Fafnir, Dragon of the Opera

Some folks say that there are few people with mild opinions about opera; that most folks are passionate about opera, either loving it or loathing it. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) wrote a famous opera called “The Ring of the Nibelung.” Here is an opera that is sure to inspire strong reactions - the piece is about 15 hours long! Performances of the “Ring” are usually split across four nights, allowing those who love opera to attend all week long while providing for easy escapes for the opera loathers. The Libretto (storyline) of the “Ring of the Nibelung” is based on an Old Teutonic legend about a magic gold ring and the greed to possess it. As with most legends, there are several variants depending on who is retelling the story. Wagner himself used several disparate sources to weave together the story of the “Ring.”

In the Teutonic legend, the brothers were named Fafnir and Regin - while in the opera their names are Alberich and Mime - sons of King Hreidmar. When the god Loki accidentally killed Otr, the third brother, the ring was given to the Dwarf King Hreidmar (along with a grand sum of gold) as "blood money." The Ring carried a curse that it would bring its owner great wealth and great misfortune. Fafnir coveted the Ring and conspired with his brother Regin to steal the Ring and the gold treasure from their father. Fafnir killed his father and then, not wishing to share the treasure with his brother, ran off into the wilderness and hid in a great cave. There he lay down on his hoard of gold and metamorphosed into a great hideous dragon.

In the legend, Regin (still seeking to gain the treasure for himself) persuaded Sigurd to kill Fafnir the dragon. In the opera, the young hero was named Siegfried. According to Regin’s plan, he directed Sigurd / Siegfried to dig a trench in front of the cave wherein lay the great dragon Fafnir. In the morning, when Fafnir came out to drink, his path would take him across this trench where Sigurd / Siegfried would conceal himself with his magic sword. Sigurd / Siegfried would strike at the dragon as he passed overhead. Regin secretly hoped that both the hero and the vile dragon will be killed in the confrontation and he will be able to claim the gold and the Ring for himself alone.

The Teutonic Gods intervened again when Odin came in a vision to Sigurd and warned him about the burning properties of dragon’s blood, that Regin knew of this danger yet did not tell Sigurd, and to dig a second pit to crawl into to escape contact with the dragon’s blood. So Sigurd dug a second ditch, as he had been told, then waited for the dragon to emerge. In the cool of the dawn, the massive dragon emerged and the ground shook beneath his feet as he lumbered towards the river. Sigurd felt a sharp pang of fear when he saw how immense the dragon truly was, but he hid in his trench and thrust his sword deep into the underbelly of the colossal body as the dragon passed above him. As the toxic blood gushed forth, Sigurd rolled to safety into the second pit. Fafnir bellowed and writhed in pain, but the wound was fatal.

As the great beast lay dying, Fafnir asked Sigurd his name and who sent him to kill such a terrifying dragon. Fafnir figured out that it was his own brother Regin who plotted his death, and he knew that Regin would also cause Sigurd's death. Sigurd mocked the dying dragon that he would take all of the dragon’s treasure from within the cave, now that the dragon could no longer guard it from him. Although Fafnir told Sigurd that taking the treasure will mean his death, Sigurd remained defiant that all men must face death someday.

After the dragon’s death, although Regin was astonished and disappointed to see Sigurd had survived, outwardly he greeted the young hero with great congratulations and praise for his noble deed. He directed the champion to cut out the dragon’s heart and cook it over a fire that Regin might eat it in honor of the glorious deeds of the day. Sigurd built a cooking fire and cut the heart from the dragon’s chest with his powerful sword. As he was preparing this unusual dish, he burned his hand on the fire. Inadvertently, Sigurd licked his hand and in so doing tasted the blood and juices that ran from the dragon’s heart. Instantly, the taste of the dragon’s blood endowed Sigurd with the understanding of all languages, including the language of the birds. The birds told him to eat the heart of the dragon himself and become the wisest of all men. He also learned from the birds that Regin intended to kill him and, drawing his sword once more, he slew Regin with a single fierce blow.

