Did Dragons Actually Exist in the Past?
Date: 11/27/2005 Article # 034
|Did dragons ever exist on the Earth?
If not, then why are there so many stories about them throughout ancient
literature, even down to daily logs of huntsmen on hunting trips, etc. And
why are there identical descriptions of them in different cultures around
the world despite the fact they were so physically remote? And if they did
exist, why do we deny them? What is it about them that makes it so impossible
to believe they ever could have lived in the long history of the Earth?
Lets start there.
The Case Against Dragons
Next, breathing fire is universally claimed by the stories about dragons from all over. This seems impossible to us since there are no other animals that share this trait, and since it seems biologically impossible. It seems much more likely that this is some fabrication intended to frighten or impress people, rather than a true account of a bodily function of an actual live animal. The principle of Occams razor suggests the simplest answer is more likely the truth, and it is much simpler to think that people just invented this aspect for storytelling purposes. It adds drama and danger and risk, and therefore attributes glamour and virtue and heroism to those who conquer it.
Finally, flight itself seems awkward and unlikely for an animal of the
size claimed for dragons of classical times. Aerodynamically speaking,
in order for any object to fly, there must be sufficient lift to compensate
for the weight of the object. Lift is generally created by two factors:
1) the size of the wings, and 2) the shape of the leading edge of the
wings. And this only covers gliding through the air. It does not cover
the needs for taking off from the ground in the first place. That presents
a whole other set of problems. For that, you must be able to either flap
the wings vigorously, or else achieve enough speed on the ground that
the airflow under and over the wings surface will provide sufficient
So there you have it. The main reasons we in the west generally dont
believe in dragons, is that:
The prosecution rests. Well thats it, then. Guilty as charged. Stamp the page, close the book. Bailiff, read the next case please. ..
Wait. Not so fast there, judge. The defense speaks...
Whats Wrong With That Picture?
And why are these references not restricted to just stories? If they
are merely fantasy, why do they not appear only in fantasy stories? Why
do they appear in the logs and accounts of municipal townships dealing
with a local problem, and in the logs of huntsmen. And they are noted
in the accomplishments of fighters, strong men, and warriors of old, when
their credentials were read at competitions. (as in: Wang Cho has
killed 1 lion, 4 bears, 1 tiger, 2 dragons, 8 wild boars,
Why are dragons included in the list of years on the Chinese calendar
along with other normal animals? (The year of the Horse, year of the snake,
year of the dragon, etc.). Why are there so many accounts in the literature
of ancient times that merely state the facts of dealing with dragons as
a matter of record?
Also, dragons are even described in the Bible. That is, there are 34 references to dragon spread across 10 books in the King James version of the Bible. They were in the Ancient Hebrew Masoretic text, which is the original source document for the Old Testament of the Bible. The original Hebrew word for dragon is tannin, and that is seen in many places including the book of Job, one of the oldest books of the bible. The word was translated into "Behemoth" and "Leviathan", and then later, those words were again translated into elephant, hippo and alligator.
Marco Polo noted in his records of his trips to China that the royal family kept dragons for ceremonies.
How Could It Be Possible?
How is that possible? And is that a clue?
One expert biologist in this field who has speculated on the subject of whether dragons were real is Dr. Peter Hogarth, Senior Biologist of the University of York, in the UK. He has written several books now on the subject. He may have even been one of the original biologists discussed in the article I read back in the 1980s. He is considered the worlds foremost authority on the real-life possibility of dragons.
Dr. Hogarth and the other biologists ended up determining that an animal
could conceivably have 4 stomachs like a cow, but generate gases in them
that would create enough buoyancy to help lift the animal into the air,
almost like a balloon. Some birds today have air sacs like that. This
would allow the animal to have shorter, smaller wings since they didnt
have to work as hard to lift the entire weight of the animal. The wings
would mostly be used to take off and maneuver then, which reduces the
size necessary to within more reasonable limits.
Also, what is the point of listing creatures of fantasy in municipal
records and logs, etc. if they did not exist and pose actual problems
to be solved? Why go to that trouble? It would simply be illogical for
accounts of dragons to exist anywhere but in stories if they were not
real. And now we have a scientific explanation to support their possible
existence. For my part, I am not comfortable enough to say they definitely
existed, but I will allow that they were possible, and, given the widespread
accounts over thousands of miles and thousands of years, I must admit
that they probably did exist.
In a 90-minute televised special called "Dragons: A Fantasy Made
Real", hosted and narrated by Patrick Stewart, that was an entertaining,
detailed and realistic study on the subject that took over 2 years to
make, Dr. Hogarth explains in great detail about exactly how dragons could
have existed and the exact nature of their metabolisms and their habits,
and shapes, sizes, mobility, etc. Yet, in the end, he must still say that
despite all the indicators, he cannot say for certain that dragons really
existed. He has to protect his reputation as a scientist.