Asian Dragons
Let's start with one of the most famous of all dragons, the Chinese Dragon. Called a Lung in Chinese, this variation on the dragon is a composite creature with the paws of a tiger, the head of a camel, the eyes of a devil, the belly of a clam, the ears of a cow, the horns of a stag, the scales of a carp, a lion's mane, and eagle talons. This composite creature was used as the personal symbol of the Emperor, and as such adorned all Imperial items. In contrast to Western, or European, Dragons, Chinese Dragons are generally seen as powerful, wise, benevolent, and the bringers of life giving rain. In Japan, the dragon is called a Ryu, and has four toes, as opposed to the five toes of the Chinese Lung. It is also a wise, powerful, and benevolent being, but it also can be quick to anger, resulting in devastating floods. In Indonesia, the dragon is very much like a Lung, but it only has three toes, and it is more like the Ryu in its behavior. Below is an image of the Chinese Lung:
Western Dragons
In European Mythology, the dragon is a powerful, wise, yet evil being that serves the powers of Hell. As such, most of Christian Europe was quick to erect monuments of the angel St. Michael or the mortal St. George killing the dragon of evil, which in this case was paganism. However, dragons were not seen as evil all over Europe, for in Scandinavia, the pagan Vikings adopted dragons as totems, and decorated their longhouses, longships, and shields with dragon images. When the Vikings converted to Christianity, they put images of dragons on the tops of their stave churches, as a means to scare away evil spirits. Below are three images of dragons from Europe:
 |
| Viking Dragons |
 |
| A statue of a typical Western Dragon |
 |
| A Wyvern, or two-legged dragon |
American Dragons
In the Ancient Americas, myths of dragons were also present. Among the most famous of these American Dragons is the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, the god of harvest and order. He is described as being a feathered serpent that could fly without the aid of wings. Besides him, another American Dragon is the Piasa, a man-eating beast in the myths of the Native American tribes in the area of Illinois. This creature is said to have lived in the cliffs above some rapids, and devoured the drowned corpses of those foolish enough to try to sail through. Below are some images of American Dragons:
 |
| An image of the Piasa |
 |
| An Aztec statue of Quetzalcoatl |
Australian Dragons
Australia really has only one dragon: the Rainbow Serpent. A spirit from the Dreamtime, the Rainbow Serpent was the one who traced the riverbeds by slithering across the land and then instructing the waters to follow in its path. After carving the rivers out and setting the world in order, it entered a billabong and began to slumber, an act that caused a drought to dry up most of Australia so much that the Outback was created. After a rainstorm, myth claims that it would leap from billabong to billabong, thus shedding the rainbow in the sky. Below is an image of the Rainbow Serpent:
Dragons of the Fertile Crescent
In the mythology of Ancient Egypt, the Sun God, Ra, had to travel through the Land of the Dead each night to reach the Eastern Gate. Along the way, a dragon named Apep/Apophis would attempt to devour Ra and destroy the sun forever. Every night, Ra would take the form of a cat and decapitate Apep and procede to the Eastern Gate. Around the same time period as the Egyptians, the Babylonians were telling stories of how their chief god, Marduk, slaughtered a dragon named Tiamat and split her body in half to make the Earth and Sky. They also portrayed a strange creature called a Sirrush on the walls of the Ishtar Gate. This would not be strange, except for the fact that the Sirrush is placed next to real animals such as lions and bulls on the gate, a fact that puzzles many archeologists. Below are images of the Dragons of the Fertile Crescent:
 |
| Apophis |
 |
| Tiamat |
 |
| A Sirrush |
No comments:
Post a Comment