World of Creatures

Quick comparison

Five very different dragons

DragonTraditionForm in the sourceRolePrimary book
FFáfnirOld NorseVenomous worm or drakeHoard-guardian and antagonistVölsunga Saga, chs. XIV & XVIII
LLaidly WormNorthumbrian border balladEnchanted “worm” or dragonTransformed princessJacobs, English Fairy Tales, tale XXXIII
龍Dragon KingsChinese mythology, as presented by WernerDivine sea dragonsRulers associated with water and weatherWerner, Myths & Legends of China, ch. VII
BBeowulf’s DragonOld English epicWinged, fire-breathing hoard-guardianBeowulf’s final opponentBeowulf, sections XXXII–XXXIX
NNíðhöggrOld Norse mythologyDragon or serpent beneath YggdrasilGnawer at the world-tree’s rootsPoetic Edda, Grímnismál 32 & 35
F

Old Norse legend

Fáfnir

A figure who takes the form of a great venomous worm after murdering his father and seizing a cursed hoard. Sigurd kills him from a pit on Gnita-heath.

Named hero
Sigurd
Defining theme
Greed and cursed wealth
Source date
1888 English translation
Open sourced profile
L

Northumbrian folk tale

The Laidly Worm

Princess Margaret is changed into a dreadful dragon by a jealous witch-queen. Her brother Childe Wynd must recognise rather than destroy her.

Named hero
Childe Wynd
Defining theme
Transformation and recognition
Source date
1890 collection
Open sourced profile
龍

Chinese mythology

The Dragon Kings

In Werner’s account, five immortal Sea-dragon Kings occupy a central palace and the four directions, governing vast underwater courts.

Named ruler
Ao Ch’in appears elsewhere in the chapter
Defining theme
Water, weather, and divine authority
Source date
1922 compilation
Open sourced profile
B

Old English epic

Beowulf’s Dragon

An unnamed fire-drake that guards a barrow hoard for three hundred years. One stolen cup awakens its fury and brings Beowulf to his final battle.

Named heroes
Beowulf and Wiglaf
Defining theme
Final victory and its cost
Source date
1892 English translation
Open sourced profile
N

Old Norse mythology

Níðhöggr

A dragon beneath Yggdrasil that gnaws from below, exchanges hostile words with the eagle through Ratatosk, and is associated with the dead.

Source realm
Beneath Yggdrasil
Defining theme
Cosmic decay
Source dates
1901 and 1923 translations
Open sourced profile

Bibliography

Source books used

  1. 1
    The Story of the Volsungs (Völsunga Saga), with Excerpts from the Poetic Edda

    Anonymous; translated by William Morris and Eiríkr Magnússon. Walter Scott Press, London, 1888. See Chapters XIV and XVIII.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  2. 2
    The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs

    William Morris. First published 1876. See Book II, “Sigurd slayeth Fafnir the Serpent.”

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  3. 3
    English Fairy Tales

    Collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs; illustrated by John D. Batten. David Nutt, London, 1890. See Tale XXXIII and Jacobs’s source note.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  4. 4
    Myths & Legends of China

    E. T. C. Werner. George G. Harrap & Co., 1922. See Chapter VII, “Myths of the Waters,” especially “The Dragon-kings.”

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  5. 5
    Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem

    Translated by J. Lesslie Hall. D. C. Heath & Co., 1892. See Sections XXXII–XXXIX for the dragon’s hoard and Beowulf’s final battle.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  6. 6
    The Poetic Edda

    Translated by Henry Adams Bellows. American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1923. See Völuspá 39 and 66 and Grímnismál 32 and 35.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  7. 7
    The Younger Edda

    English version by Rasmus B. Anderson. Scott, Foresman and Company, 1901. See The Fooling of Gylfe, sections 15–16.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