Post by I wuv M4( Satar Jaèoèdoæ) on Nov 7, 2008 15:19:33 GMT -5
What are your opinions on dragons?Fearsome beast? Great here? First gods of mankind? Real or totaly imaginary?
Here is something I once wrote on about dragons.
Dragons
What is a dragon? What was the first dragon? Are there real dragons? Are there different types of dragons? These are questions that people have asked throughout the ages. Many cultures in the world have stories and mythologies that contain dragons. By definition a dragon is a scaly beast, but after that, the definitions vary. Most people either think of a dragon as a wicked, four-legged winged fire belcher or a wise, wing-less, tiger –pawed serpent depending on the part of the world they live in. Experts call these dragons Western or Eastern dragons. These dragons have both fascinated and frightened mankind since the first dragon tale. Through these stories and mythologies we can learn about how different groups have described dragons and if dragons could have been based on anything real.
The mythology of many early Middle Eastern civilizations contained serpent like creatures. The first dragon or dragon like creature was probably the Sumerian sea serpent Labbu. Sumerian mythology said it was a sea serpent associated with the galaxy. The first western type dragon was probably Timat, a Babylonian dragon from whom the universe was made. One theory says that the concept of dragons evolved from the ancient Egyptians who depicted the form of the God Horus as being winged and fire breathing when he fought the evil god Set who killed his father.
Western type dragons are found in Nordic and Greek mythology. Fafnir was a giant who turned into a dragon and was slain by Sigurd in Norse mythology. Hydra and Ladon were both many-headed Greek dragons.
Eastern type dragons are found in the cultures of China, Korea and Japan. The Yellow Dragon King was dragon in Chinese mythology that was seen by an emperor. On its back were symbols. The emperor wrote down the symbols and they became the calligraphy that the Chinese used as writing. Because the Dragon King gave them writing, the dragon is highly respected in Asian culture.
From these various world mythologies we learn that the classic dragon is serpentine, or snake-like, has four legs, although it can have any number of legs, a long tail and long neck. Its teeth are almost always sharp and its scales usually are armor. Western dragons are often depicted with wings. Eastern dragons usually aren’t shown with wings but if they do have them, the wings are feathered.
An eastern dragon is supposed to consist of the parts of different animals e.g. belly of clam, antlers of deer and the head of camel. Even though is has no wings, it can fly. The power of flight comes from a bump on the head. On the dragon’s feet there are toes. The number of claws on each paw depends on which country the dragon is in. Asian dragons are creatures of water and storms.
Dragons are known to have a big appetite. To get fed, they demand tributes of livestock. The hero (or villain, depending on how you look at it) often takes advantage of the appetite, and hides a bomb or something along with the sheep. Some dragons have a smaller but pickier diet and only eat one fair maiden a week. Fair maidens must taste better or be healthier than ugly boys. Fair maiden eating dragons are usually found in Western mythology.
Another thing dragons are known for is their breath. Western dragons can have fiery breath or toxic breath. Some can both poison and flambé you. Asian dragons breathe storms.
Some dragons can change size. Traditional western dragons began looking like worms but steadily grow as they age, then people call them wyrms (snake-like dragons). Eastern dragons can change size at will and it only takes an instant for this to happen.
Dragons are often guardians of treasure. European dragons, such as Smaug and Fafnir, often hoard massive amounts of treasure, which they guard fiercely and greedily. Some dragons guard stuff other than treasure. Malpasso “guarded” a church. Eastern dragon Kings had vast amounts of treasure and knowledge, which they were willing to share with mankind.
Because dragons need somewhere to live and keep their treasure when they’re not on a rampage, they have a lair. It is often in a remote place. It can be in a cave, on an island, underground. or even under the sea. Dragon Kings live in brilliant underwater palaces.
There are lots of varieties of dragons. Here are three examples. The lindwurm is a snake-like western dragon that terrorized a village in Austria. The Mung is a four-clawed eastern dragon. Some experts include the basilisk as a dragon but others do not. The basilisk is the crested King of Serpents from Greek mythology who can kill with his gaze. (An ordinary lizard that can run on water is also called a basilisk lizard).
The legends of dragons grew through literature and lore continuing to the present day. Malposso was a church-hoarding dragon that took over a church and wouldn’t let any one use it. According to the story told by the Order of St. John, a religious knight group, Malposso was slain by Dieudonne, a member of their order. In more contemporary literature Smaug was a treasure-hoarding dragon in the book The Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien and Norbert is the dragon from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Dragon slayers are almost as famous as the dragons they killed because it is not easy to slay a wyrm. One way to snuff it is to stab its weak spot. It is often its belly or a spot under the wing. Another way to give the dragon a “game over” is to give him a lethal tummy ache; feeding him a hot iron ball while he is eating should do the trick. The Lambton worm was a grow-bigger wyrm who was thrown into a well while it was small by Sir Lambton. Later Sir Lambton slew it by tricking it into squeezing him while he was covered in spear head coated armor, pricking its belly and weakening it so Lambton could slay it. Here are some other famous “puff snuffers” (dragon slayers). Sigurd slew Fafnir and when he drunk Fafnir’s blood he understood animals. Later Fafnir’s treasure turned him corrupt. Beowulf slew a dragon after it got into a rage over a stolen cup. Beowulf was losing until Wiglaf, his kinsman, stabbed the dragon’s weak spot. Beowulf copied Wiglaf and slew the dragon. Artashir was a Persian King who for some reason killed his daughter’s pet dragon by feeding it molten metal. Hercules slew Hydra and used her blood to make poison arrows, one of which he used to slay Ladon.
