Western Dragon vs. Eastern Dragon

You can read the story about the Persian draon here: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/haftvad-haftwad

 

In the city of Kojārān on the coast of the Persian Gulf, there lived a man of meager means who “was called Haftvād because he had seven (haft) sons” (p. 140 v. 510). He also had a daughter who went daily to the field with other women to gather cotton and spin it at home into yarn. One day she found a worm in an apple and, taking it as a sign of good fortune, placed it inside her distaff case. On that day she was able to spin a double quantity. She nurtured that “auspicious worm” (kerm-e farroḵ) at home and it turned into a mighty creature, black with golden spots. By the worm’s fortune the family grew wealthy and influential until Haftvād was able to kill the ruler of Kojārān and assume royal power. He built a fort on a nearby hill, transferred the worm there, and nurtured it with milk and rice until it grew into a giant “with horns and mane” (bā šāḵ o yāl; p. 143, v. 566). Haftvād’s power grew daily. He founded (the city of) Kermān, which he named after that worm (kerm, p. 143 v. 567), and with an army of 10,000 men, led by his sons he gained mastery over the whole region.

 

The belief that a worm can transform into a dragon is found elsewhere (e.g., in Irish and Scandinavian mythology; see Thompson, B11. 13.1; B11. 1.3.1.1). Indeed in Sogdian the word for dragon is kyrm (Henning, 1940, pp. 21-22), while Ossetic has kalm for “snake” (Morgenstierne, p. 24).

 

The similarity of the legend of Haftvād’s daughter with the Scandinavian story of princess Thora as told by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (d. 1220) has long been recognized (Liebrecht, p. 65-67; Darmesteter, p. 83; Christensen, 1941, p. 59). Herodd, king of Sweden, commanded his daughter Thora “to rear a race of adders with her maiden hands,” and they grew so large that they menaced the community. Prince Ragnar Lodbrog killed them and married Thora. In another version, the Saga of King Ragnar Lodbrog, Thora “kept a snake in a box, with gold under him. The snake grew until it encircled the whole room, and the gold grew with his growth” (Welsford, pp. 419-20).

 

What about Germanic hero Sigurd (Siegfried)? We should search for some differences, not similarites!

 

It is interesting to read it: http://www.amordaden.blogfa.com/post-735.aspx

 

There is a spring in Ilam which is unlike all other springs that you have seen or heard of.  It is not a spring of water.  Instead, tar flows from this spring.
The local people say that from this spring dragon’s blood is flowing, the dragon which was killed in the war with the legendary hero of Iran: Esfandiar Roointan. (Roointan means invulnerable)

 

I'm not inferring anything, or implying anything at all when I say, look up the very early pottery of the Southwest Indian Cultures of the US.  Also some MesoAmerican pottery.  Then, on a casual basis, compare those with that of the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures.  Just an idea.  But keeping in mind that my Degrees are in Ceramics.

 

 

Some Chinese scholars think that Chinese dragons originated from lightning strikes symbolically with the roaring sound of "loong" which is the same sound of the Chinese character of "dragon".

Dragon became totem of Chinese culture (agrarian culture) as the dragons (thunders and lightnings) showed up in spring time , the people started to grow crops.

The various features of a Chinese dragon like deer horns, eagle claws, pigs nose, fish tail etc. were said to be from totems of various tribes before converging to form a dragon - a non-existent creature , a totem for all Chinese tribes.