Dragon World is all about dragons. There are books, games, and movies, on dragons. This world will talk about them all. people can send in pictures or story on dragons. Please do.

RUSTAM AND THE DRAGON

RUSTAM AND THE DRAGON
(From a Shah-nama. Originated in Persia sometime around 1575.)

Long, long ago, in the time of the foolish King Kai Kaus of Persia there lived a hero named Rustam. At the time of this story we find Rustam and his trusty horse, Rakhsh on their way to the land of the Mazanderan River to deliver his king from an army of demons.

On the first night of their journey a lion came out of the dark with the intent of killing and eating the hero. But Rakhsh, the horse, reacted bravely and saved his master by killing the lion. When Rustam awoke and saw the lion's body he thanked Rakhsh for saving his life but told the horse to wake him up next time so as not to endanger the horse's life.

That day they had to cross a great stretch of desert and at the day's end they came to a spring, drank their thirst away and then went directly to sleep. That night the dragon who guarded the spring came out of hiding to kill the hero and his horse. Rakhsh woke his master who sprang up from his slumber and grabbed his sword. But the dragon slipped back into hiding and Rustam scolded his horse for waking him up for nothing. Again the dragon slurked out of its hiding place and again the horse woke his master, and again the dragon slipped back into hiding before Rustam saw it. This time he was really mad at his horse. The third time the dragon came out Rakhsh didn't know what to do, and it wasn't until the last second that he roused his master. Rustam Sprang up, furious, but this time the dragon was too close to escape and Rustam slew it.

MELUSINE

MELUSINE
(From Voeux du Paon. A 14th century, French dragon story) Once upon a time there was a Count of Anjou who was successful in all of his ventures, traveled far and wide, and had a healthy life. But he didn't have a Countess and this bummed him out. One fine day he came back from one of his adventures with a beautiful woman by his side and they were soon married.

Museline of Anjou was a perfect wife for him. She was charming and beautiful and gave birth to four children to carry on his line. She had the manners of someone from great wealth and noble lineage, but nobody knew where she came from. At every banquet and every tournament, no one knew who she was or where she came from, no matter how broad the audience. The only strange thing about the Countess was that she didn't go to church all that often, and when she did go, she always left before the priest showed the consecrated chalice to the congregation. This troubled the Count and everyone else in the town. So one Sunday the Count had four knights stand at the door of the church to make sure that the Countess stuck around for the whole show. At the crucial moment the Countess got up to leave, but the knights kept her in the church. Hereupon with a dreadful shriek she burst the fastenings, left her dress behind her, turned into a dragon, and flew out the window dragging two of her children behind her. Centuries later she is still seen flying around the Castle of Lusignan.

From Melusine's surviving children derives the House of Plantagenet, whose descendants eventually married into almost every royal family from St. Petersburg to Lisbon.

SAINT MARGARET AND THE DRAGON

SAINT MARGARET AND THE DRAGON
(From Caxton's translation of the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine. Developed around 1480 CE in Antioch.)
Saint Margaret was the daughter of the Chief Priest of the Pagans in Antioch. Her nurse was a Christian and brought her up in the faith. This angered her father who subsequently sent her to live as a shepherdess. One day the Roman Governor Olybrius saw her and fell in love with her. He was going marry her until he found out that she was a Christian. In characteristic Roman treatment of Christians at the time Olybrius tortured Margaret and flung her into prison. While in prison she prayed to Our Lord to make visible to her the fiend that had fought with her. POOF, a horrible dragon appeared and assailed her! The dragon swallowed her whole and while in its stomach she made the sign of the cross which caused the dragon to burst and she came out of his body unharmed!

This story is one of many that draws a connection between Pagans and the image of a dragon or serpent and there are several other dragon stories that come out of the Christian/Pagan conflict. It also is an example of the ever-common, Christian, dragon-slaying tactic of simply making the sign of the Cross. In several stories the sign of the Cross destroys an evil serpent or dragon. (Check out the British Isles for a couple of other Dragon/Pagan vs. Christian stories.)

TIAMAT AND MARDUK

TIAMAT AND MARDUK
(From Enuma Elish, the Babylonian story of creation. Dated at around 1700 BCE, but aspects of the story could go back to about 2000 BCE.)

In this story it is said that before the time of the gods and the world there was nothing but a waste of chaotic waters ruled by Apsu and Tiamat, a dragon-like creature. As time passed gods were created in hopes of bringing order to this chaos. One of the gods, Ea, slay Apsu, thus making Tiamat and her brood of monsters mad at the gods. Tiamat waged war against Ea and the other gods and was successful in stifling their efforts until Marduk was born. Marduk was the strongest and the wisest of the gods and was elected to deal with Tiamat once and for all. Upon summoning the powers of all of the other gods, Marduk went to war with Tiamat. Tiamat was no match for Marduk and all of his powers. Marduk caught her in his net and when she opened her mouth to breath fire at him, he let loose the four winds which filled her up rendering her defenseless . Marduk then speared her with a lightning bolt, split her in two and raised half of her body to create the sky and with the other half created the earth.

This is a classic example of a male deity slaying a female dragon or serpent-like monster in an attempt to replace a cooperative, "chaotic" natural order with a hierarchical, paternal, and often monotheistic system.

Chinese Dragons

CHINESE DRAGONS
There are many ways to organize all of the Chinese dragons. In the oriental tradition of opposites, the dragon is correlated with the masculine yang power while the phoenix, the bird of rebirth, is associated with the feminine yin force.

The Chinese dragon like the Indian Naga's, are often associated with water and rain and lakes and rivers. And so dragons are not as the European model of destruction but are instead life-giving, honored and very powerful.

Most often these dragons are associated with royalty and the emperors are closely aligned with the image of dragon. Before history began, China's first emperor, Fu Hsi was said to have a dragons tail and his successor, Shen Nung, was said to have a dragon as father. The Imperial Dragon or lung has five claws instead of four. The ordinary dragon or mang depicts temporal power instead of spiritual prowess. The lung, or Dragon King issued orders for the Emperor by moving in four directions simultaneously. The fifth direction (in connection with the fifth claw) is the center where he remains.

Even into recent times dragons pervade within the body and movements of the emperor. There is the Dragon Throne, Dragons pace (the Emperors stately stride), Dragon face (his visage), and Dragons Pearl (the Emperors words). When an Emperor died it was said that he had ascended to heaven on the back of a Dragon.

The T'ien Lung, or Celestial Dragon lives in the sky and guards the gods to keep them from falling out of the clouds. The Fu-tsang guards hidden treasure.