原文: 8 Types Of Dragons You Have Never Heard Of

This is a list of dragons that you may not have heard of before. I’m not including the famous Welsh Red Dragon, the English one (a.k.a. the wyvern), or the various Chinese dragons (the Loong) because most people know about these through watching films such as Dragonheart, Draco, Reign of Fire, Dragon Slayer and Mulan. Instead, this list briefly details the origin, appearance, and history of some more obscure dragons. To maintain the balance of Good and Evil I’ve chosen both Eastern and Western dragons; dragons are generally perceived as being benevolent in the East but as evil destructive creatures that symbolize the Devil in the West. In no particular order:

Naga is a wingless type of Indian dragon found in Hindu and Buddhist culture. Although the word Naga is often ambiguous the Mahabharata (an epic Sanskrit poem that is an important Hindu text) tells us that the Naga possess the traits of both snakes and humans. In Hinduism, the Naga are portrayed in similar fashion to the Chinese family of dragons, being natural spirits that are associated with water sources but can also be European-style guardians of immense treasure. Naga are also found in Buddhist tradition - as polycephalous (multi-headed) serpents that can magically transforms themselves into human shape. Like the Naga of Hindu legend, the Buddhist version prefers watery dwellings. They particularly like to eat frogs and drink milk.

The Bakunawa is actually a deity that was represented as a serpentine dragon, according to Filipino mythology. He has two sets of wings, whiskers, a red tongue, and a mouth ‘the size of a lake.’ The Filipinos once thought that the Bakunawa lived in the sea at a time when the world had seven moons and that the dragons, being fascinated by their light, would rise out of the sky into the sky and consume the moons. Thus, the dragons were the cause of eclipses. To prevent the world from becoming dark the people would run out of their homes, taking their pots and pans, to make the most noise they could in order to scare the Bakunawa so they would stop eating the moons and give them the moonlight back. Interestingly, the name of the dragons, Bakunawa, can be translated as ‘moon eater’ or ‘man eater,’ the latter being atypical of Asian dragons.

The Yilbegän is more closely related to the Turkish and Slavic dragons of Europe than those of Eastern Asia; consequently it is portrayed as man-eating and ogre-like rather than gentle and kind, despite its Asian home. This reptilian dragon is depicted in the mythology of two ethnic groups living in Siberia – the Turkic peoples and the Siberian Tatars – as a polycephalous monster. In some legends the Yilbegän takes the form of a winged dragon or serpentine creature but in others he is a leviathan who rides an ox with 99 horns.

The Korean dragons are derived from the Chinese ones, are given very similar cultural status, and look much the same. Where the Chinese dragon has five toes and the Japanese three, the Korean has four – the dragons are said to have lost toes as they moved south. The Korean dragon has a long beard and no wings. Like other Asian dragons, the Korean variety was supposed to be peaceful and kind creatures that were strongly associated with water and agriculture. They are mostly said to live in watery places such as rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans. Korean dragons differ from others in that history records them as being sentient and capable of understanding concepts like devotion, gratitude, and kindness.

Before a Korean dragon is a dragon it can be a creature called an imoogi. Depending on which account you read, imoogi are immature dragons that must live for 1000 years before becoming a dragon or, alternatively, cursed, hornless beings that are unable to become fully-fledged dragons.

The Níðhöggr is a one-of-a-kind dragon that exists within Norse legend. It lives below a giant ash tree, the Yggdrasil or World Tree, which binds the nine worlds of Norse mythology together. Níðhöggr is usually translated as meaning Malice Striker (sometimes as Striker in the Dark) and lives up to his name as he viciously gnaws at the root of the World Tree that keeps him trapped above Hvergelmir, a seething cauldron, in Hel (the Nordic Hel is roughly equivalent to the English Hell). If Níðhöggr chews his way through the root of the World Tree it heralds the arrival of Ragnarök and the subsequent destruction of the world. The serpent-like Níðhöggr is described in the poem Völuspá as one who ‘sucks on the corpses of the dead.’

The Zmaj comes from the Slavic country Slovenia and has much in common with other Slavic dragons – three heads that may grow back if decapitated, green scaly skin, and fire-spitting abilities. Its name, Zmaj, is a masculine version of the word for snake, which is usually feminine. The Zmaj can also be called by a much older name of murky origin, Pozoj. Slovenic dragons are generally similar in disposition to other European dragons and are featured in Christian stories of St. George as well as pre-Christian stories in which they are tricked into eating sulphur-containing gifts and thus defeated. The dragon of Ljubljana is a notable exception – it once protected the capital city and is depicted on its coat of arms.

