World of Creatures

Quick comparison

Three very different dragons

DragonTraditionForm in the sourceRolePrimary book
FFáfnirOld NorseVenomous worm or drakeHoard-guardian and antagonistVölsunga Saga, chs. XIV & XVIII
LLaidly WormNorthumbrian border balladEnchanted “worm” or dragonTransformed princessJacobs, English Fairy Tales, tale XXXIII
龍Dragon KingsChinese mythology, as presented by WernerDivine sea dragonsRulers associated with water and weatherWerner, Myths & Legends of China, ch. VII
F

Old Norse legend

Fáfnir

A figure who takes the form of a great venomous worm after murdering his father and seizing a cursed hoard. Sigurd kills him from a pit on Gnita-heath.

Named hero
Sigurd
Defining theme
Greed and cursed wealth
Source date
1888 English translation
Open sourced profile
L

Northumbrian folk tale

The Laidly Worm

Princess Margaret is changed into a dreadful dragon by a jealous witch-queen. Her brother Childe Wynd must recognise rather than destroy her.

Named hero
Childe Wynd
Defining theme
Transformation and recognition
Source date
1890 collection
Open sourced profile
龍

Chinese mythology

The Dragon Kings

In Werner’s account, five immortal Sea-dragon Kings occupy a central palace and the four directions, governing vast underwater courts.

Named ruler
Ao Ch’in appears elsewhere in the chapter
Defining theme
Water, weather, and divine authority
Source date
1922 compilation
Open sourced profile

Bibliography

Source books used

  1. 1
    The Story of the Volsungs (Völsunga Saga), with Excerpts from the Poetic Edda

    Anonymous; translated by William Morris and Eiríkr Magnússon. Walter Scott Press, London, 1888. See Chapters XIV and XVIII.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  2. 2
    The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs

    William Morris. First published 1876. See Book II, “Sigurd slayeth Fafnir the Serpent.”

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  3. 3
    English Fairy Tales

    Collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs; illustrated by John D. Batten. David Nutt, London, 1890. See Tale XXXIII and Jacobs’s source note.

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗
  4. 4
    Myths & Legends of China

    E. T. C. Werner. George G. Harrap & Co., 1922. See Chapter VII, “Myths of the Waters,” especially “The Dragon-kings.”

    Read at Project Gutenberg ↗