Dragonlore
From the archives of the Grey School of Wizardry
by ash "Leopard Dancer" DeKirk
a review by Dr. John Gilbert

Chapter One "Dragons of the World" is the most complete listing of dragons I've ever seen. The author takes us on a dragon tour of Asia, Middle East, Europe, Africa, Oceania and the Americas naming all of the dragons I've ever read about and many more. She defines dragons as including wurms, pythons and drakes. Wurms are giant snakes with various appendages. Pythons are giant snakes. Drakes are lizards or dragons that lack wings.

Asiatic dragons in general have snake-like bodies, horse-like heads and four paws with three or four long claws. Asiatic dragons are said to have 117 scales of which 81 are masculine (yang) and 36 feminine (yin). Thus they could be expected to be controlled by testosterone more than loving kindness.

Some Chinese dragons look like snakes. Others look like birds, fish. lizards or turtles.  Japanese dragons look like snakes, lizards, hydra or birds. Middle Eastern and European dragons generally are more along the line of what Westerners think of as dragons, hydra or serpents.

The dragons of Oceania are basically serpents and a few drakes with a South Pacific flavor.  In Africa the ancient dragons a mostly rainbow serpents but there are chimera, wyvern, serpent, cobra and drake variations. The winged serpents of the Americas come in as many varieties as there are Native nations.

I was astounded not only by the variety of dragons in the world but by the sheer number of species within the dragon kingdom. This is the most comprehensive listing of dragons I've ever seen. It's easy to see how this is a textbook of dragons and dragon lore.

Chapter two "Dragon Myths of the World" is filled with wondrous tales of great and powerful dragons including: Master Stoorworm, Beowulf's firedrake, St. George's dragon and St. Romain's Gargouille.  Here you'll also find descriptions of the Lambton Wurm, Siegfried and Fafnir, the Mordiford Wyvern and almost thirty more. Each of these dragon descriptions is material for an article or two.

One of these myths is the story of Thor and the giant serpent, Jormungander (Jormun gander).  Jormungander was the child of the Norse god Loki. Odin was furious at Loki for spawning this terrible dragon and cast the great serpent into the ocean. In the ocean, Jormungander wrapped herself around the world by biting her own tail.

Once when Thor visited the King of the giants, the king challenged Thor to accomplish three tasks. The first task was to pick up the giant's chicken. Thor was unable to do so. The chicken was the shape shifted Jormungander.

On another day, Thor and his best friend the giant Hymar, were fishing and Thor happened to hook the great serpent using the head of an ox as  bait. After a long and strenuous battle, Thor landed Jormungander. Hymar cut Thor's line and freed the leviathan for fear of offending the treacherous and dangerous god Loki.

The third encounter between Thor and Jormungander occurred at Ragnarok, the final battle. Thor finally slew the great dragon after a very long battle. Unfortunately, the dying serpent breathed her deadly breath over Thor and he died shortly after.

The message is that even dead dragons can kill you.

Dragons are great fun. Every story has a hidden  message. If you think about dragons as being the events of your own past that haunt you, you'll have deeper insights into spiritual alchemy and mystery school teachings. In that context, dead dragons can "kill" something you want to do with your life.

Chapter 3 "Dragons in the Modern Realm" considers dragons in the realm of gaming, films and literature. You'll be astounded at the number of dragons in games like Dungeons and Dragons, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy and other fantasy games.

Films like Dragonheart, Lord of the Rings, The Neverending Story and the Harry Potter series bring dragons to life and add another dimension to dragon lore. Who knew there were almost two dozen films featuring dragons?

But it is in literature where dragons abound in unimaginable numbers. The author mentions the Dragon Delasangre series, Dragon Quartet by Marjorie Kellogg, the War and lance Trilogy, the Hobbit, the Cleric Quintet, Dragon Knight series, Dragon Riders of Pern series and several other books. The Loch Ness Monster even makes an appearance.

The highlight of this chapter is a group of well-written, exciting and invigorating short stories featuring dragons. These short stories are attributed to Wolfsong, AnitaMK and EsselDel.  We don't know if these budding authors are students or pseudonyms of the author.  But the writing is good and the stories are interesting - so much so that once you start, you'll keep reading to the end.

The modern dragons tend to be defined more by color than by their inherent attributes. But their color does allude to their general nature.  Red dragons are generally angry. Healing Black Dragons are emotionally dark. Pick a color and make an association to an emotion and you're probably right. But if you want to know for sure, read this chapter.