Wyvern : wi-vurn
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have two wings, but only two legs.
Sometimes shown as having claws on the wings, acting like another pair of "hands". The
Wyvern is sometimes depicted as having a razor sharp stinger filled with poison on the
end of its tail.
HISTORY: The history of the wyvern seems to come from Europe. The
history of this dragon is not so clear, it seems to be mixed in with the history of the
4-legged dragon. Wyvern's have been depicted in heraldry on shields and banners for
hundreds of years, and is considered a sign of strength to those who bear the symbol. One
of the more famous wyverns is Vermithrax in the movie DragonSlayer.
Hydra : hi-drah
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have multiple necks and heads.
They may or may not have wings or legs.
HISTORY: In Greek mythology Hercules fought a grand hydra with 8 heads
(history tells us 6 to 9 heads for this particular hydra). Every time he managed to slash
one off with sword, two would come in its place. He finally figured out by burning the
stump with a torch, it could not grow another head. That is how Hercules rid the world
of the mighty hydra. Also in Greek mythology, Jason killed a hydra to get the Golden
Fleece.
NEO-DRAGONS
Pernese Dragon
PHYSIOLOGY: These dragons have four legs, and two wings. They have
smooth, leathery skin without scales. The dragons eyes are compound and faceted like a
fly's that can change color depending on the mood of the dragon. They have a telepathic
abilities with other dragons, and their rider. Pernese dragons can also teleport into
"between", which is a void, to escape danger. Gold and green dragons are Female.
Bronze, brown and blue are Male. They can breath fire by first swallowing a certain type
of flammable rock known as Firestone.
HISTORY:
The colonists of Pern (A world created from the stories by Anne McCaffrey) genetically
engineered these huge dragons from their small cousins, Firelizards. Pernese dragons and
their riders have a life-long relationship, this is started at the Impression. This is when
the dragons hatch and choose their human partner. If the human partner dies without the
dragon, the dragon will go between permanently. If the dragon dies, the human usually
wastes away until they pass on.
Learn
more about Pernese dragons
Drake : Drayk
PHYSIOLOGY: This is a Western-type dragon with only legs and no wings.
There are two types
of drakes, Fire and Cold. FireDrakes have the breath of flame, and are usually reddish in
color.
ColdDrakes have the breath of snow and hail, and are usually white or light bluish in
color. These
types of dragons do not fly, they look like large lizards being about 4' - 40' long.
HISTORY: This dragon has links to the Western dragon in history, but no solid
history has been produced. Sometimes young western dragons are mistaken for drakes
because of the lack of wings until they reach maturity. In Europe there are many cities
named after this dragon: Drakeford, Drakeshill, etc.
Amphiptere : Am-fih-teer
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons with only wings.
HISTORY: The most famous amphiptere is Quetzalcoatl
(kwet-zah-coat-al), the winged and feathered serpent god from Mexican history.
Scientists think that the myth of Quetzalcoatl started
with a bird, the Quetzal. This bright green bird has tail feathers of over two feet long, and
when it
flies, the bird looks like a shimmering serpent.
Wyrm/Worm: Wurm
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have no legs or wings; Or sometimes
referred to as a very ancient dragon. Also known as The Guivre (Gy-veer).
HISTORY: These dragons seem to have originated in England, and are said to
live in forests and wells. They love any place near water.There are many famous worms
in England's history, the most famous perhaps is the Lambton Worm. This is about
an Heir to Lambton Hall in England who caught the small worm, but thought it too ugly
to eat, so he thew it in the local well. Over the years the worm grew to enormous
proportions and left the well to harass the locals. When Lambton came back from a war
to see the horror he had created, and was told by witch he must slay the worm, but also
must kill the next creature he saw. He slayed the worm, but unfortunately, the next living
creature he saw was his own father, of whom he could not kill. It was said that the
Lambton family was cursed for the next nine generations, and doomed to die abroad, and
never at home.
Lindworm/Lindorm: Lind-wurm/Lind-oarm
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have two legs, and no wings. They
usually have very long tails, and short legs.
HISTORY: Lindworms were apparently discovered by Marco Polo while
crossing Central Asia. He described them as, "Swifter than it looks. Easily able to take
down a man on a galloping horse." These types of dragons (along with the Oroboros) are
frequently represented as "prima materia" in the first stage of the Alchelmy process.
Sea Serpent : See-Sur-pent
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons that live in water, fresh or salt.
HISTORY: Since man has been sailing on boats, sea serpents have been in
history. These creatures
were shown on maps early in European history, where unknown territory was marked
"HERE BE
DRAGONS". Some scientists believe that these sea serpents sailers were actually
gigantic squid,
large masses of sea kelp, or even seafaring dinosaurs.. The Basilosaurus had a very long
body, and
short neck, its mouth filled with long sharp teeth. If it came out of the water near a boat,
it could
very much be thought of as a sea serpent. "Nessie" the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, is one famous
"sea serpent".
Learn more about The Legend Of Nessie and
Sea Serpents
Ouroboros : or-oh-bor-us
PHYSIOLOGY: This is a dragon who holds its tail it its mouth.
HISTORY: First discovered in Egypt, and later in Greece,it is the symbol of the
universe. It also is sometimes referred to being the symbol of "eternity" or "never
ending". The name Ouroboros means "tail
eater".
A similar dragon is his Norse cousin the Midgard Serpent
whose huge body circles the entire world. He was also known for biting his tail, when he
was not trying to bite the Norse god Thor, whom was eventually killed by the gigantic
dragon.
Find out more about the Ouroboros
or Here
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have two wings, but only two legs. Sometimes shown as having claws on the wings, acting like another pair of "hands". The Wyvern is sometimes depicted as having a razor sharp stinger filled with poison on the end of its tail.
HISTORY: The history of the wyvern seems to come from Europe. The history of this dragon is not so clear, it seems to be mixed in with the history of the 4-legged dragon. Wyvern's have been depicted in heraldry on shields and banners for hundreds of years, and is considered a sign of strength to those who bear the symbol. One of the more famous wyverns is Vermithrax in the movie DragonSlayer.
Hydra : hi-drah
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have multiple necks and heads. They may or may not have wings or legs.
HISTORY: In Greek mythology Hercules fought a grand hydra with 8 heads (history tells us 6 to 9 heads for this particular hydra). Every time he managed to slash one off with sword, two would come in its place. He finally figured out by burning the stump with a torch, it could not grow another head. That is how Hercules rid the world of the mighty hydra. Also in Greek mythology, Jason killed a hydra to get the Golden Fleece.
Pernese Dragon
PHYSIOLOGY: These dragons have four legs, and two wings. They have smooth, leathery skin without scales. The dragons eyes are compound and faceted like a fly's that can change color depending on the mood of the dragon. They have a telepathic abilities with other dragons, and their rider. Pernese dragons can also teleport into "between", which is a void, to escape danger. Gold and green dragons are Female. Bronze, brown and blue are Male. They can breath fire by first swallowing a certain type of flammable rock known as Firestone.
HISTORY: The colonists of Pern (A world created from the stories by Anne McCaffrey) genetically engineered these huge dragons from their small cousins, Firelizards. Pernese dragons and their riders have a life-long relationship, this is started at the Impression. This is when the dragons hatch and choose their human partner. If the human partner dies without the dragon, the dragon will go between permanently. If the dragon dies, the human usually wastes away until they pass on.
Learn more about Pernese dragons
Drake : Drayk
PHYSIOLOGY: This is a Western-type dragon with only legs and no wings. There are two types of drakes, Fire and Cold. FireDrakes have the breath of flame, and are usually reddish in color. ColdDrakes have the breath of snow and hail, and are usually white or light bluish in color. These types of dragons do not fly, they look like large lizards being about 4' - 40' long.
HISTORY: This dragon has links to the Western dragon in history, but no solid history has been produced. Sometimes young western dragons are mistaken for drakes because of the lack of wings until they reach maturity. In Europe there are many cities named after this dragon: Drakeford, Drakeshill, etc.
Amphiptere : Am-fih-teer
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons with only wings.
HISTORY: The most famous amphiptere is Quetzalcoatl (kwet-zah-coat-al), the winged and feathered serpent god from Mexican history. Scientists think that the myth of Quetzalcoatl started with a bird, the Quetzal. This bright green bird has tail feathers of over two feet long, and when it flies, the bird looks like a shimmering serpent.
Wyrm/Worm: Wurm
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have no legs or wings; Or sometimes referred to as a very ancient dragon. Also known as The Guivre (Gy-veer).
HISTORY: These dragons seem to have originated in England, and are said to live in forests and wells. They love any place near water.There are many famous worms in England's history, the most famous perhaps is the Lambton Worm. This is about an Heir to Lambton Hall in England who caught the small worm, but thought it too ugly to eat, so he thew it in the local well. Over the years the worm grew to enormous proportions and left the well to harass the locals. When Lambton came back from a war to see the horror he had created, and was told by witch he must slay the worm, but also must kill the next creature he saw. He slayed the worm, but unfortunately, the next living creature he saw was his own father, of whom he could not kill. It was said that the Lambton family was cursed for the next nine generations, and doomed to die abroad, and never at home.
Lindworm/Lindorm: Lind-wurm/Lind-oarm
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons which have two legs, and no wings. They usually have very long tails, and short legs.
HISTORY: Lindworms were apparently discovered by Marco Polo while crossing Central Asia. He described them as, "Swifter than it looks. Easily able to take down a man on a galloping horse." These types of dragons (along with the Oroboros) are frequently represented as "prima materia" in the first stage of the Alchelmy process.
Sea Serpent : See-Sur-pent
PHYSIOLOGY: These are dragons that live in water, fresh or salt.
HISTORY: Since man has been sailing on boats, sea serpents have been in history. These creatures were shown on maps early in European history, where unknown territory was marked "HERE BE DRAGONS". Some scientists believe that these sea serpents sailers were actually gigantic squid, large masses of sea kelp, or even seafaring dinosaurs.. The Basilosaurus had a very long body, and short neck, its mouth filled with long sharp teeth. If it came out of the water near a boat, it could very much be thought of as a sea serpent. "Nessie" the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, is one famous "sea serpent".
Learn more about The Legend Of Nessie and Sea Serpents
Ouroboros : or-oh-bor-us
PHYSIOLOGY: This is a dragon who holds its tail it its mouth.
HISTORY: First discovered in Egypt, and later in Greece,it is the symbol of the universe. It also is sometimes referred to being the symbol of "eternity" or "never ending". The name Ouroboros means "tail eater".
A similar dragon is his Norse cousin the Midgard Serpent whose huge body circles the entire world. He was also known for biting his tail, when he was not trying to bite the Norse god Thor, whom was eventually killed by the gigantic dragon.
Find out more about the Ouroboros or Here
