Thursday, May 8, 2014

Dragons, the mythical beasts that spur the imagination

There are few creatures in history as notorious as the dragon. Beasts of fable, myth, and probably some bits of truth, they are mostly bad guys in stories. Oddly, dragons are usually ascribed a lot of intelligence, normally breathe fire and are reptilian in nature. Not all of them fly, but they all are nasty and powerful.

Probably the best known dragons are Smaug (from Tolkien's The Hobbit), Thermothrax from the Disney movie Dragonslayer (it was a stop motion project, but is still incredibly realistic), St. George's dragon, Beowulf's dragon, and the popular Renaissance dragons with their four legs and two wings. It's amazing that seemingly every culture has a version of a dragon mythology. My guess is that there is some truth at the beginning of these stories, since it is so widespread, but whatever the origins they are stimulating creatures that never cease to amaze and terrify.

With modern computer imagery getting better all the time, these dragons are being visualized with greater realism. Smaug is absolutely amazing in the new movie, but so were the dragons from Reign of Fire. I can't wait to see the dragon in the new Maleficent movie, and the trailers are giving enticing peeks at her. Despite the ages old subject, dragons continue to spark the mind and I love to see them more and more.

- M

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