Lack of dragon mythology

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I'm in the middle of my first full reread (book 8). I can be a little dense at times, and it just now occurred to me that apart from the word 'Dragon', there seems to be nothing at all in the shared culture of Randland about dragons. People recognize the symbol for the Dragon, but don't associate it with any real or mythological creature. In fact RJ makes reference to peoples' wondering why the lizardy-looking creature on his flag is called the dragon. But not even any of the hideous creatures the characters encounter for the first time is ever called a dragon.

I'm sure someone else has noticed this, but I find it to be a nifty little detail and a clever explanation of our shared mythology of dragons.

Return to your homes; nothing more to see here.
 

Aran Cherubim

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:laugh:

Yeah, that's one of the things a lot of people note - I think it's rather nifty myself as well.
 

Wil Cambrae

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Didn't the Aes Sedai of the Age of Legends learn the Sword for fun? Anceint skills, maybe they also found references to dragons? Since dragons were depicted as strong, intractable, gathered power, and think they can do anything.... wait that sounds like Lews Therin also :look:
 
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I was actually a little disappointed that there were no actual dragons anywhere to be seen in the books. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me in WoT lore could tell me this is wrong, but I've yet to hear whisper of it...

but it goes along with a theme I've noticed about the books. Aside from the Creator and the Dark One, there are no real spiritual/powerful/mythological entities. It's God and Satan, playing with humans. In this perspective there's no room for those other entities coexisting with the ordinary character - neither Aes Sedai nor tavern drunkard. Even the most powerful characters are granted their power, which is not intrinsic (it comes from the True Source). IMO the strength in holding this perspective/system of cosmology is that it allows to focus on the nature of humanity, and provides a realism for readers to relate to.

However, in other fantasies, such as Lord of the Rings, there are those spiritual/powerful/mythological entities forming relationships with and duking it out on equal grounds with regular characters (e.g. Gandalf, Smaug, Balrogs, etc.), and furthermore it could be argued that in these, even the mundane characters have intrinsic spiritual/magical power themselves (e.g. hobbits, trees, the race of men, etc.). This form of cosmology is not better or worse than that of WoT because instead it offers perspective on human (and nonhuman) potential, and provides basis for possibility and imagination.


I absolutely ADORE comparing the similarities and differences between LotR and WoT through literary criticism. I think it comes from hearing a lot of "WoT is better!" "No, LotR is!" and thinking "this is stupid. they're very different!"


Edit: in case it isn't clear, the reason for this comment is that Dragons = inherently magical/spiritual entities.
 
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I IZ very sad that we don't hear a tad more about dragon Mythology. But I just assuime that Randland is like our own world and every culture was steeped in tales of dragons of different types, tempermets etc etc etc...so people know what a dragon is supposed to be. A Mythical beast
 
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I IZ very sad that we don't hear a tad more about dragon Mythology. But I just assuime that Randland is like our own world and every culture was steeped in tales of dragons of different types, tempermets etc etc etc...so people know what a dragon is supposed to be. A Mythical beast

This wasn't my interpretation at all. What I found interesting is that no one had any concept of a dragon. Lews Therin was called the dragon, but no one knew why. His symbol was something that we would recognize as a dragon, but no one knew what it was supposed to be a symbol of. Seanchan fly on Raken, which sounds a little like 'dragon'. It seems to me that Jordan is hinting at the idea that our concept of as a dragon is something that developed out of the mythology of Lews Therin and Raken some time well after the events described in the Wheel of Time and is the result of a misinterpretation of history.
 
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