Western vs Eastern dragons

[Aldarion]

Western and Eastern dragons – mythology, similarities and differences

(repost from my old tumblr blog) Introduction First thing that has to be considered here is that image of dragons evolved through time. Much like Chinese dragons, Western dragons in Antiquity were …

fantasyview.wordpress.com

First thing that has to be considered here is that image of dragons evolved through time. Much like Chinese dragons, Western dragons in Antiquity were seen as benevolent creatures. They were protectors of fertility, crops, and were generally associated with the element of earth, whereas eastern dragons are associated with the elements of air and water. This only changed with the arrival of Christianity, which associated dragons and other pagan imaginery with Devil, and correspondingly associated dragons with the element of fire. This "modern", Christian dragon archetype is best seen in Tolkien's dragons, who far from being benevolent spirits of nature, are devils embodied, evil supernatural entities given physical form.

 

[evilchumlee]

It's interesting that the general idea of a dragon exists over so much of the world.

I like to think that all these different types of dragons could absolutely exist concurrently in a mythological/fantasy world, either being different species altogether or simply just having different "cultures".

I prefer dragons that are a bit more animalistic in nature, or at the very least alien. If they have intelligence, I tend to prefer they not be like a Smaug, who is essentially a human who breathes fire and talks like Benedict Cumberbatch. If they're going to be sapient, I prefer them to be... somewhere along the lines of incomprehensible? Something like an Arch Demon from Dragon Age... they're clearly sapient, but they don't actually fly around speaking. They can communicate through telepathy and what not.

I am very much into the notion that dragons run the gamut from god/demon to like, normal creature. As if there's an entire dragon-world or some such that almost mirrors the world of man. We have our gods and demons that are generally portrayed in our image, so do they.

On a total tangent, I like the idea of some kind of like, alternate dimension dragon world.

 

[ATP]

Western and Eastern dragons – mythology, similarities and differences

(repost from my old tumblr blog) Introduction First thing that has to be considered here is that image of dragons evolved through time. Much like Chinese dragons, Western dragons in Antiquity were …

fantasyview.wordpress.com

First thing that has to be considered here is that image of dragons evolved through time. Much like Chinese dragons, Western dragons in Antiquity were seen as benevolent creatures. They were protectors of fertility, crops, and were generally associated with the element of earth, whereas eastern dragons are associated with the elements of air and water. This only changed with the arrival of Christianity, which associated dragons and other pagan imaginery with Devil, and correspondingly associated dragons with the element of fire. This "modern", Christian dragon archetype is best seen in Tolkien's dragons, who far from being benevolent spirits of nature, are devils embodied, evil supernatural entities given physical form.

Not only christians.Sigurd myth had evil dragon,well,maybe kind of big snake in first version.
I read,that current Sigurd myth was changed many times,and first version probably was about lonely journey of young shaman.