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Dragons are archetypal monsters at the foundation of every world culture. Myths and folktales describe the many fights that have opposed knights and heroes against those fierce opponents. This is a list of legendary named dragons. Check Monstropedia for an exhaustive list.
Origin: Mentioned in the Kojiki, Japan’s oldest book, Yamata no Orochi was a very big Japanese dragon with eight heads. Description: Yamata no Orochi had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over a … Read more
Origin: Beowulf is the oldest known piece of literature in English. The original work was written around the 8th century AC and describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Etymology: It is a kenning for Bear, from the old Norse, Beo (of bees) , wulf (wolf); a wolf of the bees … Read more
Origin: Zû, also known as Anzû (from An, meaning "heaven," and Zû, meaning "far"), is a Sumerian storm god. Stories of Zu the dragon were being told from about 5000 BC when the Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia, now called Iraq. Description: Zû is sometimes described as a huge dragon, and other times described as a … Read more
Type: Worm Origin: The Babylonian story of creation, Enuma Elish, told of this serpent-like creature, the Mother of the gods. Description: The modern depiction of Tiamat as a sea serpent or a multi-headed dragon was popularized in the 1970s as a fixture of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying gamme. The Enûma Elish specifically states that … Read more
Type: Amphiptere Origin: Quetzalcoatl was adored first in Yucatan then in theToltec and Aztec empires in what is today Mexico. Quetzalcoatl was the child of the virgin Chimalman and the god Citlallatonac ("the morning"). He was the priest-king of Tula, the City of the Sun. Scientists think that the myth of Quetzalcoatl started with a bird, … Read more
Origin: Greece. A son of Echidna and Typhon Myth : Dagon was the guardian of Hera’s golden apples, which grew in the Garden of Hesperides. Herakles killed Ladon in order to steal the apples. After a few years, the Argonauts passed by the same spot, on their chthonic return journey from Colchis at the opposite end … Read more
Aka: Iormungandr, Midgardsormr, Midgard Serpent, and World Serpent. Type: Worm Origin: Norse. He is the son of Loki and Angur-boda. Description: This serpent lives in the sea, and encircles the earth. He is so long that he has swallowed his own tail. Myth : This serpent was one of Loki’s children, and was … Read more
Type: Western dragon Origin: German Myth Myth : Known to have began his life as a dwarf, he killed his father to take his hoard. Fafnir hid this hoard, and guarded it day and night at Gnitaheide. Through his greed, or a cursed gold by Otter, he slowly transformed into a dragon. Sigurd Volsung (also … Read more