Dragons
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Wikipedia-Article "Dragons"
A dragon is a mythological creature, typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile, with magical or spiritual qualities.
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Overview
The various figures now called dragons most likely have no single origin, but spontaneously came to be in several different cultures around the world, based loosely on the appearance of a snake and possibly fossilized dinosaur remains.
Chinese dragons (among others) are generally seen as benevolent, whereas European dragons are usually malevolent. However, malevolent dragons are not restricted to Europe and also occur in Persian mythology (see Azi Dahaka) and other cultures.
Malevolent dragons are prominent figures in Christian belief. In Revelation 12:3, an enormous red dragon with seven heads is described, whose tail sweeps one third of the stars from heaven down to earth (held to be symbolic of the fall of the angels). In Revelation 12:9, Satan is identified as this "great red dragon", who was cast down to earth along with his angels.
The biblical dragon carries over thirty possible references, with the fire-breathing leviathan described in Job 41. Strong's Hebrew 03882: [1], 08568, 08577, and Greek 1404.
In iconography, some Christian Saints are depicted in the act of killing a dragon: for instance, Saint George in Egyptian Coptic iconography [2], at the coat of arms of Moscow, or, in Italy, Saint Mercurialis, who was the first bishop of the city of Forlì. In the Book of Job Chapter 41, the sea monster Leviathan, which has some dragonlike characteristics, is described as God talks about the "king of beasts" that lived upon the Earth at a former time. God fed Leviathan to Israel while they wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Psalm 74:14).
In medieval symbolism, dragons were often symbolic of apostasy and treachery, but also of anger and envy, and eventfully symbolised great calamity. Several heads were symbolic of decadence and oppression, and also of heresy. But they also served as symbols for independence, leadership and strength. Colours often determined what symbolism a dragon carried.
Dragons are often held to have major spiritual significance in various religions and cultures around the world. In many oriental cultures dragons were, and in some cultures still are, revered as representative of the primal forces of nature and the universe.
Some believe that the dragon may have had a real-life counterpart from which the legends around the world arose — typically dinosaurs are mentioned as a possibility — but there is no evidence to support this claim. Another less common claim is that they are based upon some sort of flying machines possessed by some ancient, unknown culture. Both of these hypotheses are pseudoscience.
Dragons are very popular in video games today, especially role-playing games, and are typically used as very powerful bosses and villains.
The word "dragon" should not be confused with dragoon (infantry that moves around by horse, yet still fight as foot soldiers). However, numerous fantasy settings (such as the Final Fantasy games) make varying degrees of association between dragons and the dragoon character class (such as in the helmet of a dragoon-class character), and in the game Panzer Dragoon in which the player flies about on a dragon.
Dragons of myth and folkore
- Asian dragon
- European dragon
- Celtic dragon
- Egyptian dragon
- Finnish dragon
- French dragon
- Greek dragon
- Lindworm dragon
- Norse dragon
- Polish dragon
- Serbian dragon
- Slavic dragon
- Romanian dragons (Zmeu and Balaur)
- Tatar dragon
- Meso-American Dragon
- South American dragon
- Dragon Relatives
Living things named after ancient dragons
- Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), a large lizard (a reptile)
- Some small species of lizards in Australia, in the family Agamidae
- Dragon trees (Dracaena), the resin is known as dragon's blood once believed to be a powerful item of medieval magic and alchemy
- The fruit of the pitaya cactus, often called dragonfruit
- The Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) flower, a small annual in the family Scrophulariaceae
- The dragonfly, an insect of the Order Odonata, Suborder Anisoptera.
- The leafy sea dragon or weedy sea dragon, two fish species in the seahorse family.
Other things named after ancient dragons
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- Draco ("dragon"), a constellation
- Dragon, a sign in the Chinese zodiac
- Red, green and white Chinese dragons in the Mahjong game, see Mahjong tiles
- Dragon 32/64, 1980s home computers
- M47 Dragon, anti-tank weapon
- Dragon Variation, a chess opening
- Dragon, a French rocket
- HMS Dragon, a warship in the British Royal Navy
- Dragon, a class of racing sailboats
- Smocza Jama ("dragon's den"), a cave in Kraków, Poland
- Benefon Dragon, a model of a mobile phone
- Vlad II Dracul Vlad II the Dragon, father of Vlad III Dracula (Vlad Ţepeş or Vlad the Impaler)
- Dragon, Artemisia dracunculus a herb.
Notable Dragons in modern literature and culture
- Puff the Magic Dragon, a poem, then song; dragons in children's culture.
- Smaug, from The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien
- Swamp dragon, a fictional reptile species from Terry Pratchett's Discworld
- Pernese dragons, from the books by Anne McCaffrey
- Dragons in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy role-playing games (e.g. Rêve de Dragon).
- Dragon Tales the animated children's series on PBS
- Eragon, book one of the Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini.
- American Dragon: Jake Long a Disney Channel animated series.
- Dragons in the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling
- Dragon Ball Japanese anime loosely based on the Chinese Journey to the West novel.
See also
- An Instinct for Dragons
- List of dragons
- Draco Malfoy
- The Dragon School (sometimes just The Dragon), Oxford, England – a Dragon can also refer to a current pupil at the school
- Draconity
- Dragon (Wheel of Time)
- Hot SAKE - Dragon Boat Racing Club, Seattle Washington USA
Further reading
- Dragons, A Natural History by Dr. Karl Shuker
- The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson