Yo, a short while ago I had a grand scheme to hunt down all the dragon mythologies from around the world and to list a few descriptions and links regarding said mythos alongside of photo's of dragon statues and structures from around the world.

Mostly world wide examples of how dragons had influenced humanity and past cultures. Fun, I was going to call it "The Dragon Heritage Project"

Then as is typical for me, I had a shopping spree during the Steam summer sale, and much distraction was had.

So failed, here is a weakened version of my original project.

This is a collection of dragon statues or buildings from around the world, please feel free to toss me a line if you have come across any other public dragon statues or related structures.

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Obviously I found all of these images on a Google search, I make no claim of ownership or copyright and would be happy to remove any image that may be in violation upon request.

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http://www.dragons-valley.com/en/dragon-map

About Dragons:

This will most likely be the hardest or easiest section to make depending on my mood. There are so many different types of dragons to list that this page will always be a growing project, I expect this whole section will someday have many pages and I hope it does as you read about dragons here I too will be learning from this- I still can not believe I know so little about the creatures I love so much.

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A Dragon:

A dragon... What is a dragon? Having researched the history of dragons I have found that they can have many different appearances depending on your location in the world. But for the most part the two most popular forms are the Western Dragon and the Eastern Dragon.

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Western Dragons:

The Western dragon was the basic winged dragon that was often sighted in England it was often described as a large reptile with the head of a crocodile wings of a bat and tail of a snake this dragon walked on four legs and was said to breath fire. They were often side to be evil and were hunted by knights.

� Western dragons had four legs and a set of wings they were said to breath fire.

� Western dragons were said to be evil and were supposedly hunted as a result.

� Western dragons were sometimes used as crests for royalty.

� Western dragons were historically known for thousands of years.

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Eastern Dragons:

The eastern dragon was often depicted as a flying serpent it had no wings and was said to be able to float through the air by use of two magic extrusions on there head. These dragons were the opposite of the western dragons these dragons were often depicted as wise creatures with power over the elements.

� Eastern dragons had serpent like bodies and were capable of flight without the aid of wings.

� Eastern dragons were said to be wise powerful creatures with power over the elements.

� Eastern dragon designs were also used on royal garment.

� Eastern dragons were often mentioned in Eastern mythology and their history

� The Asians also had medical uses for the dragons body parts

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Information from mythology and legends:

In China there were many dragons but there are four major dragons.

Tien Lung - The T'ien lung is the celestial dragon and protector of the heavens and guardian of the gods heavenly abodes.

Shen lung - was of equal importance and was the spiritual dragon the azure scaled master of storms and skyborn bringer of rain.

Ti lung - was the dragon of land, stream and river, which spends springtime in heaven and autumn in the sea.

Fu-ts'ang lung - was the dragon of treasure keeper of secret hoards and priceless jewels and metals within the deepest vaults of the earth.

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Dragons of Japan. The dragons of Japan where more associated more with the sea then with rain.

The dragon of Koshi - Was a eight headed dragon which had come to devour a maiden but Susan-no-wo brother of japans sun goddess gave each head a vase of sak'e and got the dragon drunk then slayed it.

Hai Riyo - This dragon was portrayed with the feathered wings body and tail of a bird but still had unmistakable dragon characteristics.

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The Wyvern:

The wyvern is another type of dragon which usually appeared smaller then western dragons and they did not have front legs, they were apparently structured much like a bird or pterodactyl.

. The Wyvern was a smaller version of the dragon

. It had no forelegs and was similar to pterodactyls.

. The Wyvern represented non transmuted metal in Alchemy.

.The Wyvern often appeared as an emblem of envy or an insignia of war.

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Wurms Orms and Serpentine dragons:

These dragons were limbless dragons they were like giant snakes but were noticeable by the draconic appearance of there heads .

Wurms had no limbs nor wings they where like giant snakes aside from much thicker scales and a horned dragon head.

Lindorms and orms where similar to wurms except that they often had one pair of legs.

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Sea Dragons:

Similar to wurms these are limbless dragons that lived in seas and lakes.

Sea serpents can be up to hundreds of feet long.

Lake serpents where usually smaller but are still pretty large.

The loch ness monster is probably a sea dragon if not a living dinosaur.

The Ogopogo a lake monster of Canada is also most likely a sea dragon.

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Other Dragon Types:

Basklisk______________Cockatric________________Hydra's___________Etc.


Basilisk:

The basilisks where small lizards (2 foot) which were somehow related to dragons, they had three horns on their head similar to a crown, it could cause great damage with a mere glance of it's eyes. It's breath and Saliva were also venomous the basilisk could only be defeated by three things, a weasel, a rooster or a plant called Rue.

The Basilisk was a small lizard with three horns similar to a crown and was very venomous.

The Basilisks sweat was poisonous, Probably had venomous skin similar to poison frogs.

The word Basilisk meant "little King" in the Greek Language.

The Basilisk would destroy all the land that it pasted by.

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Cockatrice:

The Cockatrice was a small dragon-like monster about the same size as a basilisk, It had birdlike legs and the coiling tail of a serpent, Although it had a reptilian body it's head and wings were feathered and it had the head of a rooster.

Much like the Basilisk this creatures gaze was deadly.


The gaze of a cockatrice can kill others of it's kind.


A Cockatrice can be killed by it's own reflection.

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The Hydra:

The Hydra was a dragon with nine or more heads, in Greek mythology Hercules was forced to battle one as one of his trials, for each head he killed another replaced it.

A Hydra is a multi headed dragon usually portrayed without wings and with a serpentine body,


In Japan the Dragon of Koshi had eight heads and may have also been a hydra,


In revelations the devil is represented as a seven headed serpent or dragon


END

Dragon's In Mythology!

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The Lambton Wurm
Type: Wurm
Location: Great Britain
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Serpentine
Myth/Legend:

The Lambton wurm was caught by a fishermen named John Lambton he threw the monster into a well. He then changed his life around and went on a pilgrimage he was gone for many years and the wurm continued to survive in the well eventually it had grown up and was terrorizing the nearby town, many people would try to slay it but every time they cut it, it's halves would rejoin.

John Lambton returned from his pilgrimage and found that the wurm he had caught so many years ago was causing much havoc, he sought the help of an old witch who told him to make a special armor of blades and fight in the river where he had caught the wurm. John obtained an armor of blades and fought the wurm in the river so that each segment of the wurm would float away.

But there was also a curse along with the wurm, after he defeated it he was told to kill the first person he saw which was his father, Instead he killed his pet dog which did not dispel the curse and every heir of the Lambton family met an early death for the next nine generations.

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Jormungander the Midgard Serpent

Type: Sea Dragon
Location: Scandinavia
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: A Giant Sea Serpent
Myth/Legend:

Jormungander the midgard serpent was a dragon of limitless power, spawned by Loki the god if evil, it's coils spanned across the earth and as far as the eye could see. Then Odin the god wisdom cast it far out into the deepest oceans.

Yet the serpent Jormungander still continued to grow beneath the waves deep within it's watery domain, beyond the realm of gods and men it grew even larger until it's mighty coils could encircle the earth.

Biting it's tail like a giant ouroboros it was destined to stay in it's dark watery domain until the final day of Ragnorak where it would be free to roam the earth and have one last final battle with Thor the god of Thunder.

Also in Norse Mythology: Norse mythology speaks about a dragon circling the tree of life (or the north star).

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Cetus the dragon of Poseidon

Type: Sea Dragon
Location: Greece
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Limbless serpent
Myth/Legend:

In Ancient Greece Queen Cassiopeia boasted she was more beautiful then the sea nymphs, this angered the sea god Poseidon and he sent his sea dragon Cetus to wreak havoc upon their kingdom.

The kingdoms monarchs desperately questioned an oracle who claimed the seadragon could only be placated by the sacrifice of the queens daughter Andromeda. Andromeda was chained to a cliff overlooking the ocean and the Serpent Cetus came for her, but miraculously Persues was returning from slaying the gorgon medusa he saw the princess and her upcoming fate.

He used his sword and sliced into an unprotected area of it's skin and into it's heart after three strikes the mighty sea dragon Cetus fell dead.

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Leviathan

Type: Sea Dragon
Location: None - Biblical reference
Alignment: Neutral?
Appearance: Giant Sea Serpent
Myth/Legend:

On the fifth day of creation god shaped and breathed life into all the creatures of the sea, at which time he also created Leviathan to serve as ruler of the seas. No mortal weapon could penetrate the leviathan's shimmering scales and no living thing on earth could ever hope to oppose it's might.

Nothing could cause a flicker of fear in the leviathan's heart. Initially god created a pair of these fantastic beasts but then it became clear that their power was so much that the entire world would be threatened by a race of them.

So god destroyed one of them, but as compensation for the loss of it's partner he granted the surviving leviathan immortality. And so the great leviathan would live forever beneath the oceans of earth until the day of judgment when it would be slain by the archangel Gabriel.

(Doesn't this story seem a bit similar to Jormangander?)

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The Lindorm King

Type: Lindorm
Location: Central Europe
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Serpentine two legged and wingless.
Myth/Legend:

A queen unable to have children consulted a soothsayer who promised she would have children in less then a year provided she eat two onions the queen so excited by this quickly left without allowing the soothsayer to finish. She returned home and in her excitement ate the first onion without even peeling the skin the second whoever she did peel.

