Draconika

Dragon Timeline

When each dragon first appears in the written or archaeological record.

This timeline orders the dragons in the encyclopedia by their earliest known source. Many legends are older than their first written record, so these dates show when a dragon enters the surviving record, not when people began telling its story. Dates before about 500 BCE are approximate.

Before 1000 BCE

  1. 4000 BCELóng (Chinese dragon) Clam-shell dragon mosaic in a Neolithic grave at Xishuipo, Puyang, Henan (Yangshao culture)
  2. 4000 BCERainbow Serpent Rock paintings of serpent beings in western Arnhem Land
  3. 2650 BCEMehen Mehen game boards and the Old Kingdom tomb of Hesy-Re (game named mehen); the serpent god in the Coffin Texts
  4. 2250 BCEMušḫuššu Akkadian-period cylinder seals and images of the god Ninazu's beast
  5. 2000 BCEApep Coffin Texts
  6. 1325 BCEOuroboros Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld, on a gilded shrine of Tutankhamun
  7. 1300 BCELotan Ugaritic Baal Cycle (KTU 1.3 and 1.5)
  8. 1200 BCEVritra Rigveda (especially hymn 1.32)
  9. 1100 BCETiamat Enūma Eliš (Babylonian Epic of Creation)

1000 BCE to 1 CE

  1. 725 BCECetus Homer, Iliad (Book 20), on the sea monster of Troy
  2. 725 BCEChimera Homer, Iliad (Book 6)
  3. 725 BCETyphon Homer, Iliad (Book 2); fully described in Hesiod, Theogony
  4. 700 BCEAži Dahāka Younger Avesta (Yasna 9; Yashts 5, 15, and 19)
  5. 700 BCELadon Hesiod, Theogony (unnamed serpent); name first in Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica
  6. 700 BCELernaean Hydra Hesiod, Theogony
  7. 600 BCELeviathan Hebrew Bible (Job 3 and 41, Psalms 74 and 104, Isaiah 27:1)
  8. 600 BCERahab Hebrew Bible (Job 9 and 26, Psalm 89, Isaiah 30 and 51)
  9. 580 BCEPython Homeric Hymn to Apollo
  10. 555 BCEIsmenian Dragon Euboean black-figure vase showing Cadmus and the serpent (Louvre E707)
  11. 475 BCEColchian Dragon Cup by the painter Douris (Vatican Museums); Pindar, Pythian Ode 4
  12. 458 BCEAmphisbaena Aeschylus, Agamemnon (line 1233)
  13. 433 BCEAzure Dragon (Qinglong) Lacquered clothing chest from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, painted with a dragon and tiger flanking the 28 lunar mansions
  14. 300 BCEBashe Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas); Chu ci, "Tianwen"
  15. 300 BCEYinglong Chu ci, "Tianwen" (Heavenly Questions), and the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas)
  16. 300 BCEZhulong (Torch Dragon) Chu ci, "Tianwen" (Heavenly Questions)
  17. 250 BCEJiaolong Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas) and Xunzi
  18. 150 BCEDragon of Bel and the Dragon Bel and the Dragon, Greek additions to Daniel (Septuagint and Theodotion; Daniel 14 in Catholic Bibles)
  19. 150 BCEMakara Carved reliefs of the Buddhist stupas at Bharhut and Sanchi
  20. 150 BCENāga Reliefs of the stupa at Bharhut, including the nāga king Erapata worshiping the Buddha
  21. 0 CEPanlong Fangyan (dictionary of regional words attributed to Yang Xiong)
  22. 0 CEShesha Mahābhārata (Ādi Parva, Shesha takes up the earth)
  23. 0 CEVasuki Mahābhārata (Ādi Parva, the churning of the ocean)

