January 23, 2012
Where Did Dragons Come From?
A dragon statue in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons user Dani_7C3.
Around the world, people are celebrating the Chinese New Year and the start to the Year of the Dragon. This got us wondering: Where did the myth of the dragon come from in the first place? Scholars say that belief in dragons probably evolved independently in both Europe and China, and perhaps in the Americas and Australia as well. How could this happen? Many have speculated about which real-life animals inspired the first legends. Here’s our run-down of the likeliest suspects.
Dinosaurs. Ancient people may have discovered dinosaur fossils and understandably misinterpreted them as the remains of dragons. Chang Qu, a Chinese historian from the 4th century B.C., mislabeled such a fossil in what is now Sichuan Province. Take a look at a fossilized stegosaurus, for example, and you might see why: The giant beasts averaged 30 feet in length, were typically 14 feet tall and were covered in armored plates and spikes for defense.
The Nile Crocodile. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, Nile crocodiles may have had a more extensive range in ancient times, perhaps inspiring European dragon legends by swimming across the Mediterranean to Italy or Greece. They are among the largest of all crocodile species, with mature individuals reaching up to 18 feet in length—and unlike most others, they are capable of a movement called the “high walk,” in which the trunk is elevated off the ground. A giant, lumbering croc? Might be easy to mistake for a dragon.
The Goanna. Australia is home to a number of species of monitor lizards, also referred to as Goannas. The large, predatory animals have razor-sharp teeth and claws, and they are important figures in traditional Aboriginal folklore. Recent studies even indicate that Goannas may produce venom that causes bite victims’ wounds to develop infections after an attack. At least in Australia, these creatures may be responsible for the dragon myth.
Whales. Others argue that the discovery of megafauna such as whales prompted stories of dragons. Ancient humans encountering whale bones would have no way of knowing that the animals were sea-based, and the idea of such gargantuan creatures might well have led people to assume that whales were predatory. Because live whales spend up to 90 percent of their time underwater, they were poorly understood for most of human history.
The Human Brain. The most fascinating explanation involves an unexpected animal: the human. In his book An Instinct for Dragons, anthropologist David E. Jones argues that belief in dragons is so widespread among ancient cultures because evolution embedded an innate fear of predators in the human mind. Just as monkeys have been shown to exhibit a fear of snakes and large cats, Jones hypothesizes that the trait of fearing large predators—such as pythons, birds of prey and elephants—has been selected for in hominids. In more recent times, he argues, these universal fears have been frequently combined in folklore and created the myth of the dragon.
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What if the belief is based on the real thing? Our fear of snakes and other predators is based on the real things not some made up thing. Have you noticed that the “dragons”‘ look alike all over the world?
While plausible, these explanations are not satisfactory.
For example a miniature human matriarch was an Indonesian folk heroine long before the discovery of ‘Homo floresiensis’ [see "Were "Hobbits" Human?" July 2008 | By Guy Gugliotta, which BTW does not mention this fact].
Other enduring “myths” are the world-wide descriptions of devastating floods – which appear to have occurred around the same time period!
There is still much that we DO NOT know about our planet and its history. So, instead of looking for facts that ‘might’ fit the theory, lets start with the original descriptions, correlate similarities and differences, and continue from there.
After all, a few years ago we didn’t even know that birds were descended from dinosaurs!
[See “Dinosaurs of a Feather: Some researchers insist that birds are not dinosaurs, but do they have any evidence?” January 13, 2012 | By Brian Switek
“Jones hypothesizes that the trait of fearing large predators—such as pythons, birds of prey and elephants—”
Since when have elephants been considered “predators”?
I wonder what Joseph Campbell would have to say about ‘An Instinct for Dragons’? I’d never heard the whale theory but had heard mention that perhaps shooting meteorites &/or comets could have contributed to some of the legends (flying & fire breathing in particular).
A bit of confusion on my part; “live whales spend up to 90 percent of their time underwater” — that seems a little low, no?
The author forgot a very interesting piece of the puzzle; the word dragon comes from Greek “drakon” which means snake. Greek dragons were usually imagined as snake-like, and even in later times, dragons were often identified with huge reptiles that lived in India and Ethiopia, fed on large mammals which they “crushed” to death with their coils, and had long lifespans. John of Damascus even said that “dragons… are serpents, born of other serpents. When just born and young, they are small; but when they grow up and mature, they become big and fat so that they exceed the other serpents in length and size. It is said they grow up more than thirty cubits [14 metres, 45 feet]; as for their thickness, they become as thick as a huge log.’
It all sounds a lot like early descriptions of huge python snakes to me, particularly because these dragons are said to be native to India and Africa. The motif of the giant snake battling an elephant (the dragon vs elephant was common in ancient bestiaries) was once so popular that the very word “anaconda” stems from a South Asian word, anailkora, meaning “elephant-slayer”, and given originally to pythons.
(Meaning: pythons inspire Greek dragons= one of these dragons is named Python= pythons are eventually named after Python the dragon!)
World wide descriptions of devastating floods are not a myth. Anthropological inquiry has uncovered flood recall among all different cultures around the world. Whatever the implication, that is a fact.
Story hunting-I’m writing a story about Dragons and would love some possible explanation about Dragons…..anything would be great. I’ve always loved Dragons as a child, more of a fascination really & if at one time they were real, I’d like to know when and where. Thank you.
No offence, but this article is kinda daft.
Dragons exist, the italians and greeks made no “mistake” in believing in large reptiles…. Where’s the problem?
Not all cultures said they breathed fire, and even if some large lizard did breathe fire, is it really that impossible?
Maybe they did exist outright, and were just on verge of distinction.
Quick note – this photo is NOT “courtesy Wikimedia Commons”. As per the license, the AUTHOR must be attributed and as such you are currently violating copyright in using this image. As per the image page, Wikimedia commons user “Dani 7C3″ should receive attribution.
Thank you Jeff for catching that. We have corrected the credit line.
If dragons were real (& I believe they were) how come people havn’t foud any real fossils? Simple, THEY HAVE! taradactiles could very well have been the first step toward dragon kind. Now i’m a teen but really who said that it couldn’t be possible. granted not ALL dragons flew take the Chinese lung for example it was more snake like and had no wings. but dragons bones are said to be hollow to grant flight. As for fire breathing if it did happen my guess would be the the dragons breath was more like methane gas and was highly flamable and it had a spark pouch near one of it’s lower k-9 teeth