Middle Eastern Myths: Dragons of Note

Myth:  Endings (Middle Eastern)

(These dragons are from Mesopotamia and Babylon )

Type 1:  Grael of Chaos (Lady Wardragon)

Description: Has black scales and red eyes

Actions: Roars.  As a force of chaos scours the world

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 2:  Ayahz, Master Healer

Description:  White

Actions:  Uses fire to clear debris

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 3:  Bahamut, the Lord of Time

Description:  Silver

Actions:  Sings new worlds into being

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 4:  Freyeth, the Flame Lord

Description:  Not described in story.  Usually dark red-orange with jet black horns

Actions:  Releases lava and creates earthquakes

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 5:  Gaia, Mother Earth Dragon

Description:  Not described in story.  Usually long snake-like with no limbs.  Green in colour

Actions:  Reshapes the land

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 6:  Rai, the Thunder Lord

Description:  Not described in story.  Usually blue and grey, and has a feathered crest

Actions:  Brings storms, rains and winds to the world

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Type 7:  Tiama’at of the Cosmos, Mistress of Waters

Description:  Not described in story.  Usually blue, with no limbs or wings

Actions:  Fills the world with water

Norm: Yes

Why:  Middle Eastern dragons are more involved with world creation and destruction.

Dragons of Various Asian Myths

Myth:  Goolung Bridge (Chinese)

Type:     Li-lung

Description:  Not described in story.  Normally a serpentine Chinese dragon

Actions:  Dislikes people.  Changed into humans to take water from the area to drive people away their territory

Norm:  No

Why:  Unlike the usual li-lung, the two dragons of the story would not share their water.

Myth:  Dragon Pearl (Chinese)

Type:  Li-lung

Description:  Has two long-scales on its body, horns on its head, and two wings on its back

Actions:  Born from a pearl.  Brings water to the people

Norm:  Yes

Myth:  Pai-Lung (Chinese)

Type:  Pai-Lung

Description:  White dragon

Actions:  Acted as a benevolent dragon

Norm: No

Why:  Born from a human woman

Myth:  Koshi Dragon (Japanese)

Type:  Yamata dragon

Description:  Had eight heads and whiptails, and flaming eyes

Actions:  Abducted and ate people.  Drank sake

Norm:  No

Why:  Does what European dragons usually do

Myth:  Kiyo’s Lesson (Japanese)

Type:  Kiyo

Description:  Not described in story.  Probably the usual Japanese dragon with three toes

Actions:  Human woman shape-shifts into a dragon.  Sought revenge and flamed a priest.

Norm:  No

Why:  Was a human, and not a dragon

Myth:  Indra and Vritra (Indian)

Type:  Vritra

Description: Great limbless dragon, resembles a snake

Actions: Held the waters of the world.  Fought Indra

Norm:  Yes

Why:  Holding the waters is what most cosmic Asian dragons do

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GHARIAL (GAVIAL): Fight for the Future

Preferring deep rivers to swim in, Gharial rarely leaves his waters except to bask on sandbanks.  Well suited for his life in the water, He has a flattened tail and webbed feet.  Also, his slender jaw and needle sharp teeth add to make Gharial a “lean, mean fish-eating machine”.

            This strange Crocodilian has been placed in his own family of Gavialidae.  His name “Gharial” is derived from the Hindi word for pot (“ghara”).  At the top of Gharial’s nose is a boss or protuberance, which looks like a pot.  He uses this boss to hum and make bubbles, which is how He attracts Female Gharials to join his harem.

            This distinctive Reptile is close to extinction.  By 1975, fewer than seventy Gharials lived in the wild.  Because of pollution and habitat destruction, Gharial’s recovery has been problematic since then.  Meanwhile, the Indian government has continued various measures to save the Gharial.  Massive sanctuaries have been created, and local peoples recruited to aid in their effort to save Him.  A concerted effort by many people worldwide is fighting to keep Gharial from disappearing from the earth.

            The lesson that Gharial teaches is to never give up hope.  Always fight for the future as those aiding this Reptile have.  Instead of accepting doom, Gharial soldiers on to gain purchase for his existence.

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Science Note:

The difference between Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and False Gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) is where they live.  False Gharial lives in Indonesia and Malaysia, while true Gharials live in northern India.

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Dragon Search: Asiatic and Middle Eastern (2)

8 January 2011

From: “Dragons”, stories compiled by Steve Dobell.

Story: “Leviathan”

The leviathan of the Old Testament (The Bible) is a long snake with large scales.  While lolling about in the sea, this dragon displays his large canines.

9 January 2011

From: “Dragons”, stories compiled by Steve Dobell.

Story: “St. Michael and the Dragon”

St. Michael is fighting a silver dragon with silver horns.  The dragon seems to be a combination of European and Asian dragons.  I think that this dragon is Bahamut, the Middle Eastern dragon known as “The Lord of Time”.

10 January 2011

From: “Dragons”, stories compiled by Steve Dobell.

Story: “And the Dragon was Wroth”

The woodcut with the story illustrated a passage from Revelations of the New Testament (The Bible).  It had a dragon spewing out water at a woman nearby.  This long, sinewy dragon only had two hind legs.  The dragon also had feathery wings instead of leather ones.  The dragon shown was Rai, the Middle Eastern dragon known as the “Thunderlord”.

11 January 2011

After looking for various dragons, I realized that one of my stuffed dragons was a Middle Eastern dragon.  This handmade dragon is white and silver with blue eyes.  I believe it is Ayahz, the White or the Master Healer.

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Dragon Search: Asiatic and Middle Eastern (1)

Grael

To find various Asiatic and Middle Eastern dragons, I had to look in various books for illustrations of them.  I finally found several in two books.  The stories and the dragons depicted in these books were mostly the Middle Eastern dragons.

5 January 2011

From: “The Book of Dragons and Other Mythical Beasts” by Joseph Nigg.

The Story: “Cosmic Dragon, Source of Earth and Sky”

The dragon of the story was Freyth, the Middle Eastern dragon of fire.  He was depicted breathing flames.  This dragon was red-orange, with yellow eyes, black horns, and had talons for claws.

6 January 2011

From: “The Book of Dragons and Other Mythical Beasts” by Joseph Nigg.

The Story: “Nagas: Serpents of the Waters”

The Indian Naga depicted in the story was a woman with a snake’s body.  She was guarding various treasures underwater.  Besides having a body of a snake, the naga also had snakes coming out of her hair.

7 January 2011

From: “Dragons”, stories compiled by Steve Dobell.

Story: “Introduction to Biblical Dragons”

Freyth

 

 

The Archangel Michael is depicted defeating a dragon, which has feathered wings and curly horns.  The dragon,  pictured with horse’s ears and red eyes, is also covered with fur.  I believe that this dragon is Grael, the Middle Eastern dragon of chaos.