Game of Thrones and the True History of Dragons

In addition to a connection with royalty, many mythological dragons have been ascribed a power of mystical foresight.

Though some dragon myths are probably independent—anywhere with snakes or lizards could conceivably be a place that generates its own mythical scaly things—they became interwoven over time, Fee says, as travelers and traders brought stories from distant lands.

Some of the shift toward seeing dragons as primarily villainous, at least in Europe, may be traced to the way conquering societies mess with the myths of their subjects, Fee says.

For example, a Viking ship with a dragon prow would have been scary for other people but comforting to the people in the ship.

Or the fact that many myths have been refracted through the lenses of various conquering cultures, maintaining their monsters but often losing some of their more complicated pre-monotheistic worldviews.

For example, a Viking ship with a dragon prow would have been scary for other people but comforting to the people in the ship.

That precarious balance between power and protection, fear and foresight, is something that any Game of Thrones fan could recognize in Daenerys’ uncertain relationship with the dragons on which she depends.

“In the ancient world this wasn’t always the case. They were very often giant serpents of various kinds.”

...battled by St. George, which may be a Christianized interpretation of the Greek mythological Cetus; the Norse wyrm Fafnir, a “great worm,” and the Norse death dragon Nidhogg, who gnaws on the roots of the World Tree that holds up the universe; Zohak from the Iranian Book of Kings; the Babylonian dragon Tiamat; the dragon Vritra in Indic mythology;...

In addition to a connection with royalty, many mythological dragons have been ascribed a power of mystical foresight.

In addition to a connection with royalty, many mythological dragons have been ascribed a power of mystical foresight.

“In today’s world we often define a dragon as a giant, scaly, winged, reptilian beast, often that can breathe fire,” he says.