Editing Dragon (section)

==Europe==
{{main|European dragon}}
===Proto-Indo-European===
{{further|Chaoskampf|Sea serpent|Proto-Indo-European religion#Serpent-slaying myth{{!}}Serpent slayer|Serpents in the Bible}}
The tale of a hero slaying a giant serpent occurs in almost all [[Indo-European mythology]].{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|pages=436–437}}{{sfn|West|2007|pages=255–263}} In most stories, the hero is some kind of [[weather god|thunder-god]].{{sfn|West|2007|pages=255–263}} In nearly every iteration of the story, the serpent is either multi-headed or "multiple" in some other way.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|pages=436–437}} Furthermore, in nearly every story, the serpent is always somehow associated with water.{{sfn|West|2007|pages=255–263}} [[Bruce Lincoln]] has proposed that a Proto-Indo-European dragon-slaying myth can be reconstructed as follows:{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=437}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pages=134–135}} First, the sky gods give cattle to a man named ''*Tritos'' ("the third"), who is so named because he is the third man on earth,{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=437}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pages=134–135}} but a three-headed serpent named {{lang|ine-x-proto|Ngʷhi}} steals them.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=437}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pages=134–135}} ''*Tritos'' pursues the serpent and is accompanied by ''*H<sub>a</sub>nér'', whose name means "man".{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=437}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pages=134–135}} Together, the two heroes slay the serpent and rescue the cattle.{{sfn|Mallory|Adams|2006|page=437}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|pages=134–135}}

===Ancient Greece===
{{Main|Dragons in Greek mythology}}
[[File:Fragmentary jar with scene of Herakles slaying the Hydra of Lerna, South Italy, 375-340 BC, ceramic - Fitchburg Art Museum - DSC08671.JPG|thumb|right|Greek [[red-figure]] vase painting depicting [[Heracles]] slaying the [[Lernaean Hydra]], {{circa}} 375–340 BC]]

The ancient Greek word usually translated as "dragon" ({{lang|grc|δράκων}} ''drákōn'', [[genitive]] {{lang|grc|δράκοντοϛ}} ''drákontos'') could also mean "snake",<ref>Chad Hartsock, ''Sight and Blindness in Luke-Acts: The Use of Physical Features in Characterization'', Brill, Leiden-Boston, 2008, [https://archive.org/details/sightblindnessin00chad/page/193 pp. 193–4].</ref>{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=2–4}} but it usually refers to a kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=2–3}} The first mention of a "dragon" in [[ancient Greek literature]] occurs in the ''[[Iliad]]'', in which [[Agamemnon]] is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate.<ref>Drury, Nevill, ''The Dictionary of the Esoteric'', Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 2003 {{ISBN|81-208-1989-6}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=k-tVr09oq3IC&dq=earliest+mention+of+dragon&pg=PA79 p.79] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227000311/https://books.google.com/books?id=k-tVr09oq3IC&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=earliest+mention+of+dragon&source=web&ots=fxq_n3SLTa&sig=zKfmIXx1BT3nQAZq3I0vkx9akhM&hl=en |date=27 December 2016 }}.</ref> In lines 820–880 of the ''[[Theogony]]'', a Greek poem written in the seventh century BC by the [[Boeotia]]n poet [[Hesiod]], the Greek god [[Zeus]] battles the monster [[Typhon]], who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises.{{sfn|West|2007|page=257}} Zeus scorches all of Typhon's heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon into [[Tartarus]]. In other Greek sources, Typhon is often depicted as a winged, fire-breathing serpent-like dragon.{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}} In the ''[[Homeric Hymns|Homeric Hymn to Apollo]]'', the god [[Apollo]] uses his [[Arrow poison|poisoned arrows]] to slay the serpent [[Python (mythology)|Python]], who has been causing death and pestilence in the area around [[Delphi]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=47–48}}{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hesiod |title=Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1914 |publication-date=2005 |pages=122–134 |translator-last=Hine |translator-first=Daryl |chapter=To Pythian Apollo}}</ref> Apollo then sets up his shrine there.{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}}