1 to 1000 CE

  1. 77 CEBasilisk Pliny the Elder, Natural History (Book 8)
  2. 95 CEGreat Red Dragon of Revelation Book of Revelation (Revelation 12–13, 20)
  3. 200 CEKaliya Harivaṃśa (appendix to the Mahābhārata)
  4. 200 CEQuetzalcoatl Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan (carved feathered-serpent heads)
  5. 406 CEDragon Kings (Longwang) Kumārajīva's Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra, naming eight nāga (dragon) kings
  6. 500 CEVishap Movses Khorenatsi, History of the Armenians (song of Vahagn the dragon-reaper; the vishap descendants of Azhdahak)
  7. 712 CERyūjin Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters), tale of Hoori and the palace of the sea god Watatsumi
  8. 712 CEYamata no Orochi Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters)
  9. 720 CEMizuchi Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), reign of Emperor Nintoku
  10. 830 CEY Ddraig Goch Historia Brittonum (attributed to Nennius)
  11. 850 CEJörmungandr Bragi Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa (skaldic poem describing Thor's fishing trip)

1000 to 1500

  1. 1000Beowulf's dragon Beowulf, in the Nowell Codex (British Library, Cotton Vitellius A.xv)
  2. 1000Kukulkan Feathered-serpent sculpture at Chichen Itza (Temple of Kukulcan)
  3. 1030Fáfnir Ramsund carving, Södermanland, Sweden (picture of Sigurd stabbing the serpent)
  4. 1030Lindworm Viking Age rune stones and rock carvings with serpent-dragons (e.g. the Ramsund carving, Sweden)
  5. 1043Kiyohime Dainihonkoku Hokekyō kenki (Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra), compiled by the monk Chingen
  6. 1050Dragon of Silene Georgian and other Eastern Christian versions of the miracle of George and the dragon
  7. 1100Phaya Naga Nāga balustrades and lintels of Khmer-era temples in present-day Thailand, such as Phimai
  8. 1145Yong (Korean dragon) Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms), compiled by Kim Busik
  9. 1150Graoully Dragon effigy carried in the Rogation processions of Metz
  10. 1189Druk (Thunder Dragon of Bhutan) Drukpa Kagyu accounts of Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211) naming the monastery of Druk in central Tibet
  11. 1190Cockatrice Alexander Neckam, De naturis rerum
  12. 1200Tarasque Vita Sanctae Marthae attributed to Pseudo-Marcella
  13. 1200Thora's lindworm Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, Book 9
  14. 1200Wawel Dragon Wincenty Kadłubek, Chronica Polonorum
  15. 1212Drac of Beaucaire Gervase of Tilbury, Otia Imperialia, book 3
  16. 1250Nue Heike monogatari (The Tale of the Heike), "Nue" episode
  17. 1270Níðhöggr Poetic Edda (Völuspá and Grímnismál), Codex Regius
  18. 1283Imugi Samguk yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), compiled by the monk Iryeon, which is thought to write the word with the characters 梨木 (imok); otherwise known from oral tradition
  19. 1300Horned Serpent Mississippian engraved pottery and shell with horned and winged serpents (e.g. Moundville, Spiro)
  20. 1393Melusine Jean d'Arras, Mélusine, or La Noble Histoire de Lusignan
  21. 1394Gargouille Earliest text to mention the dragon of Saint Romain, in connection with the Privilege of Saint Romain
  22. 1458Žaltys Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II), De Europa, reporting Jerome of Prague's mission to the Lithuanians
  23. 1479Rồng (Vietnamese dragon) Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Đại Việt), opening account of Lạc Long Quân

