The Midgard Serpent

Jormungandr by BoSt

 The Origin of the Midgard Serpent

The Midgard Serpent by vyrilien-d491d85

In the Norse and Teutonic legends, as recounted in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlson, the most powerful and feared Dragon-like creature was the Midgard Serpent, known as Jörmungandr. Jörmungandr was so huge he was able to circle the entire Earth (or Midgard as it was called by the Vikings) and put its own tail into its mouth. The Midgard Serpent’s sworn enemy was the Thunder God Thor, one of the few Gods of Asgard who possessed the strength to stand up to the beast. The relationship between the Thunder God and the Serpent started when the Gods were young and ended in Ragnarok; the Twilight of the Gods.
The Midgard Serpent is the middle son of Loki, a jötunn (nature spirits with superhuman strength) himself the son of Laufey (an embodiment of vegetation) and Fárbauti (the spirit of lightning) whose mingling bequeathed Loki the spirit and unpredictability of wildfire. Loki’s mother was the giantess Angrboða, “the one who bring grief”, and his siblings were the Dire Wolf Fenrir and Hel, the Goddess of the Dead whose realm was the mist world of Niflheim. Niflheim was one of the two primordial realms along with Muspelheim where the Fire jötunn dwelt. All three of Loki’s children along with the jötunn of Muspelheim play a pivotal role in bringing about Ragnarok.
Odin, father of the Thunder God Thor’s and leader of the Æsir, saw the danger in Jörmungandr when it would not stop growing after its birth. He threw the serpent into the sea of Midgard, where it continued to grow until it surrounded the whole world. The seas of earth became the realm of the Midgard Serpent.
 

Thor Lifts a Cat

The first encounter Thor had with the Midgard Serpent was in the Castle of Útgarda-Loki during a ritual test of strength. Útgarda-Loki had challenged Thor to drink from a horn whose end was dipped in the sea. Thor failed to drain it, but drank so much it created the tides. Thor then had to wrestle an old crone, a servant of Útgarda-Loki, but was overcome with weakness after being unable to so much as move her. The crone was old age, who neither man nor God could overcome. The third test that Útgarda-Loki posed was to lift a grey cat up off of the floor. Thor tried with all his strength, but was only able to get the cat to lift one paw off of the ground. The cat was actually the Midgard Serpent, whose size was so great that even lifting a small part off of the sea bed was enough to cause earthquakes and tidal waves. Thor left the Castle with Útgarda-Loki’s promise that Thor would never be allowed back in.

Thor Goes Fishing

The next time Thor and Jörmungandr encountered the other Thor, disguised as a young boy, visited Midgard with the God Tyr and stayed with the giant Hymir while Tyr visited his mother and grandmother in the land of the Ice Giants. Hymir was renowned for his fishing skill, and regularly returned with huge fish, even whales, but Hymir looked at the young Thor and doubted if he would be any use rowing his boat. “You are so small, if I take you out for as long and as far as I am wont to go you would undoubtedly freeze.”
This enraged Thor but he held his temper and did not strike the giant. “I will row as far and as fast as you need me to. Nor am I certain which of us would give up and want to return first. Now, where is the bait?”
“If you want to fish with me get your own bait.”

Johann Heinrich Füssli: Thor vs. the Midgard Serpent

Once more Thor’s temper flared, and he strode up the hill to where Hymir kept his herd of prize cattle. Picking the largest ox, named Himinbrjotr, or Sky-Cleaver, and struck off his head with one blow. When he returned Hymir had already launched the boat and had taken up rowing position in the bow. Thor tossed the Ox-head into the vessel and climbed in to man the stern set of oars. Hymir, facing forward, was surprised how fast the boat moved; at first not knowing Thor was powering it from behind. When Hymir reached the fishing grounds where he usually caught flat fish he shipped the oars and called for a stop. Thor refused, wanting to keep going further into the ocean and rowed them out to the spot Hymir caught whales. When the giant wanted to stop and catch whales, Thor again refused, “We must go further out.”

