Religion
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These names are probably the most recognized of the dragons stories, and it was probably the influence of the Church that turned dragons to the dark side. What better way to turn natives to Christianity than to compare their gods and goddesses with the evil and treacherous dragon?
Places associated with the dragon legends are often associated with sites of ancient (and current) sanctity. Many the sites are dedicated to St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, and other dragon-slaying personages. They run across the southern reaches of England from the northeast to St. Michael's Mount near Cornwall. (Whitcomb)
Henry M Morris, Ph.D. has written a very interesting treatise on Dragons in the Bible. It can be read at www.icr.org/pubs/imp/imp-241.htm
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Other Saints associated with a dragon and/or dragon-slaying:
- St. Theodorus of Heraclea, a soldier-general of the Licenus army in Thrace. 4th Century.
- St. Serf destroyed a dragon
- St. Petroc convinced a dragon to leave town
- St. Clement drove out the Dragon of Matz (Ireland)
- St. Columcilla drove a dragon out of Donegal (Ireland)
- St. Keyne
- St. Cado
- St. Guthlac
- St. Marcellus of Paris
- St. Hilary of Poitiers drove a dragon into the town fire.
- St. Paul
- St. Philip
- St. Florent
- St. Gilbert
- St. Armel
- St. Clemens
- St. Nikolaus
- St. Procopius
- St. Servan
- St. Urgin
- St. Erasmus had a dragon as a servant
- St. Beatus drove out a cave dragon in Switzerland
- St. Cain turned serpents into stone
- St. Hermentaire
- St. Hilda petrified English snakes
- St. Magnus
- St. Mangold removed a dragon from the road
- St. Sylvester
- Aaron's rod turned into a dragon in Exodus 7:12-15
- A Priest's footprints are still visible in solid rock after his battle.
- Lindisfarne monks saw dragons that heralded the coming of the Vikings
- Dragons were seen over London - then came a great storm.
- MM Drake, in his Saints and Their Emblems attaches 35 dragons to 30 martyrs and other people.
Christianity may have inherited the Hebraic version of the dragon, and then taken it further from there, making it a part of their theological system.
The Hebrew word for lion "sahal" can be interpretted as "a fabulous beast of the serpent (dragon) type" and often the two are linked and used interchangably in the Bible.
In Job 30:29, the word "dragon" may be a mistranslation of the Hebrew "tan" which is used in other verses to mean "wolf" or "jackal".
Hebrew nahas (serpent) = the Akkadian nesu (lion)
Ethiopian arwe (serpent) (although the acual expresion should be arwe medr or 'animal of the ground', not just arwe) = Hebrew aryeh, ari (lion)
Biblical dragon combat myths were most often used to demonstrate the conflict between Israel and Egypt.
The Getty Museum, a collection of artwork and illuminated manuscripts, has the following that might be useful.According to the Book of Fabulous Beasts, scriptural dragons were most often used as allegories by religious leaders and in Physiologus.
In Paradise Lost, Satan is turned into a dragon after he tempted Jesus in the Garden.
In "Lepanto and the arts of creation", Iain Fenlon describes a procession that glorified the Turk's defeat at sea in the 16th century. The Turk is shown as a great dragon attacked by 3 men who symbolized St. Peter, James and Mark. Later, the men symbolized Faith, Hope and Charity.
From Valentines we hear that "Jesus tells Mary Magdalene that the outer darkness is a huge dragon, who, tail in mouth, encompasses the whole world" (Source: Python pg 234).