Tomorrow marks the Lunar New Year—the beginning of the year of the dragon. As our own small celebration, we thought we’d talk about this iconic fantasy creature.
So, without further ado:
Do you have a favourite fictional dragon?
Lauren
After very careful consideration, I’m going to have to decide on Firedrake from the Dragon Rider novel by Cornelia Funke. It’s funny because I don’t remember much about him, but I had a hardcover copy of the book with a fold-out, full-colour map that I read so many times the spine broke. I often brought it to school in Year 4 so my friends could (willingly, I’m sure) act out the most exciting scenes with me. Reading that book in conjunction with my banged-up copy of Dragonology made me fully prepared for a future career in dragon research—publishing is actually my second choice.
Brittany
That’s a tough question… (I say as if I didn’t write it) Mushu from Mulan, and Haku from Spirited Away would definitely be up there.
I am fond of the dragons from Flight Rising. Flight Rising is a pet simulation game (think Neopets’ genre) in which players collect—wait for it—dragons.
One of the characters I’m partial to is Scribbles, the distracted scribe. They are part of a trivia mini game, in which another dragon—Tomo the forgetful historian—asks Flight Rising trivia questions, while Scribbles (for the most part) fails to write down the answers. They instead, according to Tomo’s dialogue, do origami, or paint Tomo’s portrait, or compose poetry on their grudge against quartz (the common rock). The player then, of course, have to come back the next day to answer Tomo’s trivia questions again.
While I really love the dragon art on Flight Rising, I find the writing to be of variable quality. Still, if you’re looking for a dragon short story, I found “After Orbit” a fun read. It’s about a crashing space station manned by moth-dragons.
(and I wrote a little follow up to “After Orbit” myself)
Do you have a favourite dragon from mythology or folklore?
Lauren
Does Dungeons&Dragons count as mythology? More than a specific dragon, or dragon legend, I really like the range available to dragons in D&D—from their kinds (chromatic and metallic) to their colours (everything from standard red to brass and copper and even gold) and their powers (not just fire breath but acid, lightning, poison… the list goes on). They also cast spells!
Brittany
It is said that Wawel Hill, where Kraków Castle now stands, was once the lair of a dragon. A ravenous beast, the dragon terrorised the local villagers, devouring their livestock, and then—hunger unfulfilled—the people themselves. Some say it had a particular taste for young maidens. Something had to be done.
Enter a clever young hero. He took a sheep skin, and filled it with sulphur. Then, he left it out as bait for the dragon. Bait which the greedy beast eagerly gobbled down. Then, it felt a burning inside. The dragon rushed to the Vistula River, and guzzled down the water. But, water cannot put out sulphur’s chemical burn. Perhaps the sulphur poisoned it, or combusted in the dragon’s stomach. Or, perhaps the dragon drank, and drank, and drank from the river, until it could drink no more. Whichever way, the sulphurous sheepskin was the dragon’s last meal. The bones of the defeated dragon were displayed at Wawel Cathedral.
Some say the hero was a humble cobbler. Others, that it was King Krak’s two sons. But, the younger of these two sons wanted the credit all to himself. So, he murdered his brother, and tried to blame the dragon. His crime was uncovered, and the younger son was banished. This left King Krak’s daughter, Wanda, as his sole heir. She became Kraków’s second ruler.
If you visit Kraków, you may have the opportunity to visit the dragon’s old lair in the caves under Wawel Hill. And, you can see the bones hanging outside Wawel Cathedral; though, apparently it’s more likely they’re the bones of a whale than a dragon.
At the foot of the hill stands a sculpture of the dragon made by Bronisław Chromy—a sculpture which breathes real fire.
Are there any stories with dragons in your to read pile?
Lauren
I don’t think it counts as a ‘to-read’, more of a ‘to-watch’, but I’m keen to watch House of the Dragon. I read the original series when Game of Thrones was still airing, which I also haven’t seen since 2018, but I hear the new show has been well received so I’m looking forward to it when I get the chance. Otherwise, my summer to-read pile is mostly late medieval/early modern historical, both fiction and non-fiction, in which I’ve noticed there is an unfortunate under-representation of dragons.
