24 replies to this topic

[teri107]

Dragons; sometimes huge, reptilian, dangerous, sometimes winged, sometimes not creatures – are reported not as mythological but as real in every ancient culture on every continent. Of course, those creatures that we now call dinosaurs were also sometimes huge, dangerous, sometimes winged, sometimes not creatures – that lived on every continent. (Technically pterosaurs are not considered dinosaurs).

Among those ancient cultures who described living dragons were the Norse and that subset of the Norse culture the Vikings.

http://s8int.com/Wor...a-of-sauropoda/

Edited by Saru, 30 December 2012 - 10:56 AM.
Trimmed for length - please avoid copy and pasting large amounts of offsite material

[QuiteContrary]

When ancient cultures or the time of the Vikings, etc., speak of giant and/or dinosaur type animals/dragons, why couldn't they have gotten these ideas from prehistoric dinosaur skeleton or bone discoveries known during their time? Even ancient cultures could identify an abnormally giant-sized vertebra or hip bone or skull or rib. I can see lots of (hero) stories/explanations erupting around any giant bones = dragons, serpents, etc. Even around just a very few discoveries and spreading.

Edited by QuiteContrary, 30 December 2012 - 07:57 AM.

[keninsc]

We know that ancients did run across these and often thought they were the bones of a dragon or some other mythical creature. I recall reading somewhere.....unfortunately, I can't recall where but there was an ancient Greek temple that had the skull (?) of some dinosaur in it supposedly. It seems then Romans came in and took the thing away and it was lost at sea in a ship wreck or some such thing. Hey, I'm going by memory here, so if I get some of it wrong then sue me.

So, the same sort of thing could well have happened with the Vikings............of course now I'm reminded of the Danish tale of Beowulf and the monster Grendel.  Hey, a lot of Vikings made homes in what is now Denmark and wound up getting all domesticated themselves.

Edited by keninsc, 30 December 2012 - 09:12 AM.

[Abramelin]

keninsc, on 30 December 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

So, the same sort of thing could well have happened with the Vikings............of course now I'm reminded of the Danish tale of Beowulf and the monster Grendel.  Hey, a lot of Vikings made homes in what is now Denmark and wound up getting all domesticated themselves.

If you can watch Outlander (2008), do it. It's a SciFi movie based on Beowulf, well sort of.
http://ffilms.org/?p=3722

.

Edited by Abramelin, 30 December 2012 - 01:22 PM.

[orangepeaceful79]

teri107, on 30 December 2012 - 06:38 AM, said:

Dragons; sometimes huge, reptilian, dangerous, sometimes winged, sometimes not creatures – are reported not as mythological but as real in every ancient culture on every continent. Of course, those creatures that we now call dinosaurs were also sometimes huge, dangerous, sometimes winged, sometimes not creatures – that lived on every continent. (Technically pterosaurs are not considered dinosaurs).

Among those ancient cultures who described living dragons were the Norse and that subset of the Norse culture the Vikings.

http://s8int.com/Wor...a-of-sauropoda/

I think it is arrogant of we as modern humans to assume that they only way that ancient peoples could have concieved of fantastic beasts like dragons, etc is by having some sort of direct experience with them.  One constant of human culture for as long as it goes back is that of the tradition of storytelling - also known as "making S-hit up".  They were probably better at it than we are, because they didn't have electronic devices constantly entertaining their brains for hours a day, sapping their ability to create with the mind itself.

These people actually had imaginations.  Think about what is more likely - that some Viking saw a small reptile in the wild and imagined how cool a very huge version of it would be and built a story around it.................or that giant dinosaurs and dragons existed in human times, yet left no tangible evidence of their massive existence?  I see bull-$hit stories as being quite a bit more likely.

After all, Cryptozoology wouldn't even exist itself were it not for the propensity of humans to concoct fantastic stories about the natural world.

Edited by orangepeaceful79, 30 December 2012 - 03:31 PM.

