dragons

Scandinavian Dragons

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In the Scandinavian countries Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland, dragons are referred to as wurms, or lindwurms.

They have wings and two legs. Their bodies are 15 metres long, or more, and their two legs are not strong enough to support the entire weight of their bodies: so Scandinavian dragons drag their bodies along the ground, leaving a trail of slime and dead plants.

They have smooth, impenetrable hides, and soft, vulnerable underbellies. They have sharp talons as strong as iron.

They live in human burial mounds and abandoned buildings. They love to hoard treasure and can hibernate on top of a pile of treasure for many years.

Scandinavian dragons are intelligent and often capable of speech. They are also greedy and easily made angry. They breathe fire and inject venom with their fangs!

If you enjoyed this post and want to read more, you can find out more about dragons in The Dragon Companion: An Encyclopedia by Carole Wilkinson. This is an adult book, but it is okay for kids to read too. All the facts in this post were taken from this book.

Books written for kids about dragons that you might like to read are:

The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen

Fangs ‘n’ Fire by Chris Mould

The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit

The Fire Series by Chris D’Lacey

The Dragons of Wayward Crescent by Chris D’Lacey

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell

What Do Dragon Symbols Mean?

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In history, and in legends, dragons were used to represent ideas.

Western dragons were a symbol of evil, or the devil. Scandinavian dragons symbolised greed or pride. But in China the dragon was a symbol of good luck, protection and fertility. Because of this, Chinese emperors used the dragon as their symbol.

Western dragons were not only used to represent evil. Dragon images were also used by kings and their armies on their war standards. They used the image of a dragon to represent power and strength.

In medieval Europe the images of dragons as representing good and bad existed at the same time. Churches had images of saints killing dragons to show good triumphing over evil. But they also had dragon gargoyles. These were stone water drains in dragon shapes, on the outside of buildings, to guard against evil spirits.

If you enjoyed this post and want to read more, you can find out more about dragons in The Dragon Companion: An Encyclopedia by Carole Wilkinson. This is an adult book, but it is okay for kids to read too. All the facts in this post were taken from this book.

Books written for kids about dragons that you might like to read are:

The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

The Indigo King by James A. Owen

The Search for the Red Dragon by James A. Owen

The Books of Umber #2: Dragon Games by P. W. Catanese

Kids’ Review by Samuel

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Beast Quest #1: Ferno: The Fire Dragon by Adam Blade

Ferno the Fire Dragon is the first book of the amazing Beast Quest books by Adam Blade. Avantia is in great danger. The country, once protected by seven large beasts, has been betrayed by the dark wizard Malvel. He hypnotised the beasts, turning them away from the great country. Only a hero can save Avantia. Is it Tom, son of Taladon the Swift? Setting out to free the beasts of Avantia, Tom risks his life for the Beast Quest. 4 stars.
Review by Samuel of Karori

A wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

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I would quite like to go to Hobbiton in spring, maybe catch a quidditch game at Hogwarts, Oz looks like a bit of fun and I would love to travel through Narnia – but I am not so sure about the archipelago of islands that make up Earthsea. Earthsea is a realm surrounded by a different sort of magic – one that is deep and dark and knowing. A boy called Ged was born there though, and he has no choice but to stay and discover its secrets.

A Wizard of Earthsea is like a lot of other children’s fantasy novels in that it is about a boy growing up and travelling, going to a school for wizards, making friends and enemies, saving his village, learning and making mistakes. The thing that makes it different is the magic. This is not just an adventure tale, or a school story, or a friendship quest that happens to have some cool magic: this is a book about magic and a young wizard’s battle to find its balance within himself.

The magic isn’t all fun and games and biscuits either. It isn’t magic that makes a star at the end of a wand shine or turns your teacher into a toad. It is old magic with old rules, hidden traps and an all-knowing awareness. Sometimes the magic is dark and dreadful. I listened to A Wizard of Earthsea on audio book recently: I was walking through town with my headphones on – it was a windy, rainy day and I was very caught up in the story. Suddenly something TERRIBLE happened (I won’t tell you what, you might get a fright) and I SCREAMED right there in the middle of the footpath with the people in suits on their way to work staring at me and shaking their umbrellas.

But don’t be scared: it is only a book, and it is really a very good one. I won’t tell you that it has a happy ending, or that it is sooo funny and cool and easy to read, but I will tell you that if you truly like fantasy you really ought to come down to your library and get A Wizard of Earthsea.

