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The Role Of Dragons

Whenever you hear about a good fantasy novel you automatically believe there must be a dragon, there must be a knight, there must be some sort of magic. This thread has been started to discuss the role of dragons in most storylines. Are they given a fair chance? Are the humans made to always seem more powerful, more smart than the dragon?

In history dragons were thought to be very old, very wise creatures capable of flight and conquest all on their own. They say that one by one man made them extinct through fear and thirst for their huge caves of treasure.

What are your thoughts?

Dragons Role The

I'm currently reading a series of fantasy books -- actually re-reading for about the 4th time -- that have a very different role for dragons. They are both revered and feared, friend and foe -- demanding, arrogant creatures, but awesome in power, flight, and with a very interesting history when their cultures are mingled with humans.

They actually metamorphosize like butterflies -- born to dragon parents as poisonous sea serpents, at a certain age these migrate up one specific river where adult dragons help them spin hard shells like cocoons that are "full of memories" so that their culture and identities are never lost. They emerge after a time as young dragons with full knowledge of their heritage.

Yes, they are always hungry and will sometimes devour someone's flock of sheep or herd of cattle... but they protect humans from other dangers (invading barbarians, say) if the humans will help provide for their food, protection for their young, and adequately revere them.

There are other themes in the books, but this is a big part of the main thread.

Roz

The Role Of Dragons UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

I believe the dragon was first an Asian dream/fantasy, was it not? I tend to think that dream like dragon is our today-Owl. Yep. As you said JB-Dragons are made to be wise, and noble. I was reading a book called..."Dealing with dragons" I think, and a princess befriends a dragon. So not all book depict them as terrible creatures. I think a lot of modern movies, and view ect. Are coming to see dragons as the good guys---and humans the bad.

Dragons Role The

The origin of the dragon is still a mystery. The first written tales of the mythical creatures I've heard of are from Europe in the middle ages. But there is no reason to believe that the stories aren't a lot older. Here in Norway we have ancient carvings of dragons from the viking era, and I'm pretty sure the Chinese dragons didn't pop up in 20th century folklore either. Did the tales of these creatures spread around the world in the first millenium? To me that sounds unlikely. I think it's more likely that lizards and crocodiles put a scare in wanderers from east and west, which in turn told the tales when they ran home.
Imagine this:
Party of merchants meet crocodile.
Crocodile tries to run away.
Party kills crocodile.
Party returns home
Everyone tries to take credit for singlehandedly slaying the crocodile
which, now that they think about it, was 150 feet long, could fly and breathe fire.
Crocodile, now named "Dragon" outlives them all in stories for centuries to come.
Poetic justice perhaps, but that didn't help the poor crocodile.

Todays dragons are pretty much presented to us in fantasy books; especially Tolkien was one of the innovators of modern dragon lore. He reintroduced the dragons and sparked the modern interest in the "beasts of yorne". His dragons was pretty much the same as those told about during the middle ages. (He stole like a magpie from nordic mythology, but I'm not gonna accuse him of ripping off our dragons. There were enough of them in British legends.) But Tolkien also introduced us to a new aspect of the dragon; their personality. They were no longer mindless killers, but sly and cunning servants of the dark. They suddenly had a craving for gold, more than blood. They were supposedly very intelligent, but their wisdom was flawed by vanity and greed.

Countless fantasy books have been written about dragons after Tolkien died and everyone has a different variant of them. The Dragonlance series had great success after introducing both good and evil dragons, pitting them against each other. But in most ways, the dragon still seems to stay the same. They're big, bad, almost invincible but always seem to get killed off by a simple hero with a magic sword.


Corvus

Edited: Raven on 6th Mar, 2004 - 4:34am

Dragons Role The

Farseer: What is the name of the books you spoke of,they sound very interesting?


Raven:Sounds like you need to read Dragonlance a little more,there is an entire series of books that have these giant dragons ruling the world of Krynn.And only once in all the series did a warrior ever single handedly with a mere magic sword manage to slay one of the great beasts,(and I think I'm wrong on that one)usually it requires the mass efforts and coordinated events not to mention finding the good dragons as well,which is an epic in itself, in order to bring these awesome creatures down. So I say YES in these great books Dragons are given a fair chance,since in the new books they almost take the world of Krynn for themselves.
It (Dragonlance)may be Tolkien inspired,(like any fantasy these days)but where he lacks in details and storytelling Weis,and Hickman take over and are on top of the Fantasy spectrum.Tolkien, IMHO lit the fantasy fire and Weis and Hickman carry the torch.


Anyway I do believe stories can be exaggerated,esp. on a subject such as Dragons,however when the world was a much darker,and quieter place who knows what was really out there?I mean the longer time that passes ,the more we discover about our past,and how old 'we' are,not to mention how old the age of earth is.So I tend to believe fairy tales and legends are born of reality,and time can twist these tales in any number of ways.


If Dragons were to really exist I think they would be smart enough to keep hidden,even from current technology.We cant possibly say we have been to every last corner of the globe.I mean we have actually found civilizations recently that have never before seen man.

Edited: Dio The Dark on 6th Mar, 2004 - 5:53am

The Role Of Dragons

I wasn't writing about Dragonlance exclusively in the part about the sword wielding hero. It was a matter of speech, to press the point that dragons however mighty they may seem, in most stories seem to fall before a simple man. Dragonlance takes dragons a little more seriously, though there may be a bit too many of 'em for my taste. It's been quite a few years since I read them, but they're very good books, not to mention funny. (Tasselhoff) I place Salvatore a notch higher though.


Corvus

The Role Dragons

I see, at least you're honest.It will always be my favorite series though.BTW. Have you read The War of Souls trilogy? Its really good.Better than the early works.
Salvatore is also good ,but I like epics and he does'nt really write those.
Which fantasy Dragon is your favorite? Mine would be either Cyan Bloodbane(from dragonlance) or the Dracolich from spellfire(forgotten realms).

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It's true that Salvatore isn't an epic writer, but thats what I like about him. After I finish large books like the original Dragonlance or the Unbeliever I really don't have the energy to start on another epic spanning a thousand pages. Instead I relax with Salvatore, who writes medium books about different worlds. They are easily read and very exiting. Right now I'm taking a break from the Wheel of Time, and Salvatore is the perfect relaxation.

Favorite dragon? Hm, difficult question, since they don't show up much in the books I usually read. But I would have to say Ancalagon the Black, Morgoth's mightiest creation, who defended Angband during the end of the War of Wrath.