dragons????????????????????????????????

Question

was there ever such things as dragons, not ones that breath fire, but just some sort, because otherwise were did the idea come from?

Answer 1

Dragons exist nearly in all ancient cultures. The Chinese dragon is like a long seprent, the German mythology explains such a thing too, and there are more examples in the Greek and Egyptian mythology. Perhaps these reptile things were created, when people saw an interesting reptile (a cameleon or sg.) and they created a myth about the 'large reptiles' breathing fire. But as a serpent it was too weak, so they gave him wings and claws. And as all mythological mosnters, Dragons can be beaten by ancient swords, and magical stones... and do not forget about the legendary heroes. By the way, the Holy Bible explains such a thing: St. George who killed the Dragon. Later, Zsingmond, Hungarian king esteblished the Order of the Dragon (around 1500). The puspose was simple: to protect christianity from the ottoman invasion and everyone who threatens the clergy and the pope. So the symbol of the dragon got a negative feature, but these animals - real or fictive - are very noble and ancien. They possess the ancient knowledge of the universe and the power of the stars in their pure diamond heart.

Answer 2

It is funny the way you get dragons in almost every civilisation isn't it? From the noble dragons of China to the Quezacoatl in South America, dragons are everywhere. Either this prevalence of belief is founded on something real, or perhaps it is evidence for a collective unconscious in mankind. I've heard a few arguments that dragon myths are based on exposed dinosaur fossils, astronomical phenomena, sightings of large but elusive reptilians like komodos or even cryptozoological creatures. I think this is a likely scenario. There are some good sources on wikipedia about dragons.

In "The Flight of Dragons", Peter Dickinson attempts to explain how dragons could have flown despite their size. It is an interesting book and a compelling hypothesis. Discovery recently did a documentary exploring the origin of the dragon myth called
"Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real". These would be worth a look if you want to explore the idea more.

As a Welsh person, I'm fond of dragons as an archetype but I wouldn't want to meet one. Unless it was one of Terry Pratchett's swamp dragons.

Answer 3

There is actually a theory that that the fire breathing type might have existed. Some guy, sorry can't remember his name, felt, more or less as you seem to, if they never existed how come they crop up in mythology from around the world. He has written a book demonstrating how they may have existed. They were basically big hot air ballons and the fire breathing was their method of getting back to the ground, because of all the acid that was required in their bodies to create the gas once they died all their bones dissolved which is why no remains were found. He goes in to lots more detail than that but that's the basic idea. It's a nice theory, I hope it's true, it would be great to think that dragons did exist once.

Answer 4

There is a reasonable theory that dragons, gryphons, myths etc came from people viewing exposed fossil beds and then telling stories about why those bones are there. This seems to make sense as many of the Greek heros were "giants" and many of the fossils they would have seen would appear to be large human bones. Gryphons originated in the middle east along the Gold Trail and there are several exposed fossil beds there which contain bones that are similiar to what a gryphons bones would apear to be.

This seems to be a fairly reasonable theory for some of these mythical creatures. Others may have just been imagination, or possible some memory of large creatures from long ago.

Answer 5

There are definately lizard like reptiles that are known as dragons but I do not where the idea of fire from mouth came, I think it may have originated somewhere in China as they celebrate the year of the Dragon and perform Dragon dances etc where several people unite and wear a dragon like model on their head. I know they take this quite seriously and it is a skill they have to practice in order to move in a synchronised fashion that makes the dragon appear to be moving in the correct way.

Answer 6

see todays reuters report about a frilled shark that came up from the deeper waters in japan, to lesser intellegent peoples, this would indeed seem like a water bourne dragon, it only happens once in a great while, yet it scares the bjesus out of those who witnesses the event. in the event that the same thing ever happened onland the same result would occur.

Answer 7

I do think alot of the myths are based fact. Maybe enlarged and embroidered over the centuries, but still based on fact. I love reading about archaeological discoveries and they are finding more and more evidence that substantiates folklore.

Answer 8

Yes???????????? They've always been around Sparkle. They do not reveal themselves to everyone though as the myths make most of them evil and they are not. Two dragons protect my home.

Answer 9

There are many animals that are extinct now, but who knows for certain what all lived in the dinasaur age? Could their skeletons be similar to dinasaur skeletons? Hmmmm?

Answer 10

I think they turned up when fossils were unearthed and people needed answers so they made up stories that fitted vaguely with the size and shape of the skeleton