Dragon
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the mythical creature called dragon, for other meanings of the word, see dragon (disambiguation)
The dragon is an animal belonging to the world of mythology, story telling and fantasy. We find stories about dragons in the Chinese culture, the European culture, South American culture, and many others. Dragons have never been real animals.
Because dragons can look like dinosaurs and other extinct (not living any more) animals of millions of years ago, it is easy to think that those animals might have been an example for dragons as they were thought of in the history of humankind.
There are many kinds of dragons in the different cultures. In general:
- a dragon is big and impressive
- a dragon has: none to four legs, claws, scales, spikes on his back
- a dragon perhaps looks like a snake with wings.
- a dragon has a tail and a long neck.
- a dragon has a big mouth with big and dangerous teeth
Sometimes they have horns and hair.
- a dragon can fly
- A dragon can perhaps breathe fire (or other dangerous substances).
- a dragon has special powers.
Some of dragons are considered dangerous and eat humans, but many other stories have majestic dragons who are looking for help, giving help, or interact with the main character(s) in a peaceful way.
[edit] Chinese dragon
See Chinese dragon for the main article.
In China, a dragon is usually described as a supernatural (magical) animal that has a long body like a snake. The Chinese dragon has four feet and four toes in each foot. Unlike dragons of European legend, the Chinese dragon was considered a symbol of luck. Chinese dragons are thought of with respect.
In ancient China a dragon was a symbol of the emperor.
[edit] External links
- Dragons Across Cultures at Draconika
