Dragon Spotlight 4: Isa Bere

From the Futa Jallon mountains, Isa Bere was responsible for drinking the entire Niger River, causing massive drought and suffering.  He was defeated in battle by King Samba and his bard Tarafe, though the battle raged for 8 years before his defeat.  One version of the story tells us that 80 swords broke against the scales of the dragon, until finally the youngest son of one of the country's smiths made a sword that was, at last, successful in helping King Samba kill the best.

Rachel's drawing of Isa Bere is inspired by the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), which she used not only because it lives in the area of Futa Jallon, but also because the myth heavily featured water and the crocodile is an aquatic animal.

The Nile crocodile is the second largest reptile in the world, after the saltwater crocodile.  While it is rarely found in saltwater, it can survive saline environments.  We felt that it was the perfect inspiration for Isa Bere!

Join us next week when we take a look at the mythical Grootslang!

Dragon Spotlight 3: Carthaginian Serpent

Our third dragon spotlight is on the Carthaginian Serpent, and comes from Roman accounts of the beast.

During the first Punic War, General Regulus and his troops had to cross the Bagradas River in modern-day Tunisia.

When confronted with the great serpent across the river, Regulus decided to cross the river at a different place, but the snake pursued them until they face off against it in a great battle.

Author and illustrator Rachel based her drawing of the Carthaginian Serpent (seen above) on the African Rock Python, below

Native to the area where the myth is set, the African Rock Python can grow up to (or even beyond) 20 feet and has been known to swallow antelope!  Surely it would have made an impression on a foreign Roman soldier encountering it for the first time.  

Let us know if you've heard of the Carthaginian Serpent, or simply have made the acquaintance of a particularly large and ill-tempered African Rock Python.  Next week we'll be back with another dragon spotlight, complete with never-before-seen illustrations inspired by local fauna!

Dragon Spotlight 2: Nyami Yamaninga

In honor of Valentine's Day, we're posting a particularly romantic dragon today.

Nyami Nyami, sometimes called Nyami Yamaninga prior to colonization, is a unique dragon from Zimbabwe.  A god of the Zambezi River, he is a large serpent with the head of a fish who looks over the Ba Tonga people with his beloved wife.  

Due to increased development, the Ba Tonga people have been forced to relocate, and Nyami has been separated from his wife by a dam built on the Zambezi River near the Kariba Gorge.  However, the Ba Tonga insist that Nyami will one day destroy the dam to reunite with his wife, and restore them to their homeland.

In fact, many strange things have happened since the construction of the dam, and many say that Nyami is at work behind them.

If you’ve heard of Nyami, let us know in the comments section, and look for more dragons to come every week along with sneak peeks of the artwork we’ll include in our book, A Discourse on Dragons.

Dragon Spotlight 1: Aido Hwedo

Our first featured dragon is Aido Hwedo, from stories of the Fon people in Dahomey, Africa.  Aido Hwedo is also known as Oshunmare, Oxumare, and Oshunmaire, and is of both genders.  For this reason, in our book we plan to call Aido Hwedo either "it" or possibly "they" (since although it's not human, it is very intelligent).  When the Creator feared that the earth with all its creatures would be too heavy and would collapse, Aido Hwedo bravely volunteered to allow the earth to sit on its coils while it holds its tail in its mouth.  As such, the image of Aido Hwedo is that of an ouroboros, a giant dragon or snake with its tail in its mouth.  Many world cultures have this image.  Below we have posted a sneak preview of our illustration of Aido Hwedo done by illustrator and co-author Rachel:

Rachel's drawing of Aido Hwedo takes its inspiration from many animals, including a python (an example taken from an internet source is pictured below).  

Working in the UMass laboratory with snakes and reptiles, she often gets an up close and personal view!  Next week we will post another dragon with a preview of its illustration and an abbreviated version of the story we'll be telling in the book.  In the meantime, if you've ever heard the story of Aido Hwedo yourself, let us know in the comments section!

Welcome to a Discourse on Dragons!

Dragon myths are a unifying feature of cultures across the world, and they have also long been the personal obsession of one professor, one graduate student, and one undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Fortunately, these three met, and we decided to put together a comprehensive book on dragons myths! Of course, we know that we're not the only ones who love dragons, and so we invite you to come on a journey with us as we compile stories, develop original dragon artwork, and dig into dragon stories from the world over.

In our developing book, we have chosen to define dragons as any variation upon the great serpent mythologies. In other words, a supernaturally powerful creature of serpentine form. These great serpents predate our modern definitions of dragon and almost certainly inspired their creation. We posit that it is from these ancient serpents that the more modern, limbed and winged dragons, evolved. In this way, we hope to challenge the reader to redefine the term dragon for themselves, and come to understand more fully the relationship between dragon myths and human culture. There exist countless myths and variations of myths which involve dragons throughout the world. We aim to focus especially on those myths with a large cultural significance like creation stories or tales that explain the world around us.

For this, we need your help! Every week we will post a dragon myth from around the world and the artwork as it develops. If you've ever heard of the dragon in question, let us know what stories you've heard in the comments section! If there is a dragon story from your culture or from your very own hometown (we're looking at you, Darlington County SC, Fresno CA, and Gloucester MA) then pass it along to us, and it just may make it into the final book. We hope that this book will shine a spotlight on both the superstars of dragon mythology as well as some humble dragons who haven't yet gotten the respect they deserve.

Prepare yourself; here be dragons.

Sincerely,

Jean, Rachel, and Virginia