Short Essay: Origin of Dragons and Sea Serpents Across Civilizations

Jonathan Gu

5/8/2023

Origins of Dragons and Sea Serpents Across Civilizations

Representative of the pinnacle of fantasy, the mighty dragon is a symbol of power and devastation spanning multiple cultures, mythos, and epics. While modernly standardized to the European winged lizard, depictions of dragons can be found in all stretches of the world. Most interesting though is the earliest conceptions of the dragon, precursors to the fantastical creatures in the form of serpents and chimeras, that appear depicted in numerous ancient civilizations seemingly completely independent from each other. It begs to question how such a spread of isolated, early cultures in altogether different regions of the world could construct similar variations of a creature that does not exist. A path to exploring this topic can be found in the common physical appearances, cultural roles, and elemental attributes that the earliest mythological serpents possessed. Prior to the widespread medieval European dragon, multiple ancient civilizations independently created the mythos of draconic and serpentine beings in association with rivers, rain, and storms.  

Arguably the root of civilization and settlement revolved around the bounty of rivers. Rivers provided freshwater for sustenance and fertile soil for agriculture. As such it is no wonder that rivers became targets of great reverence. It is through the deification of rivers that the icon of the serpent comes into being. Early mythological serpents took the form of snakes with wave-like scales and long, winding and coiling bodies that resembled the very rivers themselves. East Asian cultures saw the river as the spirit of the dragon itself, flowing with benevolence but flooding in anger. Depictions of the East Asian dragon always emphasize the winding nature of their long bodies and are often found painted on water receptacles such as vases and urns(1). One such vase housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is dated to the early 15th century and is adorned with a large dragon “undulating through a sky” shrouded by sparse clouds and wisps of vapor.  

Along with appearance parallels, mythical serpents were also attributed great strength. The overwhelming force of rushing water or the crushing power of waves helped build the tales of monstrous strength that serpents and sea variants possessed. Professor of Linguistics, Robert Blust(2), notes that the early Oyampi tribe native to French Guiana believed that each river was inhabited by a great serpent that would reside in the vast waterfalls that fell upon unfathomable chasms. The distant roar of water crashing would echo from below and certainly lend credence to the belief. Going beyond rivers, sea serpents are notably present in a large amount of cultures around the world and continued to evolve through the eras. Seafarers would brave the brutality of the open ocean and return with tales of storms, maelstroms, and crushing waves. In fact, in Greek mythology, Triton, the son of the god of the sea is depicted on a Greek hydria vase as a distinct variation of a merman, possessing the torso of a man and a lower body continuing as a scaled serpent in the now familiar winding stature.The hydria was dated to 520 to 510 BCE(3). 

Cultures would not often interpret the deities of the sea as friendly, but as primeval disasters emblematic of wrath and destruction. The Mesopotamians believed in a primordial goddess named Tiamat that mothered a variety of other deities and was the goddess of the sea and embodiment of chaos and creation. While a cylindrical seal(4) dated to 900 to 750 BCE assumedly shows a depiction of the slaying of Tiamat in the form of an elongated sea serpent with a draconic head and two front legs, another temple wall imprint(5) dated to around 850 BCE is believed to depict the slaying of Tiamat by the god Ninurta but in the form of a chimeric creature with a scaled body and avian wings and legs. Both roughly form the categorization of draconic while further proving that the existence of such creatures in early legends can be attributed to reverence for rivers and oceans.

Following the idea that dragons are derived from rivers and oceans, their presence as contenders of the sky extends the connection to the interpretation of weather and storms. The great serpents leave their domains of water and take to the sky, flying among or simply embodying the clouds high above. Even in the modern era, water stands as the most destructive force. Great floods can wipe out entire villages and decimate crops and infrastructure. Whirlwinds and hurricanes level great expanses of land while waves and maelstroms swallow entire ships. Storms on land and sea heralded destruction from the sky with the howling of wind and the flash and roar of thunder and lighting. An interesting interpretation of the relationship between thunder and storm associated serpents will be explored further later. Beyond their design sharing common aspects across cultures from being derived from storms, the early dragon often emulated the natural disasters that were attributed to them by being wrathful and destructive forces of nature in legends and myths. 

Nautical cultures universally featured sea serpents as a form of primeval obstacle that would punish any who ventured beyond the domain of man and into the vast open ocean. Beyond that, the vast amount of previously undocumented fauna inhabiting the ocean would surely scare or inspire any explorer returning to tell a tale. Encounters with completely unknown creatures such as whales at a distance and concealed by the distortion and diffraction of waves would explain how these crafted leviathans were often depicted as gigantic variations of known sea creatures. Megalodons were most likely a tall tale exaggeration of sailors’ encounters with large sharks. Likewise but more wondrous, the Kraken is a colossal octopus or squid that would bring ships down with its massive tentacles. The origins of Krakens are excitingly traced to findings of actual Colossal Squids in 1987, 2003, and 2007(6). While the prevalent sea serpent can potentially be associated with the true equivalent of “sea serpents”, as in aquatic snakes, there is also the consideration of water spouts and high, crested waves that could derive the coiling and arching depiction common to sea serpents across different cultures. Another possible source of initial conception is the rare but very real Oarfish that inhabit temperate and tropical oceans. These fish are slender and long, maxing out at 36 feet in length, certainly capable of inspiring a fantastical leviathan. Regardless of what inspired the appearance of the creatures, they were surely created to represent the volatility of oceans and storms.  

