Dragon
A purely fabulous monster of enormous size, common to almost all countries. Descriptions of its appearance vary; but it appears to have been of a reptilian nature. often of a red or green colour, sometimes with several heads which vomited forth fire and vapours, and a large and clumsy tail. It was of enormous strength; but the ancients believed that it could be charmed by music, and the dragon which guarded the golden fleece was soothed by the voice of Medea. In India at the time of Alexander the Great, a dragon was worshipped as a god; and in occult history it is the manifestation of hell. The dragon, however, is best known in legendary history as the terrible monster, whose duty it was to provide the hero with opportunities of valour, and in this capacity it has figured in many a tale. The legend of St. George and the Dragon is familiar to everyone, and also the dragon that was slain by Sir Lancelot, one of the knights of King Arthur's Round Table. In Revelation the dragon, a representation of the Evil One, is overcome by the Archangel Michael. On one side of the coin given to those who were cured of possession, about the time of Henry VII., there was portrayed an angel standing with both feet on a dragon. The idea of the dragon is perhaps evolved from the conception of the earth, as a living being, a notion which would gain currency from Earthquake and related phenomena.