Dragon My four moods I need coffee I need a nap shirt
Greek Pythonreek Python. Source: Virgil Solis/Wikimedia CommonsIndia, Scandinavia and Great BritainAt the same time in India, there lived the dragon Vritra who was the personification of drought, and who blocked the courses ofrivers. Vritra was heroically slain by the deity Indra.Farther north, in Norse mythology, are the dragons Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir. The hero Sigurd catches Fafnir by digging a pit between Fafnir’s cave and the spring where he drinks, then Sigurd stabs Fafnir, and on Odin’s advice, he drinks his blood. This gives Sigurd the ability to understand the language of birds.In the Ramsund Carving, on a rock in Sweden that dates to 1030 AD, the hero Sigurd can be seen plunging his sword into Fafnir’s underside.Ramsund CarvingRamsund Carving. Source: Nordisk familjebok/Wikimedia CommonsIn the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, created between 975 and 1025 AD, the hero Beowulf is mortally wounded by a dragon. Also, in ancient Great Britain lived the Wyvern, a two-legged dragon who showed up on various heraldry, such as shields and coats of arms.Explore the Mythology of Dragons as Part of Mankind’s HistoryEnglish Wyvern on the Duke of Marlborough arms. Source: Public Domain/Wikimedia CommonsEuropeEuropean interest in dragons peaked between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. A medieval bestiary, which is a treatise on real or mythical animals, that dates to 1260 AD displays the earliest known Western dragon.
Dragon My four moods I need coffee I need a nap shirt
13th-century drago13th-century dragon. Source: Theological miscellany/Wikimedia CommonsIn the 11th century, France had the story ofSaint George and the Dragon. That dragon had a voracious appetite for both sheep and children until George rode into town.In Russia, there lived the three-headed dragon Zmey Gorynych.Explore the Mythology of Dragons as Part of Mankind’s HistorySaint George slaying the dragon. Source: Verona, Biblioteca Civica/Wikimedia CommonsChinaDragons appear throughout Chinese history, with their images gracing Neolithic and Bronze Age pottery. The Miao people of southwestChina have a story that a divine dragon created the first humans by breathing on monkeys that came to play in his cave.In China, dragons are closely associated with rain, and there are many Chinese texts containing prayers invoking dragons to bring rain. To this day, during holidays including the SpringFestival and Lantern Festival, villagers construct a sixteen-foot-long dragon from cloth and bamboo and parade it through their villages.Dragon boat races are common in China, with boats carved to look like dragons.