About Dragons

A fabulous animal, represented as a huge winged
serpent with a crested head and large claws.

Winged dragons made their first Western appearances
in the works of ancient Greece and in the Bible, but
it was medieval Europe whose imagination was most
captured by the stubby-legged, fire-breathing monsters.

As legend had it, any of those terrifying creatures,
often having formidable horns, horrible fangs, and
pestilential breath, might hold a town hostage and
devour young virgins until it was killed — most
likely being beheaded or impaled — by a virtuous
knight, usually armed with a magical sword. The most
famous hero to rescue a town and maiden was Saint
George, whose victory was seen as an allegory for
Christianity's triumph over the powers of darkness.

Dragons also loomed large in Chinese folklore,
where they were relatively benign. But in the
West they were evil; the real-life model for
the fictional vampire Dracula, the prince Vlad
Tepes, was nicknamed Dracula after the Romanian
word for dragon and devil. Even in death, a
dragon reportedly had extraordinary powers. A
drop of its blood could kill instantly, and its
teeth, planted in the earth, sprang up overnight
as armed men.

In the 19th century, fossil evidence of the
existence of the pterodactyl, an extinct winged
reptile, led to speculation that dragons, far
from being purely mythical, may at one time
have been real monsters that had survived from
the age of the dinosaurs. In Mythical Monsters
(1886) New Zealand geologist Charles Gould
declared: "We may infer that it (the dragon)
was a long terrestrial lizard, hibernating
and carnivorous... possibly furnished with
wing-like expansions...."

A discovery that took place in 1912 gave some
support to Gould's theory. A Dutch pilot who
crash-landed on the island of Komodo in
Indonesia reported seeing huge, grotesque-looking,
carnivorous creatures resembling dragons.
Investigations confirmed the airman's story.
The animal he had seen was a giant monitor
lizard, now known as the Komodo dragon. The
creature grows to 10 feet in length, has a
long powerful tail, feeds on carrion, and
sometimes attacks and kills people. From New
Guinea, too, have come unconfirmed reports of
lizards that are even larger than the Komodo
dragon. It is, however, difficult to understand
how these particular giant lizards, isolated in
a part of the world remote from Europe, could
have played any part in the development of the
Western legend of the dragon. Could it be that
the Western dragon developed from a memory in
the collective unconscious of modern man, a
memory of other, widespread, fierce and fearsome
animals, survivors from the age of dinosaurs —
a memory passed down from our primitive
ancestors, who lived in terror of such creatures?

People in Durham (England) still sing of the
"worm" — Old English for "dragon" — which
terrorized the county in the Middle Ages. It
all began when the young heir to Lambton
Castle went fishing on a Sunday. He caught
an eel-like creature, which he threw down a
well. In the well the worm grew to an enormous
size, and when the young knight went off on a
crusade, it broke out and devoured men and
beasts. Every night it would sleep while wound
three times around Lambton Hill, now called
Worm Hill. Young Lambton managed to slay the
dragon on his return from the crusade, but
only by promising a witch he would kill the
first creature he met after his victory.
Unfortunately, it was his father who was
first on the scene. Young Lambton refused
to kill him, and, because of this, the Lambton
family was put under the witch's curse — a
curse said to be effective still.

Further info:
Dragon Lore.
Historical Dragon Page.
http://bestiarium.net/index-e.html

http://www.occultopedia.com/

Message: 21
   Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:19:28 -0000
   From: "Lady Mayre"
Subject: Dragons
 
 

More About Dragons!

A fabulous animal, represented as a huge winged serpent with a crested head and large claws. Winged dragons made their first Western appearances in the works of ancient Greece and in the Bible, but it was medieval Europe whose imagination was most captured by the stubby-legged, fire-breathing monsters. As legend had it, any of those terrifying creatures, often having formidable horns, horrible fangs, and pestilential breath, might hold a town hostage and devour young virgins until it was killed - most likely being beheaded or impaled - by a virtuous knight, usually armed with a magical sword. The most famous hero to rescue a town and maiden was Saint George, whose victory was seen as an allegory for Christianity's triumph over the powers of darkness. Dragons also loomed large in Chinese folklore, where they were relatively benign. But in the West they were evil; the real-life model for the fictional vampire Dracula, the prince Vlad Tepes, was nicknamed Dracula after the Romanian word for dragon and devil. Even in death, a dragon reportedly had extraordinary powers. A drop of its blood could kill instantly, and its teeth, planted in the earth, sprang up overnight as armed men. In the 19th century, fossil evidence of the existence of the pterodactyl, an extinct winged reptile, led to speculation that dragons, far from being purely mythical, may at one time have been real monsters that had survived from the age of the dinosaurs. In Mythical Monsters (1886) New Zealand geologist Charles Gould declared: "We may infer that it (the dragon) was a long terrestrial lizard, hibernating and carnivorous... possibly furnished with wing- like expansions...." A discovery that took place in 1912 gave some support to Gould's theory. A Dutch pilot who crash-landed on the island of Komodo in Indonesia reported seeing huge, grotesque-looking, carnivorous creatures resembling dragons. Investigations confirmed the airman's story. The animal he had seen was a giant monitor lizard, now known as the Komodo dragon. The creature grows to 10 feet in length, has a long powerful tail, feeds on carrion, and sometimes attacks and kills people. From New Guinea, too, have come unconfirmed reports of lizards that are even larger than the Komodo dragon. It is, however, difficult to understand how these particular giant lizards, isolated in a part of the world remote from Europe, could have played any part in the development of the Western legend of the dragon. Could it be that the Western dragon developed from a memory in the collective unconscious of modern man, a memory of other, widespread, fierce and fearsome animals, survivors from the age of dinosaurs - a memory passed down from our primitive ancestors, who lived in terror of such creatures? People in Durham (England) still sing of the "worm" - Old English for "dragon" - which terrorized the county in the Middle Ages. It all began when the young heir to Lambton Castle went fishing on a Sunday. He caught an eel-like creature, which he threw down a well. In the well the worm grew to an enormous size, and when the young knight went off on a crusade, it broke out and devoured men and beasts. Every night it would sleep while wound three times around Lambton Hill, now called Worm Hill. Young Lambton managed to slay the dragon on his return from the crusade, but only by promising a witch he would kill the first creature he met after his victory. Unfortunately, it was his father who was first on the scene. Young Lambton refused to kill him, and, because of this, the Lambton family was put under the witch's curse - a curse said to be effective still.

Related videos: Dragons. Dragons - Myths & Legends. Related books: Behold...the Dragons! Dancing With Dragons: Invoke Their Ageless Wisdom & Power. Dragon Tarotdeck. Dragons: A Natural History. Dragons and Unicorns: A Natural History. Dragons, Unicorns and Sea Serpents: A Classic Study of the Evidence for Their Existence. Fabulous Monsters. Mythical Monsters. The Bestiary (Dramatic Supplement). The Book of Dragons. The Discovery of Dragons. The Dragon Tarot.