As prophesized she did give birth the first born was a hideous monster a scaled wingless serpent - which in disgust she threw out the window the second born was a healthy young boy.

Years later the young prince met his brother the lindorm out in the woods, the lindorm threatened that the prince would never find true love unless he was presented a willing girl. Many woman were sacrificed to the lindorm.

Finally one knowing she would be next consulted the soothsayer who told her a secret. She entered the lindorms lair clad in many garments and asked that for each dress she shed he would shed a layer of skin, he agreed and after the last layer he transformed into a prince. Then the soothsayer finally was able to mention what the queen had not heard those many years ago, Be sure to peal the onion first.

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Siegfried and Fafnir

Type: Lindorm?
Location: Scandinavia
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Four legged but wingless
Myth/Legend:

Fafnir the son of a dwarf king murdered his father for his wealth which he coveted, after gaining his fathers wealth he retreated with it to Gnitahead and jealously guarded it. But the treasure was tainted by his dyeing fathers curse, and it's evil influence enhanced by his own hatred caused him to transform into a dragon which always guarded the treasure.

Fafnir and his treasure remained this way for centuries while his brother Regin plotted to gain it, he used a warrior named Siegfried as a pawn- he had Siegfried hide in a hole beneath the path to a lake, then when Fafnir came to drink he would stab the vulnerable area of it's belly.

Afterwards Regin asked him to cook the dragons heart and he did, when handing the cooked heart to Regin he burnt his finger and licked it he could then understand the language of birds and overheard them talking of Regin's plan to kill him, Siegfried then beheaded Regin near the carcass of his brother, He then went to claim the treasure and the curse which accompanied it.

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The Mordiford Wyvern

Type: Wyvern
Location: Great Britain
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Hind legs and has wings
Myth/Legend:

There once was a young girl named Maud who discovered a baby wyvern in the woods her parents demanded she return it, but instead she hid it and brought it milk each day, and in time the two bonded but as the two aged together the wyvern grew larger eating first wild animals, it eventually gained a taste for human flesh, a danger to everyone but Maud, the people soon decided it had to die. Maud's wyvern was soon killed by a wandering knight named Garsten.

Maud still stayed along side her dying wyvern mourning it's death, as Garsten triumphantly rode back to town leaving behind a dead monster and it's only friend a girl named Maud.

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St George and the dragon

Type: Western Dragon
Location: Great Britain
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Winged four legs
Myth/Legend:

A beastly dragon had come in from the swamps of Silene! In a desperate attempt to get rid of this dragon the local farmers fed the dragon two sheep a day, this strategy worked until they ran out of sheep and the dragon went on a rampage, soon the evil king agreed to allow the sacrifice of children, but day's and weeks went by and it soon came time for the kings own daughter to be the next sacrifice.

Aknight named George had come into that town at the moment of her sacrifice and he untied her. The dragon soon arrived and he prepared to lance it, as he neared he was suddenly stopped by giant frills of circles like eyes, he continued forward and pierced the dragons neck with his spear, the king was so pleased he allowed George to convert the entire city to Christianity.

This story was Christian propaganda against Dragons, the dragon and the king both represent the evils of paganism, while St George represents the righteousness of the missionaries.

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The Piasa

Type: Western Dragon?
Location: U.S.A
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Four legs, scaled body, Feathered wings
Myth/Legend:

Long ago a native American tribe called the Illini tribe lived in harmony with the Piasa which ate mostly deer and other large animals, it had no interest in humans until one day when a warring tribe attacked the Illini tribe, during that battle many men from both sides lost there lives and although the Illini won the battle the worst was yet to come.

The Piasa witnessed the battles and being a carnivores creature the bodies where a tempting snack for it, and it soon discovered that it liked it's new found meat. It soon became the mortal enemy of the Illini tribe and a great meeting was held, after hours of debating plans to kill the Piasa one risky plan was decided upon, they decided to lure it to the ground where twenty of there greatest warriors would slay it.

A brave named Massatoga volunteered to act as bait to lure it down. He headed towards it's lair singing a tribal chant and when the Piasa spotted him he ran to an area with a lot of trees, when the Piasa landed and folded it's wings the warriors pummeled it with arrows and hacked at it until the dragon was no more.

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Quetzalcoatl / Kukulkan

Type: Amphiptere
Location: South / Central America
Alignment: Good
Appearance: Serpentine feathered wings
Myth/Legend:

The Serpent God of Mexico.

