The History of Dragons

What if dragons were not just fantasy? From Aztec temples to Viking longships, nearly every culture on earth feared or worshipped some version of these creatures. This book explores why ancient priests fed sacrifices to feathered serpents, medieval knights claimed to hunt wyverns in swamps, and scientists were still dissecting so called dragon bones as late as 1800. Spanning cultures and centuries, the book traces dragon mythology across the globe and asks where the legends came from. Chinese emperors linked dragons to weather and power. Vikings carved dragon slayers on runestones while fearing Nidhogg. Mesoamerican shamans claimed transformation into Quetzalcoatl. Even the Vatican once displayed what was said to be a dragon skull. Real world explanations appear: poison vents in Greece mistaken for a multi headed monster, dinosaur fossils sold as holy relics, and colonial missionaries burning sacred serpent shrines.