Hic Sunt Dracones

Hic Sunt Dracones! - "Here there be Dragons"

Dragons -

I came onto this topic while considering two things: one, how some old traditions had passed into folk knowledge that we still know even today, and two, how much I really wanted Christopher Paolini's book "Inheritance" to come out sooner than it's going to. Not that I'm counting (55 days left as of today).

But anyway, that naturally led me to the subject of dragons, so back to the topic.

These creatures are among the most pervasive myths on the planet. References, pictures and carvings of dragons or dragon-like creatures have been found in places as far apart as Babylon, Egypt, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Scandinavia, Aztec temples, and even on bones carved by the Inuit people ("From Many Imaginations, One Fearsome Creature," New York Times). Not to mention dragons in Greek legends and other areas of Asia. And of course, we have the most referenced group of dragons, at least for us Westerners: the European legends.

There is the odd difference between dragons in separate cultures; for example, look how different this image of a Babylonian dragon is from how we usually picture them.

But despite this, it is very interesting to me how

ubiquitous the legend is. This odd prevalence seems to show that their was a common origin, or at least a shared story, behind these myths. No one can tell where the first civilization was that talked about or believed in dragons - they seem to appear in even the oldest nations. They were incorporated into their mythology, in many cases, and passed down indirectly. One interesting fact: Apparently, the Chinese word that means "dragon" is onomatopoeia for the sound of thunder. So, one possible origin of dragons can be found there: Hearing far off thunder like the roaring of a great beast, and then finding dinosaur skeletons? You can see how that might possibly have worked.

From what I've seen, it's only recently that people have begun to "classify" dragons; writing descriptions and thoughts about what they typically are portrayed as. For example, though many myths mention dragons, very few actually take a dictionary standpoint and say "Dragons are reptilian creatures that can breathe fire..." etc. This is probably because everyone already knew what a dragon was, just from the folk knowledge of their people. Even today, you don't have to explain to a child what a dragon is, unless they're very young. Everyone knows by the time they're four or five years old, just from hearing others tell stories about them, seeing movies, and so on.

I can't remember when I learned what a dragon was. However, I am certain that I did not learn about it in the traditional manner: that is, someone had me read a book on dragons or taught me about the idea like you would for, say, reading. They have simply passed into the "collective consciousness" of people, transferred to each new generation that sees a picture, or hears the name of the creature, or even simply to those who think beyond the scientific, and wonder what else might be making the sound of the thunder.