History of Dragons

Saint George

Origin: English History

He rescued a Libyan King's daughter from a dragon , then slaying the monster with the lance he had in his hand while charging with his huge steed, in return for a promise by the kings subjects to be baptized.  George's slaying of the dragon had others seeking out other damsels in distress from dragons and this is how they got turned into myth and legends.

 

Sigurd (Siegfried) & Fafnir the Dragon

origin: Norse mythology

 A dwarf Regin told Sigurd of Fafnir whom guarded a mound of treasure. Sigurd was awarded his fathers broken sword in which he forged into a whole sword. He decided to seek out fafnir the dragon and what he didn't know was fafnir was Regin's brother whom killed his father for the wealth of the kingdom.  Due to the greed of the jewels and gold he was self corrupted and changed into a massive terrible dragon to better protect his hoard.

From knowledge of dragonskin the scales are impenetratable by any weapon.  The only known vulnerable spot is the underside or bellyside of the dragon. Therefore, Sigurd and the dwarf dug a pit and covered it with branches and hid until the dragon traveled this path to his daily waterhole.  Once over the pit he struck straight up into the vulnerable underside and killed fafnir. At the death of fafnir Sigurd saw the truth and cut off Regin's head and claimed the treasure for himself.

 

 

 

Jormungand, The midgard Serpant

origin: Norse mythology / Scandinavia

Jormungand was the second eldest child; son of Loki the Trickster and  the giantess Angrboda.  This serpent was cast into the water by the Gods.  Thor and Jormungand would meet 3 times.  First time when Thor, Loki and two human servants traveled to Jotunheim, the land of the Giants, and to the great hall of Utgard.  Loki-Utgard would put travelers to great tests in these halls.  The second time was when Thor and Tyr traveled to the giant Hymir hall to get a large caudron to brew ale for the gods. At this point Hymir and Thor went fishing and used and ox head for bait and Jormungand took the bait.  Jormungands head rose out the water and Thor had thrown his hammer at the Jormungand's head, when Hymir cut the line and as the serpent disappeared into the waters, the hammer missed the serpent and Thor was angry.   Finally the last time they met was the time of Ragnarok.  At this point Jormungand joins up with his father Loki, brother Fenrir Wolf, and Hel his sister along with her army of the dead. Thor and Jormungand battle except this time Thor hits Jormungand in the head with his hammer killing him. Right before Jormungand dies he poisons Thor unable to take more than nine steps collapses and dies. 

 

The Lambton Wyrm

Origin: English History

John Lambton; heir to the Lambton Kingdom decided he was going to go fishing instead of going to church.  He tossed in his line and something grabs the line.  He manages to pull in his line and at the end of that line was a creature that was 3 foot long, slimy, blackish skin with the head of a dragon.  One of the most repelling creatures anyone would want to set eyes on.  Lambton decides to get rid of the creature by throwing it in a nearby unused well, where the worm grew over the years.

While John was away redeeming himself all those years for all the bad things he had done in the previous years, the gigantic wyrm crawled out of the well and started to terrorize the town.  The wyrm was so huge it could wrap around a hill nine times.  Some townsmen tried to fight this wyrm and tried there hardest to kill this repelling creature, but not one could.  One succeeded in cutting it in half, but to there amazement it would rejoin itself.  They decided to try to calm the creature down by feeding it 20 gallons of milk in a trough. The dragon smelled the milk, come out of hiding drank from the trough and went back to hiding.

John came back from his travels and deeds and saw what the treacherous beasts had done.  He went to the town witch to find out the only way to destroy this repelling creature.  She told him he would have to confront him at the river where he originally caught him and wear a suit of armor with spikes all over the surface.  The other thing she told him was in order for nine generations of the Lambton name not to be cursed and no heir to die at home he would have to kill the next living thing he saw.

Knowing all this and wanting to at least kill the wyrm he went to the town blacksmith to have a special armor made.  He then tried to get the wyrm to follow him to the river.  The wyrm came out of hiding going after his next victim. When it came straight for John he tried to slice him with his sword and the dragon wrapped around him not knowing the spikes were on his armor.  In doing this the creature fell to pieces on the ground and John contunuously sliced them into smaller pieces which killed the wyrm.

On his way back to the town he saw his father the next living thing.  Since he couldn't kill his own father he sacrificed the next best thing to the curse; his dog. Since that didn't lift the curse terrible, tragic end to the Lambton heir's lives, and they were never at home in the comfort of their own bed.

Beowulf & the Dragon

Origin: Anglo-Saxon

One of Beowulf's servents was in trouble, so he ran away to hide from the trouble he was in. He went to a burial ground near the town and accidentally discovered a dragonhoard . Thinking a nice gold goblet would buy him out of trouble, he quietly took it, and ran back to the kingdom. Meanwhile the dragon awoke, and checked his treasure.  The dragon was extremely angry upon finding one of his favorite trinkets gone. The dragon sweapt and set fire to villages throughout Beowulf's lands. 
      Beowulf decided he had to rid his land of this terrible dragon. He set off to find this creature after he recruited a small band of the best warriors.  A young man of the group, Wiglaf begs Beowulf to help him fight the dragon, but he refuses and seeks out the dragon alone. , Beowulf challenges the dragon at the cave enterance to come out so he could destroy it. The dragon breaths fire at him as Beowulf raises his shield against the flame. He rushes the dragon and strikes, but  his sword breaks. The dragon bites him before he can draw his dagger.
       Wiglaf rushes to the King's side and jams the sword into the soft underside of the dragon's jaw. The dragon lets go and Wiglaf and the King hack the dragon until it collasped. The poison from the dragons mouth was killing Beowulf. Eager to please the King, Wiglaf grabs an armful of treasure to show Beowulf. The king gives Wiglaf his helmet and ring, and tells him he is King of the Geats now.

 

Nidhogg / Niddhogg / Nydhogg

origin: German mythology / Scandanavia

This serpent hides in a pit of Hvergelmer (region of Niflheim or Hel) and gnaws on one of 3 roots of ashtree Yaggdrasil (World Tree) in hopes to uproot the tree and cause the universe to fall. Although, this tree is protected by Norns which repair it daily and cover the roots with gravel and water from a sacred well. 
 

 

The Piasa

Origin:  Algonquins / Illini Indian / North America

The piasa had a had the body of a dragon, mane of a lion, head of an angry man with sharp teeth, tiger's beard and deer antlers, 12ft tail. Also shown with spined wings, scales, 4 bird legs, and eagle talons. Piasa was worshipped by the algonquins and also known as Thunderbird.  It normally did not feed off of humans.  Once it tried a dead human it persued live humans.  The Illini Indiana tribe knew it as "storm-bird". Chief Ouatoga prayed to high spirit for a way to conquer the monster.  In a vision it came to him and he ordered all but 20 warriors to hide with bows and arrows with poison tips in teepees.  The chief would lure and when the beast came straight for him they would shoot the arrows at the piasa and it fell to its death.

Smaug

Origin: J.R. Tolkien Stories

Smaug was the Guardian of the Dwarven riches on Lonely Mountain. Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and 13 other dwarves go on and adventure to reclaim the dwarven riches that are deep inside the mountain.  Great series if you get a chance read it.