Buzz
This list features dragons you might not be familiar with. I’m not including the well-known Welsh Red Dragon, the English wyvern, or the various Chinese dragons (Loong), as most people are already acquainted with them through films like Dragonheart, Draco, Reign of Fire, Dragon Slayer, and Mulan. Instead, this list highlights some of the more obscure dragons, detailing their origins, appearances, and histories. To provide a balance of Good and Evil, I’ve chosen both Eastern and Western dragons. In the East, dragons are generally seen as benevolent beings, while in the West, they are often considered evil, destructive creatures symbolizing the Devil. These dragons are listed in no particular order:
8. The Naga Republic of India
The Naga is a wingless type of Indian dragon found in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. The term 'Naga' can be vague, but according to the Mahabharata (an epic Sanskrit text crucial to Hinduism), the Naga possesses characteristics of both snakes and humans. In Hinduism, Nagas are depicted similarly to Chinese dragons: as natural spirits connected to water sources and occasionally guardians of vast treasures. In Buddhism, Nagas are seen as multi-headed serpents with the ability to shapeshift into human form. Like the Hindu Naga, the Buddhist version prefers watery environments and has a particular fondness for eating frogs and drinking milk.
7. The Bakunawa The Republic of the Philippines
The Bakunawa is a mythical deity depicted as a serpentine dragon in Filipino folklore. It has two pairs of wings, whiskers, a red tongue, and a mouth that’s said to be as large as a lake. According to Filipino mythology, the Bakunawa once lived in the sea when the world had seven moons. These dragons, fascinated by the moons’ light, would rise from the sea to devour them. As a result, the dragons were believed to cause eclipses. To stop the Bakunawa from devouring the moons and returning the light, people would run outside with pots and pans to create loud noises to scare the dragon away. Interestingly, the name Bakunawa translates to ‘moon eater’ or ‘man eater,’ the latter being unusual for Asian dragons.
6. The Yilbegan Siberia
The Yilbegän is more closely aligned with the Turkish and Slavic dragons of Europe than with the dragons of Eastern Asia, which is why it’s portrayed as man-eating and ogre-like, rather than gentle and kind despite its Eastern origins. This reptilian dragon is a multi-headed monster in the myths of two Siberian ethnic groups – the Turkic peoples and the Siberian Tatars. In some stories, the Yilbegän appears as a winged dragon or serpent, but in others, it’s a leviathan that rides an ox with 99 horns.
5. The Korean Dragon North/South Korea
Korean dragons are based on their Chinese counterparts, sharing much of the same cultural importance and appearance. While Chinese dragons have five toes and Japanese ones three, the Korean dragon has four – said to be a result of losing toes as they moved south. Korean dragons have long beards and lack wings. Like other Asian dragons, they were believed to be peaceful, kind creatures closely connected to water and agriculture, living in rivers, lakes, ponds, and oceans. What sets them apart from other dragons is that they are said to be sentient, understanding concepts such as devotion, gratitude, and kindness.
Before a Korean dragon becomes a dragon, it is an imoogi. According to different versions of the story, imoogi are either immature dragons that must live for 1,000 years before becoming a full dragon, or cursed, hornless creatures unable to fully transform into dragons.
4. The Níðhöggr Scandinavia
The Níðhöggr is a unique dragon from Norse mythology. It resides beneath the great ash tree, Yggdrasil, or the World Tree, which connects the nine realms of Norse legend. Níðhöggr’s name is often interpreted as ‘Malice Striker’ (or sometimes ‘Striker in the Dark’), and it lives up to this title by relentlessly gnawing at the root of Yggdrasil, which keeps him trapped above Hvergelmir, a boiling cauldron, in the realm of Hel (a place akin to the Christian Hell). If Níðhöggr succeeds in gnawing through the tree’s root, it signals the beginning of Ragnarök and the destruction of the world. In the Völuspá, a poem of Norse mythology, Níðhöggr is described as a creature that ‘sucks on the corpses of the dead.’
3. The Cuélebre Asturias/Cantabria
The Cuélebre is the Spanish version of the dragon, specifically from the regions of Asturias and Cantabria. With its serpentine body, wings, and vibrant scales, the Cuélebre is an immortal creature with a penchant for beautiful, shiny objects. It hoards treasure and fairy-like, blonde nymphs. The legend behind the Cuélebre’s origins goes as follows:
A beautiful but vain young woman disregards her family’s warnings about combing her hair while admiring her reflection in a pool. Unfortunately, a powerful water nymph living in the pool watches her neglecting her chores in favor of this vanity. As the girl’s hair falls into the water, the nymph seizes the chance to punish her. The curse transforms the girl, making her enormous, replacing her hair with crests, her skin with scales, and granting her wings. In typical fairytale fashion, she can only return to her original form when a knight comes ‘so brave that he is not afraid of you and has a heart so pure that he finds you beautiful.’ The Cuélebre waits, hidden in a cave by the sea…
Contributor: Tempyra
2. The Chuvash Dragon Chuvashia
The Chuvash dragons hail from Chuvashia, located in the heart of European Russia. These dragons are the classic winged, fire-breathing variety found in European myths, but with the added ability to shift between dragon and human forms. The Chuvashians, whose ancestors were the Bulgars, tell the story of how, when they founded the town of Bilar, they encountered a massive snake. The Bulgars, intent on killing it, allowed the snake to plead for its life, and in response, Allah granted it wings – thus, the dragon took flight. Like the Yilbegän, Chuvash dragons can have multiple heads. The most well-known among them is Veri Celen (which means ‘fire snake’ in Chuvash), who could take on a human form to visit men and women at night and sleep with them. [Image: tower said to be the home of a Chuvash dragon]
1. The Zmaj Republic of Slovenia
The Zmaj comes from Slovenia, a Slavic country, and shares many characteristics with other Slavic dragons – three heads that may regrow if decapitated, green scaly skin, and the ability to breathe fire. The name Zmaj is the masculine version of the word for snake, which is typically feminine. The Zmaj is also known by an older and murkier name, Pozoj. Slovenian dragons are generally like other European dragons in temperament and are featured in both Christian legends of St. George and pre-Christian tales in which they are tricked into consuming sulfur-laden gifts, leading to their defeat. A notable exception is the dragon of Ljubljana, who once protected the capital and now appears on its coat of arms.
