This was not the only legacy of ancient Egypt for dragon folklore: protectively enshrouding Ra was an ouroboros: a serpent that swallowed its one tale. It would set a precedent for thousands of years. This was the first battle between a proto-dragon and a king. And then there was Denwen, a snake made of fire that nearly destroyed all of the gods.ĭenwen was defeated by a pharaoh, a victory used to established his right to rule. Sometimes, Nehebkua (a snake so big the earth was thought to rest on its coils) would help Ra in his daily battles. But Apep ain’t the only giant snake slitherin’ round Duat. Apep was a giant serpent that came in at 8-men-long with a roar so powerful it could send storms and earthquakes to the living realm. It starts with a snake.Īccording to tradition, every time the sun goes down it's because the sun god, Ra, is descending to the depths of the underworld to battle Apep. Our story starts 5000 years ago, in ancient Egypt. As with all mythical and paranormal creatures, they reflect the world in which they were created.ĭue to the significance of dragons in East Asian history and culture, I’ve segmented this section into non-Eastern and Eastern history.
Some represent evil, some bring luck some are symbols of gods and kings, some are to be defeated by them. There has been a wide range of dragons reported and described in folklore across the world since 3000 BC, but there are significant features and tropes that draw them together across borders.
#Draconian wicca free#
But in East Asian cultures, the snake-like dragon free of wings (and sometimes endowed with facial hair) is the main character of festivals. When we think of dragons, we think of a cookie cutter image of a lizard-dinosaur hybrid. They are a staple of fantasy fiction and are normally associated with the medieval age - when folklore that featured them reached its peak of popularity in Europe - or with Chinese New Year. But unfortunately they aren’t as exciting as the beasts soaring through Dragonstone or terrorising the good people of Skyrim.Ī dragon is a legendary creature that typically takes the form of a large serpentine beast often adorned with wings and the ability to breathe fire. ‘Draco’, the latin name for ‘dragon’, is still applied to several lizards.
They can grow to 2.6m (8.5 feet) long, release venom which can paralyse you, and the females can even reproduce without the males. Today, I’m giving you the lowdown on the history of dragon folklore across the world, the cultural significance of the mythical beasts, and why we believed in them once upon a time. It was a short leap to the fully-fledged, fire breathing, satan-repesentin’, emperors-only dragons that still soar the skies of our fantasy lands. If the Greeks stumbled across the skulls of these adorable creatures, finding bigger, more terrifying dinosaur skulls enriched with sharp teeth, sweeping claws, and deep, deep eye sockets must’ve convinced them that dragons really existed. But these days, we know that they probably unearthed a Samotherium - an extinct, mid-size Giraffe.
They were convinced it was a sea serpent, a creature that has slithered into its folklore and was ruling its resulting myths. So, when those living around the Aegean Sea and Turkey started finding these strange, unknown, beast-like skulls… They didn’t know that just beneath the soles of their sandals (yes, I checked that they wore sandals) were the bones of distant worlds that in this case had been wiped out 7 million years ago. The ancient Greeks didn’t know about the dinosaurs. We think this vase is one of the first records of a fossil discovery. But what makes this accent piece quite so interesting is how the large head of the ‘Monster of Troy’ is detailed with a tongue and lizard-like eyes.īut this isn’t any old defeat-evil-be-heroic-and-become-disney-cult-classic vase. What you can see here is a typical mythological scene: it’s Hercules rescuing Hesoine from this great, lurching sea serpent. Yeah, no, it’s really cool that it was made in 600BC, and like, I don’t hate the aesthetic but it just won’t go with my new mustard shag rug.īut there’s something rather special about this vase. Most of us wouldn’t be that excited by an ancient Greek vase. Everything You Never Knew About Dragons: Folklore, Fossils And Praying For Rain
0 kommentar(er)