Wissler 1900

“If we do not stop here, we will be in the realm of the Midgard Serpent, who circles the world at its edge.” Hymir remonstrated with Thor two more times but Thor continued to row. Then Thor finally stopped the boat and they both started fishing. Hymir baited his own hook twice, threw it out, and each time he pulled in a huge whale. “I challenge you to do as well as this, stripling.”
Thor then took a strong line and hook and fastened the Ox head onto it. He then let it out farther and farther until it rested on the bottom of the sea where it dragged along behind the boat. The Midgard Serpent was intrigued by the bait and snapped at it, burying the hook into its jaw. Thrashing with pain, Jörmungandr thrashed and swam away so rapidly that it pulled Thor’s knuckles into the gunwale. Angered now, Thor pulled with all his strength just as Jörmungandr pulled in the other direction with such force that Thor’s feet broke through the deck to catch on the hull of the ship. Calling on all his force, Thor reeled in the line hand-over-hand, twisting the free end around the oar-pins as he brought it up, finally working the mighty serpent all the way up to the surface. When the Midgard Serpent’s monstrous head came into view, dripping with blood and venom, Hymir grew yellow of face, and feared for his life. Great waves washed over the gunwale, threatening to swamp the vessel and drown them both but Thor held on to the line with one mighty hand and with the other reached to his belt for his hammer.
From shoulder height Thor struck the Serpent with the hammer Mjöllnir. The mountains shook and the ocean trembled but Jörmungandr was only wounded. As Thor raised Mjöllnir above his head to deliver a killing blow strong enough to split a mountain, Hymir grabbed his knife and cut the line. Jörmungandr quickly slipped back into the depths of the sea to hide as far away from Thor as he could get. Once more enraged by Hymir, Thor did not hold back and brought Mjöllnir down upon the giant’s head, knocking him over the side and down to the bottom of the sea. Filled with a great fear the giant managed to climb back into the boat and huddle in the stern while Thor rowed to land. The God may not have been able to kill the Midgard Serpent and end its threat to Asgard, but he had landed a wounding blow and avenged the trick the beast had played upon him in the Hall of Útgarda-Loki.

Ragnarok: The End of the World

Peter Nicolai Arbo: Aasgaardreien

The prophecy of Raganrok speaks of the doom that befalls Heaven, Earth and Hell because of Thor’s failure to kill the Jörmungandr when he had the chance. When Loki is freed from his chains, the Midgard Serpent rises from the depths to poison the sky of Midgard. Naglefar, the Ship of Death, made in Hel’s realm from the fingernails of the dead, carries Fenrir, Hel, her dragon Nidhogg, swallower of souls, and the demon hoards of Muspelheim under the command of Surtur the Fire Demon to join with the Serpent, Loki and the Ice Giants of Jotunheim in the attack on Asgard. In the final battle of Ragnarok on the fields of Vigrid all Creation is undone and Time itself is shattered.
The battle between Thor and Jörmungandr lasts long and the outcome is uncertain. Thor strikes with Mjöllnir but the Serpent writhes away from the blows, spewing venom over the Thunder God. Thor grows angrier and finally is able to land the deathblow on the Midgard Serpent, stretching him out over the Plain of Vigrid, unmoving. Yet, even in its death throes the Serpent manages to spray its deadly venomous vapor into Thor’s face, who breathes it in and manages to walk but nine paces away before dying on the battlefield beside his mortal foe.

Ragnarok_by_HarryBuddhaPalm

Thor would not be the only Æsir to die at Ragnarok. Even though Loki is killed by Heimdal, Keeper of Bifrost, the Rainbow Bridge, Heimdal is gored by Loki’s horns and succumbs. Tyr is slain by the wolf-dog Garm and Surtur dispatches Frey with his flaming sword. Fenrir attacks and slays Odin the All-Father and is speared in turn by Odin’s son Vidar, who manages to survive the battle. Nidhogg, Hel’s Black Dragon, soars over the plain swallowing the souls of the dead. The Dire Wolf Skoll swallows the sun and the stars blink out of the sky. Surtur the Fire Demon moves through the worlds burning everything with his sword. Midgard is covered in volcanic flame and its sky filled with poisonous smoke, Asgard is scorched and even Nidhogg succumbs to the inferno. Fire curls around the burning trunk of Ygdrasil, the World Tree. Smoldering and blackened, the Earth sinks beneath the sea. What follows is nothing but deep blackness and silence unbroken.

Posted by Steve Caunce

Dragons from the Game of Thrones Exhibit

We all have the bug….Yes; many of us, regardless of age, creed or gender, love dragons. This despite the fact that some have done their best to portray these celestial beings in literary or in visual form as fierce, horrifying and deadly monsters that swoop from the sky to tear apart and incinerate all in their path.  Modern times have been kinder to Dragons however and the lover of dragons, or dare I call us the Dragonets, have multiplied in numbers.  We are enthralled with the episodes containing a dragon or dragons such as those in the Merlin series.  Now a popular series satiates our dragon craving as it ventures to its third season on HBO and also starts on Showcase for the wider viewing audience.
For one week from March 11th to the 15th The Game of Thrones was featured in an exhibit at the Design Exchange on Bay St. in Toronto. One of the best parts of the show was getting up close to the Dragons of Westeros.

Dragons eggs presented to Daenerys Targaryen by Illyrio at her wedding to Khal Drogo.