The Roman poet [[Virgil]] in his poem [[Appendix Vergiliana#Culex ("The Gnat")|''Culex'']], lines 163–201 [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/appvergculex.html Appendix Vergiliana: Culex], describing a shepherd having a fight with a big [[constriction|constricting snake]], calls it "[[wikt:serpent|serpens]]" and also "[[wikt:draco|draco]]", showing that in his time the two words were probably interchangeable.

[[File:Douris cup Jason Vatican 16545.jpg|thumb|left|Attic red-figure kylix painting from {{circa}} 480–470 BC showing Athena observing as the [[Colchis|Colchian]] dragon disgorges the hero [[Jason]]{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=59}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=62}}]]
Hesiod also mentions that the hero [[Heracles]] slew the [[Lernaean Hydra]], a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of [[Lerna]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=28–29}} The name "Hydra" means "water snake" in Greek.{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}}{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=28}} According to the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheka]]'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, the slaying of the Hydra was the second of the [[Labors of Hercules|Twelve Labors of Heracles]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=26–27}}{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}} Accounts disagree on which weapon Heracles used to slay the Hydra,{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}} but, by the end of the sixth century BC, it was agreed that the clubbed or severed heads needed to be [[Cauterization|cauterized]] to prevent them from growing back.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=26}}{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}} Heracles was aided in this task by his nephew [[Iolaus]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=26}} During the battle, a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles's foot,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=26–27}} but he crushed it under his heel.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=27}} [[Hera]] placed the crab in the sky as the constellation [[Cancer (constellation)|Cancer]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=27}} One of the Hydra's heads was immortal, so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off.{{sfn|West|2007|page=258}}{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=27}} For his Eleventh Labor, Heracles must procure a [[golden apple]] from the tree in the [[Hesperides|Garden of the Hesperides]], which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=33}} which Pseudo-Apollodorus calls "[[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]]".{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=33–34}} In earlier depictions, Ladon is often shown with many heads.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=37}} In Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, Ladon is immortal,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=37}} but [[Sophocles]] and [[Euripides]] both describe Heracles as killing him, although neither of them specifies how.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=37}} Some suggest that the golden apple was not claimed through battle with Ladon at all but through Heracles charming the Hesperides.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hesperia {{!}} American School of Classical Studies at Athens |url=https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/publications/hesperia/article/33/1/76-82 |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=ascsa.edu.gr |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219205908/https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/publications/hesperia/article/33/1/76-82 |url-status=live }}</ref> The mythographer [[Herodorus]] is the first to state that Heracles slew him using his famous club.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=37}} [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], in his epic poem, the ''[[Argonautica]]'', describes Ladon as having been shot full of poisoned arrows dipped in the blood of the Hydra.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=38}}

In [[Pindar]]'s ''Fourth Pythian Ode'', [[Aeëtes]] of [[Colchis]] tells the hero [[Jason]] that the [[Golden Fleece]] he is seeking is in a [[Coppicing|copse]] guarded by a dragon, "which surpassed in breadth and length a fifty-oared ship".{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=59–60}} Jason slays the dragon and makes off with the Golden Fleece together with his co-conspirator, Aeëtes's daughter, [[Medea]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=60}} The earliest artistic representation of this story is an Attic red-figure ''[[kylix]]'' dated to {{circa}} 480–470 BC,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=58–59}} showing a bedraggled Jason being disgorged from the dragon's open mouth as the Golden Fleece hangs in a tree behind him and [[Athena]], the goddess of wisdom, stands watching.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=58–59}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=62}} A fragment from [[Pherecydes of Athens]] states that Jason killed the dragon,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=60}} but fragments from the ''Naupactica'' and from Herodorus state that he merely stole the Fleece and escaped.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=60}} In Euripides's ''[[Medea (play)|Medea]]'', Medea boasts that she killed the Colchian dragon herself.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=60}} In the final scene of the play, Medea also flies away on a chariot pulled by two dragons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Euripides. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1039113695 |title=Medea |date=1993 |publisher=Dover Publications |isbn=0-486-27548-5 |oclc=1039113695 |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=19 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219205835/https://search.worldcat.org/title/1039113695 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the most famous retelling of the story from Apollonius of Rhodes's ''Argonautica'', Medea drugs the dragon to sleep, allowing Jason to steal the Fleece.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=60–61}} Greek vase paintings show her feeding the dragon the sleeping drug in a liquid form from a ''phialē'', or shallow cup.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=61}}

