#dragonlore

[aliciajorge]

When courage meets the ancient guardian 🐉✨

[imagi77]

On a mission whilst under the jurisdiction for their leading Ancient, this power couple are facing an unnatural enemy. Yet again, they're hardwired for this sort of ordeal. ~ The West End, as well as the most beloved Rose sparkled in the moonlight that did not go so well with the snapping of jaws down in the court below it... The old home of Quasimodo remained shut to the demonic creatures that were sniffing through for any victims. Unbeknownst to the boy who had outright escaped from his graciously given shelter, two shadows sprinted through the narrow streets and alleyways... To the few stragglers hiding in one alley, a boy and girl hid underneath one of the pig pens, feeling the roof of it bounce above them.

One of these shadows had stopped at the foot of the alley, seeming female in nature but her eyes glowed a bright gold whilst holding a vicious looking skythe. The boy hugged his sister closer, daring her to not move but she was sobbing. The shadow stood firmer but didn't move closer, only to look down the road where those snapping of jaws were coming from...

Another shadow had jumped down from the top of the shack beside the orphans, seeming satyr-like in nature, and the suit he was adorned with made him seem like a void. The two gasped when he happened beside them... Only seeing two ruby lights in the dark, this one held a claw close to his lips, telling them to be quiet. Slow, he took out a strange weapon, that held a black nozzle...

Deep red eyes appeared behind this shadow...

Through the streets, there erupted a resounding crack like a break of thunder, echoing through the air.The children were unscathed, for as soon as those eyes appeared, the one who hushed them quickly dispatched it with one shot... Leading them to a basement to hide fully, the girl gaped at him.

"Dragon... You're a dragon..."

“Yeah, sure am~” he warmly acknowledged her, his grainy voice gentle. "Don't move, sweety."

Multiple groups of these cracks continued on, as a grand chorus of howls erupted the night. For if anyone was as close as those orphans, it would appear that these two were reason for these deadly bone and skins to start barreling toward one area.

They were as white as death, several hounds took on the one armed with the skythe who started swiping them down in swoops, aiming for their throats.

The white feathered one, adorned in a tailcoat was swooping between these creatures, even using that prehensile tail of his to snag one to throw against another. Seconds later, he kicked another in the stomach before shooting the jaw clean off -

He remained arched low as another hound leaped over the dead one, only for the skythe to meet the top of its head ~ When she took the front, he took a low shot from behind. When she slashed one side, he shot another on the opposite, and this continued like a sort of dance for a good hot moment…

[greenbloods]

dragon intraspecies variation. vhagar and balerion are classic medievalist fantasy european dragons but seasmoke and dreamfyre--more associated with motifs of water--are chinese dragons.

[al-ma-48]

Story in caption. Week 05 - Acnologia (Creatuanary day 30)

Finally, we are on our way south. I already have seen the first sprouting buds on the shrubs, although it is still early in the year. Yesterday, we rested in a village Mashimaton. There, I heard an amazing story about a dragon king called Acnologia. According to myth, once upon a time, a healer of a village nearby was a friend to a mighty dragon called Acnologia. But when other dragons annihilated the village, the healer lost his home and family. Enraged, he turned into a dragon slayer, killing any dragon he could find - including his former friend! He took the name Acnologia to always remember his past loss and fuel his hatred. Over time, he slew countless dragons and absorbed their power. Ultimately, the most powerful dragon slayer became a dragon himself. But that did not end his hatred. By consuming further power from his defeated opponents, he became so powerful that he could cross into other spheres, hoping for new hunting grounds. But the villagers still live in fear of his eventual return.

For more images and stories see @al-ma-48

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[plugoarts]

When asked of the great wisdom of dragons, the Celestial Dragon Cai Mo (采墨) replied "The truth is that people are unwise, not that dragons are truly wise." Detail of Wrestling Dragons- ink on a treated skate deck. #penandink #indiaink #skatedeck #skateboardart #customdeck #ink #art #illustration #dragon #chinesedragon #fantasyart #blackandwhiteart #dragonlore #folktaleweek #folktaleweek2021 https://www.instagram.com/p/CWT83MWBgFI/?utm_medium=tumblr

[brightbirdart]

Hi hello welcome to my ted talk.

