The Dragons of Liechtenstein

Usually, in the west, dragons are thought of as magical creatures created by the devil. As such they were to be feared and avoided like the Plague. But in the Liechtenstein/Vorarlberg region, they were not thought to be supernatural but just another danger like wolves, bears, and boars. The nobles and knights paid them little attention as they thought that the dragons were no threat to their towns and castles. Dealing with the creatures was left up to the local peasants.

Dragons exist no longer in Liechtenstein. Their caves lie empty. But recently a dragon of sorts has returned to the land - a Dragon Boat that is, sponsored by the LGT Bank in Liechtenstein. It took part in recent Stanley Dragon Boat races in Hong Kong in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

References:

The Mals Dragon was told about in a previous article "Halloween Tales from Liechtenstein" at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/liec...

"Liechtenstein/Land of Legend", QUICK, Vaduz, Li., May 1957, a translation by Esmee Mascall of "Sagenumwobene Heimats" by H.F. Walser.

How Dragons Disappeared from the Alps in the Mid-Eighteenth Century by Claude Reichler, Abstract from "Reconceptualizing Nature, Science, and Aesthetics", ed. by P. Coleman, A. Hofmann, S. Zurbuchen, Slatkine ed., Geneva, 1998; English translation by Julia Gallagher. http://www2.unil.ch/acvs/E/publ_0099.html

Austrian Dragon Beliefs at http://www.biopark.org/dragonhistory.html

Dragon myths from Vorarlberg (Austria) http://www.geocities.com/lermore/dragon/...

The Liechtenstein Princely Navy at http://www.silvancolani.com/navy/navyhom...

Animated dragons courtesy of Tasty Dead at http://www.tastydead.com/

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