Dragon Spotlight 8: Azi Dahaka

     Our next myth from the Middle East is from Zoroastrian oral tradition.  Azi Dahaka was a great dragon with a great hunger.  He began by eating cattle, but soon they were not enough and he began eating people as well.

     One man, Thraetaona, challenged the dragon, but nothing seemed to phase him.  In fact, wherever Thaetaona's sword pierced Azi Dahaka's skin, terrible creatures spilled out instead of blood.  Thraetaona was afraid that these foul creatures would dominate the lands.  So, he backed Azi Dahaka into a mountain cavern and imprisoned him there.  Whenever there are earthquakes in the area, it was said that the dragon was attempting to escape his chains.

     Later stories tell of Azi Dahaka returning by possessing the body of a man with his spirit.

     In these stories, a young prince is tempted by a sorcerer to kill the king and take his throne.  He begins eating meat and finally grows snakes from his body.  The snakes, as hungry as Azi Dahaka ever was, demand human flesh.  This terrible ruler controlled the Persian empire for many years until finally a young man defeated him.  Some stories say that this young man was Kereshapa, who freed the Persian people from their oppression.

     Rachel's drawing of Azi Dahaka reflects many stories where the dragon has multiple heads.  For inspiration she looked to Cerastes cerastes, a venomous viper from Africa and the Middle East.  Their cryptic patterning helps them camouflage in their desert environment, and their supraorbital horns are a distinguishing feature of the species.

     Join our blog next week for more dragons of the Middle East and India!

Dragon Spotlight 7: Apalala

     This week we move into Middle Eastern and Indian dragons.  Our first dragon, Apalala, lived in modern-day Pakistan high in the mountains.  For many years, he protected the local people from destructive dragons, and in their gratitude, they gave him tribute.  However, the people began to take Apalala's protection for granted, and eventually forgot both him and the tribute they used to give him.

     Denied this sign of respect, Apalala grew angry and laid waste to the surrounding villages.  Transformed by his anger, he had the face of a man, the body of a serpent, and two clawed arms, terrifying those who saw him.  He only stopped his reign of terror when approached by the Buddha, who converted him and showed him the error of his ways.  The Buddha also helped Apalala seek a resolution with the humans around him.

     Rachel's drawing of Apalala mixes the upper body of a modern monitor lizard with the lower portion of a serpent.
   

     Apalala's human face is represented by the mask attached to his head.

     Join us again next week for more dragons from the Middle East, India, and surrounding areas, as well as more previews of the original drawings to be featured in the book Discourse on Dragons!

Dragon Spotlight 6: Ouagadou-Bida

Our final African dragon myth is of Ouagadou-Bida, protector of Ghana.

As Ghana developed trade routes and began to prosper, Ouagadou-Bida emerged from a cave and pledged to protect the new kingdom as long as they sent their most beautiful girl to him every year.  For many years the people agreed, the dragon protected them, and the kingdom of Ghana prospered.

However, when a lovely girl named Sia was chosen, her true love could not bear the thought of losing her.  Instead, he lay in wait outside of the dragon's cave and cut off its head in a surprise attack.  Many times the dragon's head grew back, but eventually the young warrior won and save the love of his life.

Yet without the dragon's protection, the kingdom of Ghana fell to a terrible drought, causing all of its people to gather their belongings and abandon their homeland.

Rachel chose this myth as the full color drawing for our African chapter in A Discourse on Dragons.  She used the Kenyan sand boa (Eryx muelleri) as her inspiration, picture on the right.  These snakes have unique eyes designed to help them look over the sand while they are buried in it, and a tail which they use to push themselves forward while tunneling underground.

Stay with our blog as we continue to share short stories and sneak previews of our book, Discourse on Dragons!  Next week, we'll start posting dragon myths from the Middle East.  Stay tuned!