[xcalibr]

the dragon!Pendragons AU no one wanted and no one needed but I’m making one anyway

As a bloodline, the Pendragons have an „inner dragon” of some sorts, why, I don’t know yet, gimme time (probably „the legends don’t mention the origins” or smn)

First triggered when they come of age (21 in this instance i suppose), then all goes downhill (as expected), it becomes more noticeable, the temper gets a lot worse and all that, BUT extraordinary circumstances such as, oh I don’t know THE LAST DRAGONLORD MAYBE might strengthen the dragon and generally make the whole condition more unpleasant than it should be lmao

Uther denies everything but it’s fine as his dragon doesn’t give a fuck about the guy either way

Arthur’s in trouble cause his dragon does, in fact, give a fuck about him so he can’t deny a single thing

In any case, his title as „the Once and Future King” might indicate that the dragons is going to be stronger (because reasons and because I said so); SO Arthur might have a new, annoying habit of hissing at things. And at times, he might spit smoke. He is entirely unable to convince his father he has never smoked in his entire goddamn life. And that he never plans to. No one likes those new habits. Least of all Arthur himself.

Extreme circumstances – like danger to self, danger to the hoard, etc. - might cause some shapeshifting to happen. And, yes, I fully intend to get this story to a point where Prince Arthur gets stuck in the dragon form bc reasons. It will probably have something to do with pulling Excalibur out of the stone (which, at this point, will have to look completely different to the show, oops) because I really want to have Dragonthur after freeing this “stupid chunk of metal” out of this “stupid goddamn rock” and extremely mad Uther going between “Jesus fuck kill this abomination now” and “SON PLS WAIT AND DO NOT SUCCUMB TO SORCERY I WILL DO EVERYTHING TO CuRe YOU” real quick

Technically they aren’t obliged to listen to the Dragonlords, but, tehee, merthur needs to happen so listening to their Dragonlord’s orders makes them incredibly, stupid pleased. More like euphoria-pleased. I mean I don’t really need it for merthur to happen, I just find this insanely amusing.

They know the dragontongue, somewhat, without having to learn. The dragontongue does things. I don’t know what things yet. Just. Yanno. Things.

Arthur basically gets disowned at some point because, hey, Uther’s dragon might be more dead than alive (and Arthur’s lizard is very lively), but it’s still his land and treasure, and hoard, and why would he let this young, little, eager to fight bitch even try to usurp that, how dare he >:c

Art and Morgana argue more

As a matter of fact, all Pendragons piss each other off a lot more. Somehow.

Arthur confronts Merlin directly after 2x13, because it is, dammit, in his right to know why the hell he gets this stupid urge to wag a tail he doesn’t even have every time Merls smiles. Also, why on earth does he feel like the knowledge about Dragonlords has been permanently drilled into his head (he somehow knows the words despite never learning and something, the beast, inside him stirrs)

Dragons, as expected, hoard things. For instance: Uther has always been interested in riches that might be hidden under Camelot (see 2x01), morgana loves her expensive dresses and jewellery, and Arthur… Arthur hoards people. His Kinghts of the Round Table. His magical, ridiculously powerful Dragonlord. His strange druid child whom no, Merlin, you can’t get rid of unless you wanna get me a new one, understood?

Permanent scales on the shoulders, elbows and knees (maybe the loins too? Dunno yet)

When pissed off, the pendragons’ pupils become slit, like a snake, but that’s for later (plot-wise)

I… feel like at this point, Merlin is just sort of screaming into the void in this one, but stay tuned or something

[draconesmundi]

Book Review: Dragonlore by Ash DeKirk

Dragonlore is a guide to dragons of the world, including dragons from mythology, from video games, from literature, and from films. DeKirk has a BA in anthropology, and demonstrates her level of research well by presenting a thorough investigation into dragons from different cultures. A lot of books on dragon lore will focus chiefly on European and East Asian dragons, with little focus on other regions, but this book relishes a chance to flex on the author’s knowledge on mythology. This book was my first introduction to North American dragons, for example (things like Meshkenabec, Gaasyendietha, Haietlik, etc.). If you’re interested in dragons outside East Asia and Europe, this is the book for you!

This book is very full of information, and split into four sections: Dragons of The World is first geographically, then alphabetically. For example, the Africa sub-chapter has entries on dragons from Aido Hwedo through to Wadjet. There are roughly 20 dragons for each geographic region (China, Japan, Middle East, the rest of Asia, Europe, North America, Meso America, South America, Africa and Oceania) and each dragon is given a sentence or two of information.

The next section is Dragon Myths of the World, a series of short stories, each a paragraph or two long, about dragons. Stories about Emperor Yu, the Pai Lung, the Lambton Worm, Seigfried and Fafnir etc. (25 legends in total). Some of these stories are missing details; for example, ‘The Koshi Dragon’ does not mention the dragon is sometimes named ‘Yamata no Orochi’, despite the ‘dragons of Japan’ chapter mentioning the ‘yamata dragons’.

The third section is titled ‘Dragons of the Modern Realm’, encapsulating dragons from literature, film and games. DeKirk  has a good grasp on dragons from popular culture and media, and this is one of the few books I have read that delves into modern dragons. However, the author definitely talks more about her favourite games and books rather than talking about the most influential dragon media.