The “Ring of the Nibelung” opera further follows the fate of Siegfried, including his own betrayal and death, and the continuing mischief of the Ring in the hands of his lover Brünnhilde. These themes are familiar to contemporary readers; the One Ring of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” invokes the same corrupting powers, the same degradation and loss of humanity for Gollum while he struggles with his greed to possess the Ring. In “The Chronicles of Narnia,” C.S. Lewis includes a character Eustace Scrubb who turns into a dragon due to his greediness over a cursed treasure.

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from all of us at The Folklore Store and thanks for a great year in 2010

Dragons of the Ishtar Gate

Some folks say that dragons never existed. They claim that stories about dragons are either totally fictional fantasies or symbols and allegories for epic struggles (such as, good against evil or Christianity against paganism). If we are going to dismiss the stories with dragons, what can we say about the ancient images?
In 1902, German archaeologist Robert Koldewey achieved great acclaim for excavating historic sites in Iraq including the walls of the ancient city of Babylon, the original “Tower of Babel,” the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and the foundations of what Koldewey thought was the Hanging Gardens (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). As Koldewey unearthed the walls around the great city, he uncovered a spectacular gateway covered with blue glazed tiles and a broad processional roadway leading through the gate and into the heart of the city. Parts of this impressive ancient gate and road, dating back to approximately 600 BC, have been reconstructed in Berlin using many materials from the archaeological excavation while a smaller reproduction of the gate was reconstructed in Iraq (but has been damaged by the war).

The beautiful blue gate and the processional have relief carvings of three animals; lions along the road, with aurochs (a species of now-extinct cattle) and some unidentified animals on the gate. These animals are currently believed to be sirrush (or dragons), in part because of the region’s connection with Marduk. See “Tiamat: Babylonian Dragon of Creation.”
The patron builder of these mighty works was the same King Nebuchadnezzar from the Book of Daniel in the King James Version of the Bible. In other texts not included in the King James Version of the Bible, there are additional stories of Daniel and the King of Babylon from this same time frame. In the apocryphal story, “Bel and the Dragon,” the King of Babylon owned a dragon which the people revered. The king confronted Daniel regarding the dragon, asking why Daniel would not also worship this dragon. Daniel never denied that the dragon was real but refuted the claim that the dragon was a deity to be worshipped. Daniel fed the dragon barley cakes with pitch (tar) that burst open upon consumption and kills the dragon. This act may have been what led to Daniel’s famous punishment of being thrown into the lion’s den, from which he emerged unharmed through miraculous intervention of Daniel’s Hebrew God.
It seems remarkable that there can be these references to an ancient animal that never existed alongside animals that obviously do (or did) exist, as is the case with the Ishtar Gate. The confrontation with Daniel and the King of Babylon never debates the physical presence of a dragon, only the question of the extent of its power. Perhaps dragons once existed and have since been hunted to extinction, like the aurochs.
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Sea-Monsters in Greek Mythology

SOME FOLKS SAY that we know very little about what lies within the depths of the ocean, and that our oceans remain one of the great frontiers for exploration. Mariners have told tales of many fantastic creatures from the deep. The giant squid, for instance, has only been scientifically documented within the 21st century. Who knows what else may yet lurk beneath the waves?

In the Ancient Greek tales, there were various references to sea monsters which appear to resemble dragons.
To modern star-gazers, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia may be best known as two of the constellations in the northern sky. In Greek mythology, the pair ruled over Ethiopia. Queen Cassiopeia bragged on herself about her beauty, until she ultimately brought the wrath of the gods onto her lands and her people. This vengeance came in the form of a dreadful sea-monster, named Cetus, who devoured both humans and animals. To placate the gods and the sea-monster, King Cepheus chained his daughter Andromeda to a rock on the shore as a sacrifice.

It was at this propitious moment that our hero, Perseus, entered the story.

Perseus was on his way home from an encounter with the Gorgon, Medussa. Freeing Andromeda and vanquishing the monster, Perseus claimed the maiden for his wife. Andromeda, however, was promised to another. Of course, that turns into a messy fight later on, but that is another story.

Hercules also battled with a sea-monster. In this story, Hercules (like Perseus) was on his way home from a previous adventure, an expedition against the Amazon warriors. Similarly, he found a princess chained to a rock as an appeasement to the sea-monster. This damsel in distress was Princess Hesione, daughter of King Laomedon of Troy. Hercules bargained with King Laomedon that he would rescue the princess and slay the dreaded beast in exchange for some wonderful horses that had been given to the King by Zeus. The King agreed and Hercules engaged the sea-monster in horrible combat. The beast swallowed Hercules but, in proper heroic form, Hercules continued slashing at the beast from the inside until he emerged victorious from the belly of the monster.

With the crisis past, however, King Laomedon reneged on his bargain and refused to give Hercules his prize. This act was not only without honor, but clearly showed a serious lack of any understanding of the consequences of double-crossing a hero. Hercules returned with an army and sacked the city of Troy, killing King Laomedon. Rather than keep the princess for himself, Hercules gave Princess Hesione as a prize to his friend Prince Telamon, who may have been among the war party.

If you think you may have heard some of these themes before, consider this interesting connection: The sea-monster that Perseus confronted was named "Cetus," or sometimes "ketos" (which means "huge fish") and is very closely related to the term used in the Hebrew texts of the Biblical story of Jonah.

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The Curious History of Chang Lung

SOME FOLKS SAY that dragons are fire-breathing calamities. But the Oriental dragon is most often a benevolent guardian usually associated with waters and rain.

During the reign of the fourth T'ang emperor, Chung Tsung, around the year 684 AD, there lived an honorable man named Chang Lung. He was beloved by his wife and two sons, and highly respected by all the townspeople who knew him. Although he was a judge in the local court, Chang Lung enjoyed spending time in the temple. As time went on, the man spent more and more time at the temple after work, often staying all night.

One morning, Chang Lung's family was shocked to see him come home dripping wet. As astonishing as his wet appearance was, his tale was even more amazing. As his surprised family questioned him, Chang Lung explained that he had begun metamorphosing into a dragon. In his dragon form, he had become the guardian and protector of his village. But now he was being challenged by another dragon and needed his sons to help him defeat his foe.

The two sons agreed to fight alongside their father and returned with him the following evening to the temple, armed with bows and arrows. Their father tied a red ribbon to himself so they could recognize him in his dragon form. In front of their incredulous eyes, Chang Lung turned into his dragon form and was immediately confronted by another dragon. Seeing the red ribbon that marked their honored father, the sons shot their arrows into the rival dragon and killed it.

From that time, Chang Lung remained at the temple as protector of the village. The temple was enlarged in 894 AD and again in 1091 AD by a grateful community in honor of their guardian benefactor.

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GWIBER & Y DDRAIG GOCH, a tale of two dragons

SOME FOLKS SAY that the red dragon on the Welsh flag is a depiction of the dragon Y Draig Goch from this popular local legend. In the folklore of Wales, there are two versions of this story of two great dragons, Gwiber and Y Ddraig Goch. This one is the later, more popular, version dating from 1147 in the "Historia Regnum Britanniae" by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

During the fifth century AD, the pagan tyrant Vortigern and his Saxon hordes were fervent about conquering and claiming the whole of the British Isles. Upon arriving in Snowdonia in the Welsh mountains, Vortigern decided to build a castle fortress on a hill overlooking the Llyn Dinas River. But every morning, the stones that had been erected the day before were knocked down. Again, Vortigern would order his men to lay the foundations to build the fortress. Daily, the men would work hard to erect the proposed towers. Yet every morning, their work would lie in rubble.

Merlin, the sorcerer of King Arthur legends, then just a young boy, told Vortigern that the difficulty came from the two dragons that dwelt in a pool of water hidden within a cave beneath the site. Vortigern's men dug and found the cave with a pool, exactly as Merlin had said, and two dragons locked in combat within. One dragon, named Gwiber, was a white dragon and the other was a red dragon, named Y Ddraig Goch. As the men watched, the red dragon defeated the white dragon and drove him from the cavern through the hole that had just been broken into the underground cave.

According to Merlin, the white dragon represented the invading forces of Vortigern and the Saxons, and the red dragon symbolized the guardian of Wales and the cave itself corresponded to the British Isles. The prophecy of the dragons was that the invading Saxons would ultimately be defeated and driven from Britain (which never happened). It is not a great stretch of the imagination to understand why the Red Dragon of Wales, Y Ddraig Goch, would become the guardian symbol of Wales, popular in the local folklore and prominently displayed on the Welsh flag.

