Dragon Legends?

Question

Why do so many cultures have REAL dragon legends? Perhaps we did live at one point with dinosaurs?

Answer 1

Most people are unaware that the word “dinosaur” was not coined until the 1840s by Sir. Richard Owen. So, if these creatures lived alongside humans prior to that time, they were not called dinosaurs. So what were they called? Dragons. Most cultures throughout the world possess ancient stories about dragons and sea monsters that closely resemble what we today would call dinosaurs. Dragon stories have been handed down for generations in most civilizations.

No doubt many of these stories have been exaggerated through the years, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have their original basis in fact. I believe many of the dragon legends are simply distorted versions of dinosaur encounters. As Paul Taylor has said, “Most of the dragon legends are full of exaggeration, magic and marvelous deeds. But this is not true of all of them. Many stories seem rather believable.” It is true that many of them are mythical or legendary but it is also true that most legends are based on some truth. It cannot be an accident that so many separate peoples of the world tell such stories.

The stories of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Saint George killing dragons are likely to have been based on at least some fact. These were real men in history.

As you know, dragons are prominent on Chinese pottery, embroidery, carvings, etc. It’s interesting that the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac are all animals—eleven of which are still alive today, but one is the dragon. It doesn’t seem logical that the ancient Chinese, when constructing their zodiac, would include one mythical animal with eleven real animals.

In 1271, Marco Polo (the Italian explorer) reported that on special occasions in China the royal chariot was pulled by dragons. Marco Polo also said that he saw long reptiles in Asia called Lindworms that could easily ran as fast as a horse.

In 1611, we can see that the emperor appointed the post of “Royal Dragon Feeder” which doesn’t make sense if there were no dragons to feed. We also find Ancient Chinese books telling of people using dragon eggs, blood, bones and other parts for medicine.

John of Damascus (an Arab monk in the 8th century) wrote against some of the wild and mythical claims about dragons and said, “I am not telling you, after all, that there are no dragons; dragons exist but they are serpents [reptiles] borne of other serpents. When just born and young, they are small; but when they grow up and mature, they become big and fat so that they exceed the other serpents in length and size. It is said they grow up more than thirty cubits [45 feet]; as for their thickness, they become as thick as a huge log.”

There is a well-known science book from the 16th century by a Swiss naturalist and medical doctor named Conrad Gesner called Historia Animalium. The book claims that dragons were still not extinct in the 1500's, but were extremely rare and relatively small by then.

After Alexander the Great invaded India (356-323 B.C.) he brought back reports of great hissing reptiles the Indians kept in caves. There was one that really frightened his army was estimated by them to be over 100 feet long.

And then there’s all the stories of giant sea serpents and sea monsters. As Dr. Mace Baker said, “For more than a thousand years ancient and medieval mariners often returned from their voyages with frightening tales of encounters with, or sightings of, large and dangerous sea monsters.”

There are hundreds of these types of legends. Evolutionists just say that it’s coincidence that many of them sound like dinosaurs. World Book Encyclopedia says: “The dragons of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man was supposed to have appeared on earth.”

Answer 2

They've even found a man's footprint inside a dinosaur's footprint. Too many dragon stories for dragons not to have lived at one time. Same is true for dinosaurs in close history and not millions of years ago. The Bible mentions both dragons and dinosaurs and even a unicorn or a wild ox.

Answer 3

Most cultures also have myths of talking animals, elf type creatures and ghosts or spirits. I think dragons are probably the result of people coming up with the most horrible things they could.
Some historians are also willing to speculate that dinosaur bones might have been the foundation for dragon myths.

Answer 4

I love dragons and always have. My Chinese birth chart holds both the fire and water dragon. Here are some websites on dragon legends you may find interesting.
Personally, I believe there is some truth in many legends and myths.

www.draconika.com/legends

azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/42_folder/42_articles/42_azikhcave

www.theserenedragon.net/Tales/tales.html

Answer 5

Read Job 40-41

Answer 6

Dragons can fly.

...most dinosaurs couldn't.

Answer 7

they found dinosaur bones and made up stories about them

Answer 8

Today we have chupacabras. New legends are born all the time.

Answer 9

here is a question I answered... its the same one but I'm too lazy to type all over again.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070401123826AAMhbzv

Answer 10

nah

this came about when people were high and seen small lizards and freaked out and told lies about fighting them