For example, if I were to list the dragon books people talk most about, which shape opinions of dragons in the modern world (keeping to books from before 2006, when Dragonlore was published), Dragonriders of Pern, Temeraire, The Hobbit, Eragon, How to Train Your Dragon (although the film that made it popular outside the UK didn’t come until 2010 so an omission of this book is fine), Dragonology, The Neverending Story and the Earthsea books come to mind. I have not read most books on dragons, but I know which ones are famous and well known. DeKirk’s choice does include The Hobbit, and Dragonriders of Pern, but also many books which I have not heard of, and a few that I have heard of but also know to be obscure (The dragon knight series by Gordon R Dickson, for example). So her list of books is not necessarily the ‘list of best and most well known books of dragons’, but a list of books that she personally recommends the reader – which is great when you’re looking for what to read next!

Curious side note – DeKirk does not mention the Neverending Story book, but in her description of the film she describes Falkor as having pearly white scales and ruby red eyes – features of the book dragon moreso than the fluffy puppet with brown eyes seen in the film.

DeKirk is clearly a huge Yu-Gi-Oh fan, and Final Fantasy fan, and in the mythology chapters she will link the mythology to the games, which is an interesting way to link history to the modern world, and provides the reader with a knowledge of the origin stories behind these game characters.

If you want to know about dragons and dragonlike creatures in Dungeons and Dragons, Dragonlore has you covered, as the book delves not only into vanilla D&D Dragons, but also dragons in the Dragonlance, Rifts and Forgotten Realms settings.

There is a small section of original fiction in this chapter; the first part of a high fantasy novel, a few poems, and a short story about a dragon that makes nice dreams for people. The high fantasy story is of note because the worldbuilding for this story is very heavy (a mix of Netflix’s The Dragon Prince and Alison Goodman’s Eon: Dragoneye; probably predating both of these works, but it’s set in a kingdom of elflike people waring with humans, and some are spiritually linked to magical dragons) and some of it was missing from the original fiction chapter because it had been placed in the mythology of Southern Asia.

Alongside the Makara and the Naga, the editors or author saw fit to drop ‘The Seven’ and give a quick description of 7 dragon gods from this original fiction in the ‘Dragons from Asia’ chapter. The dragons on the cover of the book are also from this fiction story: a lot of importance is placed on this work. In ‘Dragon Myths of the World’, as well as retelling real world stories, the author drops in a poem based on the lore of the story. I personally did not like the way they mixed this fictional story with mythology and history of real world cultures – the story itself I won’t assess as these reviews are for how useful books can be for researching dragons.

The final chapter is ‘Dragons in the Natural World’ is of course the chapter I will be most nit-picky about in this review. Many of the animals mentioned are erroneously called ‘lizards’ – this is down to a creative choice from the writer to try and describe what the animal’s name means. For example, DeKirk calls Kentrosaurus a spiked lizard, pterosaurs flying lizards, Albertasaurus a lizard from Alberta, etc. Even with modern animals, the American alligator and Nile crocodile are classed as lizards!

The phrasing of the natural history chapter of this book is poor, and there are many typos or non-scientific uses of names – generic names with lower case letters, specific names with upper case letters and weird attempts to make plural versions of generic names. These latter mistakes are entirely forgivable given that Dragonlore is not meant to be a science textbook, but if you have a background in biology brace yourself before reading this chapter! Furthermore, the slightly arbitrary sorting of prehistoric animals into ‘drakes’ and ‘dragons’ is a little irksome to me, but it helps divide the chapter into neater chunks.

Final notes, the illustrations: the book has some gorgeous high-fantasy illustrations by Ian Daniels and Erif Thunan, but also seems to take some images from history. These images are likely in the public domain, but I still wish they would add sources to such things. Some of the images seem misplaced, for example the ‘ancient drake’ image (a retrosaur illustration) and the ‘ancient wyvern’ image (a pterosaur) are found in next to chapters about the Final Fantasy video games and the Harry Potter books respectively, and not anywhere near the chapter about dragons in the fossil record. This is a bizarre place to put these images.

This book is a great resource for learning more about world mythology, especially mythology of North, Meso and South America. It also aims to be a complete and well-rounded dragon book, talking about dragons in popular media and science, which makes it a satisfying read overall. Once you’ve read Dragonlore, you feel like you’ve explored dragons in culture thoroughly.

This book was also written by an official wizard school: https://www.gswhandbook.com/

Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Dragonlore-Ash-Dekirk/9781564148681 (£12)

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dragonlore-Archives-Grey-School-Wizardry-ebook/dp/B07J16VXS1 (paperback £3, kindle £14)

(the Dragon Jewels story in the book is said to be on fictionpress, but I have not found it – the pen name was Sanzo Sochisama according to the book)