Dragons or dragon-like creatures can be found in the mythology of vastly different cultures around the world. Even those widely separated by time and distance, thousands of years and thousands of miles apart. Regardless of time or place, dragon mythology typically revolves around a theme of scary monster, eventually slain by a hero. Below are some fascinating facts about dragon mythology.
Dragon Mythology Has Existed for Thousands of Years
Fantasy fiction works in the past few decades, and especially recent TV adaptations such as Game of Thrones and its spinoffs, have revived the popularity of dragons – creatures whose stories have been popular in many parts of the world for thousands of years. Mythical menacing reptiles and huge serpents appear in the mythology of many cultures. Although those cultures and their dragons or dragon-like beings might be separated by thousands of miles and thousands of years, their folklore shares some commonalities.
Dragon stories from different parts of the world generally revolve around the theme of a virtuous hero and a monster – an archetype that symbolizes the eternal war between good and evil, light and darkness. For example, the Old Testament has the Leviathan; the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians had Apophis and mushussu, respectively; Norse mythology has the beast from Beowulf; Albanians have wyverns and pythons; the French have the Grand’Goule; the ancient Greeks had the Hydra; and Hindus have the Vritra.
Common Themes of Dragon Mythology
A common theme of dragon mythology in various cultures is the presence of a typically huge reptilian creature, that menaces and endangers people. The terrifying beast might fly and breathe fire, or slither around and spit poison. Eventually, after a buildup that heightens the drama and narrative tension, a bigger than life hero or a god makes an entrance, challenges the beast, slays it, and sets things right. So, what are the origins of the mythology of those awesome beasts?
Historian and classical folklorist Adrienne Mayor theorizes that the mythology of dragons can be traced back to ancient discoveries of dinosaur fossils and those of huge extinct mammals. For example, take how the ancient Greeks depicted the Monster of Troy in vases and other artwork. The monster resembles a Samotherium, an extinct giraffe whose fossils are quite common in the Mediterranean. In parts of China where fossils of large extinct creatures are common, they are often described as “dragon bones”.
The Origins of Dragon Mythology
In the mythology of northern India, dragons closely resemble the extinct animals that left giant fossils strewn across the foothills of the Himalayas. Another theory goes farther yet in time, and argues that dragon mythology is baked into us, and can be traced back to before we had even evolved into humans. Anthropologist David E. Jones contends that dragons can be traced back to humans’ instinctive fear of snakes. Such fears originated with our distant ancestors as they wandered ancient savannas and forests millions of years ago. Even more than for us today, snakes posed an especially grave danger for those ancestral creatures.
The peril was greatest for the youngest. Evolution instilled in us a healthy fear of snakes to the point that children today, even in places that have no snakes at all, instinctively fear them. Such primal fears of snakes, argues Jones, gave rise to dragon stories. His theory is supported by the fact that the earliest known dragon tales depict them as snake-like. For example, the ancient Egyptian depiction (above) of a god slaying the giant serpent Apophis. So there could be more to dragon mythology than just cultural expressions: it might be an expression of something baked into our very genes.
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Some Sources & Further Reading
History Halls – Folklore and Mythology: The Origin of Mermaids
Jones, David E. – An Instinct for Dragons (2000)
Smithsonian Magazine, January 23rd, 2012 – Where Did Dragons Come From?
