of ground as though for sowing grain. It was first practiced by Cadmus, King of Thebes. As Michael Page and Robert Ingpen note in their book " Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were (opens in new tab)"(Viking Penguin, 1987), "The use of dragon's teeth provides a simple method of expanding the armed forces of any country. Vanquishing a dragon was not only an important career opportunity for any ambitious saint, knight or hobbit, but according to legend it was also a way to raise armies. George's feat of faith and bravery, immediately convert to Christianity. He rescues a fair maiden, protects himself with the sign of the cross and slays the beast. George the Dragon Slayer, who in legend comes upon a town threatened by a terrible dragon, according to English Heritage (opens in new tab). The Christian church created legends of righteous and godly saints battling and vanquishing Satan in the form of dragons. Other mythical beasts such as trolls, elves and fairies interact with people (sometimes mischievously, sometimes helpfully) but their main role is not as a combatant. They don't simply exist for their own sake they exist largely as a foil for bold adventurers. ![]() But this doesn't really make sense because a creature as powerful as a dragon surely doesn't need to pay for anything, right? It's probably more of a symbolic treasure, not for the hoarding dragon but instead a reward for the brave warriors, such as the Knights of Camelot (opens in new tab) who would vanquish the evil beast.ĭragons are one of the few monsters cast in mythology primarily as a powerful and fearsome opponent to be slain. The word "dragon" comes from the ancient Greek word "draconta," meaning "to watch," suggesting that the beast guards treasure, such as mountains of gold coins or gems, according to Dean Miller in " Legendary Creatures and Monsters (opens in new tab)" (Cavendish Square Publishing, 2014). Medieval Painting titled 'Saint George and the Dragon,' by Paolo Uccello (Image credit: Getty/ Universal History Archive ) Origins of dragons (Black dragons, for example, are fond of eels - who knew?) The popular role-playing game Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (opens in new tab) describes more than a dozen varieties of dragons, each with unique personalities, powers and other characteristics. At its root, the is a chameleon - its features adapting to the cultural and literary expectations of the era.ĭragons continue to capture the public's imagination in fantasy books and films, appearing in everything from the kid-friendly 2010 film "How to Train Your Dragon," to the more adult-oriented "Game of Thrones" books and TV series (opens in new tab) and "The Hobbit" book and movies. ![]() ![]() Zoologist Karl Shuker describes a wide variety of dragons in his book " Dragons: A Natural History (opens in new tab)" (Simon & Schuster, 1995), including giant snakes, hydras, gargoyles and dragon-gods, and the more obscure variants such as basilisks, wyverns and cockatrices. Their body color may range from green, red, and black to unusually yellow, blue or white dragons." Some dragons live in palaces under the ocean, while others can only be found in caves and inside mountains, such as Smaug in JRR Tolkein's " The Hobbit (opens in new tab)."Īs folklorist Carol Rose's book " Giants, Monsters, & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth (opens in new tab)" (Norton, 2001), dragons "have composite features from many other beasts, such as the head of an elephant in India, that of a lion or bird of prey in the Middle East, or numerous heads of reptiles such as serpents. Some are only a few feet long others span miles. Some dragons can speak or breathe fire others can't. Though most people can easily picture a dragon, people's ideas and descriptions of dragons vary dramatically, according to Grunge (opens in new tab). (Image credit: Getty/ Forrest Anderson) Different types of dragons Dancers dress as traditional Chinese dragons at an annual temple festival.
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