/x/ - Paranormal

CHAPTER VI

The whole of India is girt with dragons of enormous size; for not only the marshes are full of them, but the mountains as well, and there is not a single ridge without one. Now the marsh kind are sluggish in their habits and are thirty cubits long, and they have no crest standing up on their heads, but in this respect resemble the she-dragons. Their backs however are very black, with fewer scales on them than the other kinds; and Homer has described them with deeper insight than have most poets, for he says that the dragon that lived hard by the spring in Aulis had a tawny back; but other poets declare that the congener of this one in the grove of Nemea also had a crest, a feature which we could not verify in regard to the marsh dragons.

The dragons described in this chapter might have been some kind of pythons. They lived in marshes (as big snakes are known to do), were about 13 metres long and lacked a crest on their heads. We also learn that only male dragons had crests, a characteristic which is consistent with what we find today in many species of birds (that are supposedly the descendants of dinosaurs). Paleontologists now believe that most species of dinosaurs belonging to the theropod group had feathers, so why not crests?

CHAPTER VII

AND the dragons along the foothills and the mountain crests make their way into the plains after their quarry, and get the better all round of those in the marshes; for indeed they reach a greater length, and move faster than the swiftest rivers, so that nothing escapes them. These actually have a crest, of moderate extent and height when they are young; but as they reach their full size, it grows with them and extends to a considerable height, at which time also they turn red and get serrated backs. This kind also have beards, and lift their necks on high, while their scales glitter like silver; and the pupils of their eyes consist of a fiery stone, and they say that this has an uncanny power for many secret purposes. The plain specimen falls the prize of the hunters whenever it draws into its folds an elephant; for the destruction of both creatures is the result, and those who capture the dragons are rewarded by getting the eyes and skin and teeth. In most respects the tusks resemble the largest swine’s, but they are slighter in build and twisted, and have a point as unabraded as sharks’ teeth.

If the description in Chapter VI could reasonably be interpreted as referring to a snake, here there's no doubt whatever about what we're talking about. These dragons are not only bigger and faster than the previous ones, but they don't resemble any snake or crocodile known to science. The adults are coloured in red, have serrated backs and twisted tusks. Most importantly, they keep their heads well above ground. The part about the crest and the beard invites a comparison with roosters and their red wattles.

Another interesting detail concerns the dietary habits of these creatures: we are told that elephants were their primary prey. And, crucially, that the dragons themselves were hunted. We are used to associate the image of the dragon with that of the equally legendary knight who slays it, but to the ancient people of India, dragons were just animals like all others and they were routinely hunted. This also gives us an important clue as to why there are no dragons around today. They were probably hunted to extinction or exterminated because they were too dangerous.

CHAPTER VIII

Now the dragons of the mountains have scales of a golden color, and in length excel those of the plain, and they have bushy beards, which also are of a golden hue; and their eyebrows are more prominent than those of the plain, and their eye is sunk deep under the eyebrow, and emits a terrible and ruthless glance. And they give off a noise like the clashing of brass whenever they are burrowing under the earth, and from their crests, which are all fiery red, there flashes a fire brighter than a torch. They also can catch the elephants, though they are themselves caught by the Indians in the following manner. They embroider golden runes on a scarlet cloak, which they lay in front of the animal’s burrow after charming them the runes to cause sleep; for this is the only way to overcome the eyes of the dragon, which are otherwise inflexible, and much mysterious lore is sung by them to overcome him. These runes induce the dragon to stretch his neck out of his burrow and fall asleep over them: then the Indians fall upon him as he lies there, and dispatch him with blows of their axes, and having cut off the head they despoil it of its gems. And they say that in the heads of the mountain dragons there are stored away stones of flowery color, which flash out all kinds of hues, and possess a mystical power as resided in the ring, which they say belonged to Gyges. But often the Indian, in spite of his axe and his cunning, is caught by the dragon, who carries him off into his burrow, and almost shakes the mountains as he disappears. These are also said to inhabit the mountains in the neighborhood of the Red Sea, and they say that they heard them hissing terribly and that they saw them go down to the shore and swim far out into the sea. It was impossible however to ascertain the number of years that this creature lives, nor would my statements be believed. This is all I know about dragons.

After describing the dragons of the marshes and those of the plains, we now learn of a third type that lives in the mountains. This reinforces the idea that dragons were quite common and could be found almost everywhere in India. We also get a detailed description of the method used to hunt them and we are informed that some dragons lived in burrows under the mountains. We can see that the stereotype of the dragon living in a cave is confirmed by a very ancient account. I can't help but wonder, has anybody ever thought of exploring the mountains near the Red Sea? Who knows what he might find.