There was one egg, the green one, missing from the exhibit. It had been presented to George RR Martin after the filming as a memento. Here is the scene from the wedding:

The Dragons hatched from the eggs after being burned in the funeral pyre of Khal Drogo, a fire that Daenerys walked into and magically survived. This earned her the title of Mother of Dragons.

Daenerys and the baby Dragon

You can see this scene here, but be warned: it is not safe for underage viewing or viewing at work. I am not going to put it up in this blog because of that.

The young dragons grow rapidly.

And soon are quite fearsome:

Under the guidance of their mother Daenerys they begin to show the inklings of the formidable weapons they will become when they are full grown.

Later shows will no doubt show more of the three dragons Viserion, Rhaegal and Drogon. Keep watching on HBO.

You can see more pictues from The Game of Thrones Event in Toronto at BoSt Notable Inklings blog post:
The Game of Thrones Exhibit


Here's a collection of the Dragon scenes in Game of Thrones from Season 1-4

In Season 5 Episode 9- We see Drogon all grown up and coming to the rescue of his mother.

"Drogon." Relive the moment. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD)
Posted by Game of Thrones on Wednesday, 10 June 2015

The Death of Fafnir (Part II)

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The Death of Fafnir the Dragon 

Part II, click here for Part I

Sibling rivalry exists among families of every race, there is nothing new there. What is interesting, however, is when it also manifests among the Gods and Immortals of ancient lore.

It so happened that Regin the Dwarf was consumed with utter hatred for his brother Fafnir, who had stolen their Father’s gold as well as the cursed ring Andvaranaut. Curses being as they are, the ring influenced the two rival brothers Regin and Fafnir to form an unholy alliance in order to kill their father Hreidmar.

That’s right, but once its hold was set on Fafnir, the ring fanned the fires of Fafnir’s greed and bewitched him into driving his brother Regin away in order to have sole possession of the entire gold hoard called the Ottergild. And here the story takes on a typical turn for Fafnir’s avarice became insatiable; so overwhelming in fact that it gradually transformed the Dwarf into a mighty Dragon. In the form of a Dragon he easily secreted the hoard away into a cave on Glittering Heath and from then on stood guard over it, lest any get stolen.

Meanwhile back at his castle Regin’s heart burned with revenge as his mind was increasingly bent on one thing and one thing only; securing that gold hoard he so coveted.

About this time the foster-son of King Alf, Sigurd (also known as Sigfried) was sent to live with Regin. The Dwarf, recognizing the strong qualities in the boy, schemed to make him his instrument for enacting his odious revenge.

Sigurd (Sigfried) knew very little of his parentage, being the posthumous son of Sigmund (who had died attacking a disguised Odin) and Hiordis who then had married King Alf. Furthermore, his only patrimony was the shattered fragments of Sigmund’s sword. Embarking on his dire plan Regin first strove to make Sigurd resent and abjure Alf’s household but, because Alf was a fair foster-father and shared anything with Sigurd, this ploy failed miserably. Alf even gave his son the horse Grani, sired by Odin’s own horse, Sleipnir.

In a last-ditch effort, Regin pretended to take Sigurd into his confidence and, in an extended dramatic rendition, related to him the story of his own past and the treasure of the Ottersgild. Convinced of the unfairness of Fafnir’s theft, Sigurd agreed to help Regin retrieve his treasure.

Delighted, Regin at once turned his smithing skills towards forging a mighty weapon for Sigurd. Unfortunately, his first two attempts failed. Each time Sigurd tested them on Regin’s anvil the swords shattered. With extra diligence Regin incorporated the fragments of Sigmund’s sword and finally made a superb blade, Gram. When Gram was tested by Sigurd, it proved so powerful that it cut clean through the anvil dividing it into perfect halves. Success at last! Surely this would kill the Dragon!

Sigurd_VS_Fafnir_by_Relotixke

Once Regin had a sword capable of piercing the Dragon’s tough hide, the only problem remained was how to incapacitate the fearsome beast long enough for Sigurd to strike a death blow.
Adept at cunning, Regin then developed the plan of digging a pit on the path Fafnir took down to the brook near his cave on Glittering Heath, hiding in the pit then stabbing Fafnir as he passed over it. In order to absolve Sigurd of the crime of killing his brother, Regin proposed that if Sigurd would cut out the Dragon’s heart, which conferred power over all other men, roast it and feed it to him he would forgo the family’s vengeance. The naive Sigurd agreed.

