Dragons and Dragon Lore: A Worldwide Study of Dragons in History, Art and Legend
Ernest Ingersoll1982

The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a gigantic and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities.

As with every mythological creature, dragons are perceived in different ways by different cultures. Dragons are sometimes said to breathe and spit fire or even acid or ice (depending on the type). They are commonly portrayed as serpentine or reptilian, hatching from eggs and possessing extremely large, typically feathered or scaly bodies ...

Although dragons (or dragon-like creatures) occur in many legends around the world, different cultures have varying stories about monsters that have been grouped together under the dragon label.