Life is, well, usually predictable. Monday through Friday is quite repetitive for most of us. We wake up, we commute to work, we commute home, eat dinner and go to sleep. We do this only for the next day to be a repeat of the previous day. Weekends give a reprieve, however so briefly. Perhaps our monotony is the reason so many of us look to the mystical elements in life to stretch our imagination and present us with grand and mysterious ideas to swirl around our minds. There are so many elements of the mystical world. Dragons fill a vast portion of our fantasy world. Stories of dragons have been spinning throughout the world for centuries. Almost every country in the world has some sort of dragon story. No one is sure if the sightings were actually those of dinosaurs still somehow roaming the world, or large lizards that were mistaken for these deadly fantasy creatures. The Wyrm dragons seem to have originated in England and were said to live in forests and wells. Having no legs or wings, they are more akin to treacherous worm creatures. The Lindworm dragons are known for having two legs, no wings and long deadly tails. Marco Polo apparently discovered them, while he was crossing Central Asia. He described them as, "Swifter than it looks, easily able to take down a man on a galloping horse". The Sea Serpent dragon is known for living in fresh or salt water. Ever since man has been sailing the seas, these dragons have been in history. Shown on maps in early European history, to show territory marked as dangerous. Some scientists believe the tale of this dragon was based on sighting of gigantic squids, large masses of sea kelp or even thought to be extinct dinosaurs. An Amphisbaena dragon is one that possesses two heads, one at the front of it's body and one at the back on the tip of it's tail. Portrayed as having a scaly body and feathered wings, it kept sailors on guard at all times. The Ethiopian Dream dragon is one which has four wings and two feet. Thought to eat poisonous plants to make their bites deadly, they were reported to have been seen from the Red Sea to Arabia. The Piasa dragon originated in North America, and was actually worshipped by the Algonquins. This dragon was thought to have the head of a person, a lion's mane, and a tail as long as a human. It was thought to live near the Mississippi River. Legend tells us that this dragon would abduct people and bring them back to it's lair for it's dinner. The fantasy life of a dragon is on average, 1,200 years. They are thought to be highly intelligent and learn from past attacks, thus defending themselves more effectively in the future. It was believed that female dragons build nests consisting of woven branches and leaves, intertwined with stolen gold and jewels. A baby dragon is supposedly 80 lbs. and a dragon reaches it's full size at 150 years. We may never know the truth of dragon sightings reported throughout the history of the world. Somehow the word of the dragon originated and the stories were so compelling that they have never died. It is quite a mystery, that of the endless list of imagined creatures, we must wonder why the dragon hit a core inside people and its portrayal has lasted throughout centuries and has covered the entire world. If this mystical creature did in fact roam our world at one time, the legend of the dragon will never die. As long as people as a whole, keep the dragon world alive, dragons will forever be with us. |