Regin and Sigurd went out and quickly dug up the pit, but Regin being fearful, made a false pretence and left the Sigurd to face Fafnir alone while he, himself, retreated to safety. After Regin had gone Odin, disguised as an old man, visited Sigurd and told him that if he stayed in the pit he would be drowned by the vast flow of Dragon’s blood pouring out of Fafnir’s body. Odin advised him to dig trenches to drain the blood into holding pits and, after the Dragon was dead, bathe in the beast’s blood, covering his whole body with it so that his skin would gain the property of invulnerability. After Odin vanished Sigurd dug the trenches just as Odin had directed then lay down in the main one on the path to await the arrival of Fafnir.

Fafnir by the Creek by BoSt

The earth started shaking and a loud, fearsome, noise was heard over the Heath as Fafnir approached, snorting venom ahead of him. All this was for naught, however, for Sigurd was not afraid. As Fafnir crawled over the pit Sigurd thrust the enchanted sword Gram upwards with all his strength, aiming at the heart and burying it up to his shoulder in the body of the Dragon. As soon as the blow was delivered Sigurd drew out his sword and leapt out of the pit to get a safe distance away from the thrashings of the Dragon’s body.

Fafnir knew he had been dealt a killing blow but was intent on finding out the name of his slayer so that he could hurl his death-curse at him. He roared, “Who art thou that has done this deed? Who is thy father and what manner are thy kin that ye should come to bear weapons against me?” (Dragons were very formal when weaving curses).

Sigurd knew to avoid the curse and answered that he was born of neither man nor woman and had acted alone.

Fafnir, of course, saw through this and challenged him once more to tell the truth and Sigurd then gave his name and the name of his dead father. Fafnir then asked who had counseled him to attack him. Sigurd again denied that he had any help, whereupon the Dragon then wove a web of assertions and questions that gradually, through circumstantial evidence, drew the answer, unspoken, out of Sigurd. “So it was Regin, my brother, who has brought about my end! It gladdens my heart that he will bring about yours, too, and thus all things will have been shaped to his will.”

“I have reigned in terror over this Heath for many years, spewing out poison so none would come near, and no weapon would be drawn against me. I thought myself stronger than all, for all men were sore afraid of me.”

Sigurd answered, “Few may attain victory by means of terror, for whoever does so comes to discover that no one man is for long the mightiest of all.”

Seeing that Sigurd was going back towards his cave, Fafnir called out, “Ride to my lair, then, and you will find gold enough to last your entire life long, yet that very gold will be your undoing, and the bane of whosoever owns it.”

“If by losing that wealth I would be assured that I would never die, then I would gladly leave the gold where it lies, but every man is fated to die, and I would fain do so with your wealth at my command. You, however, shall wallow in thy death pain until Hel and Death take thee, and thy gold will do thee not good at all.”

siegfried_kills_fafnir_by_katepfeilschiefter-d35g5yc

And so Fafnir died.

Sigurd then went over to one of the holding pools where Fafnir’s blood had gathered, stripped off his armor and bathed in the rank fluid so that it covered his whole skin, except for a spot on his shoulder where a linden leaf had fallen and stuck to him. Once he became invulnerable, Sigurd cut out Fafnir’s heart and began to roast it over a fire as he had promised Regin he would. While the heart was cooking Sigurd got some of the Dragon’s blood on his finger and licked it off. To his surprise he found he could understand the language of birds and some other animals.

Listening to Odin’s ravens as they talked in the tree above him, Sigurd discovered that Regin had indeed plotted to kill him after eating the heart of the Dragon. Thereby having knowledge of the doom Regin had planned, he beheaded him with one stroke of Gram as soon as the Dwarf reappeared to claim his prize. Sigurd ate the roasted Dragon heart himself and gained the gifts of wisdom and prophecy.

As for the Ottersgild treasure, including the ring Andvaranuat, Aegishjalmr the Helmet of Awe, the Golden Byrnie (cuirass), and all its attendant curses, Sigurd took it north with him to Hindfell where he met Brynhild the Valkyrie and had another, much different, adventure of no interest to us as it has no Dragons in it. If you are somewhat interested, however, you may find it told in the Opera by Richard Wagner called The Ring of the Nibelungenlied.

Nidhogg and Ratatosk

Nidhogg and Ratatosk

The first world to be created in Norse mythology was Muspelheim, the world of volcanic fire. The next world that came into being was Niflheim, the land of ice and cold and, where it meets the world of fire, a world of mists. Between the two realms of fire and ice grows the World Tree, Yggdrasill, with the rest of creation, the worlds of Gods, men, elves and giants in its branches. One of the roots of Yggdrasill draws sustenance from the spring at Hvergelmir, located in Niflheim. Under this root, one of three that support and nourish the World Tree, lies the Dragon Nidhogg (Malice Striker) who, along with the Dragons Goin and Moin, gnaw on the main root while the Dragons Graback, Grafvolluth, Svafnir and Ofnir chew away at the twigs that grow on the tree. Even though the three Norns repair the damage every evening, Nidhogg will eventually gnaw through the root and Yggdrasill will topple, ushering in the end to all the worlds and the final battle: Ragnarok.
High in the branches of Yggdrasill perches a giant eagle in whom is housed the knowledge of all the worlds. The eagle abhors Nidhogg and his destruction of the World Tree. Using the squirrel, Ratatosk, as a go-between he and the dragon trade insults up and down the height of the tree, much to the delight of the quarrel-loving Nidhogg and the gossip, Ratatosk.

