Do dragons really exist?
Some facts you should know about these mythical creatures


Dragons are among the most iconic mythical creatures in the world. Stories about these enigmatic beasts appear in many cultures, from Europe to the Americas, and from India to China.
Given this widespread presence, some scholars have suggested that these creatures may have actually existed in the distant past. After all, how can we explain the fact that such distinct cultures, spread across such vast continents, passed down remarkably similar stories about dragons?
While it's unclear when and where the first dragon myths originated, the Sumerians, for example, already spoke of enormous flying serpents in their mythology. The belief in dragons was not just rooted in legend, but also in tangible evidence that occasionally surfaced. For centuries, no one could explain the discovery of giant bones, and the idea of dragons seemed the most logical explanation to people who had yet to learn about dinosaurs.
Adding to the belief were the tales of sailors returning from Indonesia, home to the famous Komodo dragons—giant, aggressive lizards that could grow up to 10 meters long and were potentially lethal. Western scientists conclusively confirmed their existence around 1910, but stories and rumors of these fearsome creatures had been circulating long before.
In the medieval era, most people who believed in the existence of dragons had likely heard of them through biblical stories, and it’s probable that many Christians genuinely thought these monsters were real. After all, the Leviathan (the creature described in detail in the Book of Job) seems to have all the characteristics of a dragon:
"His back is made up of rows of scales, tightly sealed together: each scale is so closely joined to the next that air cannot pass between them; they cling to one another, compact, and cannot be separated. His sneezing flashes with light, his eyes are like the dawn’s eyelids. From his mouth come flames, sparks of fire leap out.From his nostrils issues smoke like a boiling, burning cauldron. His breath sets coals on fire, and flames come from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck, and terror runs before him. His flesh is firm and compact, fastened to him and immovable. His heart is as hard as stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he rises, the gods are afraid, and in terror they stand amazed.
The sword that faces him does not pierce him, neither spear, nor arrow, nor dart. Iron is like straw to him, bronze like rotted wood. The arrow does not flee him; for him, the stones from a sling are like chaff. The club is like chaff for him, and he mocks the hiss of the javelin. His belly is made of sharp stones, and he glides over the mire like a threshing sledge.
He stirs up the sea like a pot, he makes the depths of the sea bubble like a boiling vat. Behind him he leaves a shining wake, and the deep appears white with foam. There is no one on earth like him, created to be fearless. He rules over all that is proud, he is king over all the beasts of the wild.” (Job 41:7)
Different Types of Dragons

Although most people can easily imagine a dragon, the ideas and descriptions of these mythical creatures can vary greatly from culture to culture. Some dragons have wings, while others do not. Some can speak or breathe fire. Some are only a few meters long, while others can stretch for hundreds of meters. Some live in palaces deep beneath the ocean, while others seem to reside in dark caves carved into mountains.
In the book Giants, Monsters, & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth, the renowned folklorist Carol Rose explains that dragons are often depicted as composite creatures, made up of parts from various animals—such as the elephant head in Indian mythology, the lion or bird of prey head in the Middle East, or more commonly, the head of a reptile. Their bodies can be any color, ranging from green to red, black to yellow.
Guardians of Treasures
The word “dragon” comes from the Greek Δράκων (Drákon), meaning “to see” or “to watch,” suggesting that dragons were creatures tasked with guarding treasures or valuable objects. It would be naive to imagine them hoarding mountains of gold coins, since it’s unclear what such a creature could possibly do with all that money. Instead, these treasures are symbolic, meant to justify the brave deeds of heroic knights who set out on quests to slay the dragon, steal its treasure, and in some cases, rescue a beautiful maiden.

The dragon is one of the few mythical monsters primarily conceived as a powerful and fearsome adversary, worthy of being slain, unlike other creatures such as trolls, elves, or fairies, which, while interacting with humans, do not take on the role of a true opponent like the fire-breathing monsters.
The negative characterization of the dragon, at least in the West, became more pronounced when Christianity began interpreting the dragon as a symbol of Satan, drawing on the biblical story of Adam and Eve’s fall, where the devil is depicted as a serpent.
In the Middle Ages, stories circulated about saints who fought and defeated Satan in the form of a dragon. The most famous of these was Saint George, who, in his legend, encounters a city plagued by a terrible dragon. The happy ending of the story sees Saint George defeating the dragon, rescuing a maiden held captive by the beast, and slaying the creature with the sign of the cross.

The citizens of the city, impressed by Saint George’s faith and courage, converted en masse to Christianity. A similar story is told of Saint Columbanus, who, in 565 AD, defeated a gigantic beast that had been terrorizing the population near the River Ness in Scotland.
Scholars believe that the idea of dragons breathing fire stems from medieval depictions of dragons as gates leading to hell, often portrayed as the mouth of a gigantic monster spewing fire and sulfurous smoke. If, like the medievals, one believed in the literal existence of both dragons and hell, this association makes perfect sense!
In any case, in one form or another, these mysterious creatures have been part of human lore for millennia. Through video games, role-playing games, and films, dragons continue to fuel our collective imagination and, unlike dinosaurs, which contributed to inspiring stories about them, dragons show no signs of extinction.