Folk tales and fairy tales would not be much fun without fire breathing and scary dragons. Of all the mythical creatures that arose from water, roamed the earth and flew across the heavens, dragons are the most legendary. The exact date of the dragon's debut in myths is not known. But, dragons in legends can be traced back to 4000 B.C.
In the East, dragons are cherished for their beauty and magical powers and sometimes seen as protectors. In fact, so popular are dragons in the East that they are featured on pottery and used in ceremonies and parades. The Chinese even have a year of the dragon, and believe that anyone born in this year will be healthy, wealthy and wise. This is drastically contradictory to the Western view of the dragons which abhors them as monsters that kill with their putrid breath.
The most famous of the mythical dragons is the Hydra or the one with nine heads. Before Hercules the legendary hero slew it, it had eaten up many beautiful princesses.
Another famous dragon is the Chimera, a monster that breathed fire and spat flames as far as a fur- long. A valiant warrior named Bellerophon killed this monster. Then there are the Firedrakes that lived in a cave and zealously guarded great treasure. Mlokoky Smij from Lithuania was a benevolent dragon that provided milk to the diaries of good housewives. Whereas, the Pa Snakes, huge serpent dragons ate elephants and spat out their bones after three years. The rain bringing dragons in Asian tales could shrink to fit into a tea cup or swell to fill the whole sky. The Pucks were small, four footed dragons. These household spirits brought back stolen goods to their masters. Did these fire breathing monsters with rolling red eyes, ridges on their back and a swaying, massive tail really exist? Or are they a figment of man's imagination?
The truth is that dragons never existed save in legends and myths. But, there must be some basis for their birth in man's imagination. On closer observation, it can be noticed that dragons in all tales invariably have wings and are shaped suspiciously like dinosaurs. In the Mesozoic Era, gigantic reptiles roamed the earth. The biggest and most ferocious of these reptiles was the Dinosaur.
However, about sixty million years ago Dinosaurs became extinct. This happened because there were many changes that took place in the atmosphere on Earth. The dinosaurs could not adapt to the changed vegetation and terrain. Finally, the appearance of the four seasons sounded their death knell.
The dinosaurs had grown in stature from their original size of a turtle to that of huge mountains. But, they had failed to develop their intelligence simultaneously. On a scale of 0 to 10, where the average dog would score a 10, a dinosaur was barely a 3.They just could not adapt to the changes in their environment and became extinct.
Chances are that the early man must have seen a few live dinosaurs. Or he must have come across their huge fossilized bones. Did these dragons really breathe fire? The answer is no. But, when roaring, open mouthed, it must have felt like it to those within range. On the basis of this, stories of dragons must have taken shape in man's mind.
Native to Komodo and three other small islands in the Lesser Sundas group of Southeast Asia, the Komodo dragon is the world's largest living lizard. This huge lizard can exceed 3 meters in length and is a flesh eater. Until 1912, this colossal lizard was unknown to the science community. But the natives of the island were well aware of its existence, ferocity and ability as a man eater. Its massive size and bright yellow tongue that flickers out of its mouth in fire-spitting fashion, make this creature the closest thing we may have to a modern day dragon.
Notwithstanding that dragons might only be a creation of man's imagination, who knows if a gargantuan dinosaur is lurking somewhere in the thousands of square miles of unexplored jungles and tropical rainforests in the world? For all you know, you might encounter a dragon in real life after all!