Image courtesy of Astrid Nielsch 

This painting is by Astrid Nielsch who was inspired by Ursula Le Guin’s writing. She is exhibiting her paintings next week; you should go and have a look. They will be showing at Thistle Hall in Wellington – Cuba Street corner Arthur Street from 17 to 22 August, Tuesday to Saturday 11 am – 8 pm and Sunday 11 am – 6 pm. The opening is on Tuesday the 17th of August from 6-9 pm, and Astrid says you can expect dragons, wizards and magic!

Iranian Dragons

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Iranian Dragons look like Chinese Dragons, but they are not friendly like them, instead they are mean like British Dragons.

They are four-legged and wingless, and enormous in size. They can swallow a horse, or even a carriage, in one gulp.

Iranian dragons are very attractive to look at. They have smooth hides that can be a large range of colours. Often they are marked with contrasting spots. They have coloured streamers that grow out of all four of their armpits. The streamers grow up into the air. What they are for is not known.

They have a single horn in their forehead that branches out. They have hairy beards and tuffs growing on their legs. They have scary blood-red eyes.

Iranian Dragons are the only dragons that do not live near moisture. Instead they live in dry places like the desert.

They breathe fire and they can talk. They are deceitful and murderous and they eat people!

If you enjoyed this post and want to read more, you can find out more about dragons in The Dragon Companion: An Encyclopedia by Carole Wilkinson. This is an adult book, but it is okay for kids to read too. All the facts in this post were taken from this book.

Books written for kids about dragons that you might like to read are:

The Book of Dragons by E. Nesbit

Fangs ‘n’ Fire: Ten Dramatic Dragon Tales by Chris Mould

The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke

Johnsonville BookBuster Reviews

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We had some great reviews from our July BookBuster meeting, so take a look. There may be something there you might like to read yourself.

Finn reviewed Revenge of the Sith Visual Dictionary. He said there is alot of detail about all the  character’s and that his favourite character’s are the Buzz-droids and Yoda.

 

Sian reviewed Missing Toby. This book is about Harriet who is very sad because her brother Toby has died. Harriet finds a dog in the wild that she makes her own. Sian gave this book 10/10.

 

Oscar reviewed Icefire. He said this is a great adventure book all about dragons.

 

 

 

Hayden reviewed 39 clues. This book is about Dan and Amy who have to find 39 clues to win a quest and gain powers. Hayden really enjoys the 39 clue books.

 

 

Isabella reviewed the Magic Faraway Tree. Isabella said this book is about a tree with magical lands on each branch with little houses to live in. She really enjoyed this book.

 

 

Benjamin reviewed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. He hasn’t finished the book yet but his favourite part is in Voldermort’s cave.

Dragons: Ancient Greek Dragons

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The dragons of ancient Greece were like huge serpents. They had no wings or legs.  The English word dragon comes from the Greek word “drakon.” This word originally meant huge serpent.

 

Ancient Greek dragons lived in caves near water. They often guarded springs, shrines and treasures. They had excellent eyesight and often slept with their eyes open.

 

They could grow up to forty metres in length and their body contained poisonous black gore. They had a golden crest on top of their head that flashed light and a triple-forked tongue that absorbed nutrients to make venom.

 

They would kill their victims by injecting venom into them with their fangs, or by squeezing them to death. They also made a blood-chilling hissing sound.

 

Are you interested in dragons? We’ve got lots of dragon books in the library.

Dragons on Postage Stamps

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Dragons have been on postage stamps all over the world.

 

China’s first stamps appeared in 1878 and had dragons on them! They are known as “large dragon stamps” and are very rare. A miniature sheet of stamps was issued in 1988 to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the original dragon stamps.

 

Japan’s first postage stamp appeared in 1871 and also featured dragons!

 

In 1966 Germany issued a stamp with a mushussu dragon (a dragon that is part serpent, lion and eagle) from the Ishtar Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient city of Babylon.

 

In Britain a stamp was released in 1998 that had Bilbo, and Smaug the Golden Dragon, from The Hobbit. Regional stamps for use in Wales always feature the Welsh dragon emblem. Stamps are often released in Britain and Europe that show Saint George and his dragon.

 

Whenever the Chinese year of the Dragon comes around, many different countries issue dragon stamps. The year 2000 was a dragon year, and dragon stamps were issued in China, Macau, U.S.A, Canada, Christmas Islands, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

For more information on dragons have a look at the library catalogue.