Dragon

This page is about the mythical creature called dragon. For other meanings of the word, see Dragon (disambiguation).

Paolo Uccello's "the dragon"

The dragon is a legendary creature belonging to the world of mythology, story telling and fantasy. We find stories about dragons in Chinese culture, European culture, South American culture, and many others.

Because dragons can look like dinosaurs and other extinct animals it is easy to think that those animals might have been an example for dragons as they were thought of in the history of humankind.

There are many kinds of dragons in the different cultures. In general:

• A dragon is usually big and impressive.
• A dragon has: none to four legs, claws, scales and possibly spikes. Optional wings.
• A dragon perhaps looks like a snake with wings, or like lizards
• A dragon has a tail and a long neck.
• A dragon has a wide mouth with big and dangerous teeth.
• Sometimes they have horns and hair.
• A dragon can fly.
• A dragon can perhaps breathe fire (or other dangerous substances).
• A dragon has special powers.
• A dragon could have flight sacs full of hydrogen and methane, that not only help it to fly, but also to breathe fire.
• some dragons have caves

In some stories such as The Hobbit or Beowulf dragons are considered dangerous and eat humans, but other stories have majestic dragons who are looking for help, or giving help. A dragon also appears in the Book of Revelation chapters 12-13.

Other websites

• Dragons Across Cultures at Draconika