About Dragons
Whats a dragon??
DRAGON
Webster's Dictionary: drag.on \'drag-en\ n dracon-,draco serpent,dragon
, 1 archaic: a huge serpent 2:a fabulous animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws.
Hydra
Origin: Norse/Greek Myth
Hera (Heracles's stepmother) decided that Eurystheus, and not Heracles, should become the king of Mycenae. Eurystheus commanded Heracles to perform twelve labors in twelve years in order to keep him away from his kingdom, afraid Heracles would take his throne. The Hydra was was Heracles' Second Labor, the first being the Lion of Nemean.
Eurystheus ordered Heracles to kill the Lernaean hydra. This hydra, raised in the swamp of Lerna, would go out into the plain and destroy both property and livestock. The hydra is a gigantic multi-headed dragon, with anywhere from 6 to 9 heads (depending on which version of the story you read) with the middle one being immortal. It's breath and blood were deadly.
He travelled to Amymone, where the Hydra's cave was near. After finding the hydra he forced it to come out by shooting burning arrows at the enterance. When the creature emerged, Heracles grabbed it and held on. The hydra coiled around Heracles' feet and tried to smother him with the huge coils of itself. Heracles' attempts to smash its heads with his club were unsuccessful, for whenever he smashed one head, two would grow where the one was originally. Additionally, a huge crab helped the hydra by biting Heracles' feet.
The crab however, was not immortal, so Heracles smashed the crab into mush. After killing the crab, Heracles called to Iolaus for help. Iolaus, after setting fire to part of the nearby grove of trees, stopped the heads from sprouting up by cauterizing the stumps with torches as they came up. Heracles, having killed all the other heads, he cut off the immortal head, buried it beside the road and put a heavy rock on top of it. With that done, he cut open the body of the hydra, and Heracles dipped his arrows in its deadly bile. Eurystheus, however, said Heracles could not count this labor among the ten, since he cheated by having Iolaus help him defeat the beast.
The Hydra has a constellation named after it .
JORMUNGAND, THE MIDGARD SERPENT
Origin: Norse Myth/Scandinavia
This was the son of Loki and Angerboda. This serpent was expelled by Odin, and forced to encircle the earth and hold its tail in its mouth under the depth of the seas. Thor and the giant Hymir were fishing using an ox head as bait when something very powerful grabbed the hook. The gigantic head rose up out of the water, and Thor was ready with his hammer, but Hymir lost his nerve and cut the line. the serpent dissapeared beyond the waves.
Many ages past, then the Day Of The Last Battle came. This was a war with god against giant, deity against demon, and man against monster. The Midgard Serpent let go of its tail and uncoiled itself to go ashore to fight Thor, the only being that would be worthy challenge. They met on the beach, and Thor immediately slammed bolts of lightning at the monster. Jormungand snapped its jaws at Thor trying to bite him fatally, with no luck. Thor raised his War Hammer and slammed it on the skull of the dragon. With an massive roar the dragon died. Thor also died that day, suffacated from the dragon's venomous breath.
NIDHOGG / NIDDHOGG / NYDHOGG
Origin: Scandinavian/Germanic Mythology.
The monster serpent, hid in the pit Hvergelmer, which for ever gnaws at the roots of the ashtree Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil isknown as "The World Tree"which supports the universe. The tree is a place where the gods judge and continually gnawed on by the dragon trying to destroy the universe
THE PIASA
Origin: North America
The Piasa. originated in North America, and was worshipped by the Algonquins. It had the body of a dragon, the head of a person, a lion's mane, and a tail twice as long as a person. This was a neo-dragon which lived near the Mississippi River. This dragon did not bother humans until it found dead ones and tried the meat. To its surprise, it liked the taste. It now hunded humans and abducted people to bring them back to its lair for dinner
Want to know more? go to More About Dragons
or
Stumble!