wiki has a short discussion of England as the metaphorical dragon here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A metaphorical reference to the 'White Dragon', was made by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 'Ancient Prophecies of Merlin' and Historia Regum Britanniae. This talks of a battle between a Red Dragon and a White Dragon.
Monmouth implies that the Red represented the native Britons or Brythons and the White represented the invading Saxons. Monmouth's ideas were taken from the earlier writings of Nennius, who talked of a red and a white serpent in combat representing dragons, in turn representing the nations of the Britons and the Saxons in the book Historia Britonum.
Neither makes any specific reference to actual physical use of either emblem by the Saxons or Brythons.
Evidence as a symbol of the English
Apart from the Monmouth reference, no other evidence can be found to support the existence of the white dragon as an emblem of England. Varying accounts exist of Dragons being used by the English however, but none specifically white.
A Dragon Standard is seen on the Bayeux Tapestry and accounts of Dragons being used as standards continue to exist after the Norman Conquest. However, none of these were white.
The Kingdom of Wessex, according to Henry of Huntingdon and Matthew of Westminster used a Golden Dragon, which appears to have been used at the Battle of Hastings and depicted at least once on the Bayeux Tapestry at King Harold II's death.
Several depictions of dragons are used by people within the tapestry:
A soldier is shown in one scene with an apparent white dragon on his shield, however this is certainly a Norman.
In the scene depicting Harold's death, a man immediately in front of him is shown flying a gold/red/white dragon standard.
Two men in front of Harold is a slain soldier, showing a golden dragon on the floor.
Note that the second two are likely to be the same dragon standard.
For a film discussion on dragons:
Bruce Lee and the story of his life in the film Dragon
Editorial Reviews
The brief but eventful life of actor and martial arts trailblazer Bruce Lee is portrayed in this drama, based on a biography written by his widow Linda Lee Caldwell. Lee is introduced to the study of martial arts as a child living in Hong Kong by his father (Ric Young); the father dreamed that a demonic armored dragon would take his son from him, and wanted young Bruce to be able to protect himself... Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Director: Ang Lee Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chang Chen
a Chinese warrior who retires from a life of violence and relinquishes custody of his fabled sword, the magnificent Green Destiny. Hong Kong action star and erstwhile Bond girl Michelle Yeoh plays the longtime friend and admirer whose father is entrusted with the sword. A thrill-seeking young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi), working with an evil mentor whom Chow once swore to kill, steals the sword -- and the chase is on. The characters square off in a series of exhilarating, occasionally dreamlike confrontations -- including a particularly memorable scene that unfolds amid windblown treetops -- staged with split-second precision and choreographic grace.
As directed by Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger assumes multiple aspects; it offers two contrasting love stories that are at various points wistful, soaring, melancholy, and profoundly spiritual. It is, in every way, an impeccably executed film that refuses to be confined by formula and therefore delights on many levels. Ed Hulse, Barnes &
Noble
The Neverending Story
Imaginative child hero Bastian (Barret Oliver) can barely keep his feet on the ground in the concrete world of bullies and math tests. One day, he stumbles across a mysterious storybook that literally sucks him in: Within the book's magical land of Fantasia, Bastian takes flight, assuming the role of the young warrior Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) and fighting to save the child empress (Tami Stronach) from an ominous "nothing" that destroys all that is good.
Bringing Fantasia's world to life may seem an impossible dream, but Petersen and character designer Count Ul De Rico make movie magic with sumptuous design and fantastic predigital special effects -- from the doglike dragon Falcor to immense racing snails and rock-eating monsters. The world of Fantasia is dynamically presented against landscapes that range from the lotus-shaped Ivory Tower to the murky Swamps of Sadness. A positive allegory, The Neverending Story urges children of all ages to overcome the "nothingness" of banal reality and hold true to the magic of the mind. Jennifer McCreery, Barnes & Noble
Eragon
Based on the best-selling novel by Christopher Paolini, Eragon tells the tale of the titular character (Ed Speleers), a humble farm boy living in the land of Alagaësia, whose life is forever changed when he discovers that he has been chosen to fight the most powerful enemy his world has ever known. Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Djimon Hounsou co-star in a film produced by Davis Entertainment and adapted from the novel by screenwriters Peter Buchman, Larry Konner, and Mark Rosenthal. Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
In the category of true stories:
Children of the Dragon: The Story of Tiananmen Square. - book reviews
Washington Monthly, Sept, 1990 by Jay Mathews
http://findarticles.com/...
