Chasing Dragons

It was two thousand years ago. High in the mountains of Nepal, everything stood still. A blanket of white snow covered tiny bushes on the rocks. The mountain was quiet. But that was about to change. 

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. As minutes passed, the pounding became more and more violent. Rumblings louder than thunder rolled across the land. And then, with a huge CRACK, the land split open.

Thousands of feet below, a group of people looked up in terror. The mountain had started moving—and with such force! What could possibly be happening? 

Some people had an answer. Stories had spread for years about terrible creatures that lived in the mountains. These creatures were enormous. Their claws made great clashing noises. And when they dug into the ground, their mighty bodies shook the earth.

Only one creature was powerful enough to move a mountain: a dragon!

It was two thousand years ago. High in the mountains of Nepal, everything stood still. There was a blanket of white snow. It covered tiny bushes on the rocks. The mountain was quiet. But that was about to change. 

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Minutes passed. The pounding became stronger and stronger. Rumblings louder than thunder rolled across the land. Then there was a huge CRACK. The land split open.

Thousands of feet below, a group of people looked up in fear. The mountain had started moving—and with such force! What could be happening? 

Some people had an answer. Stories had spread for years about scary creatures that lived in the mountains. These creatures were enormous. Their claws made loud clashing noises. And when they dug into the ground, their huge bodies shook the earth.

Only one creature was powerful enough to move a mountain: a dragon!

It was two thousand years ago. High in the mountains of Nepal, everything was still. Then the ground shook. The rumbling was louder than thunder. With a huge CRACK, the land split open.

People on the ground below the mountain were afraid. The mountain was moving! But how? Some people had an answer. Stories had spread about a creature in the mountain. It was a dragon! 

People have been telling stories about mythical creatures for thousands of years. Beautiful mermaids were said to swim in the seas. Glittering unicorns were thought to roam the forests. And then there were dragons. 

Tales of fire-breathing dragons come from all around the world. In ancient China, dragons were usually described as sea creatures with colorful scales. Their faces looked like crocodiles’. Their heads had horns and deerlike antlers. Some were mighty monsters that lived in ocean palaces. Others were so small they could fit in a teacup. 

In Europe, people spoke in hushed whispers of mighty flying lizards. They were said to have wings like bats and long, scaly tails. One breath of fire could burn you to a crisp. One twist of their tail could crush you in seconds.

In many legends, people fought these magical monsters with bravery and cleverness. In others, people jumped on their backs and rode them on adventures through the sky.

People have been telling stories about mythical creatures for thousands of years. Beautiful mermaids were said to swim in the seas. Shiny unicorns were said to walk through the forests. And then there were dragons. 

Tales of fire-breathing dragons come from all around the world. In ancient China, people thought of dragons as sea creatures. They had colorful scales. Their faces looked like crocodiles’. Their heads had horns and antlers. Some dragons were mighty monsters that lived in ocean palaces. Others were so small they could fit inside a teacup. 

In Europe, people spoke in whispers of mighty flying lizards. They were said to have wings like bats and long, scaly tails. One breath of fire could burn you to a crisp. One twist of their tail could crush you in seconds.

In many legends, people fought these monsters with bravery. In others, people jumped on their backs and rode them on adventures through the sky.

Stories about mythical creatures like dragons come from all around the world. They’re thousands of years old. In ancient China, many dragons were said to look like sea creatures. Some dragons were huge. Others could fit in a teacup.

In Europe, people thought dragons looked like mighty flying lizards. In many stories, brave people fought these magical monsters. In others, people rode on them.

Today we know that dragons are not real. So why are there so many dragon stories? Experts have a few ideas.

Some stories are based on animals. For example, a man named Pliny lived in Italy long ago. Pliny heard about creatures far away in India. These creatures would drop out of trees and kill animals!

Pliny thought the creatures must be dragons. But Pliny didn’t know that giant snakes live in India. They’re called pythons. Pythons drop out of trees and kill other animals. The “dragons” Pliny wrote about were actually just snakes!

Today we know that dragons are not real. We’ve never found a large skeleton with wings and four legs. We’ve never seen an animal that can breathe fire. 

So where did all these stories come from? And why do so many cultures from all around the world have them? Experts have a few ideas. 

Some stories are based on real animals. Long ago, people didn’t have photos and videos. So they couldn’t view animals from faraway places. If a person heard a story about a strange creature from another land, they would sometimes think it was a dragon.

One story like this comes from a man named Pliny. He lived almost 2,000 years ago in Italy. He heard about dangerous creatures that lived far away in a country called India. They were enormous and deadly. They dropped out of trees, wrapped themselves around elephants, and killed them! 

Pliny wrote stories about these terrifying animals. He called them “dragons.” 

The thing is, there are animals in India that act like that. They are enormous snakes called pythons. Pythons don’t usually wrap themselves around elephants. But they do wrap themselves around birds, monkeys, and deer. And then they squeeze the animals to death.

But Pliny had never been to India. So he didn’t know about pythons when he wrote his stories. The “dragons” Pliny described weren’t actually dragons. They were just terrifying snakes!