Some dragon slayers sought wealth and glory. Others wanted to rescue those delicious princesses and marry them or get their hands on the dragon’s treasure. Some probably just wanted magical dragon bits. Whatever the reason, some people slew Draco (Greek for dragon) and his relatives.
Unless it was blown up, turned to stone etc, a dead dragon yielded lots of magical dragon parts. Sometimes the blood was poisonous. Other times it has magical properties such as the one Sigurd obtained which allowed him to understand the language of animals. Dragon eyes could be made into ointments that warded off nightmares. One famous and dramatic property of dragon parts was legions of undead soldiers being grown with dragon teeth that were planted in the ground.
There are some “real” dragon parts out there. Before Klagenfurt, Austria was founded the founders slew a “lindwurm” and kept its skull in their town hall. The skull was found later to be an ice age woolly rhinoceros skull. Red resin is also known as dragon blood. It is supposed to be dragon blood mixed with elephant blood, but it really comes from several species of trees. If you buy ground up dragon bones you’ll get ground up bones all right, mammal fossils to be exact!
As for real dragons, there are three main theories. The first is all dragon stories are rooted in exaggerations of real animals such as anacondas and komodo dragons. The second is that dinosaur bones were thought to be dragon bones. The final one is that there were once real dragons with bellies full of hydrogen that helped them fly and breath fire.
The dragon is also a symbol. Western dragons symbolize sin and treachery. Eastern dragons have kinder symbolism and represent storms and yang. Yang is a part of principle of Yin Yang. Yang stands for masculinity, heat, light etc, while Yin is femininity, cold, dark etc. Dragons in Western mythology had mostly negative symbolism, while those in eastern mythology were more often seen positively. In Asian cultures dragons were thought to bring good luck.
Dragons are guardians, monsters and symbols. Thy have inspired man for a long time. Throughout human history man has seen them everywhere, including the sky, naming a constellation Draco, after the dragon. The next time you look into the nighttime sky, imagine a dragon up there.
Here is something I once wrote on about dragons.
Dragons
What is a dragon? What was the first dragon? Are there real dragons? Are there different types of dragons? These are questions that people have asked throughout the ages. Many cultures in the world have stories and mythologies that contain dragons. By definition a dragon is a scaly beast, but after that, the definitions vary. Most people either think of a dragon as a wicked, four-legged winged fire belcher or a wise, wing-less, tiger –pawed serpent depending on the part of the world they live in. Experts call these dragons Western or Eastern dragons. These dragons have both fascinated and frightened mankind since the first dragon tale. Through these stories and mythologies we can learn about how different groups have described dragons and if dragons could have been based on anything real.
The mythology of many early Middle Eastern civilizations contained serpent like creatures. The first dragon or dragon like creature was probably the Sumerian sea serpent Labbu. Sumerian mythology said it was a sea serpent associated with the galaxy. The first western type dragon was probably Timat, a Babylonian dragon from whom the universe was made. One theory says that the concept of dragons evolved from the ancient Egyptians who depicted the form of the God Horus as being winged and fire breathing when he fought the evil god Set who killed his father.
Western type dragons are found in Nordic and Greek mythology. Fafnir was a giant who turned into a dragon and was slain by Sigurd in Norse mythology. Hydra and Ladon were both many-headed Greek dragons.
Eastern type dragons are found in the cultures of China, Korea and Japan. The Yellow Dragon King was dragon in Chinese mythology that was seen by an emperor. On its back were symbols. The emperor wrote down the symbols and they became the calligraphy that the Chinese used as writing. Because the Dragon King gave them writing, the dragon is highly respected in Asian culture.
From these various world mythologies we learn that the classic dragon is serpentine, or snake-like, has four legs, although it can have any number of legs, a long tail and long neck. Its teeth are almost always sharp and its scales usually are armor. Western dragons are often depicted with wings. Eastern dragons usually aren’t shown with wings but if they do have them, the wings are feathered.
An eastern dragon is supposed to consist of the parts of different animals e.g. belly of clam, antlers of deer and the head of camel. Even though is has no wings, it can fly. The power of flight comes from a bump on the head. On the dragon’s feet there are toes. The number of claws on each paw depends on which country the dragon is in. Asian dragons are creatures of water and storms.