Niflheim is also the abode of Hel, daughter of Loki, and mistress of the unvaliant dead. Heroes and those who die in battle spend the afterlife in Valhalla feasting, drinking and telling tales of valor; those who live forgotten lives, who have no warrior traits and who died of disease, suicide or accident are sent to the Realm of Hel where they work, cold and miserable. The wickedest of these miserable shades are sent to Nidhogg, where their souls are sucked from them for his nourishment.

After the final battle Nidhogg will fly over the battlefield eating the souls of Fire Demon, Rime Giant and God indiscriminately until he, too, is killed by Surtur the Fire Demon.

How Many Sheep Does it Take to Fill a Dragon Belly?

In European lore Dragons are often accused of raiding the villages and eating up the herd animals, usually sheep. Has anyone ever calculated just how many sheep it would take to fill a Dragon's belly? Would you care to make a guess?

The Duke Loves Dragons

 The Duke Loves Dragons

 

Since the days of the cave man home has been more than the structure that gives us shelter from the elements. We abhor the emptiness of bare surfaces and strive to make our living space into something that expresses our individuality, a place that defines us as much as it displays our tastes and accomplishments. Sometimes what has started as decoration, or as a means of passing on our tastes to our descendants, becomes a tool of a man’s pride and takes on a life of its own. Mankind’s pride is limitless and his expression of his self-worth is only limited by his riches. Buildings become a measure of a man’s achievements and the expression of his own taste.  

Here’s a perfect illustration, the amusing ancient tale of Duke Yeh retold (as Duke Coquaigne, with certain liberties taken):

Long after Rome had fallen, when Europe was beginning to dig itself out from centuries of barbarism, the continent was split up into a multitude of feudal states, each under the control of its local ruler. One of these states was the fiefdom of the Duke of Coquaigne, a strong leader who had increased the agricultural production of his estates, traded successfully with his neighbours and vanquished other, less amenable, nobles with his well-trained army. He rebuilt his ancestral castle and gathered a small army of the most skilled artisans, stonemasons, carpenters, cooks and blacksmiths; setting them to work on monumental structures that vastly improved his patrimony.

The Duke held an unusual fascination for Dragons ever since he was a child and had spent many an hour perusing the scrolls of heraldry. Every night before going to sleep, at his urging, his nanny had filled his head and imagination with wondrous accounts of the regal Dragons that had once roamed the world. In the time before they had been chased away by the present Religious hierarchy, who had also succeeded in permanently abolishing   the last vestiges of the Old Religions. 

 During this successful reign, as the Duke Coquaigne’s prestige and wealth grew he began to identify with the Dragon and so began collecting anything and everything to do with the fearsome beasts.  He filled his entire castle with Dragons:  illustrated manuscripts and scrolls, statues, tapestries and frescoes. Every nook and cranny was soon adorned with images of Dragons; bejewelled Dragons guarding their hoards, fire-breathing Dragons despoiling villages and terrifying maidens, countless depictions of various Knights fighting a Dragon, ships menaced by Water Dragons, and even paintings on rice paper from far-off Cathay of their Serpent-Dragon coiled across the sky. Dragons were embroidered on his court clothes and carved on his furniture, each one carefully crafted to inspire awe in anyone who beheld them. He even acquired stone Dragon eggs from traders who had discovered them lying in the rock of the Great Desert, along with the bones of their mother. The Duke had dispatched several expeditions to retrieve those bones, but none had ever returned from the wasteland. 

The eccentric Duke even began to imitate the Dragon’s roar (or what he imagined the roar to sound like) whenever he was enraged, and lived his life the way he thought a Dragon would.

So enthusiastically did he carry out this Dragon worship, for he did view it as an almost Holy quest, that he became famous throughout Europe for being a Dragon lover. People would comment, ``the Duke loves Dragons, `` with as much veracity and nodding of heads as if they had said, ``the sky is blue.”

 It was bound to happen that the story of the Duke who loved Dragons would finally reach the ears of the last colony of Dragons left in the world. On the highest mountains, far away from even the remotest trails they had sought refuge where their roars and fiery breath were often mistaken for mountain storms. Such adulation that the Duke espoused stoked their curiosity and they decided to send out one of their number, a youngster only eleven centuries old, to visit the Duke and discern the truth. ``Perhaps mankind has matured over these past centuries and may once more welcome us among them.`` they speculated. With this, the young Dragon took flight and headed towards civilized lands.

On a rather sweltering afternoon, the Duke was sipping cool refreshments after his extensive lunch as he admired his latest acquisition; an exquisitely carved marble Dragon perched atop a model of his own castle.

Suddenly an explosive roar was heard that shook the palace down to the deepest dungeons. A blinding flash of lightning lit up the room just before clouds of roiling smoke obscured the view. The Great Dragon had just crashed through part of the roof and, with a small twitch of his mighty tail, demolished the outside stone wall. When the dust and debris settled the Dragon looked out over the fallen tapestries, broken statues and splintered furniture trying to find the Duke.

``I have arrived, oh Duke! ``, he roared.

The Duke was nowhere to be seen. In his terror he had scuttled under his throne and remained there frozen, shaking like a leaf.

 “There you are!” The dragon puffed the throne aside, uncovering the paralyzed, cowering Duke among the shattered remains of his Dragon treasure, his face hidden and eyes averted  from the real Dragon that towered over him.

The Dragon sighed, as much as Dragons could sigh, let out a mighty roar, and then took to the air. Mankind had not changed, the Duke`s admiration was but a sham. He loved the idea of Dragons, the hollow tales and images of Dragons, but he panicked when presented with the real thing. He was unmanned and his pretense exposed.

Despite all his efforts to suppress the story, the news of the Dragon`s visit and its unfortunate effect upon the Duke spread like wildfire. There were whispers in the dark corners that spread to the alehouse and then out into the street where laughter at the Duke`s folly ran rampant. People still said, ``The Duke Loves Dragons. `` But now they used it to refer to a poseur or someone who puts up a false front. His riches and army were still with him, but the Duke was no longer respected in his own country, or abroad. Soon an invading army put an end to his reign and their cannons completed the devastation the Dragon inflicted on the castle.

The End

Legends of Red and White Dragons and Merlin

Legends of Red and White Dragons and Merlin

One could expect that the legends surrounding Merlin the Mage in Arthurian legend would contain tales of dragons, and so they do. Merlin’s dragons, in fact, appeared when the Romans first invaded Britain, well before Arthur took over the throne and long before Merlin was born.

The Fable of Llefelys and Llud:

At the time of the Roman invasion there were two brothers, Llefelys the King in France and Llud who ruled in Britain. Llud’s kingdom was cursed by horrible screams, so fearsome that they caused the women and beasts of the kingdom to miscarry. These screeches and shrieks occurred on every Beltane (the modern May Day). Llefelys, who had all the wise men of France at his disposal, told Llud that the screams came from a Welsh dragon trying to defeat a foreign dragon. Llud was instructed to return home and to measure his kingdom lengthwise and width-wise to find the center point. Once this was done, Llud was told to have a cistern, or large well constructed on the spot. The cistern was to be filled with strong mead and covered with brocaded silk. Then Llud himself was to sit by the side of the cistern on Beltane and apply Llefelys’ second set of instructions.

Having followed his brother’s first set of instructions; Llud found that the center point was at Oxford. He constructed the cistern there and filled it with mead then placed a silk covering on top. He was rewarded on the night of Beltane by the sight of two dragons furiously fighting above him in the air. Finally they exhausted themselves, changed into the shape of pigs, and fell into the vat where they commenced gobbling the alcoholic mead. After drinking their fill they fell asleep and Llud was able to wrap the cloth around them and take them captive. From Oxford Llud took the sleeping dragons to the most secure spot in his kingdom: the Citadel at Ffaraon Dandde in Snowdon where he had the dragons permanently imprisoned. From then on Beltane was free of shrieking and the overjoyed people celebrated with true merriment.

Merlin and the Red and White Dragons

After the Romans left Britain the site was re-named Emrys’s Citadel and it was at that time that it entered into Arthurian legend through the exploits of the Wizard Merlin.

About 450 AD the Constantine, King of the Britons was killed by a Pictish assassin and his eldest son, Constans, became King. Vortigern had married Princess Severa, the daughter of Constantine’s predecessor, Magnus Maximus, and from this position he installed himself as the Reagent to the young king. Soon the young King Constans met his untimely end. When Vortigern took over the throne the infant brothers Aurelius Ambrosius and Uthar Pendragon (Arthur’s father) were spirited to safety in Brittany.