The yawning gap between the government's repressive desires and its fading powers is told well in two new books (*1)--one a vibrant compilation of Tiananmen eyewitness accounts in coffee-table photo book form and the other an anecdotal feast from a veteran foreign correspondent. Children of the Dragon was compiled by Human Rights in China, an association of Chinese scientists, scholars, and students founded in New York in March 1989. It uses riveting photographs, well-selected remembrances, and documents illustrating Beijing events in 1989 from April 15 through the June 3-4 massacre.
wiki has an extensive discussion of Tiananmen Square here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A fascinating discussion of the term on maps "Here Be Dragons"
Where Be "Here be Dragons"?
Ubi sunt "Hic sunt dracones"?
http://www.maphist.nl/...
But back to storied dragons of myth and romance or of evil and terror, as the case may be, or of gentle nature as the Chinese dragons...
A fascinating site with pictures of Japanese and Chinese dragons here:
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/...
(at the very least scroll down through the pictures.)
DRAGON SYMBOLISM - TYPES OF DRAGONS
In both Chinese and Japanese mythology, the dragon is closely associated with the watery realm, and in artwork is often surrounded by water or clouds. In myth, there are four dragon kings who rule over the four seas (which in the old Chinese conception limited the habitable earth). In China, a fifth category of dragon was added to these four, for a total of five dragon types:
- Celestial Dragons who guard the mansions of the gods
- Spiritual Dragons who rule wind & rain but can also cause flooding
- Earth Dragons who cleanse the rivers & deepen the oceans
- Treasure-Guarding Dragons who protect precious metals & stones
- Imperial Dragons; dragons with five claws instead of the usual four
wiki’s page on Chinese dragons: http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Chinese zodiac
Main article: Dragon (Zodiac)
The dragon is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac which is used to designate years in the Chinese calendar. It is thought that each animal is associated with certain personality traits. Dragon years are usually the most popular to have babies. There are more babies born in Dragon years than in any other animal years of the Zodiac.
Famous people born in the year of the dragon include:
Bruce Lee, Ringo Starr, Dr. Seuss, John Lennon, Helen Keller, Salvador Dalí, Susan B. Anthony, Joan of Arc, Orlando Bloom, Sigmund Freud, Florence Nightingale, Napoleon III, Keanu Reeves, Ronaldo, Mike Allen, James Coburn, and Mae West, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Friedrich Nietzsche.
The dragon boat race on wiki with pictures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
History and culture of dragon boat racing
The use of dragon boats for racing and dragons are believed by modern scholars, sinologists and anthropologists to have originated in southern central China more than 2,500 years ago, along the banks of such iconic rivers as the Chang Jiang, also known as Yangtze (that is, during the same era when the games of ancient Greece were being established at Olympia). Dragon boat racing as the basis for annual water rituals and festival celebrations, and for the traditional veneration of the Asian dragon water deity, has been practiced continuously since this period.
The celebration is an important part of ancient agricultural Chinese society, celebrating the summer harvest. They first used a "dragon boat" to save a local scholar from drowning in the river and went to save his life. They now honour this feat on (or around) the 5/5 every year (Lunar Calendar).
Dragon boat racing traditionally coincides with the 5th day of the 5th Chinese lunar month (varying from late May to June on the modern Gregorian Calendar). The Summer Solstice occurs around June 21 and is the reason why Chinese refer to their festival as "Duan Wu". Both the sun and the dragon are considered to be male. (The moon and the mythical phoenix are considered to be female.) The sun and the dragon are at their most potent during this time of the year, so cause for observing this through ritual celebrations such as dragon boat racing. It is also the time of farming year when rice seedlings must be transplanted in their paddy fields, for wet rice cultivation to take place.
Venerating the Dragon deity was meant to avert misfortune and calamity and encourage rainfall which is needed for the fertility of the crops and thus for the prosperity of an agrarian way of life. Celestial dragons were the controllers of the rain, the Monsoon winds and the clouds. The Emperor was "The Dragon" or the "Son of Heaven", and Chinese people refer to themselves as "dragons" because of its spirit of strength and vitality. Unlike the dragons in European mythology which are considered to be evil and demonic, Asian dragons are regarded as wholesome and beneficent, and thus worthy of veneration, not slaying.