[[File:Kadmos dragon Louvre N3157.jpg|thumb|[[Paestum|Paestan]] red-figure kylix-krater ({{circa}} 350–340 BC) showing Cadmus fighting the dragon of [[Ares]]{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=49}}]]
In the [[founding myth]] of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], [[Cadmus]], a [[Phoenicia]]n prince, was instructed by Apollo to follow a heifer and found a city wherever it laid down.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} Cadmus and his men followed the heifer and, when it laid down, Cadmus ordered his men to find a spring so he could sacrifice the heifer to Athena.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} His men found a spring, but it was guarded by a dragon, which had been placed there by the god [[Ares]], and the dragon killed them.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} Cadmus killed the dragon in revenge,{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}}{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=266}} either by smashing its head with a rock or using his sword.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} Following the advice of Athena, Cadmus tore out the dragon's teeth and planted them in the earth.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}}{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=266}} An army of giant warriors (known as ''[[spartoi]]'', which means "sown men") grew from the teeth like plants.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}}{{sfn|Mayor|2000|page=266}} Cadmus hurled stones into their midst, causing them to kill each other until only five were left.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} To make restitution for having killed Ares's dragon, Cadmus was forced to serve Ares as a slave for eight years.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} At the end of this period, Cadmus married [[Harmonia (mythology)|Harmonia]], the daughter of Ares and [[Aphrodite]].{{sfn|Ogden|2013|page=48}} Cadmus and Harmonia moved to [[Illyria]], where they ruled as king and queen, before eventually being transformed into dragons themselves.{{sfn|Ogden|2013|pages=48–49}}

In the fifth century BC, the Greek historian [[Herodotus]] reported in Book IV of his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' that western Libya was inhabited by monstrous serpents{{sfn|Charlesworth|2010|page=169}} and, in Book III, he states that [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Arabia]] was home to many small, winged serpents,{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=168}}{{sfn|Charlesworth|2010|pages=169–170}} which came in a variety of colors and enjoyed the trees that produced [[frankincense]].{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=168}}{{sfn|Charlesworth|2010|page=169}} Herodotus remarks that the serpent's wings were like those of bats{{sfn|Charlesworth|2010|page=170}} and that, unlike vipers, which are found in every land, winged serpents are only found in Arabia.{{sfn|Charlesworth|2010|page=170}} The second-century BC Greek astronomer [[Hipparchus]] ({{circa}} 190 BC – {{circa}} 120 BC) listed the constellation [[Draco (constellation)|Draco]] ("the dragon") as one of forty-six constellations.{{sfn|Grasshoff|1990|pages=35–36}} Hipparchus described the constellation as containing fifteen stars,{{sfn|Grasshoff|1990|page=36}} but the later astronomer [[Ptolemy]] ({{circa}} 100 – {{circa}} 170 AD) increased this number to thirty-one in his ''[[Almagest]]''.{{sfn|Grasshoff|1990|page=36}}

