Here is the list of 40 legendary dragon gods and goddesses you should know about.
Apep
Also spelled Apepi or Aapep in Egyptian mythology. Snake god of chaos living in the dark.
He tries to stop the solar chariot of Re (also called Ra), god of light, in a diurnal and nocturnal race (underground world).
Sometimes he manages to stop it and causes solar eclipses, but his victory is short-lived, because Re always triumphs, maintaining the universal order.
Eventually, Re kills Aapep, and his body is cut into pieces and burned.
Ananta Shesha
In Hindu mythology, king of all Nâgas symbol of eternity.
Apophis
Greek mythology. Like Aapep, the Egyptian snake god, he threatens the order of the world by chasing the sun. Apophis will be brought closer to Set, a deity who can also threaten the order of the world.
Damballa
In the Caribbean, important serpentine deities of Vodou, living in the trees above the waterways.
God of fertility and father of the Loas (spirits of the place, force of nature). Damballa’s wife is Ayida-Weddo, also a cosmic serpent.
Ayida-Weddo
Rainbow serpent in Haiti. God of fertility, fire, water, wind and snakes in Vodou. Also known as the cosmic serpent wife of Damballa.
Simbi
In the Caribbean, deity of Vodou, it is a cosmic serpent.
Bolla
Albanian folklore. Dragon waking up one day in the year: the day of Saint George, where he devours humans. Every twelve years, he changes his form, becoming a fire-breathing dragon with nine tongues called Kulshedra.
He causes drought, and human sacrifices appease him. He is sometimes depicted as a hairy woman with a pendulous chest.
Kulshedra
In Albanian folklore, a fire-breathing dragon with nine tongues, mutation of Bolla.
Boodjamulla
An immortal rainbow serpent of the dream, which dug the rivers, in Aboriginal mythology of Australia.
Chupacabras
Puerto Rico. Dragon vampires more or less anthropomorphic, prognathic and equipped with sharp fangs. Their eyes are reddish, their body covered with a thin fur and equipped with membranous wings.
Their hind legs are curved and powerful. They are capable of mimicry and empty the blood of goats (Chupacabras means “goat-sucker”), sheep, cows, but also poultry, rabbits and domestic animals such as dogs or even cats.
The way in which chupacabras seize their prey is unknown because no traces of scratches or bites have been found, nor any traces of pressure. They were much talked about in 1994.
Cirein-cròin
In Scotland, sea serpent, the largest of the living creatures, which is satisfied with seven whales to only open its appetite.
Dewi
Ancient god of Wales represented as a red dragon. The official emblem of Wales comes from there.
Gargoyle
Monster in the shape of a small winged dragon or grinning demon. The legend attributes to gargoyles a real existence. Cursed, they cannot live during the day, the sun turning their flesh into stone.
But with the moon, they recover the colors of life, and freed from their prison, they fly away and disappear in the dark corners, to carry out their secret activities.
Thus, each time the dawn arrives, they return to the roofs where they live and, at the first touch of the golden light, fall back into the night of their minds.
The origin of the gargoyles is to be found in the year 520, when a water snake, the Gargoyle, emerged from the Seine, near the city of Rouen.
When it opened its slender mouth, topped by large eyebrows, it vomited a torrent of water causing floods. The archbishop Saint Romain resolved to chase the gargoyle away, but no one, for lack of courage, wanted to accompany him, except for a man condemned to death.
The archbishop, with a sign of the cross, paralyzed the gargoyle which was dragged to Rouen and burned; then its ashes were thrown into the Seine. The man condemned to death, who had had the courage to accompany Saint Rouen, was pardoned.
Níðhöggr
Níðhǫggr dragon gnaws the roots of Yggdrasill tree in Norse mythology .
Grafvolluth
Like Nidhogg, dragon trying to destroy the Yggdrasil ash tree.
Groin
Like Nidhogg, dragon trying to destroy the Yggdrasil ash tree.
Guivre
A snake with lethal breath, who can’t stand the sight of naked bodies.
Herren-Surge
Flying demonic snake with seven heads, in the Basque tradition. Human sacrifices could appease it.
Illuyanka
In Hittite mythology, Illuyanka is a dragon that was killed with the help of Hupasiays, who made it drunk with wine. The dragon fell with his head spinning and was struck by the lightning of the local god of thunder. In the new year, this myth was read, which symbolized the birth of a new era.
