What are dragons?

>>19398734
Because every culture managed to find a giant dinosaur skull once in a while.

>>19398734
Dragons are real and in every culture

>>19398734
>tfw Noah didn't bring dragons on the arch

Fucking hell Noah.

>>19398734
Because the term dragon itself is vague enough so that myriad creatures from various cultures can fit the bill simply because they happen to be reptiles, or share traits with reptiles. We focus on that one thing they share rather than the many things which differentiate them. And I'm not just referring to their appearances. Their cultural significance is important as well. You'd be hard pressed to find as many Europeans as Chinese people who view dragons in a positive light, just as it'd be hard to find Chinese folks who view dragons as bloodthirsty beasts who horde mountains of gold.

It's a metaphor for your digestive system.

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>>19398821
Are u sure?!

>>19398956
Are dragons supernatural, tho

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>>19398734
Even the North American Natives had a dragon story.
http://www.piasabirds.com/piasalegend.html

Alligators & crocodiles.

>>19399134
This one look close to chink one

>>19399132
yes

>>19399163
& constellations too!

Or space ships filled with gold mining alien invaders!

>>19398821
>>19399102
Dragons were sent to the moon.

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>>19399969

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Dragons are the Serpent Archons.

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>>19400135
The consort was imperfect because the maker was incomplete. In outward shape the beauty of Lilith
was like that of the First Mother, but inwardly she was empty and unfulfilled. A hollowness gaped under
her left rib, the same hollow that was in the side of Samael. She was ignorant of her weakness and
believed herself to be the Queen of All Creation, for this is what Samael told her as he went with her up
and down the land and showed to her his kingdom.

Her emptiness engendered lust and the need to be filled, and the same lust kindled in Samael when he
looked upon her nakedness. She embraced the first Archon and was transformed into a serpent even as
he was a serpent. Hear and learn wisdom. Samael is called the Slant Serpent and Lilith the Convolute
Serpent, because he falls upon her from the heavens as a lightning stroke but she rises slowly from the
earth to receive him as a clinging vine.

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>>19400607
Where their loins met arose a mighty churning and swirling of the firmament like unto the revolving of a
vast millstone. Out of the vortex of this turning chaotic mass sprang forth a Dragon without end or
beginning. Its scales are as drops of blood, its breath fiery. The eyes of the beast are shut up into slits
after the way of serpents that dwell in the depths of the Abyss. Nor does it see the Sun by day nor the
Moon by night.

All its blind will was bent upon desire. It coiled itself three and one half times between Samael and
Lilith, nor could they copulate with each other directly but only through the coils of the Sightless Worm.
The Red Dragon was born from the vortices of their empty need. They could not be fulfilled except
through its substance.
Alone and separate Samael remained incomplete. The consort, his image in the flames, shared this
defect. Together they were one flesh made whole. What was lacking in Samael he attained through
Lilith. The hollow in the side of Lilith was filled up by Samael. Only through the mediation of the Blind
Worm could they complete each other.

>>19399163
Explain the wings

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You know what's really, really funny about supernatural stuff from the Dark Ages? It takes these sorts of things deadly seriously. Dragons, giants, fairies, demons, witches, all this fairy tale stuff. In the accounts from the Dark Ages--by which I mean accounts from 600 AD to about 1000 AD--it's all meant to be taken incredibly seriously. It's only after the Dark Ages are over, when a certain amount of civilization has been restored thanks to Charlemagne and others, that it all starts to become more fanciful and prettified. The Arthurian legends are a good example of this. The "newer" the Arthurian legends get, the prettier and less fantastical they become. Did you know that originally Lancelot didn't have an affair with Guinevere? In the very first incarnation of the stories, Guinevere just gets abducted by a giant, and Arthur has to go rescue her. It's only when a certain amount of civilization is restored that the tales get less outright fantastical. Almost as if a more stable, organized civilization wouldn't see horrifying paranormal, supernatural occurrences as much, because it could more easily ward them off.

Makes you think, doesn't it?

They took on human form and bred with humans.

>>19401296
Modern additions.

>>19401344
Alternatively the dark ages told it like it is and civilization censored it.

>>19398734
Quite likely the Chinese whispers effect caused stories of large lizards from as far south as Indonesia to spread and make things more extreme. With how slow communication was that far back in time, a story could pass through literal millions of hands before it would reach Europe. By the time a story of a totally normal (if interesting) animal reached England from Indonesia, you get fire breathing giant shit that you need plate armor to kill.

Plus dinosaur bones as others have said possibly helped to promote the myth end of the interpretation. It's also possible a few very rare survivors may have existed far enough back.

>>19398762
Is there any ancient literature about this happening ? Would be interesting to read

>>19398734
It's actually really interesting how every culture has dragons. It has something to do with our evolution being that proto humans had three natural predators, snakes, birds of prey, and cougars.
So our brains combined these things into one threat.

>>19401999
Say, human. You are speaking of your own kind!
Does your individual human brain really work like that?

>>19402008
What's that?

>>19401344
Just want to remind everyone that Iceland still legit believes in fairies to the point of haulting highway construction because they found large rocks they believe are "fairy churches".

>>19398734
Because dragons are an cultural amalgamation of our primordial primate fears, that of predatory cats and snakes our early primary predators. suggested by an interesting experiment (you will have to find it yourself): Un-socialized monkeys shown images of snakes and leopards by themselves did not display fear responses. Monkeys shown these animals but also video of other fearful monkeys would later also develop this fear. Monkeys shown images of non predatory animals in tandem with the fearful money images did not develop this fear.

>>19402219
Also predatory birds, I forgot the birds.

>>19398734
They're just swamp gas. Ufo? Swamp gas, ghosts? Swamp gas, big foot? Swamp gas. There's is always a logical explanation for these things, and only science circa 2017 knows all the answers.

>>19401296
>>19401750
Yeah, it's like angels having wings. An artistic embellishment.

>>19401382
That's idiotic. We're more closely related to chimpanzees than we are to any reptile, and we can't breed with them.

Or so I've heard.

>>19402746
>we can't breed with them
Have you tried it faggot?

>>19399102
want to beliebe