Draconika

Dragon Map of the World

Where the dragons of myth and folklore come from.

Every continent with a human history has dragon stories. Each dot marks the place a dragon's legend comes from or is set; select one to read its entry. The encyclopedia lists them all by region.

World map of dragons from myth and folklore Aido Hwedo (Fon (Dahomey, Benin)) Amaru (Inca and Andean (Quechua and Aymara)) Amphisbaena (Greek, Roman, and medieval European) Apep (Ancient Egyptian) Ayida-Weddo (Haitian Vodou (with Fon roots in Benin)) Aži Dahāka (Persian (Zoroastrian, later Islamic-era Iranian)) Azure Dragon (Qinglong) (Chinese (also Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese)) Bakunawa (Visayan (Philippines)) Balaur (Romanian) Bashe (Chinese) Basilisk (Roman and medieval European) Beowulf's dragon (Anglo-Saxon (Old English)) Bida (Soninke (Wagadu / Ghana Empire)) Bisterne Dragon (English (Hampshire)) Boitatá (Brazilian (Tupi and Guaraní roots)) Bolla (Albanian) Caoránach (Irish) Cetus (Greek) Chimera (Greek) Cockatrice (Medieval European) Colchian Dragon (Greek) Cuélebre (Asturian (Spanish)) Damballa (Haitian Vodou (with Fon roots in Benin)) Dilong (Chinese (Buddhist and folk)) Drac of Beaucaire (Provençal / Occitan (French)) Dragon Kings (Longwang) (Chinese (Buddhist and folk religion)) Dragon of Bel and the Dragon (Hellenistic Jewish) Dragon of Rhodes (Knights Hospitaller (medieval Rhodes)) Dragon of Silene (Christian (medieval European hagiography)) Druk (Thunder Dragon of Bhutan) (Bhutanese and Tibetan (Drukpa Kagyu Buddhism)) Fáfnir (Norse) Fucanglong (Chinese (Buddhist and folk)) Gaasyendietha (Seneca (Haudenosaunee)) Gargouille (Norman (French)) Graoully (Lorraine (French)) Great Red Dragon of Revelation (Early Christian) Grootslang (South African (Richtersveld, Northern Cape)) Herensuge (Basque) Horned Serpent (Many Native American nations, especially of the Eastern Woodlands and Great Lakes) Imugi (Korean) Inkanyamba (Zulu and Xhosa (South Africa)) Ismenian Dragon (Greek) Jiaolong (Chinese) Jörmungandr (Norse) Kaliya (Hindu) Kiyohime (Japanese) Knucker (English (Sussex)) Kukulkan (Yucatec Maya) Kulshedra (Albanian) Ladon (Greek) Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh (English (Northumberland)) Lambton Worm (English (County Durham)) Lernaean Hydra (Greek) Leviathan (Hebrew (Israelite and Jewish)) Lindorm King (Danish and Swedish) Lindworm (Scandinavian and Germanic) Lindwurm of Klagenfurt (Austrian (Carinthian)) Linton Worm (Scottish (Scottish Borders)) Lóng (Chinese dragon) (Chinese) Lotan (Canaanite (Ugaritic)) Makara (Indian (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain)) Mehen (Ancient Egyptian) Melusine (French (Poitou)) Mizuchi (Japanese) Mordiford Wyvern (English (Herefordshire)) Mušḫuššu (Mesopotamian (Akkadian, Babylonian)) Nāga (Indian (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain)) Níðhöggr (Norse) Ninki Nanka (Mandinka and other peoples of the Gambia and Senegal) Nue (Japanese) Ouroboros (Ancient Egyptian, later Greek, Gnostic, and alchemical) Panlong (Chinese) Peluda (French (Sarthe, Maine)) Phaya Naga (Thai and Lao) Piasa (Native American rock art of the Mississippi Valley; later Illinois folklore) Python (Greek) Q'uq'umatz (K'iche' Maya) Quetzalcoatl (Aztec (Mexica) and earlier Mesoamerican) Rahab (Hebrew (Israelite and Jewish)) Rainbow Serpent (Aboriginal Australian) Rồng (Vietnamese dragon) (Vietnamese) Ryūjin (Japanese) Sárkány (Hungarian) Shenlong (Chinese (Buddhist and folk)) Shesha (Hindu) Sisiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)) Sockburn Worm (English (County Durham)) Stoorworm (Orcadian (Scottish)) Taniwha (Māori) Tarasque (Provençal (French)) Thora's lindworm (Norse and Danish) Tiamat (Babylonian (Mesopotamian)) Tianlong (Chinese (Buddhist and folk)) Tugarin Zmeyevich (Russian (East Slavic)) Typhon (Greek) Uktena (Cherokee) Vasuki (Hindu (also Buddhist)) Vishap (Armenian) Vouivre (Franc-Comtois (French)) Vritra (Vedic Indian (Hindu)) Wawel Dragon (Polish) Xiuhcóatl (Aztec (Mexica)) Y Ddraig Goch (Welsh (British)) Yamata no Orochi (Japanese) Yinglong (Chinese) Yofune-Nushi (Japanese) Yong (Korean dragon) (Korean) Žaltys (Lithuanian and Baltic) Zhulong (Torch Dragon) (Chinese) Zilant (Tatar and Russian (Kazan)) Žilvinas, the Serpent King (Lithuanian) Zmaj (South Slavic (Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Slovene, Bulgarian)) Zmeu (Romanian) Zmey Gorynych (Russian (East Slavic))