Several of the largest dragon boat events outside Asia include Alcan Dragon Boat Festival (aka. Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival) held in Vancouver, British Columbia, the GWN Dragon Boat Challenge held in Toronto, Ontario, Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival held in Toronto, Ontario, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival held in Ottawa, Ontario, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York held in Queens, New York, and the Portland Rose Festival Dragon Boat Race.
The three Canadian festivals feature 180 teams and the New York festival features over 120 teams, and all are held on weekends nearest the Summer Solstice in accordance with traditional Chinese dragon boat traditions. The Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Festival has held its festival the first Saturday in October for the last six years and in 2007 hosted 136 teams, making it the largest one day Dragon Boat event to be held in North America. Portland, Oregon hosts several dragon boat races annually including the largest Taiwan style races in North America with over 100 teams and two full days of racing in front of 100,000 spectators at Portland's Rose Festival.
For the most powerful of mythical stories, let us begin with Siegfried buried in the sand waiting for the Wyrm Fafnir to descend from his cave to drink at the pool leaving behind his treasure.
http://www.theserenedragon.net/...
The book based on this story which I read and which was very good is Rhinegold (1995) by Stephan Grundy.
wiki on Stephan here: http://en.wikipedia.org/...
A comprehensive list of dragon names and stories:
http://www.theserenedragon.net/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The Ouroboros, also spelled Ourorboros, Oroborus, Uroboros or Uroborus is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It has been used to represent many things over the ages, but it most generally symbolizes ideas of cyclicality, unity, or infinity.
The Ouroboros is one of the oldest mystical symbols in the world. The serpent or dragon appears in Aztec, Middle East, and Native American mythologies, among others.
Antiquity
"Coiled dragon" forms have been attributed to the Hongshan culture (4700 BC to 2900 BC). One in particular, in the shape of a complete circle, was found on the chest of the deceased.
The notion of a serpent or dragon eating its own tail can be traced back to Ancient Egypt, circa 1600 BC. From ancient Egypt it passed to Phoenicia and then to the Greek philosophers, who gave it the name Ouroboros ("tail-devourer").
Norse mythology
In Norse mythology it appears as the serpent Jörmungandr, one of the three children of Loki and Angrboda, who grew so large that it could encircle the world and grasp its tail in its teeth.
In The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, a symbol which incorporates the Ourobouros and the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol appears as the Auryn both on the cover of the book, and worn by Atreyu and Bastian as a pendant throughout their travels. The Auryn depicts two snakes, one silver, the other gold, intertwined and biting each other's tails.
all about St. George and the Dragon here:
http://www.theserenedragon.net/...
The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien has Smaug which was perhaps my first dragon tale:
wiki discusses Smaug here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Then one day, I was reading The Hugo Winners I and II ed. by Isaac Asimov and I read the 1968 short story winner called The Weyr Search on page 567 by Anne McCaffrey.
It was a dark story of dragon riders and their great beasts and of Lessa of Ruatha Hold discovered by Flar, rider of bronze Mnementh, and taken by him to Bendan Weyr where Lessa bonded with Ramoth born from the golden queen egg on the hot sands of the hatching ground. And thus was born the grand tale of Pern.
The short story was expanded and to the dragon tales were added the Harper’s Hall stories with smaller fire lizards who could also go "between". My favorite stories set in Pern are:
Dragon Riders of Pern series
Dragon Light
Dragon Quest
White Dragon
Harper’s Hall of Pern series
Dragonsong
Dragonsinger
Dragondrums
Master Harper of Pern
Moreta
Dragonlady of Pern
Nerilka’s Story
Skies of Pern
Dragon’s Kin (with Todd)
Dragon’s Fire (w Todd)
There is an extensive discussion of the Pern world at wiki here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Another favorite short story is: The Daughter of Regals from
Daughter of Regals and Other Tales by Stephen R. Donaldson
Then in 1984, and 85 came The DragonLance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and the first three books of the many they wrote set in this world were the ones I loved best and the paperbacks are well worn:
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning
A much later and much darker series that I liked by them is:
Dragons of Fallen Sun series
War of Souls
Dragons of the Lost Star
Dragons of a Vanished Moon
My most loved tales of all are in the series by Robin Hobb
Farseer Trilogy
Royal Assassin
Assassin's Apprentice
Assassin's Quest
Liveship Traders series
Ship of Magic
Madship
Ship of Destiny
Tawny Man
Fool’s Errand
Golden Fool
Fool’s Fate
My newest infatuation is the dragon named Temeraire:
The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is
set in an alternative time of Napoleon where a Celestial Dragon is born with the ability to use wind...
