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European dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe. The word for dragon in Germanic mythology and its descendants is worm (Old English: wyrm, Old High German: wurm, Old Norse: ormr), meaning snake or serpent. In Old English wyrm means "serpent", draca means "dragon". Finnish lohikäärme means directly "salmon-snake", but the word lohi- was originally louhi- meaning crags or rocks, a "mountain dragon". Though a winged creature, the dragon is generally to be found in its underground lair, a cave that identifies it as an ancient creature of earth. Likely, the dragons of European and Mid Eastern mythology stem from the cult of snakes found in religions throughout the world. 1
Roman dragons
Roman dragons evolved from serpentine Greek ones, combined with the dragons of the Near East, in the mix that characterized the hybrid Greek/Eastern Hellenistic culture. From Babylon, the musrussu was a classic representation of a Near Eastern dragon. John's Book of Revelation — Greek literature, not Roman — describes Satan as "a great dragon, flaming red, with seven heads and ten horns". Much of John's literary inspiration is late Hebrew and Greek, but John's dragon, like his Satan, are both more likely to have come originally through the Near East.citation needed discuss Perhaps the distinctions between dragons of western origin and Chinese dragons (q.v.) are arbitrary. A later Roman dragon was certainly of Iranian origin: in the Roman Empire, where each military cohort had a particular identifying signum, (military standard), after the Dacian Wars and Parthian War of Trajan in the east, the Draco military standard entered the Legion with the Cohors Sarmatarum and Cohors Dacorum (Sarmatian and Dacian cohort) — a large dragon fixed to the end of a lance, with large gaping jaws of silver and with the rest of the body formed of colored silk. With the jaws facing into the wind, the silken body inflated and rippled, resembling a windsock. This signum is described in Vegetius Epitoma Rei Militaris, 379 CE (book ii, ch XIII. 'De centuriis atque vexillis peditum'):
- Primum signum totius legionis est aquila, quam aquilifer portat. Dracones etiam per singulas cohortes a draconariis feruntur ad proelium
- (The first sign of the entire legion is the eagle, which the eagle-bearer carries. In addition, dragons are carried into battle by each cohort, by the 'dragoneers')
and in Ammianus Marcellinus, xvi. 10, 7 (Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898: 'Signum'). It is hard to resist giving this Romanized Parthian dragon a distant Chinese origin.
Dragons in Germanic mythology
The most famous dragons in Norse and Germanic mythology are:
- Níðhöggr who gnawed at the roots of Yggdrasil, or Jörmungandr the giant sea serpent which surrounds Miðgarð the world of mortal men;
- The dragon encountered by Beowulf;
- Fafnir, who was killed by Sigurd. Fafnir had turned into a dragon because of his greed.
- Lindworms are monstrous serpents of Germanic myth and lore, often interchangeable with dragons.
- A dragon is slayed by legendary hero Sigurd (or Siegfried) from German medieval epic poem Nibelungenlied.
Many European stories of dragons have them guarding a treasure hoard. Both Fafnir and Beowulf's dragon guarded earthen mounds full of ancient treasure. The treasure was cursed and brought ill to those who later possessed it.
Dragons in the emblem books popular from late medieval times through the 17th century often represent the dragon as an emblem of greed. (Some quotes are needed) The prevalence of dragons in European heraldry demonstrates that there is more to the dragon than greed.
Though the Latin is draco, draconis, it has been supposed by some scholars, including John Tanke of the University of Michigan, that the word dragon comes from the Old Norse draugr, which literally means a spirit who guards the burial mound of a king. How this image of a vengeful guardian spirit is related to a fire-breathing serpent is unclear. Many others assume the word dragon comes from the ancient Greek verb δέρκεσθαι, meaning "to see", referring to the dragon's legendarily keen eyesight. In any case, the image of a dragon as a serpent-like creature was already standard at least by the 8th century when Beowulf was written down. Although today we associate dragons almost universally with fire, in medieval legend the creatures were often associated with water, guarding springs or living near or under water.
Other European legends about dragons include "Saint George and the Dragon", in which a brave knight defeats a dragon holding a princess captive. This legend may be a Christianized version of the myth of Perseus, or of the mounted Phrygian god Sabazios vanquishing the chthonic serpent, but its origins are obscure.
The tale of George and the Dragon has been modified for modern works, with Saint George portrayed in one Welsh nationalist rendering as an effete wally who faints at the sight of the dragon [1] and a poem by U. A. Fanthorpe based on Paolo Uccello's painting, which hangs in the British National Gallery. In the poem, Saint George is a thug, the Maiden considers the relative sexual merits of the dragon and saint, and the Dragon is the only sane character. Certainly, Uccello's 15th-century painting, in which the Maiden has the dragon on a leash, is itself not the most conventional representation of the story.
It is possible that the dragon legends of northwestern Europe are at least partly inspired by earlier stories from the Roman Empire, or from the Sarmatians and related cultures north of the Black Sea. There has also been speculation that dragon mythology might have originated from stories of large land lizards which inhabited Eurasia, or that the sight of giant fossil bones eroding from the earth may have inspired dragon myths (compare Griffin).