The Chuvash dragons come from Chuvashia, in the center of the European part of Russia. These dragons are the typical European winged fire-breathing sorts but with the ability to shapeshift from dragon to human (and vice versa). The ancestral people of the Chuvashians, who live there today, were Bulgars and told the tale of how when they founded the town of Bilar they came upon a large snake. The snake, which the Bulgars decided to kill, pleaded for peace and was given wings by Allah – which is how the dragon came to fly. Like the Yilbegän, the Chuvash dragons can be polycephalous. The most famous Chuvash dragon, though, is one called Veri Celen (literally, ‘fire snake’ in Chuvash) who was able to take human form in order to visit men and women in the night and sleep with them. [Image: tower said to be the home of a chuvash dragon]

The Cuélebre is the Spanish variety of dragon, specifically, from the regions of Asturias and Cantabria. Serpentine, winged and with colorful scales, the Cuélebre are immortal and obsessed with pretty, shiny objects. They hoard treasure and fairy-like blonde nymphs. The legend relating how the Cuélebre originated goes like this:

A beautiful but vain young woman disbelieves her family’s warnings against combing her hair as she admires her reflection in a pool of water. Unfortunately, a powerful water nymph living in the pool observes as she neglects her tasks in favor of this activity. Once the girl ruffles the surface of the water, as one of her hairs drops in, the nymph takes the opportunity to teach her a lesson. The nymph curses the girl; she grows huge, her hair is replaced by crests and her skin by scales, and she sprouts wings. In true fairytale fashion the maiden can only be returned to her original state by meeting a knight “who is so brave that he is not afraid of you and has a heart so pure that he finds you beautiful.” The Cuélebre hides in a cave by the sea and waits…

Contributor: Tempyra

译文: 8种你从来没听说过的龙

      下文中包括了你也许从未听说过的龙。我并没有将著名的威尔士红龙（Welsh Red Dragon）、英国龙兽（亦称双足飞龙）以及各种各样的中国龙囊括在内，这是因为多数人通过类似“龙之心”、“魔龙传奇”、“火龙帝国”、“屠龙者”和“花木兰”等影片可以了解关于这些龙的相关信息。相反，本文简要地叙述了一些并不是那么著名的龙的起源、形象和历史。为了保持正义与邪恶的平衡，我分别挑选了东方和西方的龙，龙在东方代表着善意，而在西方却是代表着邪恶的毁灭性形象。以下排名不分先后：

8
那伽（The Naga)
印度

      那伽是一类没有翅膀的印度龙，主要发现于印度教与佛教文明中。虽然“那伽”一词通常的指代物不明，但是《摩呵婆罗多》（这是印度教典籍中非常重要的梵语诗篇）告诉我们，那伽同时具有蛇与人的特征。在印度教中，那伽被描绘的很像中国龙族，其本身也同水联系在一起，但也可以像欧洲守护宝藏的龙一样。在佛教典籍中也可以发现那伽的踪影——可以幻化为人形的多头蛇怪。和印度传统的那伽一样，佛教中的龙也喜欢住在水中，还特别喜欢吃青蛙和喝牛奶。

7
巴库那瓦（The Bakunawa)
菲律宾共和国

      根据菲律宾神话，巴库那瓦实际上是被描绘成蛇形龙的神。他有两只翅膀、腮须、红色的舌头和一张“像湖一样大的”嘴巴。菲律宾人认为从前巴库那瓦是住在海中的，当时世界上有七个月亮，当这条龙被月光照到时，他会飞上天空并吃掉月亮。因此，他造成了月蚀。为了阻止世界变得黑暗，人们会跑到室外，拿着盆盆罐罐，大声地敲打以吓阻巴库那瓦吃掉月亮并将月光还给他们。有趣的是，这些龙的名字——巴库那瓦，可以被翻译成“食月者”或“食人者”，后者对于亚洲的龙族来说是个例外。

6
西伯利亚龙（The Yilbegan）
西伯利亚

      西伯利亚龙比起其他亚洲龙更接近与土耳其和斯拉夫龙，因此虽然产自亚洲，他还是被描绘成吃人和魔鬼一类的怪物，而不是温文又善良的。生活在西伯利亚的两个民族——突厥部族和西伯利亚鞑靼部族，其传说中都将这种爬虫状的龙描绘成多头怪物。在一些传说中，西伯利亚龙是有翅膀或是蛇类的形象，但在其他传说中他是骑着有99只角的牛的巨大怪物。