Brittany
I’ve been meaning to read A Day of Fallen Night, by Samantha Shannon, the sequel to Priory of the Orange Tree. Priory of the Orange Tree follows Sabran the Ninth, a queen in need of an heir; Ead, Sabran’s lady-in-waiting, and secret sister of the titular Priory of the Orange Tree, and as such skilled in martial arts; and Tané, a dragonrider in training. An ancient dragon, the Nameless One, threatens to wake. It’s been a while since I read Priory of the Orange Tree, though, so I only vaguely recall the plot. Maybe I should re-read it
A Day of Fallen Night, apparently, goes back in time to the reign of Sabran the Sixth, and another sister of the Priory of the Orange Tree, who have to face the eruption of the Dreadmount, which brings with it “and age of terror and violence”.
Do you have any fun facts about dragons?
Lauren
Hmmm… I suppose this is mostly a fun fact to language nerds, but the word “dragon” can possibly be traced aaall the way back to Proto Indo-European, from the prefix *derk—, meaning “to see”. According to etymolonline.com, not only did this become drakon in Greek, but it is also the progenitor of the Sanskrit prefix darsata— (“visible”) and the Old Irish adcondarc (“I have seen”).
This is fun to me because it sounds like “dark”, which implies the opposite, something that’s hidden in shadow. It reminds me of dragons themselves, which are so well recognised that people around the world have been drawing them for millennia, and yet a living example has never been seen in the light… so far as we know.
Brittany
This is one I got from How to Slay a Dragon by Cait Stevenson; in medieval Europe, dragons breathed not fire, but thick clouds of deadly smoke.
How does one deal with dragon’s deadly smoke breath? Well, given dragons aren’t, strictly speaking, “real”, we don’t have definitive records on the topic. But never fear! Stevenson provides helpful comparisons to other toxic smoke clouds.
The first is air pollution. By the end of the 13th century, air pollution from coal burning was causing complaints in London. The solution? Tell people to stop burning coal. Now I have no proof here, but I suspect saying, “don’t do that,” would be about as effective on a dragon as it has been on people.
The second comparison is the smog of a blacksmith’s workshop. Now, in 1473, a doctor called Ulrich Ellenbog gave some actionable advice on this! Following are his recommendations, as related by Stevenson:
- Cover your mouth with cloth
- Place good smelling spices inside this cloth
- Place beneficial items—like cabbage or emeralds—on your tongue
- Garlic and wine
So, if you ever come up against a medieval dragon, try wearing a mask stuffed with cloves, eating cabbage, and washing it down with a glass of wine.
How to Slay a Dragon is a fun little book; it uses tropes from fantasy stories as a framework to discuss real medieval history. I wrote more about it a while back.
Now, we throw these questions to you, dear reader; do you have a favourite fictional dragon? Or one from mythology or folklore? Any plans to read about dragons? Or fun facts to share? We’d love to hear from you!
And of course, we wish you the best for the coming year of the dragon.
Lauren Hancock-Coffey is the co-founder and financial manager of Banksia Journal. She’s also a writer and devourer of historical fiction with a speculative twist and an avid fantasy RPG-er with more books and games than sense. She’s a full-time editor with a BA in Linguistics and an MA in Professional Writing and Publishing.
Brittany Lee is the co-founder, and editor of Banksia Journal. She is a writer from Perth, Western Australia, with a BA in Linguistics, and Postgrad Diploma in Journalism. Her work has appeared in AntipodeanSF, Dusty Attic Publishing, and Perth’s Raine Square Story Dispenser. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, knitting, and taking photos of flowers (such as banksias).
You can find her online at brittanyerinlee.com.
I always loved the dragons in Raymond E Feist’s ‘Magician’. Something about taking human form and hiding amongst humans always appealed to me.