Editing European dragon (section)

==Dragons in specific cultures==
=== Celtic ===
[[File:Roman dragonesque brooch (FindID 1027483-1143293).jpg|thumb|[[Dragonesque brooch]], AD 75 – 175]]
{{See also|Celtic art}}
The Celtic dragon may have developed from a horned and poisonous or fire-breathing snake. It is mostly a snake that is transformed into a monster.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Heinz |first=Sabine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQBfh1erSL4C&dq=celtic+dragon&pg=PA31 |title=Celtic Symbols |date=2008 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=978-1-4027-4624-6 |pages=31 |language=en}}</ref>

The dragon motif is known in [[Celtic art]] in diverse styles, and is presumed to have derived from a serpent-like creature in ancient folklore of the Middle East and Greece. Both the Greeks and the Romans considered the serpent to be a guardian spirit, represented on their altars.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gosden |first1=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOOZBgAAQBAJ&dq=celtic+art+dragon&pg=PA234 |title=Celtic Art in Europe: Making Connections |last2=Crawford |first2=Sally |last3=Ulmschneider |first3=Katharina |date=2014-08-29 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78297-658-5 |pages=27 |language=en}}</ref> Western Celtic peoples were familiar with dragons in the pre-Christian age, and [[Celtic Britons|native people of Britain]] are said to have worn Celtic decorations with motifs of dragons on them during the Roman invasion. There is also archaeological evidence that the continental Celts used brooches and pins in the form of a dragon during the [[La Tène culture|La Téne]] period from {{Circa|500 BC}} to 1 AD.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haverfield |first=F |title=The Roman Occupation of Britain |year=1924 |pages=24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Frances |title=The Princes and Principalities of Wales |year=1969 |pages=167–189}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Y Ddraig yn Nychymyg a Llenyddiaeth y Cymry c.600 – c.1500 ("The dragon in imagination and literature of the Welsh") |url=https://pure.aber.ac.uk/portal/files/26607451/Llywelyn_Mared.pdf}}</ref> Some suggest that the native Britons of Europe may have brought the dragon with them when they migrated to Britain before the Roman age.<ref name=":1" /> The earliest known use of the dragon by the Celts appears in swords and sheaths in the 4th century BC.<ref name=":12" /> One example found in Britain is an early Iron Age Celtic sword that features two opposing dragons, queried to be from the [[Hallstatt culture]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=sword; sword-sheath {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1862-1001-1 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stead |first=Ian |title=Antiquaries Journal (Vol.64) |pages=269–279}}</ref> Two other swords and scabbards (also from the bottom of the river Thames) are thought to include a dragon pair from the La Tène or [[Hallstatt]] cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=sword; sheath {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1859-0122-2 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=sword; sword-sheath {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1859-0122-1 |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stead |first=Ian Mathieson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hn6BAAAAMAAJ |title=British Iron Age swords and scabbards |publisher=British Museum |year=2006|isbn=9780714123233 }}</ref> Discovery of Celtic dragon-pairs in the Thames suggests that links existed between Britain and the rest of the Celtic world in the decades around 300 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stead |first=I. M. |date=September 1984 |title=Celtic Dragons from the River Thames |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquaries-journal/article/abs/celtic-dragons-from-the-river-thames/6F18B4BE95E43C6B19BCB2E592CA27DF |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |language=en |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=269–279 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500080410 |s2cid=163673647 |issn=1758-5309}}</ref> Evidence in coins also shows Celticised dragons in 50–45 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arsdell |first=Robert D. Van |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3k9mAAAAMAAJ&q=danebury+dragon |title=Celtic Coinage of Britain |date=1989 |publisher=Spink |isbn=978-0-907605-24-9 |pages=126 |language=en}}</ref>

===Germanic===
{{main|Germanic dragon}}
Dragons, or worms, are prevalent in early Germanic folklore and art, with notable examples being the [[The dragon (Beowulf)|killer of Beowulf]], the central figure of the [[Völsung Cycle]] [[Fáfnir]] and [[Jǫrmungandr]].{{sfn|Beowulf}}{{sfn|Acker|2013|pp=53–57}}{{sfn|Fee|2011|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|Thompson|2015}} In this cultural context, the distinction between snakes and dragons is blurred with both being referred to by the same terms, including {{langx|non|ormr}} and {{langx|ang|wyrm}}.{{sfn|wyrm}}{{sfn|worm}} Other terms often used are the cognates  {{langx|non|dreki}} and {{langx|ang|draca}} meaning "dragon, sea serpent or sea monster" which are derived from [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*drakō'', an early borrowing from [[Latin]] ''draco'' "huge serpent or dragon".{{sfn|dreki}}{{sfn|drake}}{{sfn|dragon}} These terms are sometimes used interchangeably with {{langx|non|ormr}} and {{langx|ang|wyrm}}, although sometimes they are treated as different beings. While in later accounts many dragons are portrayed in these cultures as being winged, this is likely under influence from [[Southern Europe]].{{sfn|Simek|1993}}{{sfn|Somerville|McDonald|2013|p=125}}{{sfn|Fee|2011|pp=8–10}} In later [[Northern European]] folklore, many worms are found that are flightless and resemble large snakes such as the [[Lambton Worm]] and the [[Stoor worm]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strang |first1=V. |title=Waterworlds: Anthropology in fluid environments |date=2015 |publisher=Berghahn Books |location=New York |isbn=9781782389460 |url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1647527 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Marwick |first1=Ernest W. |title=The folklore of Orkney and Shetland |date=2000 |publisher=Birlinn |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-1-84158-048-7}}</ref>

While depictions are diverse, several traits are shared amongst many worms, including hoarding gold, and spitting [[atter]] and later fire.{{sfn|Cutrer|2012|p=4}}{{sfn|Acker|2013|pp=53–57}} Depictions of worms are prevalent in early medieval art, notably on [[runestones]], where they often form the band on which the runes are written.{{sfn|Düwel|2005|p=114-115}} Specific worms are also depicted, such as Jǫrmungandr on the [[Altuna stone]] and Fáfnir on the [[Jurby]] cross, the [[Hylestad stave church]] and the [[Ramsund carving]].{{sfn|Millet|2008|p=163}}{{sfn|Millet|2008|p=160}}{{sfn|McKinnell|2015|p=62}}{{sfn|McKinnell|2015|p=61}}<ref>Gunnar Nordanskog, Föreställd hedendom: tidigmedeltida skandinaviska kyrkportar i forskning och historia, 2006, p. 241. {{ISBN|978-91-89116-85-6}}</ref>

=== Welsh===
{{Main|Welsh Dragon}}
[[File:Vortigern-Dragons.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|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 red dragon features on, and is the name of, the national flag of Wales (''[[Y Ddraig Goch]]'', "the red dragon"). Early Welsh writing associates dragons with war leaders, and in legend, Nennius, in Historia Birttonum, tells of a vision of the red dragon (representing the [[Brython|Britons]]) and the white dragon (representing the invading [[Saxons]]) fighting beneath [[Dinas Emrys]].<ref name="HistoriaBrittonum">''[[wikisource:History of the Britons|Historia Brittonum]]'' by Nennius (translated by J.A.Giles)</ref>{{rp|at=§40-43}} A version of this particular legend also features in the [[Mabinogion]] in the story of ''[[Lludd and Llefelys]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Sioned|title=The Mabinogion|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=xii}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Heinz|first=Sabine|title=Celtic Symbols|year=2008|publisher=Sterling Pub.}}</ref>

=== Slavic===
====Alas====
{{Main|Ala (demon)}}

It is said that a very old snake can transform into an ala. Some depictions of alas are confusingly said to have the bodies of women. Other alas look like dragons. The number of heads on an ala may vary. Alas are enemies of the zmeys and it is sometimes said in south Slavic folklore that thunder is a product of alas and zmeys fighting. Alas are considered evil or malevolent, while zmeys are usually considered good or benevolent.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

====Zmeys ====
[[File:Змей Горыныч.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Zmey Gorynych]], by [[Victor Vasnetsov]]]]
{{Main|Slavic dragon}}

Dragon-like creatures of [[Slavic mythology]] hold mixed temperaments towards humans. For example, Drakons (дракон, змей, ламя, (х)ала; dracon, zmey, lamya, ala) in [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] mythology are either male or female, and each gender has a different view of mankind. The female dragon and male dragon, often seen as sister and brother, represent different forces of [[agriculture]]. The female dragon represents harsh weather and is the destroyer of crops, the hater of mankind, and is locked in a never-ending battle with her brother. The male dragon protects the humans' crops from destruction and is generally benevolent to humanity. Fire and water play major roles in Bulgarian dragon lore: the female has water characteristics, while the male is usually a fiery creature. In Bulgarian legend, The drakons are three-headed, winged beings with snake's bodies.

