Dragons!!!

• The oldest culture in the world to use dragons in their mythology and beliefs, are the Chinese. For them, the dragon is a divine, mythical creature that brings good fortune, prosperity and bounty. It is the symbol of emperors and imperial rule, and its legends have shaped a good portion of modern Chinese culture.

• The dragon is a positive force, and represents power, excellence, and striving for goals, as well as being a benevolent force, which radiates goodwill, good luck, and blessings. Shrines to them can be found in many places in China, usually near the sea, since Eastern dragons tended to be water creatures.

This is the dragon who leads the Chinese New Year parades. This year Chinese New Year falls on January 23rd. It is the year of the Dragon!

Dragons appear in stories and mythology from all over the world. While in the East dragons are considered kind and good luck, many of the dragons in North American

and Europe were seen as evil forces to be conquered. Can you think of any examples of evil or good dragons in books or movies?

Eragon’s Dragon, Saphira from the books and the movie.

The dragon Chrysophylax appears in the tale Farmer Giles of Ham by J.R.R.Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings)

Norbert: Hagrid's baby dragon in the Harry Potter tales

Many artists, writers and storytellers have their own ideas about what dragons look like: What are yours?