The Top Ten Dragons Of All Time
Listed below is the dragon's name, its origin, and its legend.
10. Smaug--Tolkien's Middle-earth--Smaug was an old dragon who
would lay for days in his cave sprawled out over his massive treasure,
with one eye always slightly open looking for thieves. After being robbed
by hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Smaug was incensed. In a rage, the great dragon
attacked the Lake Men of Esgaroth, but was killed by an archer named Bard
who sank an arrow deep within Smaug's only vulnerable spot, a small hole
in his underbelly.
9. Fafnir--Norse myth--During his youth, the giant Fafnir killed his dad, gained his treasure and then magically transformed himself into a dragon to better guard his treasure and ravage nearby towns and more. Enter hero Siegfried, who dug a pit along a path Fafnir used on his daily trips to the watering hole and covered it with branches. Siegfried hid and as soon as Fafnir was above the pit, he thrust his sword deep into the dragon's soft underbelly, jumped out of the pit and slew the selfish beast.
8. Beowulf's Dragon--Old English--When a vicious dragon started terrorizing the Geatish kingdon, a hero and Danish king named Beowulf led a small army of men to stop the creature. As his blows bounced ineffectually off the dragon's hide, Beowulf stood his ground even while being engulfed in the dragon's flames. He struck again, this time at the dragon's head, but the blade of his sword struck bone and shattered. Then, as the dragon clutched Beowulf in its mouth, the hero and his companion Wiglaf stabbed at the dragon's head, eventually killing it.
7. Dragon of Colchis--Ancient Greek--Jason, the rightful King of Thessaly, was sent to Colchis to fetch the Golden Fleece. This highly prized treasure was guarded by an ever-vigilant dragon in the Colchian king's service. With the help of Medea, who was the king's daughter and potent sorceress, Jason found the Fleece. Rather than follishly attack the dragon straight on, the duo resorted to cheap parlor tricks. Medea concocted a sleeping potion out of poppy seeds which Jason sprinkled into the dragon's eyes with the help of a really, really long branch. Once the dragon was asleep, Jason stole the Fleece and ran off with Medea.
6. Lung--Chinese--There are four main types of lung. The t'ien lung is the celestial dragon that protects the heavens. The shen-lung is the spiritual dragon, master of storms and bringer of rain. The ti-lung is the dragon of land, stream and river, spending springtime in heaven and autumn in the sea. The fu-ts'ang lung is the treasure dragon, guarding secret hoards of priceless jewels and metals within the deepest, dardest vaults of the earth.
5. Quetzacoatl--Mexican--Just like "Tom and Jerry," Quetzalcoatl (the Aztec feathered serpent god fo the wind, wisdom, and life) and Tezcatlipoca (god of trickery and darkness) always fought. Unfortunately for the peaceful Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca always won. Quetzalcoatl ruled the village of Tollan until Tezcatlipoca massacred everyone in the town. Believing he failed his people, Quetzalcoatl set fire to Tollan and headed twoard the sea, where he sailed away on a raft of serpents. According to Aztec myth, Quetzalcoatl would one day return in triumph.
4. Nidhoggr--Norse myth--At the heart of the Norse universe was an enormous ash tree called Yggdrasil that represented the order of creation, with its three roots stretching to Asgard (home of the gods), Midgard (Earth), and Niflheim (the underworld). Nidhoggr lived in Niflheim and kept busy by gnawing at Yggdrasil's roots, threatening to destroy it. For some reason, he had a problem with the order of creation. Fortunately for the rest of the universe, it was repaired daily by beings called Norns who sprinkled gravel and water on the tree from a sacred well.
3. Apep--Ancient Egypt--Every day as the Egyptian sun god Ra attempted to move to the sky, he first had to defeat Apep, the dragon of the Nile and lord of the underworld. Each night, when Ra reached the western horizon, he floated in his nightboat beneath the earth, through the realm of the dead. To pass through the darkness, Ra had to hack up and decapitate Apep, whose body was reconstituted every day, continuing the cycle. Thus, each dawn is essentially victory of light over darkness.
2. Tiamat--Ancient Mesopotamia--At the world's beginning, there were two primordial beings: Apsu, the Great Void, and Tiamat, the female incarnation of the sea and chaos. Apsu got a bit randy and impregnated Tiamat, who gave birth to the first gods. Apsu saw them as annoyances and was plotting to kill them when a few of his kids overheard his plans and struck first, killing Apsu. Determined to avenge her husband, Tiamat spawned a new breed of monsters to attack her other children. After an epic struggle, Tiamat was slain by her son Marduk, the sun god.
AND THE #1 DRAGON OF ALL TIME. . . Leviathan--Biblical--Leviathan is so huge, its coils actually encircle the Earth. With its tail trapped in its mouth, Leviathan prevents the Earth from falling apart. According to the Old Testament, Leviathan will battle its nemesis, Behemoth, on the Day of Judgment. The two will kill one another and the righteous of the Earth will feed upon Leviathan's flesh, use part of its shiny skin for tents and the rest to cover the walls of Jerusalem so all the world can see its golden splendor.
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