In [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]], [[Russians|Russian]], [[Belarusians|Belarusian]], [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]], [[Bosniaks|Bosnian]], [[Serbs|Serbian]], and [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonian]] lore, the dragon-like creature, or "змей" ({{Langx|bg|Змей}}), ''[[zmey]]'' ({{Langx|ru|Змей}}), ''smok'' ({{Langx|be|Цмок}}), [[Slavic dragon|''zmiy'']] ({{Langx|uk|Змій}}), ([[Bosniaks|Bosnian]] zmaj), ({{Langx|sr|змај or zmaj}}), ''zmej'' ({{Langx|mk|змеј}}), is generally an evil, four-legged beast with few, if any, redeeming qualities. ''Zmeys'' are intelligent, but not greatly so, often demanding tribute from villages or small towns in the form of [[maiden]]s (for food), or [[gold]]. Their number of heads ranges from one to seven or sometimes even more, with three- and seven-headed Zmeys being most commonly cited. The heads also regrow if cut off, unless the neck is "treated" with fire (similar to the hydra in Greek mythology). [[Zmey#Blood|Zmey blood]] is so poisonous that Earth itself will refuse to absorb it. In Bulgarian mythology these "dragons" are sometimes good, opposing the evil Lamya /ламя/, a beast similar to the ''zmey''.

====Smok====
The most famous [[Poland|Polish]] dragon ({{Langx|pl|Smok}}) is the [[Wawel Dragon]] or ''[[Smok Wawelski]]'', the Dragon of Wawel Hill. It supposedly terrorized ancient [[Kraków]] and lived in caves on the [[Vistula]] river bank below the [[Wawel]] castle. According to lore based on the ''[[Book of Daniel]]'', it was killed by a boy who offered it a [[Sheepskin (material)|sheepskin]] filled with sulphur and tar. After devouring it, the dragon became so thirsty that it finally exploded after drinking too much water. In the oldest, 12th-century version of this fantasy tale, written by [[Wincenty Kadłubek]],<ref>{{citation|title=Kronika Polska|author=Mistrz Wincenty (tzw. Kadłubek)|publisher=[[Ossolineum]], [[Wrocław]]|year=2008|isbn=978-83-04-04613-9|title-link=Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae|author-link=Wincenty Kadłubek}}</ref> the dragon was defeated by two sons of a [[King Krak]], [[Krakus II]] and [[Lech II]]. A metal sculpture of the Wawel Dragon is a well-known tourist sight in Kraków. The Wawel Dragon appears in the coat of arms of the Polish princes, the Piasts of Czersk.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Górczyk|first=Wojciech|title=Ślady recepcji legend arturiańskich w heraldyce Piastów czerskich i kronikach polskich|journal=Kultura i Historia|year=2010|url=http://www.kulturaihistoria.umcs.lublin.pl/archives/1793|access-date=14 July 2013|language=pl}}</ref>

Other dragon-like creatures in Polish folklore include the [[basilisk]], living in cellars of [[Warsaw]], and the Snake King from folk legends, though neither are explicitly dragons.

=== Armenian ===
{{Main|Vahagn|Vishap|Vishapakar}}
[[File:Վիշապաքաղ.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of the Armenian god Vahagn the Dragon Slayer choking a dragon in Yerevan, Armenia]]
Վիշապ (''Vishap'') is the Armenian word for "dragon".

=== Iberian ===
Iberian dragons are almost always evil, such as the [[Cuélebre]], or Cuelebre, a giant winged serpent in the mythology of [[Asturias]] and [[Cantabria]] in the north of Spain. It usually lives in a cave, guards treasures and keeps nymph-like beings called ''[[xana]]s'' or ''[[Anjana (Cantabrian mythology)|anjanas]]'' as prisoners.

There is a legend that a dragon dwelled in the Peña Uruel mountain near [[Jaca]] and claimed that it could mesmerise people with its glance, so the young man who decided to kill the beast equipped himself with a shiny shield, so that the dragon's glance would be reflected. When the young man arrived at the cave where the dragon lived, he could kill it easily because the dragon mesmerised itself. This legend is very similar to the Greek myth of [[Medusa]].

[[File:Moralia in Job MS dragonslayer.jpg|thumb|upright|Illumination in a 12th-century manuscript of a letter from [[Saint Gregory]]'s to [[Leander of Seville|St. Leander]] (Bibl. Municipale, MS 2, [[Dijon]])]]

[[Herensuge]] is the name given to the dragon in [[Basque mythology]], meaning "last serpent". The most famous legend has [[Archangel Michael|St. Michael]] descend from [[Heaven]] to kill it, but only once did God agree to accompany him in person.

[[Sugaar]], the Basque male god, is often associated with the serpent or dragon but can take other forms as well. His name can be read as "male serpent".

Dragons are well known in [[Catalan myths and legends]], in no small part because [[Saint George|St. George]] (Catalan ''Sant Jordi'') is the patron saint of [[Principality of Catalonia|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.