Vortigern’s hold on power was shaken when the kingdom was attacked by Picts living north of Hadrian’s Wall. Since he did not have enough fighters to repel the Picts permanently, Vortigern enlisted the aid of two armies of Saxon and Jutish mercenaries from the Baltic, led by the Princes Hengist and Horsa. The Jutes and Saxons were paid with a grant of land between the Britons and the Wall. This proved to be an uwise move when, soon after, the Saxons and the Jutes betrayed Vortigern and attacked the Britons.

The distraught Vortigern called together a council of twelve wise men and asked for their advice. They told him to construct a fortress in one of the remote areas of his kingdom from which he could mount a defence against the Saxons. The place that was chosen for the fortress was Dinas Ffaraon, also known as Ffaraon Dandde, near mount Snowdonia in Wales. Construction began but, no sooner than the material s were gathered and the foundations were laid, the structure crumbled to rubble overnight. Three times Vortigern attempted to build his fortress and three times his efforts were foiled. Again he called on his council and asked them to determine the reason for this failure.

In those times human sacrifice was an accepted practice where infants were sealed up in walls or the blood of the sacrificial victims was mixed into the mortar. When the council of twelve told the King, “You must find a child born without a father, put him to death, and sprinkle the ground on which the citadel is to be built with his blood.” he accepted their advice and sent his servants throughout Britain to find a fatherless boy. One of the servants, Dafydd Goch, discovered a boy called Myrddin Emrys in Bassaleg. Emry’s mother was named Aldan and his father was reputed to be a demon, though it was more likely that the father was a Royal Prince whose name could not be publically revealed, and for this reason he’d acquired the reputation of being fatherless. The boy was brought back to Dinas Ffaraon to be presented to Vortigern as the appropriate sacrifice.

Emrys faced Vortigern boldly, “Why did you have me brought here?”

“To be put to death so that the ground on which my citadel is to stand may be sprinkled with your blood.” Vortigern replied.

“Who advised you thus?”

“My council.”

“The law stipulates that a condemned man may plead for the King’s justice. Bring the council thither that I may argue my case.”

When the councillors were brought before the King the boy spoke, “I will soon reveal everything to your Highness, but first I require that these men disclose what is hidden in the earth beneath this structure.” The King granted Emrys permission to do this, at which point Emrys turned to the councillors, “By what means was it revealed to you that this citadel could not be built unless the ground were sprinkled with the blood of an innocent? Speak without guile and profess your true reasons.”

The councillors exchanged nervous looks and could not give an answer.

The boy with a wry smile then said, “Under us there is a pool if you but delve to find it.”

Diggers were brought and they found the pool, just as Emrys had said. “Now, you who are so wise, tell me what is in that pool.”

They were ashamed and could not reply.

“There are two vessels there.”, and it was indeed discovered that there were two vases joined neck to neck in the pool.

“What is in these vases?” The councillors could not answer this question any more than they could answer the others. “There is a silk tent in them, pull them apart and find it is so.”

By the King’s command the vases were separated and a folded tent was found inside. “What is in the tent?” asked the boy and again they could not speak.

“Inside the tent are two serpents, one white and one red, reveal them and watch what they do.”

The instructions were obeyed and two sleeping serpents were discovered. Once exposed to the air the creatures changed into Dragons and began to fight upon the silk tent. The white dragon raised himself on his hind legs and threw the other into the middle of the tent, then drove him back to the edge. Three times the white dragon assailed the red and three times the red, apparently the weaker of the two, was driven to the edge of the tent. In a turn of events the red dragon recovered his strength and threw the white dragon completely off of the tent and into the pool. Here the pursuit continued and both dragons disappeared into the bottom. Once the dragons were seen no more the boy turned to the councillors and asked them what meaning they put to the actions of the dragons. Perplexed, they again admitted their ignorance.

“The pool is this world, and the tent is your kingdom, oh King. The Red Dragon is the dragon of the Britons and the White Dragon that of the Saxons. At length, however, our people shall rise and drive the Saxons back into the sea from whence they came but you, oh King, are constrained from raising you citadel on this mountain. You must depart and build elsewhere. Emrys also prophesied the defeat of Vortigern at the hands of Prince Ambrosius before the eventual expulsion of the Saxons.

Vortigern, seeing how he had been deceived by his councillors, put them to death and ordered them to be buried in a nearby field. The boy’s life was spared and he became known in later years as the great Mage Myrddin Emrys (Merlin in English) and the mountain which had housed the captive dragons was re-named Dinas Emrys and became his home until he was found by Aurelius Ambrosius, who persuaded Merlin to come with him. Merlin helped Ambrosius become King and, after him, helped his younger brother Uthar Pendragon strengthen the kingdom.

The Red Dragon of this Legend went on to become the symbol of the Welsh people.