In the [[New Testament]], Revelation 12:3, written by [[John of Patmos]], describes a vision of a [[Serpents in the Bible#Ancient serpent|Great Red Dragon]] with seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail,{{sfn|Kelly|2006|pages=149–150}} an image which is clearly inspired by the vision of the [[Four kingdoms of Daniel|four beasts from the sea]] in the [[Book of Daniel]]{{sfn|Kelly|2006|page=150}} and the [[Leviathan]] described in various Old Testament passages.{{sfn|Kelly|2006|pages=150–151}} The Great Red Dragon knocks "a third of the sun&nbsp;... a third of the moon, and a third of the stars" out of the sky{{sfn|Kelly|2006|page=151}} and pursues the [[Woman of the Apocalypse]].{{sfn|Kelly|2006|page=151}} Revelation 12:7–9 declares: "[[War in Heaven|And war broke out in Heaven]]. Michael and his angels fought against Dragon. Dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. Dragon the Great was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called Devil and Satan, the one deceiving the whole inhabited World – he was thrown down to earth and his angels were thrown down with him."{{sfn|Kelly|2006|pages=151–152}} Then a voice booms down from Heaven heralding the defeat of "the Accuser" (''ho Kantegor'').{{sfn|Kelly|2006|page=152}}

In {{nobr|217 AD}}, [[Philostratus|Flavius Philostratus]] discussed dragons (δράκων, drákōn) in India in ''The Life of [[Apollonius of Tyana]]'' (II,17 and III,6–8). The [[Loeb Classical Library]] translation (by F.C. Conybeare) mentions (III,7) that, "In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine's, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as unabraded as sharks' teeth." According to a collection of books by [[Claudius Aelianus]] called ''On Animals'', [[Aethiopia|Ethiopia]] was inhabited by a species of dragon that hunted elephants and could grow to a length of 180 feet (55 m) with a lifespan rivaling that of the most enduring of animals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasios/DrakonesAithiopikoi.html|title=ETHIOPIAN DRAGON (Drakon Aithiopikos) – Giant Serpent of Greek & Roman Legend|access-date=30 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818141410/http://www.theoi.com/Thaumasios/DrakonesAithiopikoi.html|archive-date=18 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 4th century, [[Basil of Caesarea]], on chapter IX of his [[Address to Young Men on Greek Literature]], mentions mythological dragons as guarding treasures and riches.

===Germanic===
{{main|Germanic dragon}}
[[File:Sigurd.svg|thumb|Drawing of the [[Ramsund carving]] from {{circa}} 1030, illustrating the ''[[Völsunga saga]]'' on a rock in [[Sweden]]. At (5), [[Sigurd]] plunges his sword into [[Fafnir]]'s underside.]]
In the [[Old Norse]] poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'' in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', the dragon [[Níðhöggr]] is described as gnawing on the roots of [[Yggdrasil]], the world tree.{{sfn|MacCulloch|1998|page=156}} In [[Norse mythology]], [[Jörmungandr]] is a giant serpent that encircles the entire realm of [[Midgard|Miðgarð]] in the sea around it.{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} According to the ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' from the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', written by the thirteenth-century Icelandic mythographer [[Snorri Sturluson]], [[Thor]], the Norse god of thunder, once went out on a boat with the giant Hymnir to the outer sea and fished for Jörmungandr using an ox-head as bait.{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} Thor caught the serpent and, after pulling its head out of the water, smashed it with his hammer, [[Mjölnir]].{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}} Snorri states that the blow was not fatal: "and men say that he struck its head off on the sea bed. But I think the truth to tell you is that the Miðgarð Serpent still lives and lies in the surrounding sea."{{sfn|West|2007|page=159}}

