50 Fun Facts About Dragon

'Dragon' entered English in the 13th century via Old French from a Latin word meaning what?

The Greek root drakon probably comes from a verb meaning 'I see', a nod to the creature's fearsome gaze.

What did the earliest attested dragons in world mythology most resemble?

Storm gods slaying giant serpents turn up in nearly every Near Eastern and Indo-European mythology.

Chinese dragons were traditionally thought to govern what?

From the Han dynasty on they were also emblems of imperial power.

Under the Ming and Qing dynasties, a dragon with how many claws was reserved strictly for the emperor?

Princes and nobles had to make do with four-clawed dragons.

Per the Han scholar Wang Fu, a Chinese dragon's scales resemble those of which animal?

Antlers of a stag, head of a camel, eyes of a demon, neck of a snake, claws of an eagle, soles of a tiger, ears of a cow.

Which coloured dragon appeared on the first Chinese national flag under the Qing dynasty?

The dragon had been the emperor's symbol for many dynasties before it reached a flag.

The Dragon is which animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac?

Birth rates measurably spike in Dragon years because such children are considered lucky.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates which ancient Chinese poet-statesman?

It falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and is celebrated with races and sticky rice zongzi.

In 2009 the Dragon Boat Festival became the first Chinese holiday recognised by UNESCO on which list?

Hong Kong calls it the Tuen Ng Festival.

The red dragon on the flag of Wales fights an invading dragon of which colour in the Mabinogion?

The white dragon stood for the Saxons; the flag only became official in 1959.

Wales's red dragon flag became the country's official flag in which year?

Henry VII had carried a red dragon on white and green into St Paul's after Bosworth in 1485.

The 13th-century Golden Legend places Saint George's dragon-terrorised city in which country?

The earliest 11th- and 12th-century sources had set it in Cappadocia.

In the Old English epic Beowulf, what provokes the dragon that the aged king finally fights?

Beowulf kills it with the help of young Wiglaf but dies of his wounds fifty years after beating Grendel's mother.

Which of Beowulf's followers alone dares to help him against the dragon?

His name means 'remnant of valour'.

In Norse legend, Fáfnir became a dragon to guard a hoard taken from which dwarf?

He murdered his own father for it and was later slain by Sigurð with the sword Gram.

Jörmungandr, the Norse World Serpent, is the child of Loki and which giantess?

His siblings are the wolf Fenrir and Hel; his letting go of his own tail signals Ragnarök.

What does Jörmungandr do that makes him an example of an ouroboros?

He encircles Midgard, which is why he is called the World Serpent.

The Hydra slain by Heracles as his second labour lived at Lerna, reputedly an entrance to what?

Archaeology has shown Lerna was a sacred site older than Mycenaean Argos.

According to Hyginus, which goddess hurled the dragon Draco into the sky, where it froze at the pole?

It was one of the Gigantes; its brightest star was the pole star when the pyramids were built.

Which star in Draco served as the northern pole star from around 3942 BC to 1793 BC?

The Egyptian pyramids' entrance passages were aligned so it would be visible at night.

Leviathan, the sea dragon of the Hebrew Bible, reflects which older Canaanite monster defeated by Baal?

Thomas Hobbes borrowed the name in 1651 as a metaphor for the all-powerful state.

Vlad the Impaler's father took the name 'Dracul' from his membership of which knightly society?

Sigismund of Luxembourg founded it in 1408; 'Dracula' means son of Dracul.

A wyvern differs from a classic heraldic dragon in having how many legs?

Wyverns are rarely shown breathing fire, and the name comes from an old word for viper.

The phrase 'here be dragons' appears in Latin on only one known historical map; which?

The 1508 globe reads 'HIC SVNT DRACONES'; the idea that maps routinely said it is a myth.

The Komodo dragon is native to islands of which country?

It is the largest living lizard and was first recorded by Western scientists in 1910.

