Where did dragons come from?

Discussion of topics concerning life in the middle ages around the world, including architecture, history, and warfare.
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Mörs
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Where did dragons come from?

Post by Mörs »

I just read a really old post by Dragon Master where he said dragons actually existed. That intrigued me a bit... in fact enough to start this topic! My idea is that the myth of dragons could have been a result of people accidentally stumbling upon dinosaur bones; but then, where would the wings come from?

Could it be dragons were in fact real? What if they just suddenly got extinct? With a little help from knights and other people, that is... I could imagine a huge dragon could be a real nuissance to any kingdom... But of course, the question arises: is it physically possible for a creature to breathe fire? Aren't all reptiles ectothermic? Hold on... dinosaurs were endothermic, right? Could dragons have actually been dinosaurs of sorts? OR descendants thereof -- like birds? Could a huge creature like that get airborne? Maybe they really weren't all that big? You would think that had they really existed, you would see a lot of evidence of that in historic accounts, right? But hold on, we do! There are all sorts of tales and legends. That doesn't make them true, though, does it?

...Does any of this make sense?

Oh, and I just recently found this in Leonardo da Vinci's notes...
The dragon flings itself under the elephant's body, and
with its tail it ties its legs; with its wings and with its arms it
also clings round its ribs and cuts its throat with its teeth, and
the elephant falls upon it and the dragon is burst. Thus, in its
death it is revenged on its foe.

THE DRAGON.

These go in companies together, and they twine themselves after the
manner of roots, and with their heads raised they cross lakes, and
swim to where they find better pasture; and if they did not thus
combine they would be drowned, therefore they combine.
Personally, I have no idea what to make out of it.
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RichardAM
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by RichardAM »

Well, when a mummy dragon loves a daddy dragon, they uhh...well, i'm sure you get the idea. :wink:
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Hound Knight
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Hound Knight »

Personally I think that dragons are/were dinosaurs.

The 'Wyvern' for example:

Image
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Mörs
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Mörs »

Hound Knight wrote:Personally I think that dragons are/were dinosaurs.

The 'Wyvern' for example:

Image
But didn't dinosaurs, along with the pterosaurs, go extinct millions of years ago? Or are mainstream paleontological theories mere cover ups meant to blind us from the truth? :twitch:
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Napoleon »

Mörs wrote:But didn't dinosaurs, along with the pterosaurs, go extinct millions of years ago? Or are mainstream paleontological theories mere cover ups meant to blind us from the truth?
If you accept evolution, yes. If you don't, the theory that they were dinosaurs is very possible. If you believe the story of Noah, then why couldn't dinosaurs have gotten on the Ark, and lived until, perhaps, the Dark Ages? I, personally, accept this explanation.

Or, dragons could just be a bunch of fictional hoolah. :wink:
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Mörs
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Mörs »

I would like to know what Dragon Master meant by saying dragons were real. Explain yourself!

Also, what do you people make of what Leonardo da Vinci said above? That would mean dragons were a kind of serpent-like creatures, wouldn't it?
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by quaraga »

I like the attempted explenations but I still think it impossible for a reptile to breath fire. the only explenation I have is that someone was trying to explain how brave/strong/ect. a knight was so they took all the most dangerous things they could think of and made them into a monster that would be slain by whoever they were talking about.

lets see
fire :big danger
claws :big danger
size :big danger
flies and has armor like scales: big difficulty
pointy prehensil tail :big danger

along comes st george ,for instance, hes brave and strong and all that so he kills the beast that is plagueing the town.

and napoleon, wasn't god trying to eliminate his mistakes w/ the flood? if so maybe he was getting rid of the dinosaurs.
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Napoleon »

Did anyone ever think that all those "quests to slay the dragon," might have been the thing that made dinosaurs extinct? This is a really good and interesting topic! :D
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Aliencat »

Wow I honestly don't know what to say :D
I'm saving this thread in a word document :D
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Sir Nelson »

Aliencat wrote:Wow I honestly don't know what to say :D
I'm saving this thread in a word document :D
LOL!! I don't know where they come from (or, at least I won't say), but we could certainly use one here to chew on a few emperors.
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Ye Olde Republic »

Napoleon wrote:Did anyone ever think that all those "quests to slay the dragon," might have been the thing that made dinosaurs extinct? This is a really good and interesting topic! :D
While it's certainly fun to think so, why isn't it acceptable that dragons and such came out of a medieval equivalent of a Steven Spielberg's mind?
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Jojo »

Hello!
Napoleon wrote:Did anyone ever think that all those "quests to slay the dragon," might have been the thing that made dinosaurs extinct?
Who says they are extinct?

Image


Bye
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Napoleon »

I didn't say that is what made dinos extinct, I was actually joking. :tasty:
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by Bluesecrets »

This topic had potential. The discussion of whether or not dragons were real, seems very relevant to castle as many were fighting dragons, but the off topic posts in this thread are making it very close to being locked.

I personally think dragons have existed. We have proof that several very large reptiles have existed and still do. See komodo dragons or the monitor lizards of Africa if you do not believe me. These two reptiles do hunt and kill large mammals, including humans.

Since photographs did not exist at the time, we do not know what these "dragons" looked like. We have paintings, but how can one know if these are realistic or not.

I think it is entirely realistic to think that they did exist, but maybe not in the forms of the fairy tales and myths we all grew up on.
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Re: Where did dragons come from?

Post by wobnam »

Bluesecrets wrote:Since photographs did not exist at the time, we do not know what these "dragons" looked like. We have paintings, but how can one know if these are realistic or not.
By studying paleontological finds and considering the laws of physics? It's not like we have a lot of photographs of the dinosaurs either.
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