Interestingly, archeological excavations in the region during the mid-1950s found a castle fortress as described in the Historia Regnum Britanniae, including a pool inside a cave within the thick walls of the mighty stone structure.

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TIAMAT: Babylonian Dragon of Creation

SOME FOLKS SAY that the serpent in the Garden of Eden is a thinly veiled reference to Tiamat. It's unknowable, of course, but it makes some sense that it might be so - since there are two competing creation stories from the Middle East.

In the creation mythology of ancient Babylon, as told in the Enuma Elish tablets, the world was created by Apsu and Tiamat. Apsu was the male spirit of fresh water and emptiness, and Tiamat was the female spirit of salt water and chaos, embodied in a great serpentine dragon. Between them were the heavens and earth created and all the living things conceived, including the gods.

Some of the god-children were rowdy and unruly, causing a great clamor. Apsu and Tiamat were disturbed by their commotion. Apsu suggested that they should kill some of their rowdy children, but Tiamat indulged her boisterous children and rejected the plan. One of their god-children, Ea, had the power to foresee the future. So Ea could foresee that Apsu intended to kill him and so, to save himself, he rose up and killed Apsu.

This enraged Tiamat who swore to avenge Apsu's death. But Ea could foresee that, too, so he enlisted the aid of Marduk, the most powerful of the gods, to help him defend against Tiamat's fury. Tiamat created a horde of great monsters, dragons, and demons to fight Ea, but in the end the ultimate conflict came down to mortal combat between Tiamat and Marduk.

Marduk rode into the conflict in a chariot pulled by four fierce horses, accompanied by the four winds. He brought with him a bow that shot arrows of lightning. When Tiamat opened her great jaws to swallow Marduk whole, Marduk threw one of the winds down her throat, blasting her mouth wide open. He then shot one of his lightning arrows down her open throat directly into her heart.

Mortally wounded, Tiamat cried great tears as she fell; tears of grief for her fallen Apsu and sorrow for herself, slain at the hands of her own children. Marduk crushed her skull and dismembered Tiamat's body, using part of it to roof up the sky thus forming the Milky Way. Her crying eyes became the source waters for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. And so it has been ever since.

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YOFUNE-NUSHI

SOME FOLKS SAY that Yofune-Nushi was a dragon; others insist that this is a tale about a sea serpent. Some stories call this a local demi-god. Perhaps this is a sea serpent that could come up onto the land, or a demi-god with the ability to affect the weather and cause storms to stir the seas. Whichever it was, and it seems a senseless debate, this Japanese legend tells a story of a dreaded dragon-like creature with a taste for human flesh, especially for young females ...

Yofune-Nushi lived in a cave by the sea along the coast of the Oki Islands, volcanic islands in the southwestern region of the Sea of Japan. From his seaside cave, Yofune-Nushi stirred up storms and made the seas unsafe for fishing boats. For the islanders, this was a great distress as much of their food and livelihoods depended on the sea. An arrangement was made that a young maiden should be sacrificed to Yofune-Nushi every year, on the thirteenth of June. It's not clear if the dragon spoke Japanese, or exactly how this bargain was struck originally, but the legend holds that Yofune-Nushi would fly into a fit of temper, bringing a devastating storm that would sink the entire village's fishing fleet, if the sacrifice was not made on the specified date.

One year, sometime around 1320 A.D., a beautiful young maiden named Tokoyo came to the island. She was searching for her father, a powerful samurai named Oribe Shima. Oribe Shima had offended the great warlord, Hojo Takatoki, and had been banished to these distant islands. His eighteen-year-old daughter Tokoyo, weeping for her beloved father, had left their family home in the Shima Province by the sea. Raised beside the sea among the pearl divers of Shima Province, Tokoyo was a skilled swimmer since childhood. She was also brave and fearless. Many weeks she travelled to the Oki Islands and there she searched everywhere among the islands for any sign of her father.

