Origins and Diversification of Dragons - MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA - LUBOŠ VYHNÁČEK - IS MUNI
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MASARYKOVA
UNIVERZITA
PEDAGOGICKÁ F A K U L T A
Origins and
Diversification of
Dragons
Diploma Thesis
LUBOŠ VYHNÁČEK
Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková Ph.D.
Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury
Učitelství anglického jazyka pro základní školy
Brno 2022M U IM X PED
Bibliografický záznam
Autor: Luboš Vyhnáček
Pedagogická fakulta
Masarykova univerzita
Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury
Název práce: Origins and Diversification of Dragons
Studijní program: Navazující magisterský program
Studijní obor: Učitelství anglického jazyka pro základní školy
Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková Ph.D.
Rok: 2022
Počet stran: 96
Klíčová slova: Draci, hadi, rozmanitost, mytologie, folklór, Blízký
východ, Řecko, Britské ostrovy
2Bibliographic record
Author: Luboš Vyhnáček
Faculty of Education
Masaryk University
Department of English Language and Literature
Title of Thesis: Origins and Diversification of Dragons
Degree Programme: Master's degree programme (Following the
Bachelor's one)
Field of Study: Lower Secondary School English Language Teacher
Training
Supervisor: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková Ph.D.
Year: 2022
Number of Pages: 96
Keywords: Dragons, serpents, diversity, mythology, folklore,
Near East, Greece, British Isles
3Anotace Draci jsou jednou z nejvíce rozšířených a multifunkčních bájných entit. Tato diplomová práce se zabývá jejich původem a postupnou diverzifikací. V úvodu nabízí ustanovení významu a funkce mýtů a folklóru a poté předkládá pestrou paletu dračích příběhů od nej starších až po relativně moderní. Nej- starší příběhy pochází z Blízkého východu. Ty novější jsou čerpány výlučně z Britských ostrovů a demonstrují bohatost a rozmanitost nejen monster, ale i jejich přemožitelů. Autor poukazuje na tuto, ve stínu sv. Jiří, někdy přehlí ženou diverzitu jak formou ukázek, tak předložením historického a topogra fického kontextu. 4
Abstract
Dragons are one of the most frequent and most versatile entities in mythology.
This thesis explores their origins and diversification. It establishes the mean-
ing and function of myths and folklore and offers a colourful spectrum of
dragon tales ranging from ancient to relatively modern ones. The oldest sto-
ries come from the mythology of the Near East. The more modern ones ex-
clusively come from the British Isles, and not only do they demonstrate the
diversity of these monsters but also their slayers. The author shows examples
of various stories and explains the historical and topographical context to shed
light on this diversity overshadowed by the legend of St. George.
5Declaration
I hereby declare, that I have worked independently and used only the sources
listed in the bibliography section.
Ivančice April 18, 2022
Luboš Vyhnáček
7Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank Zuzana Kršková for accepting the task of being my supervisor and for her excellent insight, comments, patience, and time spent on this thesis. I must thank my family because I would not make it without their support. Šablona DP 3.3-PED-anglicky (2021-10-22) © 2014, 2016, 2018-2021 Masarykova univerzita 9
Table of Contents
1 Introduction 13
2 Theoretical Framework 15
2.1 Folklore, Myth and Folk Tale 15
2.2 Definition and Function of a Myth 16
2.3 Definition and Function of Folklore and Folktales 17
3 Dragon 20
3.1 Etymology of the word 20
3.2 Origin of Dragons 22
4 The roots of the legend: Cosmic dragon 28
4.1 Mesopotamia 29
5 Egyptian Serpents and Dragons 36
5.1 Apopis 36
5.2 Mehen 37
5.3 Hathor The Eye of Ra 39
6 Greek Myths and Legends 42
6.1 Typhon 42
6.2 Hydra 45
6.3 Cadmus and the dragon 47
7 Biblical Dragon 52
7.1 Leviathan 52
8 British Isles 57
8.1 British Dragons 59
8.2 The Beowulf Dragon 61
8.3 St. George and the Dragon 66
8.4 Red and White dragon - Battle of two dragons - Red Dragon of
Wales 69
118.5 Adventures of Lludd and Llefelys - Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys 71 8.6 The Lambton Worm 73 8.7 The Sockburn Worm 76 8.8 The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh 76 8.9 The Longwitton Dragon (Northumberland) 77 8.10 Martin and the Dragon 78 8.11 The Dragon of Wantley (Yorkshire) 79 8.12 Blue Ben Dragon of Kilve (Somerset) 80 8.13 Kellington Dragon and Nunnington Dragon (both Yorkshire) 80 8.14 Bisterne Dragon (Hampshire) 81 9 Conclusion 84 Bibliography 86 12
1 Introduction
The dragon occurs in nearly every culture around the globe. It is at the same
time the most frequently appearing animal in mythology It is not surprising
that many have studied the mythical beasts trying to uncover their mysteri-
ous presence. Jane Hoult describes the magnitude and debates their possible
origin in her book Dragons: their History and Symbolism (1978, p. 4),
"dragons are found in mythology all over the world and seem to symbolise a
much wider range of meaning than could be covered by an extinct physical
animal, or by a few bones discovered in one part of the world. Dragon leg-
ends and carvings spread from America, through Europe, India, and China
to New Zealand ". Robert Blust writes that the dragon is "a fully developed
a highly elaborated motif in folklore, mythology, and in some cases ritual"
(p. 520) in Europe, the Near East (including Egypt), India, the Far East, and
Mesoamerica.
There are many different types of dragons. In reality, there are all sorts of
dragon-like creatures in the legends around the world. They vary in size,
colours, and abilities, and they can live anywhere from the middle of the
ocean to a top of a mountain. However, some links throughout the times can
be traced from the earliest records to a western dragon of medieval Europe.