Quetzalcoatl - was the god of the Mayans and the Aztecs it has many similarities to the eastern dragon. It was said to be a feathered serpent that could fly it also had a human form which it used to guide the people. I am still researching this and will include more later.

�Was a feathered serpent similar to the eastern dragon.

�Was A god of both the Aztecs and the Mayan's

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The Hydra

Type: Hydra
Location: Greece
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Wingless, Multiple heads
Myth/Legend:

The hydra was a dragon in Greek mythology. Hercules was said to have fought it. It was a multi headed dragon and for each head cut off a new one took it's place. Hercules defeated the hydra by burning each neck with a torch before a new head could grow.

� The Hydra was a mythological dragon that had several heads and was killed by Hercules.

� That myth is the only account of a hydra that I could find.

The hydra had nine heads and for each head which was removed two would take it's place this dragon was defeated by Hercules who melted the stub of each neck before new heads could form.

Side Note: It should also be added that Hercules' 11th task involved venturing into Athena's garden to get the golden apples. A dragon guarded those apples and it was killed so that Hercules could get the apples. Athena put the dragon's body into the sky and created the Draco constellation.

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Tiamat

Type: Semi dragon?
Location: Middle East
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Two fore legs, serpentine body.
Myth/Legend:

Two elder gods Apsu and Tiamat became increasingly angry with new generations of gods apsu wanted to get rid of them Tiamat tried to calm his rage but reluctantly agreed to help him Apsu was later captured and killed after this Tiamat became enraged she created an army of fishtailed and scorpion tailed warriors she also gained the support of other gods, then she took on the form of a giant semi dragon.

The other gods unable to challenge such a task agreed to make Marduk the supreme god if he could vanquish her, he agreed and sought the help of a hurricane, he caught Tiamat in a net and pummeled her with arrows, when Tiamat opened her enormous jaws to eat Marduk the hurricane flew into her and prevented her from closing her mouth.

Marduk shot an arrow down her throat and into her belly Losing no time he sliced apart her internal organs and split her heart in half he continued until Tiamat the embodiment of chaos was no more. Marduk was now the supreme power, he cut the corpse in half and used one half to make the heavens and one half to make the earth.

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Beowulf and the Dragon

Type: Western Dragon
Location: Scandinavia
Alignment: Evil
Appearance: Four legs, winged, serpentine body.
Myth/Legend:

Beowulf the famous Danish king fought a dragon, In Beowulf's later years now an old man he was asked to slay a dragon which was ravaging the country. A thief had stolen a cup from the dragons hoard the dragon enraged began it's rampage, Beowulf arrived and fought the dragon alone but was unable to defeat it.

Beowulf and the dragon where to evenly matched, Beowulf about to lose, was saved by his friend Wiglaf who stabbed the dragon allowing Beowulf time to finish it. Beowulf later died of his wounds and gave Wiglaf his kingdom.

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SOURCES AND REFERENCES

Below are a list of the books and sources I used to gather the information for the Dragon Info sections, Mythology section, and Dracopedia section.
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Books and Sources:

Flight of Dragons-By Peter Dickinson.

Dragons A Natural History - By Karl Shucker.

~Source: Literature- Zell Ravenheart, Oberon, "A Wizards Bestiary/by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Ash "LeopardDancer" DeKirk" New Page Books, 2007

~Source: (Literature- Rovin, Jeff, "The Fantasy Almanac" E.P. Dutton Paperbacks / New York, 1979)

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Various supplementary material and web links.
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Jafira's Otherkin Guide
For the newly awakened and the curious

In the Spring of 2011 I spent about a week consuming dangerous amounts of caffeine and sugar in order to spew out what I call a draconity guide. (Updated Bi-annually)

I wrote it in order to share my personal experiences and advice with newly awakened kin. It exists in a roughly forty page long pdf format and covers an immense variety of topics in four Sections.

Section one being the spirituality of otherkin.
Section two being the social implications of draconity.
Section three being the psychology of otherkin.
Section four being useful advice and quotes.
Section Five: 2016 Addendum's (Advice letters)

The topics of each category are listed within a contents section at the start of the guide.

Due to the fact that I have been a lurker for several years and do not speak with many other dragons outside of those few who have stumbled upon me in the past, criticism and critique of this guide is highly encouraged!

I would rather be told that I have been wrong or opinionated on some subjects then to risk leading newly awakened kin astray from their natural paths.

So, for viewing by those who may have use for it and for critique by those who may wish to help, I present

JAFIRAS DRACONITY GUIDE= http://www.jafiradragon.com/Jafira-Otherkin-Guide.pdf <-------Click Here.

I hope this guide may be of some use, it is a work in progress and is subjective, take everything with a grain of salt and work to find your own path.

~Jafira Dragon