Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China. Like some other dragons, most Japanese dragons are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Gould writes (1896:248), [80] the Japanese dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws". A story about the samurai Minamoto no Mitsunaka tells that, while he was hunting in his own territory of Settsu, he dreamt under a tree and had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared to him and begged him to save her land from a giant serpent which was defiling it. [64] Mitsunaka agreed to help and the maiden gave him a magnificent horse. [64] When he woke up, the seahorse was standing before him. [64] He rode it to the Sumiyoshi temple, where he prayed for eight days. [64] Then he confronted the serpent and slew it with an arrow. [64]

Walter, Christopher (2003), The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition, Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 9781840146943 Are there any naming conventions (things like naming a dragon after a mythology god or goddess) you can think of that would be good for naming fire dragons that I haven’t thought up yet? What are they?

The legends and traditions of Spain's cities and villages in Spain is Culture". www.spainisculture.com . Retrieved 1 September 2023.

Naming dragons in general is pretty fun, but fire dragons in particular, whether they’re merely fire-breathing or completely red and fire themed overall, are probably the most fun to come up with names for. The Fire Dragons have come forward at this time to Alphedia to ask for a workshop connecting with their powerful transformational energy. However, only a few centuries ago rumors of dragons seemed to have been confirmed by eyewitness accounts from sailors returning from Indonesia who reported encountering dragons — Komodo dragons, a type of monitor lizard — which can be aggressive, deadly, and reach 10 feet (3 meters) in length. In her book The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2000), Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. [19] She argues that the dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the Siwalik Hills below the Himalayas" [20] and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the Monster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils of Samotherium, an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region. [20] In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones" [21] and are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. [21] Mayor, however, is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils [21] and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils." [21] In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such as Komodo dragons, Gila monsters, iguanas, alligators, or, in California, alligator lizards, though this still fails to account for the Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region." [22] Morgan, Giles (21 January 2009), St George: Knight, Martyr, Patron Saint and Dragonslayer, Edison, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., ISBN 978-0785822325

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The ancient Greek word usually translated as "dragon" (δράκων drákōn, genitive δράκοντοϛ drákontos) could also mean "snake", [94] [6] but it usually refers to a kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power. [95] The first mention of a "dragon" in ancient Greek literature occurs in the Iliad, in which Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate. [96] In lines 820–880 of the Theogony, a Greek poem written in the seventh century BC by the Boeotian poet Hesiod, the Greek god Zeus battles the monster Typhon, who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises. [85] Zeus scorches all of Typhon's heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon into Tartarus. In other Greek sources, Typhon is often depicted as a winged, fire-breathing serpent-like dragon. [97] In the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, the god Apollo uses his poisoned arrows to slay the serpent Python, who has been causing death and pestilence in the area around Delphi. [98] [97] [99] Apollo then sets up his shrine there. [97] Rauer, Christine (2000), Beowulf and the Dragon: Parallels and Analogues, Cambridge, England: D. S. Brewer, ISBN 0-85991-592-1