Dragons are known to have a big appetite. To get fed, they demand tributes of livestock. The hero (or villain, depending on how you look at it) often takes advantage of the appetite, and hides a bomb or something along with the sheep. Some dragons have a smaller but pickier diet and only eat one fair maiden a week. Fair maidens must taste better or be healthier than ugly boys. Fair maiden eating dragons are usually found in Western mythology.
Another thing dragons are known for is their breath. Western dragons can have fiery breath or toxic breath. Some can both poison and flambé you. Asian dragons breathe storms.
Some dragons can change size. Traditional western dragons began looking like worms but steadily grow as they age, then people call them wyrms (snake-like dragons). Eastern dragons can change size at will and it only takes an instant for this to happen.
Dragons are often guardians of treasure. European dragons, such as Smaug and Fafnir, often hoard massive amounts of treasure, which they guard fiercely and greedily. Some dragons guard stuff other than treasure. Malpasso “guarded” a church. Eastern dragon Kings had vast amounts of treasure and knowledge, which they were willing to share with mankind.
Because dragons need somewhere to live and keep their treasure when they’re not on a rampage, they have a lair. It is often in a remote place. It can be in a cave, on an island, underground. or even under the sea. Dragon Kings live in brilliant underwater palaces.
There are lots of varieties of dragons. Here are three examples. The lindwurm is a snake-like western dragon that terrorized a village in Austria. The Mung is a four-clawed eastern dragon. Some experts include the basilisk as a dragon but others do not. The basilisk is the crested King of Serpents from Greek mythology who can kill with his gaze. (An ordinary lizard that can run on water is also called a basilisk lizard).
The legends of dragons grew through literature and lore continuing to the present day. Malposso was a church-hoarding dragon that took over a church and wouldn’t let any one use it. According to the story told by the Order of St. John, a religious knight group, Malposso was slain by Dieudonne, a member of their order. In more contemporary literature Smaug was a treasure-hoarding dragon in the book The Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien and Norbert is the dragon from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
Dragon slayers are almost as famous as the dragons they killed because it is not easy to slay a wyrm. One way to snuff it is to stab its weak spot. It is often its belly or a spot under the wing. Another way to give the dragon a “game over” is to give him a lethal tummy ache; feeding him a hot iron ball while he is eating should do the trick. The Lambton worm was a grow-bigger wyrm who was thrown into a well while it was small by Sir Lambton. Later Sir Lambton slew it by tricking it into squeezing him while he was covered in spear head coated armor, pricking its belly and weakening it so Lambton could slay it. Here are some other famous “puff snuffers” (dragon slayers). Sigurd slew Fafnir and when he drunk Fafnir’s blood he understood animals. Later Fafnir’s treasure turned him corrupt. Beowulf slew a dragon after it got into a rage over a stolen cup. Beowulf was losing until Wiglaf, his kinsman, stabbed the dragon’s weak spot. Beowulf copied Wiglaf and slew the dragon. Artashir was a Persian King who for some reason killed his daughter’s pet dragon by feeding it molten metal. Hercules slew Hydra and used her blood to make poison arrows, one of which he used to slay Ladon.
Some dragon slayers sought wealth and glory. Others wanted to rescue those delicious princesses and marry them or get their hands on the dragon’s treasure. Some probably just wanted magical dragon bits. Whatever the reason, some people slew Draco (Greek for dragon) and his relatives.
Unless it was blown up, turned to stone etc, a dead dragon yielded lots of magical dragon parts. Sometimes the blood was poisonous. Other times it has magical properties such as the one Sigurd obtained which allowed him to understand the language of animals. Dragon eyes could be made into ointments that warded off nightmares. One famous and dramatic property of dragon parts was legions of undead soldiers being grown with dragon teeth that were planted in the ground.
There are some “real” dragon parts out there. Before Klagenfurt, Austria was founded the founders slew a “lindwurm” and kept its skull in their town hall. The skull was found later to be an ice age woolly rhinoceros skull. Red resin is also known as dragon blood. It is supposed to be dragon blood mixed with elephant blood, but it really comes from several species of trees. If you buy ground up dragon bones you’ll get ground up bones all right, mammal fossils to be exact!
As for real dragons, there are three main theories. The first is all dragon stories are rooted in exaggerations of real animals such as anacondas and komodo dragons. The second is that dinosaur bones were thought to be dragon bones. The final one is that there were once real dragons with bellies full of hydrogen that helped them fly and breath fire.
The dragon is also a symbol. Western dragons symbolize sin and treachery. Eastern dragons have kinder symbolism and represent storms and yang. Yang is a part of principle of Yin Yang. Yang stands for masculinity, heat, light etc, while Yin is femininity, cold, dark etc. Dragons in Western mythology had mostly negative symbolism, while those in eastern mythology were more often seen positively. In Asian cultures dragons were thought to bring good luck.
Dragons are guardians, monsters and symbols. Thy have inspired man for a long time. Throughout human history man has seen them everywhere, including the sky, naming a constellation Draco, after the dragon. The next time you look into the nighttime sky, imagine a dragon up there.
[img src="http://i42.[tinypic].com/oq9gkj.png"] Fàêå Ñóÿilliñ 
