Identify Your Local Dragon

When we say dragon, we usually have one idea in mind: We think of a huge green scaled creature, usually with wings. In most cases, he breathes fire.

That's a fine definition for most dragons.

Oh, there are differences. For example, Western dragons tend to be evil, whereas Oriental dragons are usually related with good fortune.

Dragons also vary in appearance.

Winged dragons

At one extreme, the cockatrice, sometimes called a basilisk, has the feet of a cock. A wyvern has the feet of an eagle. They all have wings and usually a barbed tail. The head of this cockatrice is like a cock, but a wyvern may have a more lizardlike head.

On top of his head, he may have a rooster-like comb, a crown, or a coronet-type decoration.

The poet, Shelley, refers to "the green and golden basilisk."

This dragon often breathes fire, and his glance can kill. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, he refers to "The death-darting eye of Cockatrice."

This is the classic dragon of heraldry, and is often called a heraldic dragon.

Snake-like dragons

At the other extreme, there is the amphiptere, which is a massive, snakelike creature with no legs and no wings. As recently as the late 17th century, these were discovered in England.

There has been speculation that the amphiptere is actually a reticulated python which, in India, can reach a length of 30 feet.

Between these two extremes, there are many varieties of dragons.

Even more dragons

Drakes have legs and breathe fire (or snow/ice), but most of them don't have wings.

A lindworm, lindworm snake, or lindwyrm has a head like a large snake or lizard, and often has no legs. He's just a huge, snakelike creature. Sometimes he has wings, sometimes he doesn't.

Generally, the lindworm is considered an amphiptere.

Likewise, the Irish peist dragon is often described as a huge snake. In the Irish language, the word peist means worm, monster, or sometimes reptile.

However, there are also dragons who fit neither category, and seem quite unrelated.

One of these is the chimera, which comes from the Latin, chimaera, meaning she-goat or monster.

The chimera is fire-breathing, with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

Sea-dwellers

The earliest references to dragons suggest that the live in or near the water. In the Bible, in Psalms 74:13, "Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength; thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters."

Similarly, in Isaiah 27:1, the Bible refers to "the dragon that is in the sea."

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