Dragons Lore and Legends

Virtually Every Culture on Earth since the beginning of Written history has Legends of Dragons

let us Discuss a few we shall go more into depth over the next 2 weeks on more  details

In history Dragons have been worshiped as Gods or been Messengers of the Gods  or been Feared

Celtic Legends  

The Celts have many Legends of Dragons including the Infamous Welsh Dragon who actually is the Celtic God DEWI

the Red Welsh Dragon Y Ddraig Goch
after a long battle (which the Welsh King Vortigern witnesses) a red dragon defeats a white dragon; Merlin explains to Vortigern that the red dragon symbolizes the Welsh, and the white dragon symbolizes the Saxons – thus foretelling the ultimate defeat of the English by the Welsh. The Y Ddraig Goch  appears on the Welsh Flag

"Dragons were an important part of Celtic lore. The Celts were highly attuned to the land and dragons were believed to influence the land.... Areas frequented by dragons were believed to possess special power."

 Dragons have always been associated with the Power of the Land. Even today, in many esoteric rituals, people believe that invoking the "Eye of the Dragon" will increase their personal power.
The ancient Druids believed the Earth itself was like the body of a dragon, and they built their sacred stone circles upon the "Power Nodes" of this body. They believed dragons connected us with the Earth's magnetism and healing waters.

Many of us have heard the mysteries of the "ley lines", especially in relation to the location of mystical sites such as Stonehenge and the site of many mysterious crop circles. What you may not know is that another way of saying "ley lines" is "Dragon lines".

In ancient Celtic Ireland, the "ley of the land" was not about the geographical, physical nature of one's surroundings. It had a much more powerful meaning than that.

To the ancient Celts, the "ley of the land" was a term describing how the Cosmic forces flowed through and influenced the area, as well as how the area itself affected those Cosmic forces. Dragons were thought to have a tremendous influence on the "ley of the land", hence the term "Dragon lines".

But far from the terrifying creatures we see in films, dragons were more than fire-breathing beasts with the power to destroy.

The Anglo-Saxon word "dragon" is derived from the Greek word meaning "to see clearly". They believed dragons had the gift of vision, wisdom, and prophecy. Dragons were considered the guardians of all knowledge and wisdom.

As Celtic artist Cari Buziak's design demonstrates, Celtic art often depicts Celtic dragons swallowing their tails in a never ending circle, symbolizing eternal life, much like the symbolism of knotwork and triskeles.

The dragons were revered like gods, believed to bring Earthly and Heavenly forces together. Celts believed dragons guarded the gate to both the Heavens and the Underworld.

As guardian spirits who protect the Earth and all living things, Celtic dragons are arguably the most powerful of all the Celtic symbol

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Greek Legends

Ladon was the serpent-like dragon that twined round the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides and guarded the golden apples

The Lernaean Hydra was a dragon-like water serpent with fatally venomous breath, blood and fangs, a daughter of Typhon and Echidna. The creature was said to have anywhere between five and 100 heads, although most sources put the number somewhere between seven and nine. For each head cut off, one or two more grew back in its place. It had an immortal head which would remain alive after it was cut off. Some accounts claim that the immortal head was made of gold. It lived in a swamp near Lerna and frequently terrorized the townsfolk until it was slain by Heracles, who cut the heads off, with the help of his nephew Iolaus, who then singed the oozing stump with a blazing firebrand to prevent any new heads from growing,

The Colchian Dragon
This immense Dragon, a child of Typhon and Echidna, guarded the Golden Fleece at Colchis. It was said to never sleep, rest, or lower its vigilance. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, the monster had a crest and three tongues. When Jason went to retrieve the Fleece, the witch Medea put the dragon to sleep with her magic and drugs,[4] or perhaps Orpheus lulled it to sleep with his lyre. Afterwards, Medea herself had dragons pull her chariot.

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In the Albanian mythology Bolla (also known as Bullar in South Albania), is a type of serpentic dragon (or a demonic dragon-like creature) with a long, coiled, serpentine body, four legs and small wings in ancient Albanian folklore. This dragon sleeps throughout the whole year, only to wake on Saint George's Day, where its faceted silver eyes peer into the world. The Bolla does this until it sees a human. It devours the person, then closes its eyes and sleeps again. Bolla was worshiped as the deity Boa by the ancestors of Albanians, Illyrians. Bolla appears in the coat of arms of the House of Bua Shpata

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Slavic dragons

Similar to the conventional European dragon, but multi-headed. They breathe fire and/or leave fiery wakes as they fly. In Slavic and related tradition, dragons symbolize evil. Specific dragons are often given Turkic names , symbolizing the long-standing conflict between the Slavs and Turks. However, in Serbian and Bulgarian folklore, dragons are defenders of the crops in their home regions, fighting against a destructive demon Ala, whom they shoot with lightning

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Chinese dragon

 is a creature in Chinese Legends that also appears in other Asian cultures, and is sometimes called the Oriental (or Eastern) dragon. Depicted as a long, snake-like creature with four claws (or five for the imperial dragon), it has long been a potent symbol of auspicious power in Chinese folklore and art. This type of dragon, however, is sometimes depicted as a creature constructed of many animal parts. It might have the fins of some fish, or the horns of a stag.