It is, therefore, surprising that the image of the dragon in Europe and the
British Isles is widely precepted as an evil, terrifying beast that a knight in
shining armour mounted on his white horse slays. Jonathan D. Evans anal-
yses in his article several dragon stories in Old Norse and Old English. He
concludes that the latter case is contaminated with St. George Legend. In
contrast, the Old Norse corpus, an important source of recent dragon lore, is
13a much less stereotypical representative of the European Dragon narratives, (p. 86) In this thesis, I would like to investigate the variety of dragons and their slayers and their development over time. I would argue that despite the ste- reotypical image caused by the prominent St. George, there is a significant variety in British Dragons and their slayers and that the Legend of St. George is just the tip of the iceberg in the ocean of British dragon lore. Firstly, I will investigate the links between the dragons of Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Egypt, and other ancient cultures and distinguish the original features. Secondly, we will study the development of British folklore and in- vestigate its most influential factors to demonstrate its colourfulness and heterogeneity. Finally, I will explore the dragon stories and legends of Wales, Scotland, and England to show the magnitude of the corpus and the multiplicity of the dragons and the heroes. I will follow the chronological order starting with Sumerian imagery and lit- erary depiction of the earliest dragon and Egyptian goddess Hathor whom G E . Smith connects to the prime origin of the dragon myth. In Egyptian mythology, I will discuss the serpent Apophis. Those stories fall into the Cosmic Dragon category, dating roughly around 2000 BC to 1500 B C . Consequent research focuses on Biblical and Greek sources describing serpentine monsters such as Leviathan, Book of Daniel, Typhon and Hydra 700 - 150 B C . Then I will cross the gap of a few centu- ries, moving to the material of British origin, A.D. Beowulf 10th century A.D. Red and White Dragon sourced from The History of the Britons 9th to 11th century A . D . There are two rather invaluable sources I will resort to Jacqueline Simpson's book British Dragons and Debbie Brewer's book Dragon Legends ofOlde England. 14
2 Theoretical Framework
This chapter will focus on myths, legends, and folklore as genres. Although
it is not always easy to clearly define these terms, it is essential to examine
the framework to be able to distinguish better the pathway of the develop-
ment of dragons and heroes in and their function and important anchor
points that make the folk tales and legends so versatile.
I will study the ancient myths and legends to trace the development of the
dragon and to try to establish some links between the ancient dragon of the
Near East and the one of Britain in order to prove that there are some uni-
versal links and, therefore the sources of the British legends including St.
George root much deeper in the history. On top of that, I shall attempt to ex-
amine myths, legends, folklore, and folk tales to find examples of the vari-
ety of the symbolism and functions of the dragon of the British Isles.
2.1 Folklore, Myth and Folk Tale
Aurelio M . Espinosa declares that folklore is an accumulated store of what
humankind has learned, experienced, and practiced. He distinguishes be-
tween popular and traditional knowledge, represented in folklore and so-
called scientific understanding. However, the distinction between these two
is not always finite as the data were collected from all sorts of demographic
samples. Espinosa further stresses that folklore consists of the beliefs, cus-
toms, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, songs, myths, legends, tales, ritualistic
ceremonies, magic, witchcraft, and all other expressions and practices of
primitive and illiterate peoples and the people of civilized society. Moreo-
ver, folklore has very profound roots, and its traces are omnipresent even
among peoples of highly developed cultures. Folklore may be a genuine and
direct expression of the mind of primitive human beings. The science of
15folklore is that department of human knowledge that collects, classifies, and studies in a scientific way the materials of folklore in arrange to decipher the life and culture of peoples over the ages. It is one of the socially oriented sciences that studies and interprets the history of civilization. Folklore sus- tains the design of culture, and through its ponderation, we can often explain the motifs and the meaning of culture. The science of folklore, therefore, contributes in a great measure to the history and apprehension of human life (Definitions of Folklore, p. 257). I shall concentrate on examining myths, legends, folklore, and folk tales to find examples of the variety of the symbolism and functions of the dragon of the British Isles, because perception of human life should not be stereo- typical especially given the distinctive and eventful British history and natu- ral environment. 2.2 Definition and Function of a Myth Encyclopaedia Britannica states: "The most obvious function of myths is the explanation of facts, whether natural or cultural. The function of explanation and the narrative form go together since the imaginative power of the myth lends credibility to the explanation and crystallizes it into a memorable and enduring form. Hence myths play an important part in many traditional sys- tems of education." Since the dragon is a part of almost every culture on the planet, it holds a vital role in explanatory and educative stories. The same applies to the hero. Since many facts require explanation in the world before the scientific revo- lution, the variety of the dragons must have been wide worldwide and on the highly fertile British soil. 16
According to The Online Etymology Dictionary, the English word myth
comes from the Greek word mythos, which means "speech, thought, word,
discourse, conversation, story, saga, myth, tale, anything delivered by word
of mouth." R. Veena Maheshwari explains that myths generally try to an-
swer fundamental questions such as "Who are we? Where do we come
from? Why are things the way they are? Why do we do things as we do?"
(Monsters and Fabulous Beasts of Ancient and Medieval Times, p. 1) E. O.