[Simbi Laveau]

Oarfish  !

[ShadowOfMothman]

keninsc, on 30 December 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

I recall reading somewhere.....unfortunately, I can't recall where but there was an ancient Greek temple that had the skull (?) of some dinosaur in it supposedly. It seems then Romans came in and took the thing away and it was lost at sea in a ship wreck or some such thing. Hey, I'm going by memory here, so if I get some of it wrong then sue me.

Do you mean the skulls of  extinct dwarf elephants that were found by the ancient Greeks and are considered to be the basis of the myth of the Cyclopes? Or am I talking about an entirely different thing?

[keninsc]

ShadowOfMothman, on 30 December 2012 - 06:08 PM, said:

Do you mean the skulls of  extinct dwarf elephants that were found by the ancient Greeks and are considered to be the basis of the myth of the Cyclopes? Or am I talking about an entirely different thing?

Beats me Dude, you should know what it is you're talking about because I don't.

[ShadowOfMothman]

keninsc, on 30 December 2012 - 07:43 PM, said:

Beats me Dude, you should know what it is you're talking about because I don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclops
Scroll down to "Origins"

Edited by ShadowOfMothman, 30 December 2012 - 08:37 PM.

[keninsc]

Could be, it's been years since I read that article.....pre-internet.....if that gives you any idea.

I know is going to blow your mind but we used to have to buy magazines, news papers and books to get information.

Yes, I'll wait while you get up off the floor. I know the shock was a bit much for you.

[Urisk]

orangepeaceful79, on 30 December 2012 - 03:30 PM, said:

I think it is arrogant of we as modern humans to assume that they only way that ancient peoples could have concieved of fantastic beasts like dragons, etc is by having some sort of direct experience with them. One constant of human culture for as long as it goes back is that of the tradition of storytelling - also known as "making S-hit up".  They were probably better at it than we are, because they didn't have electronic devices constantly entertaining their brains for hours a day, sapping their ability to create with the mind itself.

These people actually had imaginations.  Think about what is more likely - that some Viking saw a small reptile in the wild and imagined how cool a very huge version of it would be and built a story around it.................or that giant dinosaurs and dragons existed in human times, yet left no tangible evidence of their massive existence?  I see bull-$hit stories as being quite a bit more likely.

After all, Cryptozoology wouldn't even exist itself were it not for the propensity of humans to concoct fantastic stories about the natural world.

THIS!!!!!!!! Very much! I'm perplexed by the notion that our ancestors didn't have imaginations. They spent more time by the fireside spinning tales of whimsy, fancy, heroic deeds and evil monsters. We spend our time slapping a keyboard and arguing over nonsense with faceless peers. No offence to you wonderful lot but let's face it; it would make more sense that they were the ones more prone to a wealth of imagination. Probably far more cultured than the lot of us too. We've lost so much as technology's given us more apparent free time.

[ShadowOfMothman]

keninsc, on 30 December 2012 - 09:07 PM, said:

Could be, it's been years since I read that article.....pre-internet.....if that gives you any idea.

I know is going to blow your mind but we used to have to buy magazines, news papers and books to get information.

Yes, I'll wait while you get up off the floor. I know the shock was a bit much for you.

No, I'm not shocked at all   In fact, I love reading magazines and books!

[keninsc]

Good for you!

[Bavarian Raven]

Well, unicorns were real - they were simply the Norwals. But apparently most people didn't believe that these long (and very expensive) bits of ivory could come from whales and therefore stated that it must be a land mammal's tusk. Hence the unicorn legend.

Or giant squid. Imagine if one got caught on your anchor when you were dragging it up. Those squid were longer then most ships of the era.   And aka we have the Kraken (especially if said ship got entangled with a larger then usual specimen of the species).

A lot of these "dino/monster" legends have neat origins, if one cares to dig 'em up

[keninsc]

That's true.