Towards the end of the [[Old English]] epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', a slave steals a cup from the hoard of [[The dragon (Beowulf)|a sleeping dragon]],{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=81–81}} causing the dragon to wake up and go on a rampage of destruction across the countryside.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=74–77}} The [[Beowulf (hero)|eponymous hero of the poem]] insists on confronting the dragon alone, even though he is of advanced age,{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=77–81}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=122}} but [[Wiglaf]], the youngest of the twelve warriors Beowulf has brought with him, insists on accompanying his king into the battle.{{sfn|Niles|2013|pages=122–123}} Beowulf's sword shatters during the fight and he is mortally wounded,{{sfn|Rauer|2000|pages=80–82}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=123}} but Wiglaf comes to his rescue and helps him slay the dragon.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=123}} Beowulf dies and tells Wiglaf that the dragon's treasure must be buried rather than shared with the cowardly warriors who did not come to the aid of their king.{{sfn|Niles|2013|pages=123–124}}

In the Old Norse ''[[Völsunga saga]]'', the hero [[Sigurd]] catches the dragon [[Fafnir]] by digging a pit between the cave where he lives and the spring where he drinks his water{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|pages=36–38}} and kills him by stabbing him in the underside.{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|pages=36–38}} At the advice of [[Odin]], Sigurd drains Fafnir's blood and drinks it, which gives him the ability to understand the [[language of the birds]],{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|page=41}} who he hears talking about how his mentor [[Regin]] is plotting to betray him so that he can keep all of Fafnir's treasure for himself.{{sfn|Haimerl|2013|page=41}}{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=119}} The motif of a hero trying to sneak past a sleeping dragon and steal some of its treasure is common throughout many [[Old Norse]] sagas.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}} The fourteenth-century ''Flóres saga konungs ok sona hans'' describes a hero who is actively concerned not to wake a sleeping dragon while sneaking past it.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}} In the ''[[Yngvars saga víðförla]]'', the protagonist attempts to steal treasure from several sleeping dragons, but accidentally wakes them up.{{sfn|Rauer|2000|page=85}}

===Post-classical===
{{Main|European dragon|Welsh Dragon|Wyvern|Saint George and the Dragon|Margaret the Virgin|Dacian Draco}}
[[File:Welsh Dragon (Y Ddraig Goch).svg|thumb|The Welsh Dragon ({{Lang|cy|Y Ddraig Goch}}).]]
[[File:Vortigern-Dragons.jpg|thumb|Fifteenth-century manuscript illustration of the battle of the [[Welsh Dragon|Red]] and [[White dragon|White Dragons]] from [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae|History of the Kings of Britain]]'']]
The modern, western image of a dragon developed in [[western Europe]] during the [[Middle Ages]] through the combination of the snakelike dragons of classical Graeco-Roman literature, references to Near Eastern dragons preserved in the Bible, and western European folk traditions.{{sfn|Fee|2011|page=7}} The period between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries represents the height of European interest in dragons as living creatures.{{sfn|Jones|2000|page=101}} The twelfth-century [[Wales|Welsh]] monk, [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], recounts a famous legend in his ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' in which the child prophet [[Merlin]] witnesses the Romano-Celtic warlord [[Vortigern]] attempt to build a tower on [[Snowdon]] to keep safe from the [[Anglo-Saxons]],{{sfn|Hughes|2005|page=106}} but the tower keeps being swallowed into the ground.{{sfn|Hughes|2005|page=106}} Merlin informs Vortigern that, underneath the foundation he has built, is a pool with two dragons sleeping in it.{{sfn|Hughes|2005|page=106}} Vortigern orders for the pool to be drained, exposing a [[Welsh Dragon|red dragon]] and a [[white dragon]], who immediately begin fighting.{{sfn|Hughes|2005|page=106}} Merlin delivers a prophecy that the white dragon will triumph over the red, symbolizing England's conquest of Wales,{{sfn|Hughes|2005|page=106}} but declares that the red dragon will eventually return and defeat the white one.{{sfn|Hughes|2005|pages=106–107}} This story remained popular throughout the fifteenth century.{{sfn|Hughes|2005|pages=106–107}}