James claims that determining the function and nature of a myth is a highly
complex matter because the term and its conception is a subject of various
interpretations. On top of that, the popular narrative says that myth is pure
fiction and has nothing to do with any purposeful function. I want to clarify
this common misconception of a myth referring to falsehood and search for
the links between myths and folk tales. George M . Foster believes that sto-
ries, whether myths, legends, folktales, anecdotes, riddles, rhymes, folk
songs, superstitions, and folk beliefs of all kinds, are of prime significance
in folklore. However, he does not necessarily see witchcraft and ceremonies
as a part of folklore. Campbell further describes the function of mythology
in his book The Hero with Thousand Faces: "It has always been the prime
function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human
spirit forward, in counteraction to those constant human fantasies that tend
to tie it back." (p. 10)
2.3 Definition and Function of Folklore and
Folktales
E. O. James sees the difference between a myth and a folk tale. In his arti-
cle, he writes: "stories, legends, and saga are the folktale motifs which are
neither explanatory nor factual in their purpose and content. For the most
part, they are the product of the "folk "however, this enigmatical
17designation is to be understood, and are recited primarily for the mere de- light in telling stories, or in the case of the Cantefable of hearing them sung." James adds the importance of traditional stories because they were passed down the generations orally and eventually written down (p. 474- 476). Through anthropological usage, William R. Bascom writes that the term folklore represents myths, legends, folktales, riddles, proverbs, and various other art forms whose medium is the spoken word. In short, he defines folk- lore as a verbal art (Definitions of Folklore, p. 256). Edwin W. Smith states in his article that the most apparent function of folk tales is to entertain (p. 64). It is easy to imagine a group of people sitting by the fire after a long day of work listening to a storyteller performing one of the folk tales. They may laugh or cry but will almost certainly put aside the day's dreariness. Maheshwari compares folktales to myths highlighting their similarity yet mentioning the usual lack of religious motifs in folk tales and the additional purpose of entertainment. She also mentions the so-called snowball effect that demonstrates itself when taking on more fantastic and supernatural ele- ments as they are retold repeatedly (p.l). However, according to Ong, the effect may also be quite the opposite; thus, some aspects of a story may dis- appear over a period of time (p. 60-61). Places like Wales or Iceland are famous for a rich supply of folk tales and great storytelling. The earliest recorded name of a Welsh storyteller is Taliesin and dates back to the sixth century A.D (Sherman p. 16). Anyone who has spent a winter in one of those places would certainly understand and accept the claim that folk tales contribute to keeping the spirit up during the long, rainy evenings. However, E.D. Smith adds that the stories may also have an educational character (p.70). We can see this feature especially clearly in fables and educational stories. Their main function is to 18
demonstrate certain facts and explain ideals. The folk stories have the over-
arching capability to bring people together. Every culture or society passes
its values through stories.
Due to the fundamental differences in the functions of the myth and folk
tales, we can expect the position of the dragon to differ, which would create
a pretty significant variety. On top of that, there is the element of passing
the stories orally, so the phenomena of adding and reducing content are
likely to appear, which may lead to more variants of the same story. As de-
scribed in Ong's work and as recorded in the story of'Two Dragons". Fur-
thermore, Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson conclude in their pa-
per (p. 135) that the topography plays the most important role because, ac-
cording to Westwood, the geographical features (castles, hills, lakes, caves)
keep the story alive in the community. Therefore, I would suggest that my
claim regarding the rich natural environment of the British Isles producing a
variety of stories is based on a correct assumption.
193 Dragon
In this chapter, I will investigate the evolution of the dragon. As I outlined
in previous chapters, I shall focus on the etymology of the word and the ori-
gins of the dragon across cultures around the world by examining the most
common theories. Lastly, I will explore its presence in literature, lasting for
millennia until the present day.
3.1 Etymology of the word
I begin this investigation of the dragon with Hoult's preposition that dragon
stories about dragons appear all over the world. Are they pretty much every-
where? Have these creatures entered humankind's cultural, genetic heritage,
and artistic consciousness? Do they still have a profound influence on mod-
ern society? What does the word dragon, and does it describe the same crea-
ture in all the cultures and languages? It is an important place to start.
A l l the names for what we see as a Dragon come from the same Indo-Eu-
ropean root referring to the snake or serpent. It seems probable the original
conception of the dragon was as a serpent or snake-like creature, which re-
mains a dominant characteristic of a dragon's visual depiction. The word
dragon is of Greek origin, adopted into Latin, and then spread throughout
the European languages from Latin or directly from Greek. It comes from
the word "derkein," meaning to see, giving the dragon the meaning of the
one who stares or, as Ronesa Aveela suggests, "the one with the (deadly)
glance." (p.l). Before adopting the Greek word, other words were used in
various Indo-European languages to refer to the same type of creature; in-
variably, this word refers to a serpent or snake. In Scottish Gaelic, "Nathair-
Sgaiathach," meaning flying snake, means dragon. "Natrix" is from proto-
20Celtic language cognate with English adder from an Indo-European root
meaning snake. "Nicor" seems to be the Anglo-Saxon term for any strange
beast that comes out of water. According to the Anglo-Saxon dictionary
(Bosworth & Toller), "nicor" can also stand for a hippopotamus or a croco-
dile, while the Icelandic word "niker" indicates a sea-goblin." (Hoult, p. 6)
The Russian word is "Zmej" which generally refers to a dragon, serpent, or
snake (Aveela. p. 26). In Sanskrit, it's Ahi, and in Greek, it is "Ophis."
These are from the same Indo-European root referring to the snake or ser-
pent (Senter et al. p. 71)
To identify the dragon in full, we need to investigate the imagery as well. In
the vast majority of cases, the dragon is depicted as a serpent or reptilian
monster that is much more powerful and dreadful than a regular snake or
reptile. It is not easy to determine what imagery qualifies for a dragon, as
the development of the symbol is quite murky in this field. However, it is
possible to say the earliest images are certainly crafted with significant care
and skill, so the dragon indeed provokes some emotions and, in some cases,
attracts most of the attention as the centre of the scene.
Supposing that the prototypical dragon comes from a snake or large ser-
pent from the etymological point of view provides some tangible evidence
that the dragon could be quite a homogenous creature. What is the reason
for its diversity in later literature and imagery? It is possible that this homo-
geneity was in place only in the early phases of the concept. For example, in
ancient Egypt, we can observe a remarkable cult of the serpent. The serpent
was also a vital part of the Egyptian belief system and mythology. However,
human creativity and imagination started to bring some new qualities and
features to the table; hence the appearance of the dragon began to develop in
21various directions, and some hybrid creatures started to appear, which initi- ated the process of generating a variety of the early dragons' collection. I will examine the theories on the origin of the dragon in the following chap- ter to uncover the various theoretical approaches to the birth of dragons which will help us understand their exciting and possibly interwoven com- plexity. 3.2 Origin of Dragons 3.2.1 The common theory - Diffusion A few authors investigate the origins and functions of dragons and dragon legends. Blust writes that most likely, the foremost common clarification of- fered for the understanding of the characteristics of the dragon is diffusion, (p. 521) The author of this interpretation is G.E. Smith sees the origin of the dragon in connection with the Egyptian belief system and its operators. From the land of pharaohs, it gradually expanded to the rest of the world. This expansion resulted in development in the imagery, from the first rela- tively coarse images of a horned serpent or hybrid creature to much more detailed imagery, particularly in Asia (p. 54-56). 3.2.2 Naturalistic theory - real dragons This theory is based upon a few foundations. One of these assumes that the dragons originate from incidental findings of fossilized dinosaur bones, eggs, or remains of some giant sea creatures. It is not surprising that this theory remains very popular with the general public due to these sightings. We should not fail to mention the influence of the fossils on the manner the dragons were depicted in art. A relief in a church near Coburg shows an 22
apparent effect of a fossilized plesiosaur on the artist. It is a possibility that
the fossils emerged in Swabia when liass slate, rich in fossils, was being
mined. Similar finds appear in the United Kingdom. It is possible that even
the footprints in the mud can become fossilized. Winter storms in 1978 un-
covered large footprints on soft mudstone near Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.