CHAPTER IX

THEY tell us that the city under the mountain is of great size and is called Paraca, and that in the center of it are enshrined a great many heads of dragons, for the Indians who inhabit it are trained from their boyhood in this form of sport. And they are also said to acquire an understanding of the language and ideas of animals by feeding either on the heart or the liver of the dragon.

Lastly, we are told that dragons were hunted not just for their meat, but also for sport. They were no more mythical to Indians than lions or bears are to us. We can speculate that as they became rarer with time, people became unaccustumed to encounter them and slaying one began to be considered a great feat worthy only of saints and the most valiant of knights.

Why not certain oversized reptiles that we have so many fossils of? Dinosaurs, Sauropterygians, Mosasaurs, etc. I know dragons have the power of speech in many legends, but then again, so do cats.

>>28797

>Why not certain oversized reptiles that we have so many fossils of? Dinosaurs, Sauropterygians, Mosasaurs, etc.

That's the idea actually. It's literally written in the first post.

>>28798

>Me not paying attention

My apologies.

>>28801

>>28802

(You can upload up to 5 images per post.) Yes, mosasaurs=sea monsters is another idea that I think deserves more credit. In fact, although land dragons are probably extinct by now, it's quite possible that a small population of sea monsters has survived. It's so sad to think that actual dinosaurs might have survived for millions of years only to be exterminated by a bunch of violent apes. I guess the idea of protecting endangered species was foreign to ancient people.

I wonder what modern Indians think about this. Do they 'remember' that there used to be dragons in their country, or do they consider them mythical creatures like we do in the West?

>>28803

I'll have access to a bunch of notes that I have on this sort of thing Friday. I'll post more then. Also

>(You can upload up to 5 images per post.)

I have no explanation as to how I did not know this.

>>28780

As promised, here's another example.

The dragons of Lake Tasek Bera. These animals are reported by the Semelai people pf Pahang, Malaysia at Tasek Bera/Tasek Chini. The "dragons" are supposed be large, aquatic reptiles, covered in silver-gray scales and having snake-like heads and long necks. On top of the head are small horns often compared to a snail's antennae. The animals are supposed to have a loud, trumpeting cry. The limbs are never described in any of the reports; the dragons never seem to leave the water. The names used by the Semelai in reference to the dragons are "Ular Tedong" and "Naga Sri Gumum".

British journalist Stuart Wavell may have heard one of them on an expedition in 1951. The call was emitted twice, he described it as shrill bellowing, like "a ship's horn, an elephant's trumpet, and a sea lion's bark all at once".

In all of the stories, the animals are not known to attack people, which to me seems strange in comparison to the Congolese Mokele-mbembe.

>>28780

wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalania

>>28829

Thanks for keeping your promise. I've been interested in cryptozoology for many years but had never heard of that cryptid before. Did you read about it in a book?

>>28835

The megalania would definitely count as a dragon.

>>28836

It's on Karl Shuker's blogspot. I'll post more later tonight. It seems that there's actually a fair amount of very large species left in the tropics, especially in Oceania.

>>28841

I find these reports the most interesting, but they seem to be very rare and strangely enough, they don't get a lot of attention. How is it possible that there could be a tyrannosaurus hiding in the lakes of Papua New Guinea and nobody has organised an expedition to find it? If I had the resources, I would do it myself!

>>28851>>28851

>and nobody has organised an expedition to find it?

A couple reasons, I'd imagine. One: Dinosaurs are supposed to be extinct, so who's going to believe a bunch of Papua nationals? Two: It's WAY out in the middle of nowhere, so any news from the area isn't well known anywhere else.

>>28852

In any case, I personally have no problem with a few species of giant reptile surviving to the present. The Coelacanth vanished from the fossil record at the same time as the dinosaur, and yet it's alive and well (if uncommon) today.

Lets say for asecond that dragons didnt' exist. What would inspire people to talk about them? Did they see a lizard and think, "man, what if it had the wings of a burd" Would this be good thought process?

>>28874

I don't know, maybe they accidentally discovered some dinosaur bones and didn't realise that they were millions of years old. That's the only explanation I can think of, because there was no live animal that looked even remotely like a dragon (assuming that we're talking about the stereotypical dragon).

>>28878

The problem with that is in ancient times, people weren't great at reconstructing skeletons. The Greeks thought dwarf mastodons were Cyclopes.

>>28897

I don't think they were idiots at all. I'm saying that long before they had contact with Sub-Saharans, the skulls may have inspired Cyclopes stories, and after contact it may have been long enough for them to have forgotten about the skulls entirely.

A better example would be the Ice-age rhinoceros skull found in Kalagenfurt, Austria in the middle ages. It was labelled as a dragon skull.