Explore dragons in folklore—from Mesopotamian origins like Tiamat to Chinese rain dragons and European hoarders. They cover common traits across cultures, vulnerabilities like soft spots and tricks, historical sightings involving Alexander the Great and Mount Pilatus, and how many tales symbolize draining swamps to fight malaria. Plus, why dragon fossils haven't been found (hint: not thin bones). Listen for myths, history, and facts.
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Sources:
Core/Very Common Traits
- Slavic: Russian byliny.
- Greek: Hesiod's Theogony (700 BCE, Hydra/Typhon/Ladon).
- Indian: Rigveda (1500–1200 BCE, nāgas).
- Japanese: Kojiki/Nihon Shoki (712–720 CE, Yamata-no-Orochi).
- Norse: Völsunga Saga (13th cent., Fáfnir).
- Chinese: Shanhaijing (4th–1st cent. BCE, dragon kings).
Mesopotamia (Earliest Dragon-Like)
- Tiamat: Enūma Eliš (1800–1100 BCE); cylinder seals (2500 BCE).
- Mušḫuššu: Sumerian texts (2300 BCE); Ishtar Gate (604–562 BCE).
Earliest "Dragon" Word
- Tunnanu: Ugarit tablets (14th cent. BCE).
Chinese Lóng
- Proto: Hongshan jade artifacts (4500–3000 BCE).
- Full: Shang oracle bones (1200 BCE).
European Drakōn
- Da-ra-ko: Linear B tablet KN V 52 (1250 BCE).
- Myths: Homer's Iliad (750 BCE); Hesiod's Theogony (700 BCE).
Indian Nāga
- Vritra: Rigveda (1500–1200 BCE).
Americas Feathered Serpent
- Proto-Quetzalcoatl: Olmec La Venta Monument 19 (900 BCE).
Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities
- St. George: Golden Legend (1260 CE).
- Sigurd/Fáfnir: Völsunga Saga.
- Beowulf: Beowulf MS (1000 CE).
- Hydra: Hesiod/Ovid.
- Zmey Gorynych: Byliny (12th–16th cent.).
- Knucker: Sussex folklore (1614).
- Yamata-no-Orochi: Kojiki.
- Lambton Worm: Durham ballads (1400 CE).
Famous Encounters
- Alexander's Serpent (325 BCE): Aristotle's Meteorologica (340 BCE); Onesicritus (quoted); Strabo's Geography Bk 15 (20 AD); Pliny's Natural History 8.36 (77 AD); Arrian's Anabasis (2nd cent. AD).
- Mount Pilatus (1421): Von Wattenwyl testimony (1422, Lucerne Archives Nr. 221); later reports (1499/1619).
- Brienzersee (1934): Swiss newspapers (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Basler Nachrichten); Federal Police file; Air Force historian (1984).
Malaria Theory
- Wawel Dragon: 13th-cent. Polish chronicle.
- St. Mercurialis: Giovanni Villani's chronicle (14th cent.).
- Tarasp Dragon: Graubünden folklore.
- Context: Comparative history (e.g., Winegard's The Mosquito, 2019).
Thin Bones/Paleontology
- Examples: Pterosaurs (1,200+ specs, e.g., Quetzalcoatlus); Archaeopteryx (Solnhofen); Microraptor/Velociraptor (Liaoning); Sauropods/mosasaurs/plesiosaurs (global); Sarcosuchus/Deinosuchus (Cretaceous); Protoceratops (Gobi); Karoo Basin (300,000+ specs).
- General: Paleontology texts (e.g., Benton/Mayor).