(Simpson 16)
The second variation of this theory finds support in several reports on find-
ings of remains of large sea animals like giant octopuses or squids (Simpson
17). claims that it is pretty likely that sea dragons exist, as there is a large
number of "well-authenticated sightings of sea-serpent and lake monster -
the most famous example being the Loch Ness Monster." (Hoult 6). In 1981
Herman Rogustus saw a dinosaur-like animal "Mokele Mbembe" at Lake
Tele, which locates deep in the jungle of Congo. And even though a high-
speed camera under the water of Loch Ness took two photos of something
that resembles a fin of a plesiosaurus, the existence of such grand animals is
still a subject of debate (Hoult, 6-7).
The real-world animals that could inspire the dragon lore are foremostly
snakes, giant reptiles such as comodo dragons, crocodiles, or iguanas. A
prime suspect of the sea-dragon inspiration may be the oarfish (a ribbon-like
fish with red, oar-shaped fins) that can grow up to 9 meters and 300kg (Bri-
tannica). They are pretty rare; however, such an example was washed up on
a beach near San Diego in 1996. Another creature that supports this theory
may be a fish that Simpson mentions in her book. This fish called coela-
canth supposedly reached the peak of its prosperity 300 million years ago in
the Devonian period. It was repeatedly caught alive in the seas near Africa
in the middle of the 20th century. It is not surprising that this theory remains
very popular with the general public due to these sightings.
23Other sensational discoveries usually lead nowhere. Thanks to D N A analy- sis, it mostly turns out that the supposed serpentine monster is a somewhat disguised type of a current creature, for example, a badly decomposed blue shark (Simpson, 17). It is very likely that comparable discoveries repeatedly appeared through- out past centuries. Findings such as footprints, fossils, bones, teeth, eggs, and carcasses may not have originated the concept of the dragon because some features such as fire breathing and poisonous bite would be pretty un- likely to generate from, let's say, a large footprint. However, such findings are likely to empower the belief in dragons and ignite the development of the dragon lore, which will inevitably convey numerous different forms of dragons and perpetuate the stories and legends. We can see links between this theory and the Blue Ben Dragon of Klive, where the dragon dies by sinking in a muddy pool and becoming a fossil. The third modification, suggested by Carl Sagan, proposes that the dragon motif comes from the idea that man's early battle for survival within the confront of predators, and in specific a fear of reptiles, may have driven so- cial convictions and myths around dragons. By way of clarification, he in- quires logically whether mythical serpents might reflect a hereditarily en- coded memory of dinosaurs from the inaccessible prehuman past: past: "Is it possible that dragons posed a problem for our protohuman ancestors of a few million years ago, and that the terror they evoked and the deaths they caused helped bring about the evolution of human intelligence (p. 149)? In her book The Fruit, The Tree, And The Serpent - Why We See So Well, Lynne Isbell argues that the most critical factors that made humans what they are today are predatory snakes, fruit, and trees and introduces a theory of human ability to detect snakes. This theory is based on extensive research showing that the human vision preferentially reacts to moving, prolonged 24
shapes and diamond-shaped patterns, typical for snakes. The fear of snakes
- ophidiophobia is the most common phobia in humans, thanks to the an-
cient relationship between our ancestors and reptilian predators. This theory
is nearly identical to the biblical story of the garden of Eden respective Eve
and the Serpent, where the snake invites Eve to taste the fruit from the tree.
Eve receives a guarantee that she will not die and, in truth, she will open her
eyes.
In his book The Dragons of Eden, Dr. Carl Sagan writes: "snakes have
evolved from four-legged reptilian ancestors resembling dragons. Many
snakes still retain anatomical vestiges of the limbs of their ancestors." (p.
94).
These remarks can shed some light on the human fascination with snakes
and reptiles. In my view, it is not only the image of the purely reptilian mon-
ster that haunts the imaginations of human beings. Some of these creatures
may have dragon-like bodies combined with eagle's talons and cat heads.
Based on these studies and investigations, I would tentatively suggest that
the dragon lore can be partially connected with predatory animals of the dis-
tant past. However, those predators may not be the only snakes field of
dragon lore even wider and more complex
Jacqueline Simpson writes that there are four most common theories of the
origin: naturalistic, based on fossil finds or real animals such as oarfish,
crocodile, giant serpents; mythological, religious, and historical (p. 14ff).
Robert Blust sees the origin in the rainbow serpent (p. 534).