As beings determined to be the embodiment of bodies of water and by extension the weather affiliated with the surrounding regions, cultures often told stories of humans being at the mercy of these spirits. Some legends placed dragons as guardians that would provide fertility at times of good weather. Others would tell tales of dragons withholding the rain during droughts or flooding the river in fits of rage. East Asian cultures held high respect for dragons, using them often as adornment and crests to symbolize strength, valor, and honor. They were worshiped as an extension of the rivers and as noble guardian spirits, almost comparable to the angels of the West. This cultural sentiment is featured in acclaimed animated film, Spirited Away(2001), a story featuring extensive references to Japanese myth and folklore and bridging traditional culture to modern sentiments. A primary plot point involves the main character’s guiding figure, the dragon Haku, remembering their identity as the river spirit of the Kohaku River and the recounting of how as a spirit of the river he had saved the main character from drowning as a child. Alternatively, the Vedic Hymn of the Rig Veda, The Killing of Vrtra, tells the tale of a great flying serpent hoarding the world’s rain in its belly. Such a tale could be used to explain a period of extreme drought and lack of rain. It could go even further and see the flying dragon with the world’s rain in its belly as an interpretation of the clouds high above dark and heavy but not parting with any rain. 

A final point of interest lies in the almost absurdly obscure commonality of dragons and serpents in battle with deities wielding lightning. Through examining a particular tale in three vastly different cultures, time periods, and regions side by side, key components can be broken down into and identified to highlight the reason of how this could be. In Norse mythology, there is the rivalry between Thor, the god of thunder and Jormungandr, the world serpent. A tale told by the Seneca Tribe in North America recounts how He-No, assistant to a thunder spirit and keeper of thunderbolts, attempts to defeat a serpent poisoning the local river(7). In a notable Vedic hymn, The king of the Gods armed with a club of thunderbolts, Indra, battles the water-hoarding serpent, Vrtra. Comparing these three tales and drawing out the core elements of each and pairing it with the connection established between dragons as natural disasters and interpretations of storms, the parallel origin of each story can be identified in thunderstorms. Without the understanding of static discharge, it can be seen that the thunder and lightning accompanying heavy storms are actually in battle with the dragons amongst the clouds in the distance. Even more so the delayed thunderclap being heard as a great beast’s roar of pain following being struck by a bolt of lightning.  

Through analysis of commonality across a myriad of early depictions of dragons across the cultures of the world, the means by which this mythological creature hatched its way into arts and legend is equally as fantastical as the evolution of the concept independently across different regions and times around the globe. It is made clear that the practice of attributing the natural phenomenon to supernatural lore and a cultural love for imagination and creationism transformed the rivers that civilizations were built upon into powerful serpents. The oceans that were filled with mystery and certain death told stories of leviathans beneath the waves. Great storms swept water from the sky as dragons took flight into the sky. Since antiquity, humans have always strived to understand the world around them. All mythologies, folklore, and religion are means to explain the expansive and wondrous world around us. 

Referenced Sources:

1. Jar with dragon, China, Ming dynasty(1368-1644), Xuande mark and period(1426-35), early 15th century - Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

2.Blust, Robert. “The Origin of Dragons.” Anthropos, vol. 95, no. 2, 2000, pp. 519–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40465957. Accessed 1 May 2023.

3.Terracotta hydria (water jar) Greek, Attic, black-figure, ca. 520-510 B.C. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

4.Cylinder Seal - The British Museum

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1896-0619-1

5.Wall Panel; Relief, The British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1851-0902-501

6.Magazine, Smithsonian. “Rare Oarfish Caught on Video on Great Barrier Reef.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 8 July 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-oarfish-caught-on-video-on-great-barrier-reef-180980372/. 

7.Morgan, Lewis Henry, and Herbert M. Lloyd. League of the Ho-De'-No-Sau-Nee or Iroquois. Franklin, 1968. 

Additional References:

Van Buren, E. Douglas. “The Dragon in Ancient Mesopotamia.” Orientalia, vol. 15, 1946, pp. 1–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43073252. Accessed 1 May 2023.

Wilson, J. Keith. “Powerful Form and Potent Symbol: The Dragon in Asia.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 77, no. 8, 1990, pp. 286–323. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161297. Accessed 1 May 2023.