Today we know that dragons are not real. We’ve never found a large skeleton with wings and four legs. We’ve never seen an animal that can breathe fire.

So where did all these stories come from? And why do so many cultures from all around the world have them? Experts have a few ideas. 

Some stories are based on real animals. Long ago, people didn’t have photos and videos. So they couldn’t see animals from faraway places. People heard stories about strange creatures from other lands. They would sometimes think the creatures were dragons.

One story like this comes from a man named Pliny. He lived almost 2,000 years ago in Italy. He heard about dangerous creatures. They lived far away in a country called India. They were big and deadly. They dropped out of trees. Then they wrapped themselves around elephants and killed them! 

Pliny wrote stories about these scary animals. He called them “dragons.” 

The thing is, there are animals in India that act like that. They are giant snakes called pythons. Pythons don’t usually wrap themselves around elephants. But they do wrap themselves around birds, monkeys, and deer. And then they squeeze the animals to death.

But Pliny had never been to India. So he didn’t know about pythons when he wrote his stories. The “dragons” Pliny wrote about weren’t actually dragons. They were just scary snakes!

Other stories were based on extinct animals from long ago. For example, there was a forest fire on an island in Greece. The fire burned plants. After the fire, people found a strange skeleton. They were sure it was from a dragon.

Today we know that the island has fossils. The bones likely came from a huge animal called a mastodon. It lived during the Ice Age. People on the island had never seen one. So they thought the bones were from a dragon, a creature they had heard of already.

Dragon stories also came from people trying to explain parts of nature. Remember the people in Nepal? They heard rumblings near the mountains. But it wasn’t because of a dragon. That area of Nepal has earthquakes! 

More stories come from our imaginations. Humans were scared of big animals like lions and tigers hurting them. Maybe they were so afraid they made up something even scarier: a dragon.

Today we still dream up new dragon tales in TV shows and movies. We know one thing for sure. Many people love dragon stories. Do you?

Other stories focused on extinct animals that lived long ago. One story started 2,000 years ago in Greece. A forest fire blazed across an island. It burned through trees and plants that had been covering the ground. Under the ash lay a giant skeleton. 

The people on the island had heard stories of a creature that lived there long ago. The beast was said to be a terrifying monster: a dragon! They were sure these bones were from a dragon.

Today we know the island contains fossils. Scientists think the bones likely came from a huge animal called a mastodon. These mighty creatures lived during the Ice Age. They were like elephants but bigger and furrier. 

By the time of the forest fire, mastodons were extinct. The skeleton didn’t look like any animal people had seen before. So they thought the bones belonged to a fearsome creature they had heard of—a dragon.

And there are more stories like this from around the world. In ancient China, people reported finding and digging up “dragon bones” in their fields. They were considered good luck and were used to make medicines. You may be able to guess what the bones were. They were fossils of extinct animals too!

Other stories were based on extinct animals. The animals lived long ago. One story started 2,000 years ago in Greece. A forest fire spread across an island. It burned through trees and plants that had been on the ground. After the fire ended, a giant skeleton was found under the ash. 

People on the island had heard stories of a creature that lived there long ago. The beast was said to be a scary monster: a dragon! They were sure these bones were from a dragon.

Today we know the island contains fossils. Scientists think the bones likely came from a huge animal. It is called a mastodon. These mighty creatures lived during the Ice Age. They were like elephants but bigger and furrier. 

By the time of the forest fire, mastodons were extinct. The skeleton didn’t look like any animal people had seen before. So they thought the bones belonged to a scary creature they had heard of—a dragon.

And there are more stories like this from around the world. In ancient China, people said they found and dug up “dragon bones” in their fields. They were considered good luck. They were used to make medicines. You may be able to guess what the bones were. They were bones of extinct animals too!

Dragon stories also came from people trying to explain things they didn’t understand. Before we knew a lot about science, people told stories to explain the natural world. Remember the people in Nepal? They heard rumblings near the mountains as the earth shook. Does this sound like a natural event you’ve heard of?

That area of Nepal is known for having powerful earthquakes! People back then didn’t know about earthquakes though. So they imagined the noise was coming from dragons.

And perhaps our imaginations are yet another source of old dragon tales. For thousands of years, humans had to watch out for animals that could attack them, like lions and tigers. Maybe this fear got stuck in their brains. They became so afraid that they made up a new creature, scarier than anything they had seen before. Maybe some dragon stories came from our imaginations!

Dragon stories also came from people trying to explain things they didn’t understand. Long ago we didn’t know a lot about science. So people told stories to explain the natural world. Remember the people in Nepal? They heard rumblings near the mountains as the earth shook. Does this sound like a natural event you’ve heard of? 

That area of Nepal is known for having powerful earthquakes! People back then didn’t know about earthquakes though. So they thought the noise was coming from dragons.

And maybe our imaginations are yet another cause of old dragon tales. For thousands of years, humans watched out for animals like lions and tigers. These animals might have attacked them. Maybe this fear got stuck in their brains. They became so afraid that they made up a new creature. It was scarier than anything they had seen before. Maybe some dragon stories came from our imaginations!