British Isles

Bisterne Dragon (Bisterne and Burley Beacon, New Forest, Hampshire, England), Caoránach (Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland), Cockatrice (England (legends of Wherwell and Saffron Walden)), Knucker (Knucker Hole, Lyminster, West Sussex, England), Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh (Spindlestone Heugh, near Bamburgh, Northumberland, England), Lambton Worm (Worm Hill, Fatfield, near Lambton Castle, County Durham, England), Linton Worm (Linton, Roxburghshire, Scottish Borders, Scotland), Mordiford Wyvern (Mordiford, Herefordshire, England), Sockburn Worm (Sockburn, on the River Tees, County Durham, England), Stoorworm (Orkney Islands, Scotland), Y Ddraig Goch (Dinas Emrys, near Beddgelert, Gwynedd, Wales)

Western Europe

Cuélebre (Asturias, northern Spain), Drac of Beaucaire (Beaucaire, on the Rhône, Gard, France), Gargouille (Rouen, on the Seine, Normandy, France), Graoully (Metz, Lorraine, France), Herensuge (Sierra de Aralar, Navarre and Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain), Lindwurm of Klagenfurt (Klagenfurt, Carinthia, Austria), Melusine (Lusignan, Poitou, France), Peluda (La Ferté-Bernard, on the Huisne, Sarthe, France), Tarasque (Tarascon, on the Rhône, Provence, France), Vouivre (Franche-Comté and the Jura, France)

Northern Europe

Beowulf's dragon (Land of the Geats, southern Sweden (setting of the poem)), Fáfnir (Scandinavia (legendary Gnitaheath)), Jörmungandr (The ocean around Midgard (Norse world); legend from Scandinavia and Iceland), Lindorm King (Denmark and southern Sweden), Lindworm (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and the German-speaking lands), Níðhöggr (Niflheim beneath Yggdrasil (Norse cosmos); legend from Iceland and Scandinavia), Thora's lindworm (Götaland, Sweden (Västergötland)), Žaltys (Lithuania (Samogitia and Aukštaitija)), Žilvinas, the Serpent King (Lithuanian Baltic coast (Palanga))

Eastern Europe

Balaur (Romania and Moldova), Bolla (Northern and southern Albania), Kulshedra (Albania and Albanian-speaking Balkans), Sárkány (Hungary and the Carpathian Basin), Tugarin Zmeyevich (Kyiv, Kievan Rus'), Wawel Dragon (Wawel Hill, Kraków, Poland), Zilant (Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia), Zmaj (Serbia and the central Balkans), Zmeu (Romania and Moldova), Zmey Gorynych (Kievan Rus' (Kyiv and the legendary Puchai River))

Mediterranean

Amphisbaena (Libyan desert (North Africa)), Basilisk (Cyrenaica (eastern Libya)), Cetus (Joppa (Jaffa), traditional site of Andromeda's rock), Chimera (Lycia (Mount Chimaera / Yanartaş, southern Turkey)), Colchian Dragon (Colchis (western Georgia), on the eastern shore of the Black Sea), Dragon of Rhodes (Island of Rhodes, Greece), Dragon of Silene (Silene, Libya (legendary town)), Great Red Dragon of Revelation (Patmos, Aegean Sea (where Revelation was written)), Ismenian Dragon (Thebes, Boeotia, Greece), Ladon (Garden of the Hesperides, far western edge of the world (later placed near the Atlas Mountains)), Lernaean Hydra (Lerna, near Argos, Greece), Python (Delphi, Greece), Typhon (Corycian Cave, Cilicia (southern Turkey); later said to be buried under Mount Etna)

