What is a dragon?

[Roman]

What exactly are dragons? How would you define them? It seems to me that almost every culture is said to have 'dragons' as part of its mythology/legends or religios/supernatural beliefs. These creatures, however, vary hugely. They are as disparate as Germanic/Anglosaxon coloured dragons, Slovak dragons (giant multiheaded creatures whose numbers of heads come in multiples of 3 or 7 and usually breathe fire), Chinese dragons and dragons of various other cultures (some turtle shaped ones, for example). So what is it that connects these creatures that they are all called dragons? What makes a dragon a dragon?

It seems to me:

1) They are all giant
2) They are all reptilian
3) They are all fantastic creatures, not just larger versions of existing creatures

The above does not really seem like a sufficient connection though...

So... how would you define a dragon and connect the creatures in various cultures that are generally regarded as dragons?

 

[Imperialus]

One of the most common theories tossed around is that the legends surrounding dragons actually came from dinosaur bones that were discovered thousands of years ago. After all if you were some iron age merchant wandering about and you found a skull with lots of pointy teeth the size of you what would you think it was?

 

[jgbrowning]

One of the most common theories tossed around is that the legends surrounding dragons actually came from dinosaur bones that were discovered thousands of years ago. After all if you were some iron age merchant wandering about and you found a skull with lots of pointy teeth the size of you what would you think it was?

Heavy?

joe b.

 

[Mark]

Dragon [ drágg·en ] - the young of a small domesticated mammal that has soft fur, sharp claws, pointed ears, and, usually, . . . a long furry tail, and makes characteristic purring or meowing sounds . . .



nope.



sorry.



that's a kitten.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

Somebody, I forget who, postulated that the dragon basically came from taking a snake's attributes and exaggerating them or asking "What would be even worse?"
The snake's venom burns, so an exaggeration of that is fire breath.
The snake strikes quickly, so an exaggeration of that is flight (or, looking at it another way, a snake is fortunately landbound, but imagine how much worse it would be if it could fly).

 

[Roman]

Interesting theories - it certainly makes sense that dinosaur bones would contribute to dragon legends and it is plausible that a combination and exaggeration of human fears would contribute to shaping dragon myths. Nevertheless, the 'dragons' in the various legends of the world seem rather dissimilar. What is it that unites them that we call them all dragons?

 

[Merkuri]

I saw a special on dragons on one of those "learning" channels (I feel like it was the History channel, but it may have been Discovery or something else). The conclusion of the whole thing was that dragons are the epitome of what we fear and what we want to be (because if we are what we fear, then other people will fear us). It also proposed the theory that we have a "genetic memory" of a dragon that comes from the time when we were just dumb beasts being hunted in the jungle. We combined the features of raptor, hunting cat, and snake to make a dragon, the ultimate predator. This explains why there seems to be a dragon of some sort in just about every ancient culture. I don't know if I believe it, but it's a cool theory.

Heh, and at one point it also talked about how there were a lot (and I mean a LOT) of poor peasants claiming that they saw their cattle snatched up by a dragon. Sounds to me like a lot of peasants couldn't scrape together enough meat to pay the king's taxes and made up a viable excuse. Back then, cattle eaten by dragon WAS a good excuse, since it happened so often.

 

[Merkuri]

Nevertheless, the 'dragons' in the various legends of the world seem rather dissimilar. What is it that unites them that we call them all dragons?

1) Power. Dragons are always powerful, whether they are forces for good, evil, or embodiments of the power of nature. This is perhaps the most important commonality.
2) Reptilian and/or feline. Dragons usually combine snake-like features with the grace and power of a big cat.
3) Flight. Dragons usually (but not always) fly, though they do not always have wings.
4) Breath weapon. A dragon can usually (but not always) "breathe" something, whether it's fire, steam, or something else.

 

[reanjr]

1) They are all giant
2) They are all reptilian

Not true on both accounts. Medieval Christian dragons (Occidental, if you will) were usually depicted as man-sized or smaller. (Michael slaying the dragon - http://prodigi.bl.uk/Illimages/Kslides\mid/K057/K057372.jpg) Additionally, Occidental dragons were usually chimeric, being made up of various creatures, sometimes none of them reptilian. Oriental dragons were also chimeric, and of the nine creatures that traditionally went into them, only one was reptilian (snake's neck).

In fact, from what I can think of the only non-chimeric dragons were those of Scandinavia, on which the D&D dragons were based (with some notable exceptions - i.e. Golds were based on Oriental style). There are no Occidental dragons in D&D that I can think of.

 

[reanjr]

One of the most common theories tossed around is that the legends surrounding dragons actually came from dinosaur bones that were discovered thousands of years ago. After all if you were some iron age merchant wandering about and you found a skull with lots of pointy teeth the size of you what would you think it was?

This has actually been proven in some areas, while other areas it is simply a good postulate. Although, it was rarely bones. More commonly, it was fossilized foot prints that became exposed.

Dinosaur bones, on the other hand, are the source of many giant legends.