Dragons are generally depicted as living in rivers or having an underground lair or cave.<ref name=Ormen>{{cite book|last=Ørmen|first=Torfinn|title=Drager, mellom myte og virkelighet (Dragons: between myth and reality)|year=2005|publisher=Humanist forlag A/S|location=Oslo|isbn=978-82-90425-76-5|pages=252|edition=1st|language=no}}</ref> They are envisioned as greedy and gluttonous, with voracious appetites.{{sfn|Fee|2011|page=7}} They are often identified with [[Satan]], due to the references to Satan as a "dragon" in the [[Book of Revelation]].{{sfn|Fee|2011|page=7}} The thirteenth-century ''[[Golden Legend]]'', written in Latin, records the story of [[Margaret the Virgin|Saint Margaret of Antioch]],{{sfn|Morgan|2009|page=}} a virgin martyr who, after being tortured for her faith in the [[Diocletianic Persecution]] and thrown back into her cell, is said to have been confronted by a monstrous dragon,{{sfn|Morgan|2009|page=}} but she made the [[sign of the cross]] and the dragon vanished.{{sfn|Morgan|2009|page=}} In some versions of the story, she is actually swallowed by the dragon alive and, after making the sign of the cross in the dragon's stomach, emerges unharmed.{{sfn|Morgan|2009|page=}}

[[File:St George and the Dragon Verona ms 1853 26r.jpg|thumb|Manuscript illustration from [[Verona]] of [[Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George slaying the dragon]], dating to {{circa}} 1270]]
The legend of [[Saint George and the Dragon]] may be referenced as early as the sixth century AD,{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=53}}{{sfn|Thurston|1909|pages=453–455}} but the earliest artistic representations of it come from the eleventh century{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=53}} and the first full account of it comes from an eleventh-century [[Georgian language|Georgian]] text.{{sfn|Walter|2003|page=141}} The most famous version of the story from the ''Golden Legend'' holds that a dragon kept pillaging the sheep of the town of Silene in [[Ancient Libya|Libya]].{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=53}} After it ate a young shepherd, the people were forced to placate it by leaving two sheep as sacrificial offerings every morning beside the lake where the dragon lived.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=53}} Eventually, the dragon ate all of the sheep{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=54}} and the people were forced to start offering it their own children.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=54}} One day, the king's own daughter came up in the lottery and, despite the king's pleas for her life, she was dressed as a bride and chained to a rock beside the lake to be eaten.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=54}} Then, Saint George arrived and saw the princess.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=54}} When the dragon arrived to eat her, he stabbed it with his lance and subdued it by making the sign of the cross and tying the princess's [[girdle]] around its neck.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=54}} Saint George and the princess led the now-docile dragon into the town and George promised to kill it if the townspeople would convert to Christianity.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=55}} All the townspeople converted and Saint George killed the dragon with his sword.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=55}} In some versions, Saint George marries the princess,{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=55}} but, in others, he continues wandering.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=55}}