The Catalans also distinguish a ''víbria'' or ''vibra'' (cognate with English ''[[Viperidae|viper]]'' and ''[[wyvern]]''), a female dragon-like creature with two prominent breasts, two claws, two wings and an [[eagle]]'s beak. Dracs, Víbries and other mythological figures used to participate in [[correfoc]]s during popular celebrations.

In Portuguese mythology, [[Coco (folklore)|Coca]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Corpo de Deus|url=http://www.cm-moncao.pt/portal/page/moncao/portal_municipal/Turismo/Corpo%20de%20Deus|publisher=Municipal de Monção|language=pt}}</ref> is a female wyvern that battles Saint George on the [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]] holiday. The fighting has a symbolic meaning: when the coca defeats Saint George the crops will be bad and there will be famine and death; when Saint George defeats the coca and cuts off her tongue and ears, the crops will have a good year and it announces prosperity. Still, she is called "saint" coca just as George is called saint, and the people cheer for her.

Another dragon called ''drago'' is also represented in Portuguese mythology and used to take part in celebrations during the Middle Ages.

<gallery class="center">
File:Galician dragon (Medieval Age).jpg|Dragon in a granite Relief (14th century). San Anton Museum ([[A Coruña]], [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]]).
File:Coca21.jpg|"Festa da Coca" during the [[Corpus Christi (feast)|Corpus Christi]] celebration, in [[Monção]], Portugal
File:Vibriadereus.JPG|Vibria in a parade in [[Reus]] (Spain)
File:Cucaferadetarragona.JPG|Cucafera during the "Festa Major de Santa Tecla" in [[Tarragona]] (Spain)
File:Drac vilafrancapenedes.JPG|Drac de [[Vilafranca del Penedès]] (Spain) (1600) dancing during a [[correfoc]]
</gallery>

=== Italian ===
[[File:Saint Margaret sculpture.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Saint Margaret and the Dragon'', alabaster with traces of gilding, Toulouse, ''ca'' 1475 ([[Metropolitan Museum of Art]])]]
[[File:MasoDiBanco.jpg|thumb|"Saint Silvestro resurrects two magicians, and the Fornole dragon", Vernio Bardi Chapel, Santa Croce (Florence)]]
Wyverns are usually evil in Italy, and there are many stories of wyverns being slain. Dragons also trick demons in Italian legends. The legend of Saint George and the wyvern is well known in Italy, but other saints are also depicted fighting wyverns. For instance, the first bishop of [[Forlì]], [[Saint Mercurialis]], was said to have killed a wyvern to save the city, so he is often depicted in the act of slaying a wyvern. Likewise, the first patron saint of [[Venice]], [[Theodore of Amasea|Saint Theodore of Tyro]], was a wyvern-slayer, and a statue representing his slaying of the wyvern still tops one of the two columns in [[Piazza San Marco|St Mark's Square]]. [[St. Michael]], the patron saint of [[paratrooper]]s, is also frequently depicted slaying a wyvern.

According to the Golden Legend, compiled by the Italian [[Jacobus de Voragine]], [[Saint Margaret the Virgin]] was swallowed by [[Satan]] in the shape of a hydra, but she escaped alive when the [[Christian cross|cross]] she carried irritated the hydra's innards. The Golden Legend, in an atypical moment of scepticism, describes this last incident as "apocryphal and not to be taken seriously" (trans. Ryan, 1.369), which did not prevent the legend from being popular and getting artistic treatments.

More prevalent are the legends about dragons in Italy, particularly in [[Umbria]]. One of the most famous wyverns of Italian folklore is [[Folklore of Italy|Thyrus]], a wyvern that besieged [[Terni]] in the Middle Ages. One day, a young and brave knight of the noble House of Cittadini, tired of witnessing the death of his fellow citizens and the depopulation of Terni, faced the wyvern and killed it. From that day, the town assumed the creature in its coat of arms, accompanied by a Latin inscription: "Thyrus et amnis dederunt signa Teramnis" ("Thyrus and the river gave their insignia to [the city of] Terni"), that stands under the banner of the town of Terni, honoring this legend.

Another poem tells of another dragon that lived near the village of Fornole, near [[Amelia, Umbria]]. Pope [[Sylvester I]] arrived in Umbria and freed the population of Fornole from the ferocity of the dragon, pacifying the dragon. Grateful for his deed, the population built a small church dedicated to the saint on the top of the mountain near the dragon's lair in the 13th century. In the apse of the church there is a fresco representing the iconography of the saint.
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