The common concept of numerous dragon legends is to depict the battle be-
tween the dragon and the hero. The dragon generally symbolizes chaos or
disorder, and the mythological hero or deity is someone who preserves or-
der. Preserving order very often means killing the monster of chaos, as we
25can observe in many early and later myths. However, there is much more to the dragon lore, a hero and dragon encounter throughout the centuries. For example, Janet Hoult indicates a strong connection with Goddesses, rejuve- nation, and rebirth. She also mentions a link between dragons and the Mother, where Tiamat of Babylonia is the first example, as well as Mother Goddess Danu and her son Vritra. We can notice some similarities in the Beowulf legend. Beowulf kills Grendel and then Grendel's dragon mother, who dwelt at the bottom of a lake. What is more, dragon symbolism has many variants ranging from the energy of natural elements, fertility, chaos, and evil to wisdom, strength, and power. The later legends of Judeo-Christian origin mainly seem to pro- mote Christianity, as in The Legend of St. George, where St. George, tech- nically speaking, blackmails the citizens into becoming Christians, hence re- ducing the dragon's multivalence to the one of paganism or evil. A careful reading of the theories inspires intrigue because it seems pretty tricky to proclaim one of the theories as the official one even though the dif- fusion theory is widely accepted amongst scholars. I would tentatively sug- gest that it is rather the combination of the approaches that gave birth to what we conceive as a dragon today, as one can support another. Each may have stronger foundations in different parts of the world. And it is the rich- ness of the sources of the origin that provides for the dragon's variety which is perhaps slightly overshadowed by the power of the popular narrative hence our intuitive concept of the image of the dragon, but still distinctively survives nonetheless. It is fascinating to see so many similarities and many differences. The dragon lore reflects humanity in its differences and similar- ities as we humans are individuals, yet we all are one. Therefore, it is quite possible to say that the dragons vary hugely. They might have coexisted in a predator-prey relationship with proto-humans in 26
the distant past, which would help to explain the substantial human fascina-
tion with serpentine monsters lasting for such a long time. And the timeless
existence propelled by the fascination and possibly fear of the serpentine
monsters is the key to the wide variety of dragons and their worldwide ap-
pearance and popularity, which should be reflected on a perhaps somewhat
smaller scale in the land of Britain overflowing with dragon tales. Moreo-
ver, the origin theories can easily find anchoring points on British soil.
There are not many places around the world that keep the chance of a pre-
historic monster living in one of the lakes, such as the Loch Ness monster,
affectionately named Nessie. I want to mention UNESCO listed Jurassic
Coast that stretches for 154 km on the Southern Coast, which is a rich
source of various fossils, including crocodiles, other reptiles, and fish. Such
findings could inspire a few local dragon legends, and we can see one prob-
able example in the legend of the Blue Ben Dragon of Kilve that comes
from Somerset.
274 The roots of the legend: Cosmic dragon
In this chapter, I will research the earliest recorded account of dragons, gi-
gantic serpentine monsters, and large serpents of the Near East. I will sys-
tematically follow the chronological order starting with Sumerian imagery
and literary depiction of the earliest dragon. I will study Egyptian mythol-
ogy, which Grafton Elliot Smith connects to the primal origin of the dragon
myth, and show examples of the earliest serpentine monsters.
Those stories fall into the Cosmic Dragon category, dating roughly around
2000 BC to 1500 B.C. Consequent research focuses on Biblical and Greek
sources describing serpentine monsters such as Leviathan, Typhon, and Hy-
dra 7 0 0 - 150 BC.
Subsequently, I will cross the gap of a few centuries, moving to the mate-
rial of British origin that foremostly sources from two markedly valuable
sources: Jacqueline Simpson's book British Dragons, where we can find
much crucial information about dragon legends and tales of the British Isles,
and a recent book by Debbie Brewer called Dragon Legends ofOlde Eng-
land which is a collection of numerous dragon legends. Both of these exam-
ples complement themselves exquisitely. On top of that, each book counts
around seventy dragon stories and describes and explains their circum-
stances; therefore, it is quite likely that the dragon lore of England, Scot-
land, and Wales is noticeably productive.
The research should provide some information about the concept of the ear-
liest dragons, heroes, and their functions. The main area I will investigate is
mythology which is the starting point of the dragon lore. I will shed some
light upon the first dragons and explore their function, symbolism, and other
aspects such as their habitat and the dragon hero encounter, and tactics of
28dragonicide. The results will be helpful when I approach their distant rela-
tives, the British dragons and heroes, to see how they resemble or differ
from these mythological creatures visually and in behaviour and other as-
pects.
4.1 Mesopotamia
In the present day, the word dragon is usually associated, at least in the Eng-
lish language, with a dreadful mythical creature with a body (or body parts)
that resembles a lizard or a snake.
Mesopotamian art includes quite a few of such dragon-like beings of vari-
ous natures. If we admit that there is a general image of a dragon, then the
closest relative would be a creature so-called snake dragon. However, Black
and Green, in their book The Book of the Dragon, state that there are about
"100 other hybrids such as the lion-dragon might also be regarded as
dragon-like images " (p. 71). Serpentine monster in Sumerian poetry can be
a symbol for a god or a king with no particularly evil connotation. One of
the oldest images of what is sometimes called a dragon comes from 4000
B C (Aveela, p. 2).
The carriers of the texts are clay tablets. Professor of Babylonian lan-
guage, School of Oriental and African Studies at University of London An-
drew George says in his lecture at Harvard University in 2017 that there are
many thousands of clay tablets at the British Museum, and only a few peo-
ple are able to decipher them. There are not so many sources, and the ap-
pearance of serpentine monsters is quite sporadic—the proportion of tales
containing a dragon-like creature increases in time. From the first millen-
nium B C onward, we can find more and more legends that include some
form of what we can call a dragon. The following examples date from
around 800 B C to 600 BC), geographically come from different areas, and
29therefore exist in various languages. It is possible to say that the dragon or dragon-like creatures carry more detailed descriptions in many ways. Let us explore these examples and what are the links between them, their similari- ties, and their differences. It is a well-known and respected fact that Mesopotamian cultures were highly developed and belonged to the oldest ones in the world. The earliest dragon imagery we know of comes from Sumeria, dating from 3000 to 4000 BC. It is possible to say that the depicted creatures resemble modern drag- ons. They are not exactly identified as such, but they include many of the later iconography associated with dragons. 4.1.1 Mushussu Mushussu is arguably one of the oldest ancestors of modern dragons. F . A . M . Wiggerman describes the creature as a scally four-legged beast with the head of a horned snake. It is a hybrid animal, whose lion components gradually shift into snake components. This creature is called Mushussu, which means a reddish or fiery snake (p. 156). There are various depictions, but perhaps the most profound image of Mushussu comes from the famous Ishtar's gate. Some clay seals depict Mushussu as a servant of a Babylonian god of the underworld Ninazu (king of the snakes), who is depicted on clay seals as a god with serpents sprouting from his body. It appears to be in the role of a faithful servant, perhaps even a death bringer killing with his venom. Ac- cording to Wiggerman (p. 156), the gods may progressively replace one an- other; however, Mushussu remains a cold-blooded eliminator; therefore, its function can be interpreted as apotropaic, where Mushussu guards the law- ful order of his ruler and punishes the offenders. Interestingly Mushussu is 30
a very early example of a dragon-like creature that is presented as being
winged. Many dragons in various cultures did not have wings. The two-
winged creatures are, according to S.B. Noegel, never able to fly above the
natural sky and therefore do not possess solar connections.