[[File:Galician dragon (Medieval Age).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Dragon in a granite Relief (14th century). San Anton Museum ([[A Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)]]).]] 
Dragons are well known in myths and legends of [[Spain]], in no small part because St. George (Catalan Sant Jordi) is the patron saint of [[Catalonia]]. Like most mythical reptiles, the Catalan dragon (Catalan drac) is an enormous serpent-like creature with four legs and a pair of wings, or rarely, a two-legged creature with a pair of wings, called a wyvern. As in many other parts of the world, the dragon's face may be like that of some other animal, such as a lion or a bull. As is common elsewhere, Catalan dragons are fire-breathers, and the dragon-fire is all-consuming. Catalan dragons also can emit a fetid odor, which can rot away anything it touches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spainisculture.com/en/propuestas_culturales/espana_a_traves_de_sus_tradiciones.html|title=The legends and traditions of Spain's cities and villages in Spain is Culture|website=www.spainisculture.com|accessdate=1 September 2023|archive-date=30 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830074256/http://www.spainisculture.com/en/propuestas_culturales/espana_a_traves_de_sus_tradiciones.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Gargoyle]]s are carved stone figures sometimes resembling dragons that originally served as waterspouts on buildings.{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=183}}{{sfn|Cipa|2008|pages=1–3}} Precursors to the medieval gargoyle can be found on [[ancient Greek temple|ancient Greek]] and [[Egyptian temple]]s,{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=183}}{{sfn|Dinsmoor|1973|page=96}}{{sfn|Swaddling|1989|pages=17–18}} but, over the course of the Middle Ages, many fantastic stories were invented to explain them.{{sfn|Sherman|2015|pages=183–184}} One medieval French legend holds that, in ancient times, a fearsome dragon known as ''[[Gargouille|La Gargouille]]'' had been causing floods and sinking ships on the river [[Seine]],{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=184}} so the people of the town of [[Rouen]] would offer the dragon a [[human sacrifice]] once each year to appease its hunger.{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=184}} Then, around 600 AD, a priest named [[Romanus of Rouen|Romanus]] promised that, if the people would build a church, he would rid them of the dragon.{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=184}} Romanus slew the dragon and its severed head was mounted on the walls of the city as the first gargoyle.{{sfn|Sherman|2015|page=184}}{{sfn|Cipa|2008|pages=1–30}}

Dragons are prominent in medieval [[heraldry]].{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} [[Uther Pendragon]] was famously said to have had two gold dragons crowned with red standing back-to-back on his royal [[coat of arms]].{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=28}} Originally, heraldic dragons could have any number of legs,{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} but, by the late Middle Ages, due to the widespread proliferation of bestiaries, heraldry began to distinguish between a "dragon" (which could only have exactly four legs) and a "[[wyvern]]" (which could only have exactly two).{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} In myths, wyverns are associated with viciousness, envy, and pestilence,{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} but, in heraldry, they are used as symbols for overthrowing the tyranny of Satan and his demonic forces.{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} Late medieval heraldry also distinguished a draconic creature known as a "[[cockatrice]]".{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} A cockatrice is supposedly born when a serpent hatches an egg that has been laid on a dunghill by a rooster{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} and it is so venomous that its breath and its gaze are both lethal to any living creature, except for a weasel, which is the cockatrice's mortal enemy.{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} A [[basilisk]] is a serpent with the head of a dragon at the end of its tail that is born when a toad hatches an egg that has been laid in a [[midden]] by a nine-year-old cockatrice.{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}} Like the cockatrice, its glare is said to be deadly.{{sfn|Friar|Ferguson|1993|page=168}}

===Post-classical Eastern===
{{main|Slavic dragon|Kulshedra}}
[[File:Ivan Bilibin 065.jpg|thumb|[[Zmey Gorynych]], a [[Polycephaly|three-headed]] dragon from [[Folklore of Russia|Russian folklore]].]]
[[File:Münster wawelski.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the [[Wawel Dragon]] from [[Sebastian Münster]]'s ''[[Cosmographia (Sebastian Münster)|Cosmographie Universalis]]'' (1544).]]
In [[Albanian mythology|Albanian mythology and folklore]], ''[[stihi]]'', ''[[ljubi]]'', ''[[Kulshedra|bolla, bollar, errshaja, and kulshedra]]'' are mythological figures described as serpentine dragons. It is believed that ''bolla'', a water and chthonic demonic serpent, undergoes [[metamorphosis]] passing through four distinct phases if it lives many years without being seen by a human. The ''bollar'' and ''errshaja'' are the intermediate stages, while the ''kulshedra'' is the ultimate phase, described as a huge multi-headed fire-spitting female serpent which causes drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes, and other natural disasters against mankind. She is usually fought and defeated by a [[drangue]], a semi-human winged divine hero and protector of humans. Heavy thunderstorms are thought to be the result of their battles.{{sfnp|Doja|2005|p=449–462}}{{Sfn|Elsie|2001|pp=46–47, 74–76, 153–156}}