The Germanic tribe, the Anglo Saxons, under the warriors Hengest and Horsa brought the symbol of the White Dragon to England in the United Kingdom. Today, the White Dragon is representative of England.
A Viking-period depiction of the dragon Fafnir shows a long snake-like animal. The poem Beowulf describes a draca (= dragon) also as wyrm (= worm, or serpent) and its movements by the Anglo-Saxon verb bugan = "to bend", and says that it has a venomous bite; all of these indicate a snake-like form and movement rather than with a lizard-like or dinosaur-like body as in later belief.
Dragons in Celtic mythology
In Britain, the dragon is now more commonly associated with Wales due to the national flag having a red dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) as its emblem and their national rugby union and rugby league teams are known as the dragons. This may originate in Arthurian Legend where Myrddin, employed by Gwrtheyrn, had a vision of the red dragon (representing the Britons) and the white dragon (representing the invading Saxons) fighting beneath Dinas Emrys. The red dragon was linked with the Britons who are today represented by the Welsh and it is believed that the white dragon refers to the Saxons who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries. This particular legend also features in the Mabinogion in the story of Llud and Llefelys.
It has also been speculated that the red dragon of Wales may have originated in the Sarmatian-influenced Draco standards carried by Late Roman cavalry, who would have been the primary defence against the Saxons. In Welsh language the word "Pennaith" means also a chieftain, apparently due to the Roman draco standards.
The Welsh flag is parti per fess Argent and Vert; a dragon Gules passant.
Dragons in Polish mythology
Dragons in Asturian mythology
See Cuélebre.
Dragons in Aragonese mythology
There is a legend that a dragon dwelled in the the Peña Uruel mountain near Jaca. It says that it could mesmerize people with his glance, so the young man who decided to kill the beast equipped himself with a shiny shield, so that the dragon's glance would be reflected. So, when the young man arrived the cave where the dragon lived, he could kill it easily because the dragon got mesmerized by itself. This legend is very similar to the Greek myth of Medusa.
The king of Peter IV of Aragon used a dragon on his helmet to show that he was the king of Aragon, as a heraldic pun (Rei d'Aragón, dragón).
Dragons in Basque mythology
Herensuge is the name given to the dragon in Basque mythology, meaning apparently the "last serpent". The best known legend has St. Michael descending from Heaven to kill it but only once God accepted to accompany him in person.
Sugaar, the Basque male god, is often associated with the serpent or dragon but able to take other forms as well. His name can be read as "male serpent".
A. Xaho, a romantic myth creator of the 19th century, fused these myths in his own creation of Leherensuge, the first and last serpent, that in his newly coined legend would arise again some time in the future bringing the rebirth of the Basque nation.
Dragons in Catalan mythology
Dragons are well-known in Catalan myths and legends, in no small part because St. George (Catalan Sant Jordi) is the patron saint of Catalonia. Like most dragons, the Catalan dragon (Catalan drac) is basically an enormous serpent with two legs, or, rarely, four, and sometimes a pair of wings. As in many other parts of the world, the dragon's face may be like that of some other animal, such as a lion or bull. As is common elsewhere, Catalan dragons are fire-breathers, and the dragon-fire is all-consuming. Catalan dragons also can emit a fetid odor, which can rot away anything it touches.
The Catalans also distinguish a víbria or vibra (cognate with English viper and wyvern), a female dragon with two prominent breasts, two claws and an eagle's beak.
Dragons in Italian mythology
The legend of Saint George and the dragon is well-known in Italy, but other Saints are depicted fighting a dragon. For instance, the first bishop of the city of Forlì, named Saint Mercurialis, was said to have killed a dragon and saved Forlì, so he often is depicted killing a dragon. Likewise, the first patron saint of Venice, Saint Theodore of Tyro, was a dragon-slayer, and a statue representing his slaying of the dragon still tops one of the two columns in St. Mark's square. St. Michael, the patron saint of paratroopers, is also frequently depicted slaying a dragon. Many dragons of the European Middle Ages were thought to be demonic or of evil status.
Notes
- ^ See serpent (mythology).
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dragon |
- List of dragons in mythology and folklore
- Dragons in Greek mythology
- List of fictional dragons
- List of dragons in fantasy fiction
- Chinese dragon
- Cockatrice
- The Dragon curve Fractal
- Griffin
- An Instinct for Dragons, hypothesis about the origin of dragon myths
- Order of the Dragon, founded in 1408 by Sigismund, King of Hungary, later Holy Roman Emperor.
- Persian dragon
- Smocza Jama ("dragon's den"), a cave in Kraków, Poland
- Sea monster
- Zilant
- Knucker
- Knuckerhole
External links
- "Theoi Project" website: Dragons of classical Greece, excerpts from Greek sources, illustrations, lists and links.
- A víbria costume, as worn by a Catalan geganter.
- www.fectio.org.uk - Draco Late Roman military standard
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 2 January 2009, at 23:26.
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