One evening, Tokoyo found a peaceful spot and lay down to sleep. Presently, she was awakened to the sound of sobbing girl. Tokoyo saw a young maiden, about fifteen years old, accompanied by a priest. Both were dressed in white robes. She stepped boldly forward, inquiring why the girl was in such distress. The priest explained that it was his unfortunate duty to cast the young girl into the sea, as part of an important sacrificial ceremony to Yorfune-Nushi that Tokoyo had interrupted. Boldly, Tokoyo took the ceremonial robe off the young girl and put it on herself.

"I see there is much sorrow in this part of the world," she declared to the priest. "But no one is as grieved as my poor broken heart. I am the sorrowing daughter of a great samurai. I have been searching for my father, exiled to this place, and have spent all my money without finding any trace of my dearest father. I have nothing left to live for, and I can no longer go on. Let me take this girl's place. My death can save so many people, and perhaps death will extinguish all my sorrows, so I will gladly offer myself in her place. But pray, good priest, all I ask is that you should take this letter which is addressed to my father and try to deliver it to him wherever he may be found." If either the girl or the priest would have protested, no one will ever know for Tokoyo turned and dove off the rocks into the sea below.

In the moonlight, she swam expertly through the clear waters, just as she had learned from childhood. She headed towards a partly submerged cave. Looking inside, she thought she saw a man sitting just inside the mouth of the cave. Thinking that this was the true form of the evil Yofune-Nushi, she pulled a dagger from her belt and swam bravely forward, determined to kill him and put a stop to this annual horror. But as she drew close to the form, dagger drawn, ready to fight, she saw that it was neither man nor dragon. Instead, she found a wooden statue of Hojo Takatoki, the wicked warlord who had banished her father.

At first, Tokoyo was angry and thought to thrust her dagger at the wooden statue, but she realized that would serve no purpose. Then she puzzled over the statue for a while, wondering who had made it, why it was here in this sea-cave, and what to do with her find. Presently, she decided to take it to back to the priest on the cliffs above to ask him these questions. She pulled off her corded belt and tied it around the statue. It was waterlogged and heavy, but she was sure she could bring it back to the shore.

Tokoyo had made her way back outside the cave when Yofune-Nushi came forth from the depths of his home. Sure that this was his annual tribute, Yofune-Nushi charged hungrily towards Tokoyo. But Tokoyo stood firm, gripping her dagger tightly. As the dragon's advance came within a few feet of her, she stepped aside suddenly. The dragon's momentum sent his massive figure hurtling past her. She stabbed fiercely at his head and her blade sank deep into the dragon's right eye.

The dragon bellowed in pain, and turned to retreat back into the darkness of its cave. But Tokoyo blocked his retreat, slashing again and again with her dagger, killing the monstrous creature. She stood looking at the lifeless, bloody form of the dragon and she knew she needed to bring it to show to the priest if she was to stop this dreadful annual ceremony. She tied one end of her sash around the dragon's body and the other to the strange wooden statue that she had found, and slowly she swam back to the foot of the cliff with these items dragging out behind her. Although Tokoyo had been in the sea for nearly a half-hour, the priest and the young girl were still on the top of the cliff, staring down into the sea when Toyoko came up out of the water. The girl cried out that it was Tokoyo, not Yofune-Nushi, who had broken the water's surface below them. "Look! She still has my white robe! And it appears that she has a man and a large fish with her. Whatever can this mean?" But the priest did not hear the girl's question for he was scrambling down the rocks to the water's edge to help Tokoyo and her cargo.

The warlord Hojo Takatoki had been suffering with some malady that the doctors of this time could not diagnose or cure. When he heard the news of Tokoyo's adventure in the dragon's cave, he was sure that his illness had been the result of some evil dragon's curse. In gratitude, Hojo Takatoki ordered the immediate release of Oribe Shima from his prison cell. Father and daughter were joyously reunited and returned to their home in Shima Province.

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Dobrynya and the dragon

Some folks say that Dobrynya Nikitich was more than merely a mythical character, that he was an historic warlord and a leader of the army under Sviatoslav the Great, famous warrior prince of the late 10th century. Although the historic people in this folktale are recognizable among the factual histories of the region known today as Russia and the Ukraine, the dragon (and therefore this story) is still considered mythical.