It is possible to say that the more wings a creature has, the more powerful
it is. A six-winged creature is capable of entering a sacred space and most
likely will hold a high degree of divinity. Four-winged hybrids of the Bible,
Egypt, and Mesopotamia are associated with the four winds and the four
cardinal directions (Noegel, 38-41).
Many of the serpentine monsters or dragon-like creatures from this era are
basically giant snakes. The earliest reptilian monsters from the creation
myths are usually associated with water or watery chaos, and in perhaps less
dramatic cases as weather phenomena controlling rain, droughts, and floods.
Even the earliest Babylonian snake-based hybrid creatures such as
Mušhuššu acquire more and more serpentine features in time, therefore, de-
veloping a variety of beasts which is the occurrence that resurfaces quite
frequently in this area and therefore introduces new and new imaginary be-
ings and enriches the folklore of the given location.
4.1.2 Tiamat
We are able to see some acknowledgments of dragon-like creatures in the
Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, recovered in 1849 by English ar-
chaeologist Austen Henry Layard. It is written on clay tablets in the Akka-
dian language and translates into English as When on High. The seven clay
tablets are not entirely complete. Especially the fifth tablet is badly frag-
mented. However, the text first translated in 1876 mentions dragons and gi-
ant serpents directly. Their depiction is relatively brief but provides a direct
link to those creatures. It specifies sharp teeth, poison instead of blood, and
31a terrifying look, and it also reveals their purpose however, Tiamat herself remains a mystery as we definitely know that she has a mouth, nostrils, lips, eyes, a skull, a body, a belly, and a tail. But her behaviour may resemble a destructive dragon of chaos. The main actors in the story are the god Mar- duk and the primordial goddess Tiamat. G. E. Smith refers to Tiamat as a "dragon" or "malevolent avatar of the great mother" (p. 57). Many other scholars conclude that Tiamat is female, and her depictions on Babylonian cylinder seals vary from a griffin to a giant snake. Jacobsen sug- gests that she possibly could transform herself into various forms when fighting Marduk (p. 105). "134 Supplied irresistible weapons, and gave birth to giant serpents. 135 They had sharp teeth, they were merciless . . . . 136 With poison instead of blood she filled their bodies. 137 She clothed the fearful monsters with dread, 138 She loaded them with an aura and made them godlike. 139 (She said,) "Let their onlooker feebly perish, 140 May they constantly leap forward and never retire." 141 She created the Hydra, the Dragon, the Hairy Hero 142 The Great Demon, the Savage Dog, and the Scorpion-man, 143 Fierce demons, the Fish-man, and the Bull-man, 144 Carriers of merciless weapons, fearless in the face of battle." (Enuma Elish The Babylonian Epic of Creation, translated by W.G. Lam- bert) The above-mentioned serpentine monsters should aid the primordial god- dess Tiamat in her battle against the new gods. Tiamat represents salty 32
water, and Apsu represents fresh water, and "their waters mingle" which
leads to the introduction of new gods. However, Apsu is not pleased with
their noisy behaviour and decides to kill them. But the new gods act faster.
They manage to slay Apsu and subsequently start living on his corpse. This
enrages Tiamat, and she starts seeking revenge. The new gods cannot resist
her and become unsettled.
However, a new god Marduk appears. He has eyes all around his head and
can speak magic words. He is also capable of putting himself aflame. The
other gods select him as their champion and agree that if he kills Tiamat, he
will become the supreme deity. Marduk indeed defeats Tiamat and destroys
her army of monsters. The main moment of the battle comes when Tiamat,
already encircled by a net, attempts to swallow Marduk. At that point, "he
let loose the Evil Wind, the rear guard, in her face" so she is unable to close
her mouth and loses control over her movements. Then Marduk shoots an
arrow through her mouth into her belly, bounds her, and "extinguishes her
life". Some translations mention the use of a club or a mace with which
Marduk "smashes" Tiamat's skull. The fate of the eleven monsters is similar
to their Mistress. The champion of gods "put ropes upon them and bound
their arms, together with their warfare he trampled them beneath him"
(W.G. Lambert, Enuma Elish, Babylonian Epic of Creation)
The fight was single combat. Marduk used mace and bow and arrow for
weapons and natural elements - four winds for subduing Tiamat, killing her,
and using her body to create heaven and earth. Most scholars are in concord
about Tiamat's identity and meaning. Jacobsen states that the name Tiamat
is an Akkadian word for sea and the beginning of the epic states that Apsu's
sweet waters and hers mingled together. The meaning of the name Marduk
has two probable interpretations, of which Jacobsen prefers "Son of the
Storm" to "Son of the Sun" (106).
33It is an interesting fact that Marduk is often depicted on Mesopotamian cyl- inder seals as a four-winged person, which entails his control of the four wings, whereas Tiamat, in winged depictions, is usually a two-winged crea- ture which could support the theory that says that the more wings an entity has, the more powerful it is. It is possible to tentatively suggest that the interpretation of the story may be following. Tiamat is the primordial goddess and a representation of chaos. She and her male counterpart Apsu create a new life in the form of new gods by mingling their waters. It is not a surprising event that something new appears when a female and a male component come together, and on top of that, it is a widely accepted fact that life on the planet Earth started first in the water. The new gods are outrageous and create plenty of noise. Therefore, Apsu decides to do away with them, however, they manage to kill Apsu first, and then they live on his corpse. This action enrages Tiamat, who starts to seek revenge. Marduk is the first god who is able to defeat her, and it is quite significant to realize that he does it the way he encapsulates her with a net which could, in this case, symbolize containing the chaos, then he cuts her into pieces and creates the world and the sky. In other words, Marduk can see and understand and is able to put boundaries around chaos and, on top of that, creatively use its parts to restore order. The appearance of serpentine creatures and dragons as means of fighting is quite evident in this part of the Babylonian creation myth. The description of the monsters appears twice to highlight their terror posing features and their purpose to scare the gods and to aid Tiamat in her struggle against the new gods' union led by Marduk. The appearance of the motif of a dragon- like creature aiding a deity is quite obvious, and it resembles Mushussu. Marduk's connection to fire provides an interesting message. Fire is an 34
element that is capable of transformation. If an object is placed into a fire, it
changes its property and therefore becomes something else. In the more re-
cent tales, fire is a domain belonging to the dragon rather than to the hero. In
Marduk's case, it may convey that he is set to change the state of things.
