Dragon

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Dragons are magical creatures, existed on the continents of Westeros and Essos, up until recently were considered to have been extinct for over one hundred and fifty years ago. With only remaining trace of the dragons were the stones which were reported to have once been dragon eggs, until Daenerys Targaryen managed to hatching three of these dragon eggs.

Appearance

Dragons are scaled, reptilian creatures, with two legs and two wings only [1] (like bats Bats, using their wings for forelegs, though some A Song of Ice and Fire artwork shows them with four legs and a detached pair of wings). They have sharp teeth and claws, leathery wings and long necks and tails, with spiny crests running down their backs. As hatchlings, they are around the size of a cat, and can reach sizes large enough to swallow a mammoth whole. The polished skulls of the Targaryen dragons look like glittering onyx, and their teeth like curved daggers of black diamond. Their bones are black due to their high iron content. Dragonbone is a highly sought after crafting material.[2]

Characteristics

Great heat emanates from dragons' bodies, to the point that they steam during cold nights. They breathe extremely hot fire and cook their meat before eating it.[3] They are capable of forming strong attachments to humans who raise them. They have a reasonably high level of animal intelligence, and can be trained to serve as battlemounts and receive vocal commands.

Dragons grow throughout their lives, but it is unknown how long they can live or how large they can grow. The largest and oldest Targaryen dragon, Balerion, lived about 200 years and could swallow a mammoth whole, but dragons raised in captivity are thought to be smaller than their wild brethren.[4] They have no gender differentiation, but lay large, scaled eggs to reproduce.[5]

Dragons are believed to be intrinsically tied to magic and the seasons of the world. Since dragons became extinct from Westeros, the power of magic dwindled and winters grew colder.

Tales of ice dragons with cold breath were told in Winterfell by Old Nan. It is undetermined if such dragons are entirely fictional.[6]

History

Dragon skulls in the Red Keep cellars

Dragons are native to the continent of Essos, and were discovered some five thousand years ago by the Valyrians in the Fourteen Fires, a ring of volcanoes on the Valyrian Peninsula. The Valyrians mastered the art of raising dragons and used them as weapons of war to carve out a massive empire. After the Doom of Valyria, the only dragons known to have survived were the three dragons belonging to the Targaryens, on Dragonstone.

The Targaryens used them to conquer and forge the Seven Kingdoms. Over the curse of one hundred and fifty years the Targaryens rode their dragons as symbol of power, King Jaehaerys I, used Jaehaerys took six dragons with him to the North to visit the Warden of the North.[7] They built the Dragonpit in King's Landing to raise and house their dragons and at one time had at least nineteen dragons(the number of dragon skulls stored by the Targaryens in the Red Keep cellars).[2] Over the centuries, the Targaryen dragons died out, most of them were killed in the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons and in later generations did not grow as large as their parents.

The last dragon was a stunted, sick and misshapen thing, and died young during the reign of King Aegon III, the Dragonbane.[8] She had been a green female, small, stunted with withered wings. She laid a clutch of five eggs,[9] which never hatched.[10] It has been suggested by maesters that dragons were meant to be beneath the sky rather than cooped up in cages or cells in the Dragonpit, however massive.

After their extinction, the only remnants of dragons that remained were their skulls and a few petrified eggs. The eggs were highly valuable, both for their beauty and exotic nature as well as their potential to hatch dragons. Many futile attempts were made to hatch dragons from petrified eggs. The Tragedy of Summerhall resulted from Aegon V's attempt. Aegon III, known as the Dragonbane, had nine mages cross the narrow sea to use their magics in attempt to hatch eggs. Baelor I the Blessed took a different approach, praying over eggs in attempt to hatch them. The art of taming and commanding dragons enough to ride is considered lost, aside from a few exceedingly rare books.

Ultimately, Daenerys Targaryen managed to hatch three dragons by sacrificing Mirri Maz Duur in her husband's funeral pyre and stepping into the flames with her eggs. With Daenerys's exchange of life for life, the first three dragons in over a hundred years were born.

According to legend, a dragon may be tamed by sounding the Dragon Horn.[11]

Daenerys and Drogon TV Series

Daenerys' Dragons

Historical Dragons

Dragon Eggs TV Series

Known Dragon Eggs

References and Notes

  1. Elio, Garcia (February 25, 2007). "SSM:COMIC-CON, NEW YORK CITY". http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2267/. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 13, Tyrion II.
  3. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
  4. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
  5. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 35, Samwell IV.
  6. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 35, Jon VII, p 461.
  7. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 41, Jon V.
  8. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 22, Arya II.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Mystery Knight, Warriors 1, ISBN 978-0-7653-6026-7, page 282 of 251-394.
  10. The Hedge Knight, Legends, ISBN 0-312-86787-5, page 465 of 457-533.
  11. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 19, The Drowned Man.
  12. The Mystery Knight, Warriors 1, ISBN 978-0-7653-6026-7, page 312 of 251-394.
  13. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver.