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Questions tagged [dragons]

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For questions about mythological creatures that possess reptilian traits but may, in some tales, have supernatural abilities, such as flying and breathing fire.

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4
votes
1answer
61 views

How do we distinguish a dragon, a wyrm and a wyvern in terms of the number of legs?

As I have seen lots of interest around this answer, more precisely around the number of legs (as @lfurini said), I have decided to open a question to find a canonical answer. From the discussion (...
7
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0answers
2k views

What more uses are there for dragon parts?

I read this article that tries to describe all things one could do with the body parts and blood of the dragon: The Uses of Dragon Parts in Mythology and Folklore Does anyone here know of other uses ...
5
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3answers
117 views

Are dragons intelligent?

Intelligent can mean a number of things, so to simplify, lets limit it to capable of human speech. It is a common quality in movies and books to give dragons the power of human speech, but are such ...
3
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0answers
39 views

What do we know about Dreg the dragon proper?

In Albanian Mythology, Dreg is mentioned to be the dragon proper. But, I can't find anything else about him. Save for the fact that Christianity demonized him and turned his name into one of the ...
12
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2answers
1k views

Where does the idea that dragons hoard gold come from?

Where does the idea that dragons hoard gold come from? I can't think of many myths of dragons hoarding gold. The closest I come up with is the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece. And even that's a ...
12
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1answer
498 views

Is there a common theme of dragon meat being toxic?

I have noticed a few stories that talk about dragons having toxic blood or meat. Their offshoots(?), wyverns, have a particular association with poison. Despite this, there is a lot of culture ...
11
votes
1answer
856 views

How did dragons get their wings?

Modern day dragons are, in Western culture at least, imagined as huge, reptilian, fire breathing creatures with both legs and wings. However, as far as I can find out myself by research, dragons were ...
7
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1answer
580 views

Have any dragons in mythology been able to breathe fire underwater?

Are there any dragons in any mythological canons that have been able to breathe fire while underwater?
5
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1answer
334 views

How large were Norse dragons?

In chapter 10 of the Saga of the Völsungs, Regin is trying to convince Sigurd that Fafnir is an average size dragon: "Young am I," says Sigurd, "yet know I the fashion of this worm, and how that ...
7
votes
1answer
240 views

Why is the Indian Dragon at war with the Elephant?

Aelian records the following tale of an elephant fighting a dragon: In India, I am told, the Elephant and the Drakon (Dragon-Serpent) are the bitterest enemies. Now Elephants draw down the branches ...
7
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1answer
372 views

When were European and Asian dragons first associated?

What is the oldest historical account of European dragons (Lindworms, Drakones etc.) being associated with Asian dragons (Lóng, Ryū)? Is the association simply because they are both serpent-like ...
5
votes
1answer
112 views

What was the inspiration for the Indian Drakon?

The Drakones indikoi was a legendary being. The can be found from here. It says they came from India. Was this creature inspired by a real animal? If so, can anyone tell what me what it is?
11
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2answers
874 views

Do we know how Hercules avoided the Hydra's venomous breath?

In most all references to the Lernaean Hydra, it says that the hydra has venomous breath and blood. Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 30 : "He [Herakles] killed at the spring of Lerna the nine headed ...
7
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1answer
239 views

Did the dragons of Chinese mythology originate from tornadoes?

I remember reading that tornadoes disappeared from ancient Asia due to climate change, and so the memory of it is preserved in myth as dragons. Is this true?
21
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1answer
7k views

Why do some Asian dragons have fur (or hair)?

In the west, we tend to think outside dragons as purely reptilian in nature - in other words, all scales, no fur - but many Asian representations of dragons show them with substantial amounts of fur (...
35
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3answers
9k views

What is the earliest known dragon myth?

The myth of dragons can be found in many different traditions, with the major two being the European dragon and the Chinese dragon. "There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the ...