355 Egyptian Serpents and Dragons
Egyptian mythology is arguably the most complex in the world. It contains
about 1500 deities who may have different names, functions, characters, and
personalities in each version of the particular myth (Lopez, p. 4). Hence
there are quite a few versions and interpretations as well as uncertainties. On
the other hand, this variety provides a rich source of serpents and snake-like
monsters.
G. E . Smith observes the struggle between Seth and Osiris and compares
Set to a creator of deception, a prototype of a dragon, and Osiris to order
and justice. He continues with the contemplation of the struggle between
Chris and Satan (p. 54).
5.1 Apopis
The very central theme of Egyptian mythology is the dramatic cycle of day
and night where the sun god Ra travels in his boat through the serpent-infes-
ted underworld realm, sometimes referred to as the Netherworld. The jour-
ney is quite dramatic because Ra loses some of his powers, and it takes the
whole crew to cooperate and navigate the sun barge through the twelve
hours of the night that are depicted as twelve halls or large rooms. Book of
the Dead describes what happens in each hour.
Netherworld is under the rule of a giant snake, Apep or Apopis, god of
watery chaos, the arch-enemy of Re who constitutes an order. He rose out of
the chaos when the light was non-existent, and all was dark and silent. An-
cient Egyptian texts portray Apopis as he with the damaged face, he who is
evil, or "he with the very bad head." Apopis is limitless and able to encircle
all reality. First imagery can be seen on pottery from as early as 4000 BC,
36and the most elaborated stories come from around 1500 B C (Borghouts,
177-118).
The Egyptian Book of the Dead illustrates the battles between Ra and Apo-
pis in the following way. Ra navigates his boat across the day sky, and du-
ring the night, he and his crew travel through the underworld, usually refer-
red to as Amduat. Apopis hides in Amduat, and every night he attempts to
destroy Ra in a battle. Apopis can hypnotize and scare the crew in other va-
riations of this myth. Amongst all the gods, it is only Seth, the god of
storms, who is able to withstand his glance and is able to subdue Apopis by
piercing him with a spear.
In another version, the crew of gods cooperates in order to kill the serpen-
tine monster. Isis casts a spell on Apopis, causing him to lose power, and
Seth and Horus bound Apopis into a chain and stabbed him with no mercy
until the river ran red with blood and the barge continued on its way. Accor-
ding to the myth, Apopis dies in none of the two versions because order can-
not exist without chaos.
The text highlights the fact that Apophis can produce a deafening noise.
His hiss shakes the underworld. In some interpretations, Apopis speaks to
Seth before the final clash and even insults him by mocking Set's inability
to procreate caused by a battle with Horus (Wallis Budge 354-355).
In another variation of the same myth, there is a cat-headed goddess that
cuts Apopis's head off, which may come from the biological fact that cats
and snakes are natural enemies.
5.2 Mehen
Yet another serpentine creature that appears in the Egyptian underworld
realm is a tremendous female serpent, Mehen. She is the closest protector of
37Ra during his journey through the 12 halls of Amduat. She coils her body around Ra to shield him. According to Book of Dead in the 11th hall, the river flows exceptionally slowly, and Mehen provides her body as a rope to allow the other twelve gods to pull the sun boat along. The eighth hour of the underworld journey describes the function of Mehen as protective and establishes her as a guard- ian and the other serpents as a divine tool of judgment and agents of support of the authority and qualities of the deities as avengers and protectors (Wal- lis Budge, 30). According to Szpakowska, there is just one male snake god; therefore, the vast majority is female. This overwhelming disproportion caused most god- desses, including Hathor, to be associated with a serpent. They are protec- tors of the order, and therefore, their function is apotropaic. Fire spitting ser- pents and possible precursors of modern dragons play a vital part in the Netherworld, where they, for instance, repel the forces of evil and discipline the ill-fated. In Eastern mythology, the role of fire as an agent in the battle against chaos is a vital one. This is depicted in many different representa- tions. As an agent in the fight against chaos, fire plays an essential role in ancient Near East mythology, especially as a purifying or transforming mat- ter. The fire is possibly associated with the burning sensation of snake venom. Szpakowska mentions that the choice of the snake as a tool against chaos is hardly surprising because the venomous snakes belong to the most vicious creatures of Egyptian nature. Some kinds, red spitting cobra, in par- ticular, are able to spray their venom up to the distance of 8 feet. The snake effectively sprays the toxin in small particles, which are depicted as tiny dots in the imagery of Book of Dead (p. 40). Subsequently, we can say that in Egyptian mythology, the dragon or ser- pentine monster stands on both sides of the barricade, and therefore is not possible to clearly determine its function and role. As well as in Babylonian 38
mythology, the early dragon can exist as a loyal ally of the deity, or it can
represent its adversary. This observation only adds to the serpentine mon-
ster's versatility.
5.3 Hathor The Eye of Ra
Grafton Elliott Smith's book The Evolution of the Dragon, published in
1919, led to the general recognition that the Dragon is a phenomenon that
exists throughout the world. For a more extended period, Smith lived in
Cairo, Egypt, where he became familiar with ancient ways of Egyptian
mummifying and Egyptian deities. Based on those findings and studies,
Smith found basic similarities between dragons coming from various cul-
tures. A significant characteristic of those serpentine monsters was destroy-
ing men and upsetting peace. Smith concludes that the most critical legend
in the world's mythology- the destruction of humankind plays a vital role in
the origin of the Dragon. Hence, he sees the draconian aspects in the Egyp-
tian mother goddess Hathor. Some scholars see Hathor as the Egyptian rep-
resentative of Babylonian Tiamat.