Near East

Aži Dahāka (Mount Damavand, Iran, where he lies chained), Dragon of Bel and the Dragon (Babylon, Mesopotamia (Iraq)), Leviathan (Ancient Israel and the eastern Mediterranean Sea), Lotan (Ugarit (Ras Shamra), Syria), Mušḫuššu (Ishtar Gate, Babylon (Iraq)), Rahab (Ancient Israel; the sea, and by extension Egypt), Tiamat (Babylon, Mesopotamia (Iraq)), Vishap (Armenian Highlands (Mount Aragats, Geghama Mountains, Mount Ararat))

Africa

Aido Hwedo (Abomey, Benin (heart of the Dahomey kingdom)), Apep (Egypt (the Duat, the underworld traveled by the sun)), Bida (Koumbi Saleh, Mauritania (traditional capital of Wagadu)), Grootslang (Richtersveld and the lower Orange River, South Africa), Inkanyamba (Howick Falls (KwaNogqaza), uMngeni River, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), Mehen (Egypt (the sun boat in the Duat)), Ninki Nanka (Swamps and mangroves of the Gambia River, The Gambia), Ouroboros (Tomb of Tutankhamun, Valley of the Kings, Egypt)

South Asia

Druk (Thunder Dragon of Bhutan) (Bhutan (Druk Yul, "Land of the Thunder Dragon")), Kaliya (Kaliya Ghat on the Yamuna River, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh), Makara (Bharhut stupa, Madhya Pradesh, India), Nāga (India (the nāgas' underworld realm of Pātāla)), Shesha (Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (Vishnu reclining on Shesha)), Vasuki (Mandar Hill, Banka, Bihar (traditionally identified with Mount Mandara)), Vritra (Punjab, the land of seven rivers (Sapta Sindhu) of the Rigveda)

East Asia

Azure Dragon (Qinglong) (Suizhou, Hubei (tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng)), Bashe (Dongting Lake, Hunan), Dilong (China), Dragon Kings (Longwang) (The Four Seas; the East Sea Dragon King's palace off China's east coast), Fucanglong (China), Imugi (Korea), Jiaolong (Yixing, Jiangsu (setting of the Zhou Chu legend)), Kiyohime (Dōjōji temple, Hidakagawa, Wakayama Prefecture (old Kii Province)), Lóng (Chinese dragon) (Central Plains of China (Yellow River valley)), Mizuchi (Kawashima River fork, Kibi Province (modern Okayama Prefecture)), Nue (Imperial palace, Heian-kyō (Kyoto)), Panlong (China), Ryūjin (Ryūgū-jō, the palace beneath the sea off Japan), Shenlong (China), Tianlong (China), Yamata no Orochi (Upper Hi River (Hiikawa), Izumo, Shimane Prefecture), Yinglong (Zhuolu, Hebei (traditional site of the Yellow Emperor's battle with Chiyou)), Yofune-Nushi (Oki Islands, Sea of Japan (Shimane Prefecture)), Yong (Korean dragon) (Daewangam (Underwater Tomb of King Munmu), off Gyeongju, Korea), Zhulong (Torch Dragon) (Mythical far north or northwest of China (Zhangwei Mountain, beyond the Northwest Sea))

Southeast Asia

Bakunawa (Visayas, central Philippines), Phaya Naga (Mekong River at Nong Khai, Thailand, and Vientiane, Laos), Rồng (Vietnamese dragon) (Hanoi (Thăng Long, "Ascending Dragon"), Vietnam)

Oceania

Rainbow Serpent (Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia), Taniwha (Waikato River, North Island, New Zealand)

North America

Gaasyendietha (Cattaraugus Reservation, western New York), Horned Serpent (Eastern Woodlands of North America), Piasa (Mississippi River bluffs near Alton, Illinois), Sisiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw territory, northern Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Strait, British Columbia), Uktena (Great Smoky Mountains, southern Appalachians)

Mesoamerica

Kukulkan (Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico), Q'uq'umatz (Q'umarkaj (Utatlán), highland Guatemala), Quetzalcoatl (Teotihuacan and the Valley of Mexico), Xiuhcóatl (Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), Mexico)

South America

Amaru (Cusco and the central Andes, Peru), Boitatá (São Vicente, São Paulo coast, Brazil)

Caribbean

Ayida-Weddo (Haiti), Damballa (Haiti)