[Regia-NA] "Celtic" dragons?

[Chris Knight]

      NOTE!!! I am using the term "Celt" for lack of a better word.

             From what I have read regarding the ledgends of "celtic" 
dragons is that they were thought to be of animal intellgence so were not 
thought to be evil but were concidered bad omens and neither did they fit 
our modern ideas of what the typical Hollywood or fantasy rpg dragon is 
depicted as. I do have a feeling most of what is left of the "Celtic" dragon 
lore had been infused with Anglo-Saxon and scandanavian flavours.
    according to my sources the majority of mythical creatures of the 
pre-roman peoples of the British isles were little more then ferocious and 
bizzare versions of mundane animals such as (and I am not joking!) sheep but 
with poison razor sharp teeth and a hunger for human flesh...I know it's not 
nearly as romantic as magikal Druid Dragons but it sure seemed to scare the 
trews off of those headhunting woad besmeared tibesmen :D
And your not alone in your irritation over people using flakey newage books 
as historical documentation. I see it all the time, we just have to our part 
to remind them that their D&D manuals and using a crystal ball to scry into 
their past lives will not hold weight in the face of documented history :P
                                                      till next time.
                                                 Chris Knight






>From: "Brett W. McCoy" <bmccoy@chapelperilous.net>
>Reply-To: list-regia-na@lig.net
>To: list-regia-na@lig.net
>Subject: [Regia-NA] "Celtic" dragons?
>Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 16:49:27 -0400
>
>On another list I am on, someone brought up the subject of "Celtic" dragons 
>-- she was on a chat room and said something to the effect of "Chinese 
>dragons were good whereas in Europe dragons were usually seen to be bad" 
>and someone else said "Except Celtic dragons".
>
>So now the issue has come down to how much dragons were used in any early 
>"Celtic" art or legends, if at all.  I brought up the issue of exactly what 
>was meant by "Celtic", and of course someone had to pipe in with "I have 
>this book on druid stuff using an animal oracle card deck and it talks 
>about dragons and the four elements...", and others have brought up the use 
>of dragons in Arthurian legend, but of course, the Arthurian legends as we 
>know aren't purely "Celtic" or Welsh or Anglo-Saxon or Frankish or 
>Norman... but a mish mash of a bunch of influences.
>
>So, how prevalent were dragons in early "Celtic" art or stories -- whether 
>Cymru or Gaulish or Manx or what have you -- that existed independent of 
>Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian influences?
>
>-- Brett
>
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