In [[Slavic mythology]], the words ''"zmey"'', ''"zmiy",'' or ''"zmaj"'' are used to describe dragons. These words are masculine forms of the Slavic word for "snake", which are normally feminine (like Russian ''zmeya''). In [[Romania]], there is a similar figure, derived from the Slavic dragon and named ''[[zmeu]]''. Exclusively in Polish and Belarusian folklore, as well as in the other Slavic folklores, a dragon is also called (variously) ''смок'', ''цмок'', or ''smok''. In South Slavic folklores, the same thing is also called ''lamya'' (ламя, ламjа, lamja). Although quite similar to other [[European dragon]]s, Slavic dragons have their peculiarities.

In [[Folklore of Russia|Russian]] and [[Ukrainian folklore]], [[Zmey Gorynych]] is a dragon with three heads, each one bearing twin goatlike horns.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=146}} He is said to have breathed fire and smelled of [[sulfur]].{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=146}} It was believed that [[eclipse]]s were caused by Gorynych temporarily swallowing the sun.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=147}} According to one legend, Gorynych's uncle was the evil sorcerer Nemal Chelovek, who abducted the daughter of the [[tsar]] and imprisoned her in his castle in the [[Ural Mountains]].{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=147}} Many knights tried to free her, but all of them were killed by Gorynych's fire.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=147}} Then a palace guard in [[Moscow]] named [[Ivan Tsarevich]] overheard two crows talking about the princess.{{sfn|Niles|2013|pages=147–148}} He went to the tsar, who gave him a magic sword, and snuck into the castle.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=148}} When Chelovek attacked Ivan in the form of a giant, the sword flew from Ivan's hand unbidden and killed him.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=148}} Then the sword cut off all three of Gorynych's heads at once.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=148}} Ivan brought the princess back to the tsar, who declared Ivan a nobleman and allowed him to marry the princess.{{sfn|Niles|2013|page=148}}

A popular Polish folk tale is the legend of the [[Wawel Dragon]],{{sfn|Sikorski|1997|page=235}}{{sfn|Dębicka}}{{sfn|Kitowska-Łysiak|Wolicka|1999|page=231}} which is first recorded in the ''[[Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae|Chronica Polonorum]]'' of [[Wincenty Kadłubek]], written between 1190 and 1208.{{sfn|Dębicka}}{{sfn|Kitowska-Łysiak|Wolicka|1999|page=231}} According to Kadłubek, the dragon appeared during the reign of [[Krakus|King Krakus]]{{sfn|Dębicka}} and demanded to be fed a fixed number of cattle every week.{{sfn|Dębicka}} If the villagers failed to provide enough cattle, the dragon would eat the same number of villagers as the number of cattle they had failed to provide.{{sfn|Dębicka}} Krakus ordered his sons to slay the dragon.{{sfn|Dębicka}} Since they could not slay it by hand,{{sfn|Dębicka}} they tricked the dragon into eating calfskins filled with burning sulfur.{{sfn|Dębicka}} Once the dragon was dead, the younger brother attacked and murdered his older brother and returned home to claim all the glory for himself,{{sfn|Dębicka}} telling his father that his brother had died fighting the dragon.{{sfn|Dębicka}} The younger brother became king after his father died, but his secret was eventually revealed and he was banished.{{sfn|Dębicka}} In the fifteenth century, [[Jan Długosz]] rewrote the story so that King Krakus himself was the one who slew the dragon.{{sfn|Sikorski|1997|page=235}}{{sfn|Dębicka}}{{sfn|Kitowska-Łysiak|Wolicka|1999|page=231}} Another version of the story told by [[Marcin Bielski]] instead has the clever shoemaker Skuba come up with the idea for slaying the dragon.{{sfn|Dębicka}}{{sfn|Rożek|1988|page=27}} Bielski's version is now the most popular.{{sfn|Dębicka}}