Where did the idea of Dragons come from?

Where Dragons Came From

Dragons come from reality. They are creatures that were based on ancient dinosaur bones. They are often mistaken as serpents, like Nessie, or because Chinese dragons look like serpents. Though scientists have found preserved bodies of dragons, people still believe they are fake.

Dragons have been and always will be real. look in the bible look at fossils god created them.

I agree with most of the above statement. Dragons and dinosaurs are usually interchangeable, because our understanding of their appearance and behavior is so very dinosaur-like (such as Tyrannosaurus Rex).

I thought I remembered a Biblical reference to dragons, and sure enough, there are 16 references to dragons in the King James Version. I checked the New International Version and the New American Standard Version, and they have changed the word "dragon" to "hyenas" in all 16 references! The King James Version came before the other two versions, so it is more closely resembling the original translation from Greek.

It would seem that ".... the idea of dragons...." came from the world of reality. They were mostly used in making a comparison, with the dragons representing the bad, devastating creatures that must be cast out before humans can live where they were.

Since no one has ever seen a real dragon, they seem to take on qualities that are popular with the people of any given territory. One of the most popular and widely known dragons is the oriental dragon, which happens to be my least favorite. It has a more snake-like quality, and is always portrayed in an ess shape!

The English dragon is closer to my idea of the ideal shape and size of the dragon. I have no problem visualizing King George battling a dragon at least the size of an elephant (same size and general build). I cannot see King George astride his gallant steed, facing a wriggling and/or writhing Chinese snake-like dragon.

Yes, Virginia, there are real dragons!

Actually it's Saint George, who was Greek, who is the patron saint of England and who is depicted as killing the dragon. In Britain we have 2 distinct types of dragons: "wyrms" which are squirmy but big and often take over small hills or caves; and the Celtic type dragon with 4 legs and wings. In Celtic mythology the Welsh red dragon and English white dragon fought and the red dragon won which is why the Welsh animal is the red dragon; although this was later explained a the Christian white dragon versus the pagan red dragon.

The best programme I have seen on TV about dragons was a mockumentary called "The Last Dragon" which explored the possible of the dragon species after the discovery of dragon remains in an iced up cave in eastern Europe. The central character was a young palaeontologist who believed that a lot of inexplicable damage found on large dinosaur fossils could be explained by the existence of a fire-breathing, flying creature and who's obsession was the butt of his colleagues jokes. It went onto explore the genetic varieties and possible reasons why dragons differ throughout the world (water, flying, 2 legged, 4 legged, etc). The programme was fantastic (literally!) and a must-have for any dragon lover.

So there you go, Virginia, get a copy of the DVD and prove to your friends that they really did exist!

They were real, not an idea.

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