"The dragon," observes author Ernest Ingersoll, "is connected with the powers and doings of the earliest gods, and like them is vague, changeable and contradictory in its attributes, maintaining from first to last only one definable characteristic-association with and control of water."
Rich with facts and fascinating lore, Ingersoll's well-researched book not only describes many of the myths surrounding one of the world's oldest, most elusive and powerful mythological creatures, but also teems with information about specific aspects of these mystical beasts-from grotesque serpents of the deep to land-roving, fire-breathing monsters that first appeared in creation myths of ancient civilizations.
Dragons in China, Korea, and Japan are covered, as are those in Babylonian and Egyptian legends, and in Welsh, English, Irish, and French tales from the West, with specific details on draconic prototypes, the birth and wanderings of the dragon, the dragon as rain god, "the men of the dragon bones," the dragon's invasion of the West and association with the holy cross, and other related subjects.