We can observe quite a few exciting features with Hathor in the form of
The Eye of Ra: she is depicted as a fire-spitting uraeus serpent, she is the
eye of Ra; the one looking/watching, she destroys and finally is overcome
by becoming intoxicated and transforms back to her former peaceful form.
It is worth noticing that Hathor's dominant role is the mother goddess, but
she also transforms into a tool of revenge of the supreme deity not dissimi-
larly to Babylonian Mushussu. G.E. Smith considers Tiamat a Babylonian
representative of Hathor (p. 58).
If one wants to become familiar with the complete story, she needs to
study the sources thoroughly. There are incomplete passages and a few
39contradictions. However, the simplified message is that the sun god Re be- comes upset with humankind and sends his daughter Hathor to wipe the people out. Hathor is one of the most complex and vital deities in the Egyp- tian pantheon. Moreover, in early myths, she is connected to the serpent cult and many other goddesses. At some point, the myth tells us that Ra became disillusioned with humans because they were not praying, and their offerings were not sufficient. Therefore, he unleashes Hathor in the form of Sekhmet upon the populous of humans. Sekhmet goes down, starting to bring vengeance to these hu- mans on earth for disrespecting her father, who was the supreme deity sym- bol of life in this cosmology. She began to slay humans by thousands in this decisive role of a part lion goddess and eventually fell in love with the kill- ing and the taste of blood, and nothing could stop her. Even Ra, the supreme deity, did not possess enough power to end Hathor's rage. He managed to obtain a substance called "d'd"' ( G E . Smith, 56), and the god of beer Sekhmet crafted a significant amount (7000 jars) of a powerful kind of beer mixed with d'd', which made the beer red like human blood. The blood-col- oured beer was poured upon the land where the Goddess was raging and killing everyone in her path. The blood lust Sekhmet drank it upon her re- turn, thinking this was human blood. Fully intoxicated, she fell asleep and woke up back to her senses as the benevolent Goddess of love she has al- ways been. Hathor is one of the most complex, most important, and widely worshiped deities. "As the eye of Ra, she was identified with the fire-spitting uraeus serpent which the king or god wore on his forehead. She was both the moon and the fiery bolt which shot down from the sky to slay the enemies of Ra." (G. E . Smith p. 58). I want to draw attention to the means of transformation of Hathor from a goddess of love and beauty to an unstoppable, dangerous, killing monstrous 40
character and back. This transformation confirms the incredible complexity
of the Egyptian pantheon. It relates to the motif of a dragon-like monster
serving as an agent of vengeance acting on behalf of a higher rank character,
in this case, the supreme deity Ra. Another remarkable detail of this account
is the method of stopping Hathor from her ultimate killing rage. It is quite a
clever trickery that sets Hathor into the state of intoxication caused by beer.
Consequently, she is not able to recognize her protentional victims and ulti-
mately falls asleep.
It seems that the author would like to suggest that there is a specific weak-
ness in the dragon-like character of Hathor - her lust for blood. The more
she kills, the more she desires, and what is more, not even the supreme deity
Ra is able to stop her. Her addiction, in fact, becomes her weak spot. Hence,
she receives a specially crafted blood-red beer which brings her back to her
normal state.
416 Greek Myths and Legends Biblical text emerged approximately at the same time as the Greek myths and legends involving serpentine monsters or dragons. Some accounts men- tion some dragon-like figures. I have chosen the well-known reptilian mon- ster Typhon and his offspring Hydra to investigate. The primary sources are the productions of poet and philosopher Hesiod and Homer, a poet and sup- posed author of Iliad and Odyssey. Both authors lived roughly in the period from the 8th to 7th century B.C. The third source will be the work of Apol- lodorus. 6.1 Typhon In his work Theogony, translated by M . L West, poet Hesiod writes that af- ter Zeus removed the Titans from heaven, the Earth produced her last child, Typhosios or Typhon. A mighty god who seems to possess such attributes that he may be linked to dragons: "His arms are employed in feasts of strength, and the legs of the powerful god are tireless. Out of his shoulders came a hundred fearsome snake-heads with black tongues flickering, and the eyes in his strange heads flashed fire under the brows; and there were voices in all his fearsome heads, giving out every kind of indescribable sound. Sometimes they uttered as if for the gods understanding, sometimes again the sound of a bellowing bull whose might is uncontainable and whose voice is proud, sometimes again a lion who knows no restrains, sometimes again of a pack of hounds, astonishing to hear, sometimes again he hissed; and the long mountains echoed beneath." (Hesiod, lines 804-872) 42
The story says that Typhon challenged Zeus over the supremacy of the cos-
mos. The battle was terrible, and there was a lot of destruction. Zeus
emerged victorious thanks to the aid of his thunderbolts.
Apollodorus claims that Typhon was born in a cave, whereas Homeric
Hymn informs us that Typhon was the son of goddess Hera and did not have
any father. He was born to punish Zeus, Hera's husband, for conceiving a
daughter independently with Hera not being involved. The main difference
between the two sources is that only Apollodorus describes Typhon in de-
tail. The other source does not mention any physical description of the mon-
ster.
The two versions demonstrate differences in details of Typhon's genesis,
and his depictions vary from author to author as well. These occurrences
show the importance of the author as each poet or writer uses their imagina-
tion and deals with a different focus.
Apollodorus further depicts Typhon in some detail. Typhon's presence
was so terrifying that the god fled to Egypt to hide by turning into various
animals. Only Zeus and Athena were brave enough to face the serpentine
monster.
"In size and strength he surpassed all the offspring of Earth. As far as the
thighs he was of human shape and of such prodigious bulk that he out-
topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. One of his
hands reached out to the west and the other to the east, and from them pro-
jected a hundred dragons' heads. From the thighs downward he had huge
coils of vipers, which when drawn out, reached to his very head and emitted
a loud hissing. His body was all winged unkempt hair streamed on the wind
from his head and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes."
(Library 1.6.3)
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