A brush of wind comes whistling through the forest, the trees quivering from the cold as wolves rush away towards safety as a low, tempting roar broke through the small patch of land. Four paws slammed against the ground, tail swatting back and forth as men come to fight the large, reptilian brute who bares not only a flaming breath, but wings to give it flight. Dragons are known in every belief and no matter where one has lived, they know about some sort of form of the mythological beast. From European to Japanese, it seems as if everyone has their own story for the creatures of scales. It’s not just in culture though, it’s also in religion and with that, it only makes the views on these ever changing characters of fiction seem so different from each other in so many places.
It all starts when one’s young, learning about things called fairy tales that speak of a wonderful, handsome knight entering a forsaken castle to save some beautiful and useless princess (mostly because all princesses seem to fall under the stereotype that they cannot do one single thing to protect themselves) only to come face to face with a snarling, growling beast called a dragon. That tale is one of the most famous with those of European background because in their culture (and religion, Christianity) dragons are seen as evil, devilish beasts that want nothing more but a virgin sacrifice. In the medieval ages, the kings and queens hired dragon slayers to destroy a beast that “stole” their family away to some mountain cave to feast. Mutilated and ended while the dragon gave its victory roar; but is it really the dragon’s fault for stealing the princess, or rather, any virgin who they come across? Their land was cut short just like every other animal’s an...
... middle of paper ...
...ited
Hardy, Justin, dir. Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. Animal Planet, 2005. DVD. 12 Nov 2013. .
Byock, Jesse. The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. Berkeley and Los Angeles : University of California Press , 1990. 1-160. eBook. < http://books.google.com/books?id=4hQxtU3wwqAC&lpg=PP1&dq=The%20Saga%20of%20the%20Volsungs%3A%20The%20Norse%20Epic%20of%20Sigurd%20the%20Dragon%20Slayer&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=The%20Saga%20of%20the%20Volsungs:%20The%20Norse%20Epic%20of%20Sigurd%20the%20Dragon%20Slayer&f=false>
McCormick, Kylie, ed. "Circle of Dragons." The Circle of the Dragon. N.p., 20 Oct 2013. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
Owens, Kevin, Robin Layton, and Brent Ririe, eds. "Dragons Across Cultures ." Draconika. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013. .
(blackdrago.com) “Dragon images have been found on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, on scrolls from China, in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Ethiopian sketches, on the prows of Viking ships, in bas relief on Aztec temples, on cliffs above the Mississippi River and even on bones carved by Inuits in climates where no reptile could live.” (McNeil) Stories of dragons can be found all through history. Over five thousand years ago, ancient Sumerian cultures had dragon legends in their religions. Modernly, few still believe dragons exist, they can still be found in our movies, books and video
In the scene, “Beowulf and the Dragon,” a slave guilty of wrongdoing has to steal to earn his freedom and be forgiven for what he has done wrong. The slave decides to steal a beautiful cup to pay off his mistake, which was probably murder. The slave does not realize that he is stealing from the dragon until he actually sees the dragon. The slave immediately knows that it is an enormous mistake to anger the dragon, but he panics and leaves with the cup.
Dragons represent human greed but amplify this sin tenfold as this is a monstrous creature whose only interest is in gathering gold and hoarding it. Before Christianity rebranded dragons simply as a manifestation of Satan, they were the ultimate embodiment of power, ferocity, and mystery.
"Giants, Monsters and Dragons: An Encyclopaedia Of Folklore Legend and Myth", C. Rose - W.W. Norton & Company Inc, London 2001
various plot-lines. In Beowulf, our hero is called upon to defend his helpless people from a dragon that
Millette, Ashley and Aashish Srinivas. “Beasts and Myths of the Middle Ages.” n.p. n.d. Web. 20 March 2014.
Howe, Helen, and Robert T. Howe. A World History: Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Volume 1. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992. 533.
Foster, Mary H., and Mabel H. Cummings. Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. New York: Silver, Burdett and Company, 1901. Kindle file.
Grendel and Saint George's dragon, then to the mermaids, trolls, and one-eyed giants of our fairy and
While the classic battle between good and evil forces is a major theme of the medieval epic Beowulf, one may question whether these good and evil forces are as black and white as they appear. Scholars such as Herbert G. Wright claim that “the dragon, like the giant Grendel, is an enemy of mankind, and the audience of Beowulf can have entertained no sympathy for either the one or the other” (Wright, 4). However, other scholars such as Andy Orchard disagree with this claim, and believe that there is “something deeply human about the ‘monsters’” (Orchard, 29). While Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon are indeed portrayed as evil and violent foes, there are parts within Beowulf that can also lead a reader to believe that the “monsters” may not be so monstrous after all. In fact, the author of Beowulf represents the “monsters” within the poem with a degree of moral ambivalence. This ambivalence ultimately evokes traces of sympathy in the reader for the plight of these “monster” figures, and blurs the fine line between good and evil within the poem.
Visser, Marinus Willem De. The Dragon in China and Japan. Amsterdam: J. Müller, 1913. Print.
Many of the characters and episodes and material artifacts mentioned poetically in Beowulf are likewise presented to us from archaeological sources and from various written sources, especially Scandinavian records, thus adding credibility to the historicity of the poem. But it is obvious that Beowulf, Grendel and the Dragon clearly belong to the classification of “myth.”
Beowulf’s life was truly epic struggle. The monsters he battled made it so. Grendel and the dragon, capable of crushing men physically, stood for evils that could just as easily crush men in spirit. These two beasts represented society’s greatest fears, as well as detriments, and Beowulf fearlessly took them on. Grendel taught the hero a valuable lesson about maintaining one’s humanity in a world dominated by the dogs of war. The dragon, showed Beowulf’s mortality, his imperfection, but the hero eradicates it nonetheless, saving his people from not only physical threat, but sin. Bringing in such spiritual and moral dimensions, these two beasts certainly give the story of Beowulf depth.
As great as this movie is, “How to Train Your Dragon” still has room for improvement. Although there is a book which lists the entire dragon species in Berk, the movie really only shows a few common ones the Vikings fight and use for training the recruits. Also, there is only one Night Fury throughout the movie which sometimes makes one wonder if Toothless is the last of its species but for most part, “like the mythical dragons at the heart of this tale, this movie soars” (Sharkey, 2010).
Weightman, Barbara A. "Chapter 15." Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. 423. Print.