Young Komodo dragons live in trees and roll in what to deter cannibalistic adults?

Adults bite with neurotoxic venom and anticoagulant saliva, not, as long believed, mouths full of rotting flesh.

The first two live Komodo dragons in Europe went on show at which zoo's new Reptile House in 1927?

Keeper Joan Procter trained one to come to the sound of her voice.

Roughly how many facets, or ommatidia, does each of a dragonfly's compound eyes have?

Damselflies fold their wings at rest; dragonflies hold theirs flat and out.

Smaug in The Hobbit is killed by Bard the Bowman when a thrush reveals what?

Bilbo had spotted the gap while trading riddles with the dragon.

How many years before The Hobbit's events did Smaug seize the dwarf kingdom of Erebor?

He also destroyed the town of Dale, whose people rebuilt on stilts as Lake-town.

Who voiced Smaug, with performance capture, in Peter Jackson's Hobbit films?

He also played the Necromancer in the same films.

Which Longfellow poem, where a bird reveals a weak spot, has been suggested as a source for Smaug's death?

Megissogwon, spirit of wealth, wears an armoured shirt with one flaw.

The How to Train Your Dragon films are based on books by which British author?

Hiccup lives on the Viking island of Berk; a live-action remake arrived in 2025.

Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon belongs to which rare breed?

Jay Baruchel voiced Hiccup in the animated trilogy.

How much story time passes between the first and second How to Train Your Dragon films?

Director Dean DeBlois called the trilogy 'Hiccup's coming of age'.

In Game of Thrones, how does Daenerys hatch her three dragon eggs?

She later tames Drogon with a whip in the fighting pits of Meereen.

Which actress plays Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, on Game of Thrones?

Many fans named daughters after the character; her sudden turn in the final season provoked protest signs.

Mushu, the small dragon in Disney's Mulan, was demoted from family guardian for what?

He was an invention for the film; the 2020 live-action remake left him out.

Who voiced Mushu in the 1998 Mulan?

Joe Pesci had originally been cast, in a two-headed version shared with Richard Dreyfuss.

The Dragon in Shrek ends up marrying which character?

She eats Lord Farquaad whole and is never given a proper name in the film.

'Puff, the Magic Dragon' was based on a 1959 poem written by a 19-year-old student at which university?

Leonard Lipton typed it on Peter Yarrow's typewriter, inspired by Ogden Nash's 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon'.

In 'Puff, the Magic Dragon', what is the name of Puff's human playmate?

They frolic in the autumn mist in a land called Honalee.

Charizard, the dragon-like Pokémon, actually has which two in-game types?

It was designed before Charmander, whose look was based on it.

Historian Adrienne Mayor argues which real discovery may have inspired ancient dragon stories?

Her 2000 book is called The First Fossil Hunters.

In ancient Greek cult, as opposed to myth, drakontes were gentle figures associated with what?

In the myths they were slain by heroes; in worship they guarded shrines and treasure.

Which of these famous serpent-dragons comes from Aztec, not Old World, culture?

Vṛtra is from the Rigveda, Apep from Egypt and Kulshedra from Albania.

Which country is known in its own Dzongkha language as the 'Land of the Thunder Dragon'?

The Druk is a national symbol, its rulers are styled 'Thunder Dragon Kings', and the emblem came via the Drukpa Buddhist lineage from Tibet.

In Egyptian myth, which giant serpent of the underworld did the sun god Ra battle every night?

Eclipses were blamed on the serpent attacking Ra by day, and the earliest true ouroboros image comes from Tutankhamun's gilded shrines.

In Korean folklore, a lesser serpent-like dragon that hopes to become a true dragon is called what?

One version says it must catch a Yeouiju orb fallen from heaven; another that it must survive a thousand years first.

The Romans' one notable original dragon myth has Regulus's army fighting a giant serpent at which North African river?

Set during the First Punic War, the tale has the beast shrug off javelins until ballistas kill it and its 120-foot skin is stripped off.