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Japanese dragon

Similar to Chinese dragons, with three claws instead of four. They are usually benevolent, associated with water, and may grant wishes.
These dragons' bodies curve lithely, in sine shape, with 12 sections, symbolising 12 months in the year. They are able to change the weather, and are responsible for crops. On the dragon's back are little, uninterrupted, regular fins. The head has a long mane, beard, prominent eyes, crest on nose, but no horns. The jaw is large and opened, with a long, thin tongue; they always keep a châu (gem/jewel) in their mouths (a symbol of humanity, nobility and knowledge)

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Norse Vikings

In Norse legends, Jörmungandr ( also known as the Midgard Serpent , or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða, the wolf Fenrir, Hel and Jörmungandr, and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard. The serpent grew so large that he was able to surround the earth and grasp his own tail. As a result, he received the name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent.  At Ragnarok he would meet and be slain by his arch-rival, Thor. Thor would also die - by Jormungand's venom

This links Jormungand to Ouroboros, the Egyptian cyclic serpent.


In Norse Legends

Nidhogg or Nidhoggr [also known as the "Dread Biter"] was one of the most feared of the early Nordic dragons. He lived at the foot of the world ash tree, Yggdrasil. The tree had three great roots, one of which reached over the freezing mist and darkness of Niflheim where Hel reigned as Queen of the Norse Underworld. Nidhogg could also be found at Hvergelmir [the bubbling cauldron], the spring in Niflheim which is the source of all the rivers of the world. Nidhogg was a dragon that devoured the corpses of evil-doers, and he would gnaw at the roots of Yggdrasil when he got tired of the taste of dead flesh. Since the world tree supported all life and Nidhogg attempted to destroy it, Nidhoggr was personified as evil itself.


Germanic Norse 

 Fafnir was the son of the magician Hreidman, who had been corrupted by a cursed ring called Andvarinaut. He lusted after his father's rings, and with the help of his brother, Regin, they killed him. Fafnir's greed grew to be so great, that it not only made him monstrous in nature, but also monstrous in form. He was turned into a terrible dragon. Over a period of time, he managed to collect a massive number of treasures and vigilantly guarded this hoard. This drew many a valiant hero to his lair in search of both wealth and fame.

Most of them however, met their untimely deaths by the dragon's fiery breath. There was one hero though, who did manage to outwit the dragon. That hero was Sigurd*, who was guided by Regin and armed only with his father's sword. However despite his heroic deed which won him fame and fortune, his life from then on was said to be ruined by the curse that came with the ill-fated treasures.

* Sigurd, better known as Siegfried [German], was one of the great heroes depicted in the early European Teutonic and Old Norse literature. Whether he was a historical figure or merely a legendary one is unknown. Some scholars believe that behind the legends there was a real person who lived sometime during the Merovingian Dynasty (481-750), which is now France. In most stories he appears as the leading character, a triumphant, dragon-slaying hero of courage and strength.

Egyptian

Apep [also known as Apophis], a terrifying great sea-serpent, lay in wait in the Egyptian underworld to ambush the sun god, Ra, who had to voyage through it each night ready to rise again. Apep would viciously attack the boat Ra was in as he crossed the sky during the day, and when there was an eclipse, it was believed to be due to Apep swallowing the vessel whole. Despite Apep's menace, he never gained complete victory over his eternal enemy. However Apep was also never believed to have been fully vanquished. The reddening of the sky at dusk was said to demonstrate that the serpent had been overcome by the sun's strength.

- Ankh-neteru was a serpent god. Afu Ra [the sun god] had his boat pulled by twelve gods through Ankh-neteru's body, entering the tail and exiting the mouth. This results in Afu Ra being transformed into Khepera, the ancient god associated with the creation of the world.

- Denwen came about during the third millennium B.C. and is described as a fiery serpent. He would have caused an inferno that would have destroyed all of the gods had he not been thwarted by the Egyptian King.

- Nehebkau, a servant of Ra, was an Egyptian serpent with human arms and legs. It was the great serpent upon which the world rested, and is sometimes represented with a man's body and holding the eye of Horus. Nehabkau was known to guard the entrance of the Underworld and accompanied the sun god on his nightly journey through it as well.


Ouroboros is a "tail eater" dragon who constantly holds its tail in its mouth. First discovered in Egypt as early as 1600 BC, Egyptians worshipped Ouroboros, as Sata, (Satan) or "Tuat", on whose back the sun god rose through the underworld each night. In Greece, it is the symbol of the universe and eternity. The serpent devouring its own tail to sustain its life is an eternal cycle of renewal, symbolising the cyclic Nature of the Universe - that creation comes forth of destruction, and life out of death. The serpent biting its tail is found in other mythological cultures as well, including Norse myth, where the serpent's name is Jormungand.

The Uraeus was the symbol of sovereignty, worn on the royal Egyptian headdress. It is used as a protective symbol, as the Egyptians believed that the cobra would spit fire at any approaching enemies.

- Wadjet was an Egyptian serpent guardian sent by Osiris to protect Pharoah and control the Nile. The cobra goddess was the patroness of Lower Egypt. Wadjet was part of the Osirian myths and was always viewed as a protector of Egypt, depicted as a woman with a cobra head or as a cobra about to strike at the nation's enemies