Origin: Canaanite Mythology
History: He fueded with his brother, Baal, god of fertility. Yam-Nahar was the god of the sea and rivers, and Baal disliked Yam-Nahar because he believed that El favored him.
This creature was said to be a sea dragon with seven heads. Yam-Nahar did not live very long, as Baal killed him when he was still young.
Symbolism: Baal is perhaps a symbol of jealousy.
Physical Description: It is said that, while this creature was a sea serpent, it also boasted seven heads.
Type/Species: Hydra-Eastern Dragon Origin: Japan
History: (Minor note: "eight" in Japan also meant "many" so whenever you see the word "eight" there could have been many more.)
Susa-no-o was a traveling warrior that came upon distressed people. He agreed to help them on the promise that he was able to marry their last uneaten daughter. So, they put out eight jars of Sake out on a fence. Happily, Yamata-no-orochi appeared and ate them all up.
When the Sake kicked in, Yamata became very drunk. Susa-no-o easily cut off all his eight heads. When he was cutting off his eight tails, he found one to be hard to cut into. In the tail, he found a sword called Murakumo-no-Tsurugi.
Symbolism: Yamata is another example of Japanese dragons being more like Western-Style dragons than Eastern Dragons.
Physical Description: Having at least eight heads and eight tales, Yamata was a huge dragon-serpent which was eight hills long and had cypress and fir trees growing on his back.
Origin: Japan
History: Yofune-Nushi was lived under a island called Oki Island, where his cave was located. He forced the local village to sacrifice a young, beautiful maiden to him every year on June thirteenth. If they did not, he threatened to destroy their entire fleet of fishing ships with one of his storms. The fishing fleet was their main source of life, and henceforth they could not deny the dragon his meal.
A girl named Tokoyo came forward one year to offer herself to the dragon. All the people willingly brought her to the island and allowed her to wait for the dragon. When Yofune-Nushi appeared, however, she did not coward back like the others. Instead, she pulled a knife and shashed his eyes, blinding him. After this was done, he reared back in pain, reveling his venurable neck. This was the end of Yofune-Nushi.
In another version, she dived into the water and attacked the dragon in the same manner. However, in this verson she recieved a sacred stone statue (of the Emperor) that had been cast into the water. It was said that the Emperor had been acting strangely because his statue was cursed and thrown into the water.
Due to the fact that she had saved the Emperor, her father, who was banished at the time, was allowed to return home.
Symbolism: Unknown. It is interesting to note, however, that this dragon acted much like many Western-style dragons, which is very unlike Eastern Dragons.
Physical Description: Unknown
Origin: Chinese Mythology
History: In China, the supreme god of the heavens was the Yellow Emperor. He looked down upon Earth and saw that people were evil and filled with wickedness. So, the Yellow Emperor ordered the rain god to make endless rain.
This rain caused a great flood, and everything - people, animals, and plants - began to die. Only one of the gods looked down and was moved to pity over this. His name was Kun, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor. He pleaded with his grandfather to make the rains stop, but the Yellow Emperor did not stop it.
Kun met an old tortoise, who told him that in order to stop the rain he needed magic mud. The tortoise also explained that the Yellow Emperor had a jar of it inside his treasury, so Kun stole it and went down to Earth.
Wherever he sprinkled the mud, islands grew and the water was sucked up. As quickly as he could, Kun went over the Earth, spreading this magical mud and making new land. Sadly, the Yellow Emperor saw what Kun was doing, and sent the fire god down to kill him.
Kun saw the fire god coming, so he transformed himself into a white horse and tried to hide. Still, the fire god send down lightning, which struck Kun and killed him on top of a mountain.
Kun lay dead, and the time passed. Something inside of him grew, and, from his dead body, a new life sprang. This was Kun's sun, Yu, a beautiful golden dragon.
Yu flew up to the heavens to see his great grandfather, the Yellow Emperor. He begged him to end the flood, identifying himself as Yu, son of Kun, who had returned to complete his task.
The Yellow Emperor then made Yu the rain god. He allowed him the amount of magic mud that could be piled upon the old tortoise's back.
Yu thanked the Yellow Emperor and went to work. He made the flooding rains stop, but much of the land remained under the water. So, he and the old tortoise went down to Earth, sprinkling the magic mud as they went. After this was done, Yu used his tail to plow the mighty rivers of China.
While carving the Yellow River, they came upon an obstacle: rocky cliffs. As Yu carved a chasm into these cliffs, he declared it to be the Dragon's Gate, which would always be sacred to dragons.
Since the people saw Yu save them and re-carve the Earth, they begged him to be their emperor. With that, Yu transformed into a human and lived on Earth as the Chinese Emperor.
Symbolism: Yu was a sign of the rebirth of not only Kun, but also of China.
Physical Description: Yu had five toes, and he was one of the important, golden-colored dragons of the East. Undoubtedly, he probably had an exceptionally beautiful mane in addition to this.
- Illiana the Golden Dragon (defunct)
- Japanese Mythology by Juliet Piggot
- Myths and Legends of Japan by F. Hadland Davis
- Mythical Birds and Beasts from Many Lands by Margaret Mayo and Jane Ray
For more information about these footnotes, please see the bibliography.
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Last updated: 6 August 2008