Mythical creatures

[abracax]

I have studied ancient cultures and religions for many years because it is something that interests me a great deal. One thing I have always noticed is that in every myth or legend there is fact, finding exactly what is fact in a myth or legend is not always the easy part. This is the first observation.

The second observation is; Many cultures from around the world have the same myths and legends, most of the time with just a few changes in the names or places. One of the constants is mythical beasts, from the Americas to Europe, Asia and Australia there are many similarities. For instance, the most well known common myth is, Dragons.

Dragons exist in every ancient culture. Some anthropologists believe the dragon is a remnant of memories of dinosaurs. Is this possible, I find it hard to believe. However there is something that is fact in the belief in dragons, you cannot just toss it aside as a mythical creature because of the fact that every ancient culture believed in them. The problem is, what was the dragon, what could it have really been?

Please feel free to list a mythical creature that more than one culture believed in and give an argument as to why it might have actually existed.

[Lord Arumen]

Have you seen Fierce Creatures before? The title made me think of it. it has John Clease, check it out.

I believe dragons are a natural creation of the human mind. Snakes are one of the most frightening things to humans. Wings and fire make them scarier.

[abracax]

Have you seen Fierce Creatures before? The title made me think of it. it has John Clease, check it out.

I believe dragons are a natural creation of the human mind. Snakes are one of the most frightening things to humans. Wings and fire make them scarier.

Yet in many cultures dragons were a good thing, it is mainly in Europe that dragons are evil and eat people.

And yes I own that movie lol

[gottibabe1]

I cant say i totally believe in dragons, a creature spiting out fire? although, saying dragons could be an ancestor of some sort to dinosaurs makes sense, look at the teridactil (i don't think i spelled that right) its a "creature" with wings and fly's, i think ancient people might have mistaken dragons for dinosaurs maybe?

[Lord Arumen]

Yet in many cultures dragons were a good thing, it is mainly in Europe that dragons are evil and eat people.

And yes I own that movie lol

In cultures dragons are good snakes are too. Snakes are a zodiac in china, and in South America the Snake was their heavenly king.

[King Dylan]

Some mythological creatures were oviously made up recentley, like the unicorn, at first the Germans (around the 12th century) started to equip a sharp horn on their horses facearmor. It was used in combat, and then it evolved in a funloving and happy mythological horsie. But the pegasus is a diffrent story.

[gottibabe1]

in South America the Snake was their heavenly king.

where they really? i never knew that, interesting

[Lord Arumen]

Quetzalcoatl was a snake king yes. he was the good guy. Axuctaptl (SP? Majorly...) was the bad guy

[Darkbrady]

Dragons are a curious enough one; considerin' that dragons are real creatures and match most of the standard descriptions (especially your chinese dragon) it wouldnae be a stretch to jus' say that they were revered animals.

A komodo dragon matches most of the criteria for your standard chinese dragon, excludin' the fact that the sketches and myth of the chinese dragon is extremely stretched; but otherwise it matches up very, very closely.

Komodo:


Chinese:


Even nowadays, komodo's are seriously dangerous creatures, capable of rippin' a fully grown man into pieces; back then especially in times of less defensive knowledge and when people would live closer to animals, these animals coulda been considered the real deal.
Even all across the world this idealogy matched up; but as it got further and further across the world, the revered, envisioned idea of dragons skewed more and more into some completely new shaped beast, takin' on the cultures preferances for lore; flight, fire, armour, bigger and more muscled. All in all it looks and feels more western.

Coincidence that the further away from home this mythical creature got from the real creature it was based on, the further away from reality the image became?

Chinese:


Western:

[CandleLite]

oh yes! i thread i can never have an end of things to say in!! thanks

To Busness
i LOVE dragons! i espicaly love that they change from culture to culture while still retaining most of the same underliying charitarists. to change phisacly from place to place and retaine ones identity.... amazing
phinox are another that are always and never the same.

some mythicals i belive were expalnation tales. elamentals, fairies, nymphs, silphs, nyads, dryads..... others misintrupratations of sight. centars, unciorns, mermaids, sea monstars....
as to how dragons could be 'rememberd' dinosaurs, there is enough evadence that early man was around for the last ice age, and devloped enough to have tales of his own then. word of mouth is still a valid form of lore passing, if less reliabul then written forms

edit: man i'm a slow typer, there werent any posts when i started