5
朝鲜龙（The Korean dragon）
北/南朝鲜

      朝鲜的龙起源于中国，具有非常类似的文化特征和形象。中国龙有五只爪，日本龙有3只，而朝鲜龙有4只——据说是爪子是龙在向南迁移的时候失去的。朝鲜龙长须无翼。和其他亚洲龙种一样，朝鲜龙被塑造成平和且善良的形象，并与水和农业紧密联系。龙被大多传说住在有水的地区，如河流、池塘、湖泊以及海洋。朝鲜龙与其他种类不同之处在于历史记载他们能够感知许多感情如奉献、感恩和仁慈。

      在龙被引入朝鲜之前，当地曾经有过一种伊莫吉（imoogi）。根据传说，伊莫吉是一种未成形的龙，即成龙前1000年的形态，或者是无法成为完善龙形的无角且邪恶的动物。

4
绝望毒龙（The Níðhöggr）
斯堪的纳维亚

      绝望毒龙是北欧神话中独一无二的龙类。它生长在一棵巨大的梣树下，即连接9个北欧传说世界的尤克特拉希尔（the Yggdrasil ）或称世界之树。绝望毒龙在当地语中还可以译为恶意打击者（Malice Striker）（有时亦称黑暗打击者（Striker in the Dark）） ，并且不负盛名，他恶意地呲咬世界之树的树根，这是因为这棵树将他困在海尔（在北欧语里“海尔”大约等同于英语中的“地狱”一词）一地中像大热锅一样的赫瓦格密尔河中。 如果绝望毒龙将世界之树的根挖通，那么诸神的黄昏将降临，世界亦将毁灭。在《古冰岛诗集》中曾经将这条蛇形的绝望毒龙描绘成“食用死人尸体”。

3
斯拉夫龙（The Zmaj）
斯洛文尼亚共和国

      斯拉夫龙来源于斯拉夫城市斯洛文尼亚，因此和其他斯拉夫龙类非常相似——有三个被斩下还能重生的头、绿色有鳞的皮肤以及能够喷火的技能。它的斯拉夫名字Zmaj，是蛇的阳性名词，而蛇通常是阴性的。斯拉夫龙还有个更古老的阴郁名字叫做pozoj。斯拉夫龙的性情大体上和其他的欧洲龙种类似，在基督教故事中有着圣乔治杀龙的故事，在基督教以前的故事则有给龙吃含有硫磺的东西然后将其击败的故事。卢布尔雅那（斯洛文尼亚的首都）的龙是一个例外——它曾保护这个首都城市，并被刻在这个城市的徽章上。

 2
楚瓦什龙
楚瓦什共和国

      楚瓦什龙出自位于俄罗斯欧洲部分中心的楚瓦什共和国。这些龙是典型的欧洲龙类，具有双翼、能够喷火。但不同的是它们能幻化成人形（或从人形化为龙形）。 楚瓦什人的祖先保加尔人现在还住在那个地区，他们讲述了当他们建造比拉城（Bilar）城时曾经遇到过一只巨大的蛇。这条保加尔人准备要杀掉的蛇因为是保护和平的，因此被真神阿拉赐予双翼而能飞翔。和西伯利亚龙一样，楚瓦什龙也有着许多头部。最著名的楚瓦什龙名叫Veri Celen（在楚瓦什语中是“火蛇”的意思），它会幻化为人形在夜里造访人类并和他们共眠。【图为：传说中楚瓦什龙居住的城堡】

1
库耶列布希(The Cuélebre)
阿斯图利亚斯/坎塔布利亚

      库耶列布希是一种西班牙龙类，特产于阿斯图利亚斯和坎塔布利亚地区。库耶列布希具有蛇的形态、双翼和彩色的鳞片，它是不死的并且喜欢闪闪发光的物体。它们储藏财物和如女神般漂亮的金发少女。关于库耶列布希起源的传说如下：

      一位美丽但虚荣的年轻女孩不顾家人的劝告，总是喜欢对着池水梳理自己的头发。不幸的是，在水池中居住着一位非常强大的女神，她注意到了这个女孩的举动。当这个女孩有一次梳理自己的头发时，伸手向池水里捞自己的发丝，女神给了这个女孩一个教训。她诅咒了这个女孩，让她变得巨大、她的头发变成了头冠、她的皮肤变成了鳞片并长出了双翼。就像童话中的那样，这位少女只有在遇到一位骑士后才能变回原来的模样，这位骑士必须要“非常勇敢而不惧怕她、心灵纯洁并认为她是美丽的”。库耶列布希从此躲藏在海边的一个山洞中并等待。。。

作者：Tempyra