Itzpapalotl
Among the Aztecs, the serpent goddess of agriculture.
Manasa
Manasa is the goddess of snakes in Hindu mythology. Sister of Nâga, She is worshiped for protecting against snake bites.
Mechquan (or Pilhannaw)
New England. Thunderbirds.
Moin
Like Nidhogg, dragon intent on destroying the Yggdrasil ash tree.
Nāga
Also called Nagi. Genie of fertility in Hindu mythology, with human bust and snake body. Protector of the rivers can bring rain as well as drought.
The Nāgas live in the underground palace Bhogavati, ruled by Sesha, a thousand-headed dragon.
Nidhogg
A devious dragon lurking under the third root of Yggdrasil, “the court of the Dread (odin)”, the world tree, a root that he is constantly gnawing on, threatening its balance.
Other demonic serpents such as Graback, Grafvolluth, Groin and Moin also try to destroy the Yggdrasil ash tree. In addition to these monsters, there are other evil demons, such as the four deer that graze on the young shoots of the branches.
Fortunately, thanks to the attentive care of three fairies, the Norns, the ash tree remains erect and green.
Olitiau
Cameroon. Dragon birds with membranous wings and a long beak with sharp teeth. It was observed by zoologists Ivan Sanderson and Gerald Russel, in 1932, in the mountains of Assumbo.
Orang-bati
Java, on the island of Seram. Anthropomorphic dragons living in the craters of extinct volcanoes. Their skin is red and their backs are covered with membranous wings. They have a long tail.
Pūķis
Spirit of the house manifesting in the form of a flying dragon in Latvian mythology, bringing to the master of the house the golden fruit of his larceny.
If the dragon is badly treated, it disappears, dies or takes revenge.
Python
Greek mythology. The Zeus the god of thunder knocked up Leto, which made Hera jealous. Hera asked Python, a monstrous snake born of the goddess Gaia, to pursue Leto relentlessly.
But Leto managed to hide, helped by Poseidon god of the sea, and gave birth to Artemis and Apollo. The dragon Python was staying in a cave on Mount Parnassus, on the way to the oracle of Delphi.
When Apollo tracked down the serpent that had persecuted his mother, he chased Python and pierced it with his golden arrows, before proclaiming his ownership of the oracle of Mother Earth.
In memory of this victory, Apollo founded the Pythian games, which took place every four years, and took himself the nickname of Pythian.
Rahu
Demon of draconic form. In Hindu mythology, he leads a chariot drawn by eight black horses, and with his mouth wide open, he tries to devour the sun or the moon.
When he succeeds, an eclipse occurs. He is found in Tibet as a Krodhadevatas, a god of fear, and ruling the nine planets. His serpentoid body has nine heads.
Sesa
Mythical dragon with great wealth, in Java and Thailand. They are assimilated to Nâgas.
Sesha
Dragon with a thousand heads, in Hindu mythology, chief of the Nâgas.
Tatzelwurm
German, Austrian, Swiss and Italian Alps. It has the appearance of a lizard with small legs (one or two pairs), whitish, or black with yellow spots like the salamander.
Extreme particularity: it has a feline head.
Th’uban
Demonic dragon of Islam.
Thunderbirds
Native American legend. Draconic creatures that are birdlike and more or less anthropomorphic, depending on the species. Their name comes from the fact that they can cause thunderstorms. A famous thunderbird is the Piasa. They are also the Tlanuwa of the Cherokee and the Pilhannaw (or Mechquan) of New England.
Uktena
Uktena is a huge horned serpent of Cherokee legend.
Tugarin
Russian mythology. Called the son of the worm, it is a fire-breathing dragon, which was defeated by the hero Alyosha Popovitch.
Uwabami
Giant and flying snake in the East. It devoured men and their mounts by diving from the sky. It was killed by Yegara-no-Heida.
Xiuhcoalt
Among the Aztecs, Xiuhcoatl is a fire serpent, personification of the drought.
Yurlunggur
Mythology of the Aborigines. Dragon god of fertility, rain and rainbows. He swallows the Wawala sisters and regurgitates them, which means the passage from childhood to adulthood. See Budjeemala.
Zmei Gorynytch
Russian mythology. Dragon whose misdeeds were stopped by Dobrynya Nikitich. If during the first battle the hero let the dragon live, begging for mercy, when the dragon kidnapped the niece of Prince Vladimir, the hero was annoyed and killed it.
