Dragons! The Big Flying Lizards That Have Captured Our Imaginagination!!
Dragons!!! Dragons!!! I love dragons, oh heck I love most mythical creatures but these big, flying lizards have been my favorite since I could read. But where did dragons come from and why are they so darned loved by the masses of planet Earth. If you are a science person you might think dragons were remnants of the dinosaurs and that’s okay, but I believe in magic and somewhere in my heart believe that dragons are real. In mythology, every culture in the world has a version of the mighty winged serpent although the two most popular versions are the European and Asian Dragons. The European dragon is a bulkier dragon with a more lizard-like quality than their Asian cousins that are much more the winged serpent model. Either way, it goes dragons are present in every mythology from Sumerian to Aztec to Greek to Chinese.
So, how do these mythical giants impact literature and what are some books that utilize these behemoth’s magic…
The first time I ever read a book with a dragon in it (besides the 50,000 books on mythology I had read…I know big nerd…I am okay with it) was the classic, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. The villainous Smaug soon had embedded himself in my thoughts and since then I have been a devout dragon lover devouring any book that had the fire-breathing fiend’s on them. Then my mom brought home a book and I waited eagerly for her to finish before I wrenched it for her hands and set about my first visit to the dragon-filled fantasy world of Anne McCaffrey’s “Pern”. Now the dragon was a magical beast that deserved respect and sure there were bad ones but like humans, there is always good and evil. Dragons, if utilized right can bring a fantasy story to life and infuse a little magic that is sorely missing in this every more practical world. Our imaginations grab on to these beasts I think in part because they are familiar yet altogether not. What I mean by this is they look like something we know (albeit a much smaller version), but still house a power that in our gradually decline imagination-filled world is lacking.
So, what about film and the dragon you ask…
We all know I love film and if you add in the mythical dragon oh so much the better. The world of film has been home to the mighty scaled fire-breather starting from almost the very beginning. Dragons have made a huge leap in evolution both on the screen and in the pages of literature.
With the popularity of “Game of Thrones”, the dragon has gained newfound fame, but for those of us that have been in love with these magnificent creatures for a very long time, it’s never gone out of style. I guess though this is only my geekin’ opinion but if you are looking to get eyes on your fantasy work whether it is a film or the written word a dragon could be the villain or the hero that you need. I hope that helped you with a little info on the mighty dragon.
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