Comet Impact: Origin of the Dragon Myths?

Dragon - a mythical monster, usually represented as a large reptile with wings and claws, breathing out fire and smoke. (Webster's New World Dictionary)

There are dragon or serpent monster myths found in practically every culture on Earth (for simplicity, I will refer to serpent monsters as dragons). Usually in these myths, the dragons were capable of great destruction with wind and fire. I have always wondered why dragon myths are so widespread in the world and in this site I will present possible answers to the following questions:

Why haven't any dragon fossils ever been found?
What were dragons?
Why are there dragon myths in almost all cultures on Earth?

Very interesting link, check it out and please post your thoughts.

home.swbell.net...

I thought dragons were considered to be gods. Which would inevitably answer the questions you posed, or at least two of them.

As for the third question, maybe many cultures have seen dragons because they fly.

Still, dragons are (as far as we know) mythical. Just hoping to answer some questions.

Yes, Dragons were considered to be gods, especially in Easter/Asian Buddhist religions. In most of European culture they were considered to be a form of demon.

(I am working on a dragon backpiece tattoo in the Asian tradition)

Dragons, who doesn't love dragons?! I have a dragon, his name is Norbert, he was a brazen lil fellow when Hagrid sent him to me. Now he just soars all day above the volcano and swoops down to collect virgins twice a week...

Seriously though, as a race we might have a fetish for them. Perhaps they came about from Reptile worship? A rumor spread to assimulate people into the collective of the lizard aliens.

I found some neat links

www.dragon-history.com...

www.genesispark.org...

[Edited on 28-4-2003 by Lurker]

i remember reading a while back in a science journel something about dragons being shapeshifters whitch is why there are no fossils of them being found, many fiction books (yes i know what fiction means) have dragons changing shape into humans to hide in human society, you may think this is not possible but remember dragons were said to have magic powers, so i guess anything is possible, and one final thought, the sand worms in the dune novels ( i know i read to much sci fi) disentergtated on death including the bones, it is plausible that this is true of dragons, hence no fossils, then again when the NWO come to take us over they may ride on the backs of them

Very interesting points, and I agree, there are a couple of legends of Dragons being shape shifters. However, in straight science there is so far no evidence to support this.

Of course science has no evidence. No one has evidence as far as I know.

It just doesnt seem plausible that a Dragon could exist and not still be reigning terror. Do you follow?

Maybe we should ask Solomon is Dragons are real or not????

but I am a dragon afficianado...

My belief is that dragons stemmed from surviving dinosaur-like creatures that existed during some of our earlier history. The coaxtyl is a good example...look at it, then look at Archeopteryx (sp?)....pretty damned similar. The differences in dragons likely stem from different creatures being called "dragon" but sharing certain similarities (large, reptile). You think the modern age was the first dinosaur fossil find? I doubt it... During such finds (before dinosaurs were known), they likely envisioned dead "dragons". Fire-breathing was an ability ascribed to anything "demonic", so that's likely where this was tagged from...as the creatures were seen as hellspawn (i.e. look at Revelations in the Bible).

Aways loved the idea of dragons. Personally think this ties in with lots that is discussed on the board. I believe that whilst the human species was evolving and even to this day there remained/s on the planet different species that we except as having died out at an earlier geological age. These random creatures, surviving through human history have probably given enough people a scare for rumours to start.

Not sure about all the pics here but it makes a point

www.anzwers.org...

www.nytimes.com... science/29DRAG.html?ex=1052193600&en=55649ea26a9f5d7c&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE

[Edited on 4-5-2003 by Tetsuo-51]

I'm not sure about comet impact; but I can well imagine how the tails of comets might have added to dragon legends.

Much of the rest might have come from travellers' tales -exaggerated as fishermen will today -of strange animals in far-away places: crocodiles and large lizards (look at to-day's Komodo dragon).
You'll find some intriguing illustrations if you look at mediaeval or Renaisance pictures of what a "rhinoceros" was believed to be, or the giraffe (called "cameleopard and represented as a cross between those two animals)

Um, cassini, that site was really, really false. All reptiles are dinosaurs? Birds are the closest thing to a dinosaur, we have on earth. Dinos left the reptilian branch in the very beggining. Thats why all books on dinosaurs will differentiate between dinosaurs and aquatic and land reptiles. They do not call crocodiles dinosaurs even though they were around at the same time and some crocodilian species reached dinosauric proportions.

XAOS

I can see how comets could be mistaken for flying serpents.

Gazrok's point about earlier fossil-find's is, I think, a very good one. I've often thought that tales of giants may also owe something to this.

Found this..........


According to ancient Chinese legend, over one hundred pyramids discovered in
China are the legacy of extraterrestrial visitors.

At the turn of the century, two Australian traders happened upon a vast area
in the plains of Qin Chuan, Central China. There they discovered over one
hundred pyramids.

When they asked the custodian of a local monastery about them, they were
told that, according to records housed in the monastery, the pyramids were
said to be "very old". Since the records were themselves over 5,000 years
old, one can only guess at the age of the pyramids themselves.
continued......link

www.nebulus.org...

[Edited on 5-5-2003 by helen670]

Great find, very good read. With all these cultures comeing out of the closet so to say about stuff off planet origin, its a wonder any nation just hasnt come out and said "Hey we gots aliens haha."

I think early man came across dinosaur fossils.Having no explanation for them,they created tales.
Although I do think it would be nice if they really were real.Of course it would be like seeing a tornado fun to watch,but you don't want to get to close.

Actually, they have found dragon fossils. I once seen a program on Animal Planet and they where saying that they found two fossils in a glacier (mother and duaghter dragons). They also found two human skeletons in 15th century style armor. They also said that the cause of death for the knights was fire and the scientists said that it is biologically possible that these creatures could have breathed fire. This is no joke, you might be able to find more info on this in the web.