1500 to 1900

  1. 1500Xiuhcóatl Aztec stone sculpture, including the Sun Stone
  2. 1521Dragon of Rhodes Account of the pilgrimage of Ottheinrich, Count Palatine, to Jerusalem
  3. 1550Herensuge Legend of Teodosio de Goñi and the dragon of Aralar in Navarrese genealogical writings; wider herensuge lore recorded by José Miguel de Barandiaran
  4. 1560Boitatá Letter of José de Anchieta from São Vicente
  5. 1580Zilant Kazan emblem (winged serpent) on Russian state seals
  6. 1590Lindwurm of Klagenfurt Lindwurmbrunnen (Lindworm Fountain), Neuer Platz, Klagenfurt
  7. 1608Amaru Huarochirí Manuscript
  8. 1618Bisterne Dragon Marginal note on a Berkeley family pedigree roll at Berkeley Castle
  9. 1630Dilong Four-class scheme of nāgas (heavenly, divine, earthly, hidden) quoted in Chen Renxi's Qianqueju leishu, a Ming dynasty encyclopedia
  10. 1630Fucanglong Four-class scheme of nāgas (heavenly, divine, earthly, hidden) quoted in Chen Renxi's Qianqueju leishu, a Ming dynasty encyclopedia
  11. 1630Shenlong Four-class scheme of nāgas (heavenly, divine, earthly, hidden) quoted in Chen Renxi's Qianqueju leishu, a Ming dynasty encyclopedia
  12. 1630Tianlong Four-class scheme of nāgas (heavenly, divine, earthly, hidden) quoted in Chen Renxi's Qianqueju leishu, a Ming dynasty encyclopedia
  13. 1670Mordiford Wyvern Dragon painting on the west wall of Mordiford church, noted by Thomas Blount of Orleton
  14. 1673Piasa Jacques Marquette's journal of the 1673 Mississippi voyage
  15. 1679Linton Worm James, 11th Lord Somerville, Memorie of the Somervilles
  16. 1701Q'uq'umatz Popol Vuh (K'iche' text written c. 1554–1558; surviving copy by Francisco Ximénez)
  17. 1727Caoránach John Richardson, The Great Folly, Superstition, and Idolatry of Pilgrimages in Ireland
  18. 1750Tugarin Zmeyevich Kirsha Danilov collection (Drevnie rossiiskie stikhotvoreniia), "Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin"
  19. 1750Zmey Gorynych Kirsha Danilov collection (Drevnie rossiiskie stikhotvoreniia), "Dobrynia kupalsia, zmei unes" (Dobrynya bathed and the dragon carried him off)
  20. 1778Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh "The Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heugh," ballad printed in William Hutchinson, A View of Northumberland
  21. 1787Lambton Worm William Hutchinson, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, vol. 2
  22. 1787Sockburn Worm Conyers family manuscript, as printed in William Hutchinson, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham, vol. 2 (later quoted from the Bowes manuscript by Robert Surtees, vol. 3, 1823)
  23. 1797Damballa Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry, Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l'isle Saint-Domingue (account of Vodou serpent veneration)
  24. 1823Zmaj Serbian epic songs collected by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (Srpske narodne pjesme)
  25. 1837Žilvinas, the Serpent King "A Lithuanian fairy tale," translated into Polish by M. Jasevičius in the almanac Biruta (Vilnius)
  26. 1850Sárkány Hungarian folk tales and folk beliefs recorded by 19th-century collectors
  27. 1854Kulshedra Johann Georg von Hahn, Albanesische Studien
  28. 1854Lindorm King Svend Grundtvig, Gamle danske Minder i Folkemunde ("Kong Lindorm")
  29. 1854Taniwha Edward Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders
  30. 1854Vouivre Recorded by Désiré Monnier, Traditions populaires comparées
  31. 1866Knucker Samuel Evershed, "Legend of the Dragon-Slayer of Lyminster," Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. 18
  32. 1871Jabberwock Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll (poem "Jabberwocky")
  33. 1872Balaur Petre Ispirescu, Legende sau basmele românilor (includes "Balaurul cel cu șapte capete")
  34. 1872Zmeu Petre Ispirescu, Legende sau basmele românilor (e.g. "Prâslea cel voinic și merele de aur")
  35. 1883Gaasyendietha Seneca tales recorded by Jeremiah Curtin (1883–1887) and J. N. B. Hewitt (1896), published as Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths
  36. 1889Peluda La Velue, légende sarthoise (pamphlet, Le Mans: E. Lebrault)
  37. 1891Stoorworm Walter Traill Dennison, "Orkney Folklore: Sea Myths," The Scottish Antiquary
  38. 1892Ayida-Weddo François Denys Légitime, La vérité sur le vaudoux (names "Aida Oueddo" as the wife of "Dambala Ouedo"); described in detail in Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen (1953)
  39. 1895Sisiutl Franz Boas, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Amerikas (tale "Der Sisiutl"); fuller description in Boas, The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians (1897)
  40. 1898The Reluctant Dragon "The Reluctant Dragon," in Dream Days, by Kenneth Grahame