The area’s ancient oral stories, called the Byliny, began the tale with Dobrynya’s mother warning him not to go to the Sorochinsk Mountains and not to bathe in the Puchai River. Of course, ignoring his mother’s words, Dobrynya Nikitich did both of these things.


While Dobrynya was bathing in the Puchai River, the dragon Zmaj Gorynych appeared and challenged him. Zmaj Gorynych was a great, green fire-breathing dragon who had made her nest in a cavern near that part of the Sorochinsk Mountains. Unarmed, Dobrynya was sure that he was doomed. But the story told that Dobrynya swam for the far shore where, miraculously, he found a wizard’s cap on the river bank. Snatching up the hat, Dobrynya turned back to Zmaj Gorynych and turned to used it to slice the dragon’s head off. In desperation, Zmaj Gorynych pleaded with Dobrynya to allow her to live, vowing never to terrorize the humans of the region again. Dobrynya relented and spared her life, negotiating something of a nonaggression pact between the two of them. The dragon flew off, while Dobrynya Nikitich returned to Kiev. There he was acclaimed a hero and made a “bogatyr” or Holy Knight of the Realm.

The dragon Zmaj Gorynych abducted the lovely princess Zabava, niece of Prince Vladimir. When Prince Vladimir heard of Dobrynya Nikitich’s earlier encounter with the dragon, he summoned the bogatyr and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse -- rescue the Princess Zabava or forfeit his life.


Dobrynya returned to his mother’s house. There she gave him a silken whip. She told him to take the old mare and, when it grew weary, he was to draw the silken whip across the horse’s flanks. So Dobrynya rode off on the old mare to the Puchai River in the Sorochinsk Mountains to confront the dragon once more.


Once Dobrynya had reached the lair of Zmaj Gornynych, the bogatyr found a brood of many young dragons inside the cavern. He had slaughtered many of the offspring when an angry Zmaj Gornynych confronted him. The battle raged for three days between these two old foes. Every time the old mare would grow weary, Dobrynya would pull the silken whip across the horse’s flanks and the horse would be miraculously revitalized to continue the fight.


At the end of the third day, Zmaj Gornynych lay dead on the ground in a vast pool of her own blood. But the dragon’s blood would not seep into the ground and Dobrynya and his horse found themselves stuck in the muddy pool of blood. Dobrynya plunged his spear into the earth and boldly commanded the earth to absorb the dragon’s blood. With that, the blood was swallowed by the earth. Dobrynya rescued the fair princess Zabava and returned to Kiev to a great hero’s welcome.


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From Boobera Lagoon

SOME FOLKS SAY that dragons are fictional composites of everything that scares us. This story from the native Dreamtime legends of Australia considers the idea of what would be scary to a dragon. Here are the traditional elements of dragon lore (dragon terrorizes community, local hero confronts the beast, etc.) but with its own unique twist.

The Boobera Lagoon lies in the eastern Australian state of Queensland. In the depths of Boobera Lagoon lived a great water-dragon the natives called Kurrea (or Garriya). In some accounts, Kurrea is depicted as a Rainbow Serpent; in others he is described as being more like a crocodile or lizard. Aboriginal legends hold that Kurrea came to Boobera Lagoon from the Yetman region, south of Boobera Lagoon, and that he took the daughter of the Bambul tree for his wife.

For many years, Kurrea lived in the depths of the swampy lagoon, feasting on the fish, mussels and waterfowl of the habitat. The men of the region could not swim in the lagoon, nor fish from its banks, nor paddle their canoes into the lagoon to hunt the ducks or swans without Kurrea coming up from the depths to devour them. This was a great problem for the local population that they were prohibited from hunting or gathering food from around the Boobera Lagoon for fear of the great Kurrea, and they cried out for someone to rid them of this dreaded beast.

Dhulalla was a great warrior from the Noona on the Barwon, and the people asked him if he would kill this dangerous dragon before it devoured them all. Bravely, Dhulalla went to the southern bank of the lagoon early one morning with his best spears and clubs, and peered into the black waters for any signs of Kurrea. And soon the dragon did come up to confront Dhulalla.

Dhulalla threw his finest spear as hard as he could, but it bounced off the dragon and the great Kurrea was unharmed. Dhulalla threw another spear and another, he threw his club at the beast and one by one each weapon bounced harmlessly off the beast's strong skin until all Dhulalla's armaments were gone. Then Kurrea charged, its fiery eyes blazing.

The great beast plowed through the land in much the same way as it travelled through the water, creating troughs of earth and water as it went, displacing the earth like waves of water breaking against the bow of a boat, and in this fashion Kurrea was able to cross the land yet still remain in the water. Dhulalla ran for his life. Although Dhulalla was fast, the monster was gaining on him as they raced across the plain.

Ahead, Dhulalla saw the Bambul tree standing at the edge of the plain. He raced as fast as his feet would go towards the tree, with the furious monster chasing intently behind him. Dhulalla leaped onto the Bambul tree and clung tightly to its trunk. Kurrea suddenly saw his mother-in-law and, startled, he stopped abruptly. Then he bellowed, turned sharply and burrowed head-first deep into the earth. The hole he left filled with water. When no ripples remained in the water-hole, Dhulalla let go of the Bambul tree and stood up.

The trenches Kurrea had dug fill with water each year during the wet season. But the great dragon has never bothered the people of the region again, although it is said that he lives there still. The local people, however, still keep the law and no one goes near the lagoon or even along the banks after sundown, lest Kurrea be tempted from the depths once more.

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ILLUYANKA & TARHUN

SOME FOLKS SAY that the Hittite god of storms and the weather was named Tarhun, while other accounts call him Taru, Tarhunt and Teshub. The ancient Hittite people lived in the lands that were part of Ancient Mesopotamia, now present-day Syria in the Middle East. In the folklore of these ancient Hittites, Illuyanka was a ferocious serpent dragon with multiple heads. There are several different versions of the story of Illuyanka, this one dates to approximately 1,000 B.C. This myth was traditionally retold every year on New Year's Day.

According to Hittite mythology, the Storm God Tarhun fought with Illuyanka and the great dragon defeated the Storm God. The dragon took the god's eyes and heart and Tarhun became powerless. Despondent, Tarhun lived a simple, quiet life and took the daughter of poor farmer for his wife. Together they raised a son they called Sarruma. When Sarruma grew up, Tarhun arranged that Sarruma should court and marry the daughter of the great dragon, Illuyanka.

The Weather God slays Illuyanka (shown with Sarruma on far left) from the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, Ankara, Turkey

Tarhun instructed his son to ask his bride-to-be for the Storm God's eyes and heart from her father, the great Illuyanka, as a wedding gift. These were given to Sarruma who carried the eyes and the heart back to Tarhun. When he received these, Tarhun was restored to his powers as the Weather God and immediately set out to find and confront his adversary, Illuyanka. There was a second great struggle and this time Tarhun vanquished the dragon.

But Sarruma realized that he had been used. When Tarhun defeated Illuyanka, Sarruma begged his father, the Great Storm God, to take his life along with Illuyanka, the great dragon. Tarhun finally relented and killed his own son alongside Illuyanka in a great storm of rain and lightning.

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Chinese Astrology: The Dragon

SOME FOLKS SAY that Chinese astrology dates back over 2,000 years. Like Western astrology (which originated in Babylon), Chinese astrology seeks to explain human personalities, behaviors, relationships and fortunes by looking to the heavens. Also like Western astrology, the skies are divided into twelve segments. The Chinese zodiac is made up of twelve animals which correspond to certain personality traits. These animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, lamb (sheep, ram or occasionally goat), monkey, rooster, dog and pig (or boar). Each of the animals is said to hold significance for the people born in that year, rotating on a 12-year cycle. People born in the "Year of the Dragon" are supposed to be energetic, imaginative, and strong leaders if occasionally demanding and egotistical.

According to one Chinese legend, the selection of these animals was determined by Buddha. Once upon a time, all the animals were invited to Buddha's New Year's party and only these twelve animals showed up. The Chinese calendar observes New Year's on a different date than the Western (Julian) calendar commonly used in the United States, with the Chinese New Year occurring in mid-January to mid-February dependent on the cycles of the moon. Buddha gave each animal in attendance at his New Year's party dominion over its own year, in rotating cycles, bestowing the characteristics of that animal to all those born in that animal's year.

In another popular legend, a race was held to determine the order of the zodiac animals. It is said that the rat won the race by crossing the river on the ox's back and then jumping ahead upon reaching the far shore. The Jade Emperor (Heavenly Grandfather) was very curious why a strong, flying creature like the dragon did not finish first. The dragon replied that, while flying over the earth, he had to stop to make rain for the humans and the creatures of the earth and was therefore detained.

Of all the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, only one is considered "imaginary" or "mythical," the dragon. It is curious that one of the creatures should be so different from all the others. Some folks point to this peculiar exception and say that this is evidence that dragons once existed and were a part of the natural world when those early observers were looking to explain the universe in what was to evolve into Chinese astrology.

The last "Year of the Dragon" coincided (imperfectly) with the year 2000; the next one will be in 2012.

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Dragon Trouble at Krakow Castle

SOME FOLKS SAY that King Krak did not know he was building his castle atop a dragon's cave. Other versions of the story say that the King knew but was so enchanted with the lovely green hills and the beautiful Vistula River flowing by that he vowed to build his castle in this beautiful place. Perhaps the king thought that greenish speckled egg was just a strange looking rock. Or perhaps he thought it was too old and would never hatch.

Whatever he knew and when he knew it, King Krak built his castle on the beautiful Wawel Hill near the Vistula River in Southern Poland. Soon a bustling marketplace sprang up beside the castle walls and around the prospering marketplace grew a thriving town of bright houses. Beyond were farmers growing fruit trees, raising crops and tending livestock on the rolling hills. Life in the region around Krakow Castle was good and, looking out from his castle, King Krak was very pleased.

But the egg did hatch! There was one loud C-R-R-A-C-K-K! and out crawled a baby dragon. Life in the region took a sudden turn for the worse. The dragon's fiery breath burned the fruit trees and the crops in the fields. The local livestock became the dragon's food, as well as small children or maidens that might be foolish enough to wander off alone. The merchants of the marketplace were afraid and closed their shops. The king was distraught and sent his valiant knights out to rid the countryside of this plague. But none prevailed against the dragon.

In despair, the king cried out for someone to purge his kingdom of this devastating creature. One day, a young man named Skuba Dratewka, a shoemaker from a little hut on the edge of town came to the castle to speak with the king. Under his arm, Skuba carried a sheepsking which he had stitched together to look like a sheep. Inside, under the fleece, he had tightly packed the sheep's body with sulfur. The king quickly realized the plan and ordered the shoemaker's sheep to be placed near the dragon's cave, along with a few live sheep.

That evening, when the dragon came out to rampage and pillage, the evil creature quickly saw the grazing sheep and headed straight for them. Gulp, gulp, gulp and the sheep were swallowed up.

Presently, the dragon began to bellow and writhe. With a swish of his huge tail, the beast raced to the river to drink some water to extinguish his growing thirst and soothe the mounting pain in his belly. Skuba Dratewka and King Krak, watching from the castle, looked and each other and nodded. From the riverbank came the screams of the dragon and they could see the glow of the gushing blazes from its fiery throat. Then a huge explosion could be heard all over the village, followed by silence.

The villagers stuck their heads out of their houses to see what had caused the great explosion. The news spread quickly, "The dragon is dead!"

As the joyous celebration poured out onto the street, King Krak turned to the shoemaker and put his hand on the man's shoulder. "What can I give you to thank you for this great deed that you have done?" the king asked him.

Skuba thought for a minute, then asked the king for the dragon's hide. Surprised, the king immediately granted his request. He also ordered that a new shoemaker's home and shop should be built in a much better location in the marketplace, just beside the castle gate. Skuba, the shoemaker, took the dragon's hide and made shoes and boots from every scrap. The strong dragon hide that had turned back the lances and swords of the king's knights made sturdy boots and shoes. These boots brought great fame and wealth to Skuba Dratewka, shoemaker and dragon-slayer.

In some tellings of this legend, the shoemaker who slew the dragon was named Krak and ascended the throne after the death of the existing king. However you prefer this legend, it is still a popular tale in Poland. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Krakow, the old capital city of Poland, stop by and see the dragon's cave and statue that still stand today to commemorate this ancient folktale.

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