Dragons in Slavic Mythology

Dragons in Slavic Mythology

In Slavic mythology Dragons are either male or female. Often seen as siblings, they represent different forces of agriculture. In the Bulgarian mythologies the female dragon is always depicted as being hateful of mankind, locked into a perpetual battle with her male sibling. She represents water characteristics, adverse weather and is associated with destruction of crops. The male dragon on the other hand has a fiery nature and is depicted as being a caring, loving, shielding benefactor of men working to further their crops and their survival. In Bulgarian folklore both male and female dragons are depicted with three heads, snake bodies and have wings.

Dragons in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Serbian lore are all unvaryingly represented as being hostile. They are depicted with anywhere from one to seven or more heads, three and seven being the most favoured, and the heads always re-grow upon decapitation unless fire is used to cauterize the neck. Their Dragon blood is so poisonous that, when spilled, the Earth cannot absorb it. Always represented as being evil, these four legged, winged, fearsome monsters have few redeeming qualities. They mercilessly extract tribute from strained settlements by way of maidens, gold or food, all of which the poor inhabitants can ill afford.

Bulgarian Dragons

The Chuvash Dragons of Bulgaria reflect the myths of the Volga River before the Turkish dominance and differ from Turkic counterparts like the Zilant. The best known of the Chuvash Dragons is the Veri Selen [fire snake] which, like the Russian Gorynych, has multiple heads and flies through the air trailing fire. These dragons are said to hatch from the dead bodies of illegitimate children, killed by their mothers and discarded. At night the Veri Selen assumes human form and seeks revenge for their betrayal by seducing the men and impregnating the women.

Islamic influence on dragon myths can be seen in the account of the Bulgars who founded the town of Bilar. They discovered a big snake living nearby and resolved to kill it, but the snake begged them to leave it in peace and that night pleaded with Allah (God) to give her wings. Taking pity on her Allah granted her the gift of wings and she was able to fly away from this danger, never to be seen again.

Ibn Fadlan visited Bulgaria around the time of their conversion to Islam in the Tenth Century, and found numerous snakes in the area around the Volga, particularly in the trees. One huge tree, over a hundred feet high, had fallen and around the trunk a huge snake, as long as the tree was high, was coiled. The Bulgars allayed Ibn Fadlan’s apprehension, assuring him the snake was not dangerous. Another great snake, sometimes referred to as a Dragon, inhabited a pagan temple tower at Alabuga, and the legend of this particular reptile persisted after the Islamic period until the invasion of Tamarlane.

The Wawel Dragon

The Polish Wawel Dragon, according to lore, once lived in a cave on the Vistula River below Wavel Castle near the city of Krakow during the time of its founder, King Krakus. Every day the dragon would emerge from its cave to wreak havoc across the countryside, destroying farms and homes, killing the people it found and devouring their livestock. In many variations of the story the Wawel Dragon was particularly fond of eating young girls and could only be deterred from his destructive rampage if the townsfolk of Krakow left a young maiden outside his cave once every month. This situation continued as the King’s knights, testing their mettle against this terrible beast, one by one fell to the Dragon’s fiery breath, and eventually all the young girls of the town and the surrounding area were all sacrificed. All but one that is, and now came the turn of the beautiful daughter of King Krakus himself. He loved his daughter very much and in his desperation, he promised her hand in marriage to anyone, regardless of his station in life, who could defeat the Dragon and end this terrible carnage.

Coveting this legendary beauty, great warriors thronged to the capital from near and far to try their luck. Unfortunately the fierce Dragon destroyed all these fine knights as if they were but cattle herded to the slaughter. Finally, with all the challengers exhausted, there came the turn of a poor cobbler’s apprentice named Dratewka. The resourceful boy, undaunted by the jeers and mockery of his friends, set to work at once. He did not need to attain any fine armour or weaponry for he had his wits about him instead. He had only one night to complete the seemingly impossible task, so he quickly obtained raw sulphur and tar and concealed it in the carcass of a slaughtered lamb. He then carried it all the way up to the entrance of the dragon’s cave, left it just outside and quickly hid. Almost immediately after eating the bait the Dragon developed an unbearable thirst, so strong it was that it could not be assuaged by any amount of water. The Dragon drank and drank, swallowing almost half of the Vistula River, yet his thirst could not be quenched; meanwhile, his stomach swelled so much that suddenly, with a thunderous sound, he exploded.

The king and all the townsfolk were overjoyed and Dratewka became their most beloved hero there and then. The sovereign, honouring his word, blessed the marriage of Dratewka to his beautiful daughter and they all lived happily ever after.

A charming Play about the Wawel Dragon:

See this on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/ExhaY9lEA-8