1900 to Today

  1. 1900Bolla Albanian folk belief as recorded by 19th- and 20th-century ethnographers (summarized in Robert Elsie's Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology and Folk Culture)
  2. 1900Uktena James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee (collected 1887–1890)
  3. 1903Cuélebre Recorded by Rogelio Jove y Bravo, Mitos y supersticiones de Asturias
  4. 1906Ninki Nanka West African oral tradition; earliest dated written mention found: a 1906 British colonial commissioner's report on the Gambia ("a gigantic crowned serpent"), quoted in Assan Sarr, Islam, Power, and Dependency in the Gambia River Basin (2016)
  5. 1908Yofune-Nushi R. Gordon Smith, Ancient Tales and Folk-lore of Japan
  6. 1910Bida Soninke oral tradition; earliest published version verified: Leo Frobenius, Der schwarze Dekameron ("Der Kampf mit dem Bida-Drachen")
  7. 1913Bakunawa Fernando A. Buyser, Mga Sugilanong Karaan (Old Tales), in Cebuano
  8. 1920Grootslang Recorded by prospector Fred C. Cornell, The Glamour of Prospecting
  9. 1937Smaug The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
  10. 1938Aido Hwedo Recorded by anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits, Dahomey: An Ancient West African Kingdom
  11. 1949Chrysophylax Farmer Giles of Ham, by J.R.R. Tolkien
  12. 1952Eustace Scrubb (dragon form) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis
  13. 1954Ancalagon the Black The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien (named in passing; story told in The Silmarillion, 1977)
  14. 1963Puff the Magic Dragon "Puff, the Magic Dragon," song by Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton, recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary (from a 1959 poem by Lipton)
  15. 1967Ramoth "Weyr Search," by Anne McCaffrey, Analog Science Fiction (October 1967); expanded in Dragonflight (1968)
  16. 1972Kalessin The Farthest Shore, by Ursula K. Le Guin
  17. 1972Orm Embar The Farthest Shore, by Ursula K. Le Guin
  18. 1975Bahamut (Dungeons & Dragons) Greyhawk (Supplement I to Dungeons & Dragons), by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz (as the unnamed Platinum Dragon); named Bahamut in the Monster Manual (1977)
  19. 1975Tiamat (Dungeons & Dragons) Greyhawk (Supplement I to Dungeons & Dragons), by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz (as the unnamed Chromatic Dragon); named Tiamat in the Monster Manual (1977)
  20. 1977Glaurung The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Christopher Tolkien
  21. 1979Falkor Die unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story), by Michael Ende
  22. 1981Vermithrax Pejorative Dragonslayer, directed by Matthew Robbins (Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions)
  23. 1984Inkanyamba Zulu and Xhosa oral tradition; earliest dated print citation found: Drum magazine (January 1984), quoted in the Dictionary of South African English
  24. 1984Shenron Dragon Ball, by Akira Toriyama, Weekly Shōnen Jump (Shueisha), chapter 1; first summoned on the page in 1985
  25. 1996Balerion the Black Dread A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (as a skull and in legend)
  26. 1996Draco Dragonheart, directed by Rob Cohen (Universal Pictures)
  27. 1996Drogon A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
  28. 1997Norbert Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling
  29. 1998Mushu Mulan, directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook (Walt Disney Pictures)
  30. 1998Spyro Spyro the Dragon (Insomniac Games / Sony Computer Entertainment, PlayStation)
  31. 2000Hungarian Horntail Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling
  32. 2001Haku Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli)
  33. 2002Saphira Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
  34. 2003Toothless How to Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Cowell
  35. 2006Temeraire His Majesty's Dragon (UK title: Temeraire), by Naomi Novik
  36. 2011Alduin The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Game Studios)
  37. 2023Tairn Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros