Where Did Dragon Myths Come From?

“If dragons are myths, then how do they appear all over the world with similar names and descriptions?”

Great question, Keelin.

You’re right to wonder how dragons may appear in the narratives of many cultures worldwide if no one had seen them. Are dragons myths? As it turns out, that depends on what you mean by dragons. If you mean the wildly fantastic beasts often depicted in art and film, then yes, dragons are a myth. However, every myth has a source, even if the myth may distort the source.

What Was the Source of Dragons in Mythology?

Given their resemblance to dinosaurs, dragon myths were probably influenced by interaction with living dinosaurs after the flood. As these interactions became fewer and farther apart, the legends of dinosaurs grew into those of dragons.

Facts became distorted, and fantastical powers or features were added. Creatures were combined, or given features they never actually possessed, to make a better story.

Eventually, when dinosaurs were rediscovered in the 1800s and the word dinosaur was coined, people no longer connected the two. But the origin of the dragon myths most likely lies in post-flood interactions with dinosaurs.

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