Synopsis http://search.barnesandnoble.com/...
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.
When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.
His Majesty’s Dragon
Throne of Jade
Black Powder War
Empire of Ivory
Biography
An avid reader of fantasy literature since age six, when she first made her way through The Lord of the Rings, Naomi Novik is also a history buff with a particular interest in the Napoleonic era and a fondness for the work of Patrick O’Brian and Jane Austen. She studied English literature at Brown University, and did graduate work in computer science at Columbia University before leaving to participate in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadow of Undrentide
Other exciting stories:
Dragon Prince series by Melanie Rawn
Dragon Prince
The Star Scroll
Sunrunner's Fire
The Pit Dragon Chronicles by Jane Yolen
Dragons are trained to fight to the death, and two determined teens help free them in this spellbinding saga. Training a dragon to be a fighting champion is the only way to freedom for fifteen-year-old Jakkin.
Dragon's Blood
Heart's Blood
A Sending of Dragons
Here There Be Dragons a collection by Jane Yolen
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
Dealing with Dragons
Searching for Dragons
Calling on Dragons
Talking to Dragons
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Graham
The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Graham
From Allison Lurie's The Oxford Book of Modern Fairy Tales
Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1993.
The Glass Dragon, Vol. 1 by Irene Radford
plus sequels
Synopsis
Set in a world where dragons--the source of all magic--are fading from existence, this is the story of Jaylor, a journeyman wizard, and Brevelan, a young witchwoman. Faced with a seemingly impossible task, Jaylor and Brevelan must find out who is behind the attempt to destroy the dragons before all magic is forever drained from their homeland.
Dragons of the Sea Series by Laurence Yep... children’s lit (although I love his Sweetwater best of all)
Dragon of the Lost Sea
Dragon Steel
Dragon War
Dragon Cauldron
The Dragon Prince : A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale by Laurence Yep
Eragon (Inheritance Cycle #1) by Christopher Paolini with the sequel Eldest and the movie of Eragon.
The Dragon in Lyonesse by Gordon R. Dickson
reviewed by A.L. Sirois
This light fantasy (part of a loosely connected series) is a fast-moving, inventive, enjoyable book. Jim Eckert is a 20th century mathematician who has been swept back in time to a 14th century world where magic works. Here Jim becomes, reluctantly, known as Sir James, the Dragon Knight, largely because of his ability to turn himself (or, more humorously, parts of himself) into a whacking great dragon at will!
Hugo Awards are here:
http://www.worldcon.org/...
Now, it is your turn to talk about other books and stories or about dragons of all kinds.
plf515 has a wonderful book diary on Fridays early and all day.
sarahnity’s list of DKos authors:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Magnifico reviews The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
http://www.dailykos.com/...
MLK JR. and Three Cups of Tea
by Milos Janus Outlook
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Atlanta Treasures: MLK Nat'l Historic Site (Photo Intensive)
by sheddhead
http://www.dailykos.com/...
For Dr. King
by davidseth
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Some Poems for the Night Owls & Early Birds
by Yosef 52
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The Last Wish of Martin Luther King
by teacherken
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Book Review: Jim Hightower's "Swim Against the Current"
by SusanG
http://www.dailykos.com/...
A Discussion with Eric Lichtblau: Bush's Law
by mcjoan
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Top Comments 4.6.08 : Hill Country AIDS Ride Edition
by kath25
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Hill Country Ride for AIDS (yes, again)
by anotherdemocrat
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Please donate by going to the Ride website by clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you pass this message along to others (please do!) here's the url: www.hillcountryride.org, select "donate" then "find/sponsor a participant" (Becky Helton, or any one else you wish - you can search for names of people you know who might be riding, or make a general donation). You are all just the best people in the world -- your support for this cause, whether monetary or just with good wishes, means a lot to those of us who ride - thank you!
my note:
You can also mail donation to the Hill Country Ride for AIDS.
PO Box 16529, Austin, TX 78761. PLEASE include which rider or crew member your donation is for.
