Lindsay Rose

"Books are my friends, my companions. They make me laugh and cry and find meaning in life." - Christopher Paolini

Tag: dragons

Norse

June 6, 2021 /

I would say that my interest in Norse mythology began when I first saw the marvel movie Thor. I do not want to give away any spoilers for those who have not seen it yet so I won’t reveal the exact moment in the movie that peaked my interest. I haven’t been able to do much research on the subject matter before so I saw this as a good opportunity to do so.

Background

There are two words that the Vikings are said to have used to describe dragons which were dreki and ormr. I will be using dreki for the rest of this blog post. The Vikings themselves were also known as Norsemen and were around from A.D. 800 to about the 11th century. Vikings would raid coastal towns and had many different gods. Due to the fact that they had many gods made those in Europe during this time see them as “animals”. Some of their gods include Thor, Loki, Odin, and Freyr, etc. There are 3 dreki that are named in Norse Mythology; Jormungandr, Fafnir, and Nidhogg. I will be providing photos of each of these dreki.

Jormungandr

Jormungandr’s father is Loki and the mother is Angrbroda. Odin cast Jormungandr into the sea and this is where he grew to the size to encompass Midgard with his whole body. He had his tail in his mouth and if he released it then Ragnorak would occur. Out of all the gods in Norse mythology, he is most connected with Thor. There are three events of this. I will mainly talk about 1 of those incidents that I believe had the most impact.

These two powerful beings were prophecied to meet and this meeting would be the start of Ragnorak. Ragnorak is the destruction of the world and will be restored again. Like I said before it would begin the moment Jormungandr releases his tail from his mouth. Thor battled him but was only able to take 9 steps before he was poisoned by Jormungandr. Thor did kill him in those 9 steps. The death of these two beings resulted in the end of Ragnorak.

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Jormungand_(Earth-616)

Links to the resources that were used:

https://www.vikingsbrand.co/blogs/norse-news/norse-viking-dragons

Norse Myth Dragons

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/vikings-history

https://www.centreofexcellence.com/norse-gods-goddesses/#:~:text=The%20Norse%20gods%20belong%20to,as%20their%20most%20notable%20members.

How did Dragons Come to be?

May 19, 2021 /

Dragons are giant beings with wings that come in a variety of colors. There are different dragons for different elements. The most common image of a dragon is a fire-breathing winged beast. You can find dragons in books and the media. They are presented as evil creatures who steal princesses from their castles or steal the treasure. Or as docile and wise.

https://people.com/tv/game-of-thrones-spinoff-releases-concept-art-for-new-dragons/?utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article&utm_content=20201206&utm_term=undefined

There are other varieties of how people view and perceive dragons. Especially different cultures and how each culture has similar and or different meanings. The physical aspect of dragons also changes depending on the culture. Could this be due to the different influences of the different cultures? This blog looks to find some answers to this question.

An article was written by Joseph Stromberg for the Smithsonian magazine about what animals could have potentially been an influence on the myth of dragons.

In his article, Stromberg tells us how the myth of dragons came to be independently in different countries such as China, Australia, America, and Europe. There are 5 different creatures listed: dinosaurs, goanna, whales, Nile crocodiles, and surprisingly humans.

Dinosaur bones could be a possible influence on the Chinese view of dragons. The size of the bones is the reason why it is a possible influence. The goanna is the possible influence for Australia. These creatures as described by Stromberg have “razor-sharp teeth and claws”. The whales played an influence before there was technology and knowledge about what happens in the ocean and what creatures live there. Their bones same as the dinosaur ones are the reason why they have a possible influence.

The size of the Nile crocodiles and the ability to walk with their whole body include the trunk off the ground. The most surprising creature for me at least was human. Stromberg talks about how the human mind that has a fear of larger predators combined with folklore “created” the aspect of dragons.

This is a Nile Crocodile that is mentioned above. This image is taken from National Geographic.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what could be discovered about these mythical animals. This blog will be looking into how cultures view dragons differently or similarly. This will be really interesting for me to look into because as mentioned in my About Me page I love dragons. I have always been curious about why dragons look different such as the Chinese dragon versus the tribal dragon drawings. I hope you will enjoy this trip around the world with me.

Here is a link if you want to learn more:

https://www.livescience.com/25559-dragons.html


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