Legendary monsters who can fly and incinerate everything alive, guardians of huge treasures and owners of a sharp mind - such are dragons in legends and fairy tales. There are no people in whose mythology stories about these gigantic monsters would not be found. Many still believe that dragons exist now or have lived before. The description of these creatures is almost the same for peoples living on different continents. And this fact suggests that once our ancestors saw dragons live, and the impressions of these meetings were forever preserved in myths, legends and fairy tales. Did dragons exist on earth? Let's try to figure it out.
Who are they?
There are difficulties with the precise definition of these creatures. Dragon is a collective name. Each country has individual ideas about this mythical animal. The most widespread image of the dragon was in mythology and folklore, horoscopes and fantasy.
Except for some differences, the appearance of a giant monster looks something like this: the body of a reptile with parts of the bodies of other animals. Often the dragon has wings, is able to fly and spews deadly flames.
Dragon and snake
There is confusion between these two mythical animals. A small part of researchers believe that the dragon and the snake are different creatures. The image of a snake is found in Slavic texts from the 9th century, in the Bible and in folklore. By the 19th century, the word "dragon" became common. Now it is believed that these two concepts designate the same creature.
Favorite character of myths and fairy tales
Did dragons exist in the distant past? At the sight of their diversity in cultures of different nations, such an idea involuntarily arises.
The dragon is an indispensable element of the mythology of any country. He can be an evil and treacherous monster, sowing death and destruction, or appear in the form of a wise creature. The myth of the dragon as a guardian of fabulous treasures and a kidnapper of beautiful girls is very common.
Serpent Gorynych is one of the brightest characters in Slavic tales and mythology. Here his image is devoid of a hint of attractiveness or wisdom. He is the most important evil of Slavic myths.
How it all started
Myths about dragons arose a very long time ago. It is believed that for the first time this image appeared among the Sumerians more than five thousand years ago. Then it spread to Egypt, Greece and other countries of Europe and the East. How was this image formed? And did dragons really exist? There is a version that snakes creeping out from under the ground in the spring after hibernation in winter have led to the appearance of the first myth of unusual creatures among ancient people.
According to another version, these creatures are ancient dinosaurs, the memory of which is preserved in such a fabulous image. Opponents of this theory indicate that the first people appeared much later than the time when the dinosaurs lived.
There is also the assumption that dragons were once a separate species of animals, but died out due to the small size of their population.
Varieties of dragons
Did dragons really exist? Judging by the abundance of their species described in different myths and folklore of many countries, it seems that once in the past people really came across these creatures. It is extremely difficult to classify them. In general, everything about this fabulous character is extremely confusing. Each country has its own description. In addition, it is sometimes not clear which of the mythical animals can be attributed to dragons. They are conditionally divided into the following types:
1. Lindmore - a winged snake with two legs and poisonous saliva. Farfnir, the famous monster from the Scandinavian sagas, is referred to this species. He was crawling on his belly. There is confusion with this kind of dragons, since in some legends the lindworms are wingless and can have not two, but four legs.
2. Givre. He has no paws and wings. The head is massive, horned.
3. The classic, or heraldic dragon. It has four legs and wings.
4. Wyvern. It has two legs, wings and a tail with spikes. Fire cannot breathe out.
5. Amphipter - a winged dragon with rudimentary limbs that are not used.
6. Dragons of the eastern countries - Chinese, Japanese, Korean.
Conventionally, dragons include monsters from ancient Greek mythology - the snake Python and the Lernean Hydra.
Who is studying them?
Periodically, there are reports that mysterious creatures have been seen or even caught in different parts of the planet. The search and study of animals that are considered fictitious or long extinct, is the science of cryptozoology. It is not among the academic disciplines, and official zoology considers it a pseudoscience. For cryptozoologists, the answer to the question of whether dragons existed is simple and straightforward. They believe that if not these days, then in the past people really lived next to dragons, the memory of which has come down to us in the form of myths and fairy tales.
Fury at night - fiction or reality?
After the release of the cartoon "How to Train Your Dragon", many became interested in the question of whether the dragon actually exists? Unfortunately, this character is pure fiction of the filmmakers. It has memorable features: a dark, almost black color, eight processes on the head, playing the role of ears (therefore, these creatures have a very delicate hearing), and the ability to exhale not just fire, but a bunch of blue flame. The night fury has no analogues among mythical dragons.
