Dragons of Lore Intro

With all due respect to unicorns, faeries, dwarfs, elves, trolls and other fabled beings, my favorite mythical creature are dragons. If lions are kings of the jungle, then dragons were emperors of the air, water and land. Nothing could strike more fear into the ancient hearts of our ancestors than dragon attack. Real or made up doesn’t matter, legends of dragons were believed to be true by human beings for many millennia. Who am I to say they didn’t know what they were talking about?

These creatures loved one thing: hordes of treasure, and they would do anything to protect their horde, once they stole it from humans or some other mythical creature. They would destroy entire kingdoms to get what they wanted. Some have even demanded tribute, usually a young virgin chosen by a shaman, in exchange for not destroying a kingdom.

The best way to kill the dragon was by the combination of wizard/priest and a brave knight in shining armor. The dragon had one weakness: One scale missing right in front of his heart; the proverbial soft spot. Hit that spot and the dragon was slain. Of course, slaying a dragon would make one famous for eternity. Remember the stories of Beowulf, St. George & Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan? All were dragon slayers. However, most daring warriors that challenged dragons ended up as a juicy roast.

I’ve often wondered how dragons would fare in today’s world? In Suffer the Witch Chronicles, I wanted to write a story about non-stereotypical characters who suddenly gain unbelievable paranormal powers and I also wanted to bring dragons into the twenty-first century. I believe Gazzy Windstorm, my dragon character in Rise of the Raven Knights, has given me the inspiration to accomplish my goals.

Some of the dragons I am going to touch on during the next several weeks are Smaug (from The Hobbit), the dragon slain by Beowulf, the Lambton Worm, St. Georges dragon, Medieval dragons, Indian dragons, Chinese dragons, the biblical dragon of the Apocalypse, the four types of Greek dragons (the Dracones, the Cetea, the fire-breathing Chimaera and the female Dracaenae), Egyptian Apep (the Sun god Ra’s enemy of darkness) and one or two more I haven’t yet settled on.

What exactly where dragons? UFO’s? All civilizations have UFO myths, disguised in one way or another, just as they do dragon myths. No tangible evidence exists for either, yet… Dinosaurs? Kind of similar looking creatures, these dinosaurs and dragons, aren’t they? Given our ancients somewhat modern trait of stretching tall tales, one could certainly make the case for them seeing dinosaur bones and making a connection. There could more to this story than that, though. Recent evidence suggests that modern humans and dinosaurs could have lived in the same age. The evidence speaks for itself and I will explore this development in depth in an upcoming blog. Comets? Besides UFO’s firing advanced laser technology, I can think of nothing that could represent the fire breathing flying beast which destroys civilizations better than comets. Volcanoes could’ve also had the same effect. In a religious sense, dragons could have the meaning of sin and also conquering kingdoms. Dragons have been linked to all of these things at one point or another throughout recorded history. One could make a case for and against any of these. I will dig deep into this question and come up with an interesting take for you, my readers, to enjoy.

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