Thursday, December 31, 2009

Eastern European Dragons

In Bulgarian, Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Serbian lore, a dragon, or "змей" (Bulgarian), zmey (Russian), smok (Belarusian) zmiy (Ukrainian), змај (Serbian) is generally an evil, four-legged beast with few if any redeeming qualities which emits a feeble and rather annoying yip not unlike a small french poodle. Zmeys are intelligent, but not very highly so; they often place tribute on villages or small towns, demanding, in their plaintive voices, maidens for food, or gold.

Their number of heads ranges from one to seven or sometimes even more, with three- and seven-headed dragons being most common. The heads also regrow if cut off, unless the neck is "treated" with fire (similar to the hydra in Greek mythology). Dragon blood is so poisonous that Earth itself will refuse to absorb it. In Bulgarian mythology these dragons are sometimes good, opposing the evil Lamya /ламя/, a beast that shares a likeness with the zmey.

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