People from all over the world – from China to Europe, and even in Australia and America – imagined dragons and wrote stories about them. But the problem is that no such animal existed in these lands, not even something that remotely resembled a dragon.
So where did this myth come from? How come people all over the world independently imagined a creature that has all the same qualities in European myths as well as the Chinese myths – a flying reptile that breathes fire?
So the smart people got to work and figured this one out, and seems like there are 5 animals that may have inspired the myth of the dragon.
Dinosaurs
It seems plausible that ancient people somehow discovered the dinosaur fossils and somehow thought of a giant flying reptile. Obviously, they added some elements of fancy to it – it could spit a jet of fire, it loved gold, and so on.
And the most likely candidate was the Stegosaurus, which was 30 feet long and 14 feet tall, while being covered in armored plates and spikes in its skeleton.
The Nile Crocodile
The Nile Crocodile was one of the biggest crocodiles in history. At the length of 18 feet, it could actually perform the “high walk” which is walking on all fours while lifting up its entire body off the ground. Imagine how terrifying that would have been to watch.
These crocodiles could even swim through the Nile, and go up the Mediterranean to Europe – which might have given rise to the myth of the Dragon.
The Goanna
A huge monitor lizard found in Australia, and it has many features that resemble the mythical dragon. This predator lizard is quite huge, and it has sharp teeth and claws. They also produce a deadly venom, and if they bite you then your wound will develop infections.
These lizards were an integral part of the folklore among the Aboriginal population of the Australian continent.
Whales
Seems unlikely, doesn’t it? But many scholars have argued that the ancient people coming across whale bones wouldn’t have thought that these belonged to a water creature. So when the people of old times found whale bones, they might have thought that these belonged to some giant predator which was later defined as a dragon.
The Human Brain
The most fascinating explanation involves an unexpected animal: the human. Many scientists have argued that the existence of dragon myths all over the world means it could have had a psychological origin inside the mind instead of being influenced by some outside creature.
It is said that the human mind has a natural fear of reptilian predators, somehow people just created stories and exaggerated them till it became a myth.
Featured Image Courtesy: Vice Versa