M – Myths

I know that I’m a bit late! I’ve been playing in london with my mum, having such a good day at the British Museum and just catching up and things. But I’m digressing. Today in the A to Z of dragons, we’ll be talking about Myths.

Of course there are lots of dragon myths out there, so I’m just going to give you a couple of my favourites.

We’ve already talked about one Myth, that of Saint George and the Dragon. Check out my F post for details on this particular myth, as I go into great detail about it there.

Beowulf and the Firedrake: Dragons are renowned for knowing every inch of their hoard, so when a Firedrake awoke one day, and found some of his treasure missing, the smell and human and the human footprints immediately told him what had become of his precious treasure. Enraged, the Firedrake began terrorizing the countryside to punish the human for their trespass. Envoys were sent to kind Beowulf to slay the fierce beast, and he agreed to come and slay the beast. A terrible battler was fought between King and Firedrake, with sword, shield, tooth, claws and flaming breath. In the midst of the battle, Beowulf’s famed sword, Naegling, broke, and the King was bitten by the Firedrake. with the help of Wiglaf, a relative of his, he managed to slay the dragon in the end, but the bite had done the damage and Beowulf died soon after.

Jormungander, the Midgard Serpent: The giant sea dragon, spawn of the god Loki and the size of worlds, was thrown into ocean by Odin, where she wrapped herself around the world and bit her own tail, where she would stay until Ragnarok, the end of days. Twice she met with the head of the Norse gods. First, in the guise of a cat, which the King of the Giants challenged Thor to lift, and he could not. Second, was when Thor had gone fishing in the ocean, and Jormungander let loose her tail and bit his bait instead. The two struggled for an age, but the great dragon tired before Thor, but just as he was about to perform the deathblow, his friend who had come fishing with him, cut the line and she slipped back into the sea. Thier third and final encounter came on the day of Ragnarok, where Thor armed himself with his mighty hammer Miolnir and the two fought and fought in an epic battle. Finally, Thor landed a blow on the dragon’s head that could be heard around the world, but he could not celebrate his victory. As she lay dying, Jormungander breathed her deadly breath all over him, poisoning him so badly that in his weakened state he could not resist death, and toppled alongside the dragon.

The Dragon Pearl: Long ago, a poor boy lived with his mother along the banks of the river Min. They did what they could to survive, but the summer was long and harsh, and everything had dried up with the lack of rain. The boy went up the river to try and find food for the cattle, and was delighted when he found sweet green grass to bring back home. Again and again he went to that patch of green grass, until one day he dug up a pearl. Ecstatic, he took the prize home to his mother, and they stored it in the rice jar for safekeeping. They considered selling it for the money, until the next morning they went to fetch the pearl and found the rice jar overflowing with rice. So they put the pearl in the money jar, and the next day, the money jar was overflowing with coins. though they told no one about the pearl, it was obvious that they had come into some money, so robber tried to steal some of the wealth that they thought was hidden there. In order to protect the pearl, the boy swallowed it, and his insides started to burn, as if he had swalled acid instead of a cool pearl. He guzzled down water to try and quench the fire, but it did not help, so he ran to the river to get to the water there. As he reached the water, his body changed. He became longer and larger and scaled erupted over his body. His face elongated into a whiskered muzzle with horns on top of his head and wings from his back – the boy had turned into a dragon! As the new dragon dove into the river that was to be his new home, the heavens opened and the rain started to pour, ending the drought.

So there are three Dragon Myths for you. I could do more, but I want to post this on the actual M day, and I only have eight minutes left!

Halfway through the challenge! How are you doing? I am having so much fun, I love all my readers and want to thank everyone who has commented/followed me. I have doubled my followers through this challenge and I am loving it!

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