The modern concept of a “dragon” (winged, fire-breathing creature) is most commonly thought of as coming from Europe. The oldest depiction can be found in an English manuscript, Harley MS 3244 (AD 1260; 1st image), although older depictions of wyverns exist, like a medieval French-style buckle found in Norfolk, England (12th century; 2nd image) and an image of St. Michael killing the Cuélebre from a panel on the Romanesque church of Turienzo de los Caballeros, in León province, Spain (12th century; 3rd image).

The “dragon” as we know it, seems to have evolved from the wyvern, being essentially the same creature, but with an extra pair of limbs added. And while the oldest depictions are medieval, descriptions in folklore are far older. Dragons like such are described in Germanic folklore telling of events in the 5th century, including notably the English poem Beowulf and the Völsunga Saga’s Fafnir. The original word to describe these beasts was worm (“lindworm” in some parts). At that time it was a word for a snake, not what we call a worm today. The word wyvern came later, and is telling: It comes from French guivre, which in turn comes from Latin vipera; a viper. The creature was clearly thought of as a venomous snake in the viper family, just like Cerastes and Crotalus. The fire-breathing function is likely to have evolved in the human mind from the fact that vipers inject venom with their mouths, and tissue necrosis can appear like the victim has been burned. The wings on the other hand, are enigmatic… until we realize that they are an expression of the same feathered feature we see on the Mexican Quetzalcóatl and the Chinese Tien Long. These beings are depicted as winged or feathered because they are thought of not as mere snakes, but as supernatural entities that came from heaven. Note also that the Biblical Satan came from heaven (see Revelation 12; Greek: ouranos).

But the winged or heavenly serpent has even more ancient attestations in Europe than those in Germanic lore: Greek myth tells of the serpent Typhon who battled Zeus. This Greek connection is also evident from the pattern of dragons living in caves and guarding treasure: Ladon guards the golden apples of Hesperides, and the Hydra lives in the spring-caves by Lake Lerna. Both are sometimes said to have been offspring of Typhon, and both were confronted and slain by Heracles, son of Zeus. Like the Hydra, Fafnir and the dragon in Beowulf dwell in caves, and like Ladon, they guard treasure. The north-Spanish Cuélebre is in like manner, a cave-dwelling monster who broods over treasure. And then of course we have the Welsh dragons living in spring-caves beneath Dinas Emrys, just like the Hydra. The winged or feathered serpent —originally from heaven— always lives in the cavernous underworld. In the case of the Biblical Satan and the Greek Typhon, we see that this was a punishment for the sins of arrogance and lust for power, and also the result of losing a cosmic battle. Another typical sin we see is greed, the dragons hoarding and guarding treasure in their lairs. Again we see this reflected in the Biblical Satan, who’s characterized by greed (note John 13:27 where he causes Judas to betray Christ for money).

Now the Bible of course, takes us out of Europe to the Middle East, and farther back in time. Here too we find creatures in extra-Biblical sources that just might be expressions of the same heavenly-dragon phenomenon, like the Egyptian winged-cobra goddess Wadjet and the Babylonian Mušhuššu. The dragon appears to be as old as civilization itself. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise, since the dragon is credited with actually imparting civilization.

Celtic Europe - channel link: https://www.tg-me.com/CelticEurope