Taking a small break with a small Dragon

Life trying to log UFO files has become impossible from an interest standpoint just now, so I'll give both of us a break. Let's chase, VERY briefly, a Dragon.

You regulars might remember that I tried (almost unsuccessfully) to range the world looking for a "proper" dragon almost exactly two years ago in this blog. We searched over five postings for the critters, the last being May 31, 2012. It was interesting to me, for sure, but finding "evidence" for the ancient proper dragon {reptilian, winged, fire-breathing, huge} was hard to come by. I sort of decided that [for my tastes] the only thing which clearly had the characteristics was the "third" monster of Beowulf --- not the more famous Grendel, but a truly described Dragon, who kills our hero [so I refer to it as Beowulf's Bane.]

I was going through hardcopy resources three days ago [throwing much out in anticipation of my great intracity home move at the end of the summer.] I came across an old Smithsonian Bulletin wherein a scholar was discussing the contents of "recently" found Mesopotamian cylinder seals. I'd looked at a few dozen cylinder seals while trying to become smart about the history of dragons, but never saw one which was particularly convincing. This scholar printed one which changes my mind.

This is a thing from Lagash, claiming to be of the reign of Gudaea, which, if true, puts it at around 2100 BC --- well before Beowulf obviously. The mini-carved "cartoon" has, at first glance anyway, all the right qualities: reptilian, winged, and maybe even something fiery coming out of its nose or mouth. This drawing takes it well beyond the famous Sirrush of the Ishtar Gates, in my opinion, and seems quite dragonish more than, say, griffinish.

The contents of this seal are, of course, debated. The scene however seems to represent Gudaea being taken into the heavenly throneroom of one of the Anunnaki or Seven High Gods of Sumer. That god on the throne might be Anu or might be Enki. Gudaea is the plainly clothed petitioner. The gods front and back of him are one of the well-known high seven and one called "Ningishzida", which is translated by some as "The Great Dragon of Heaven", supposedly memorialized by the constellation Hydra. The cartoon miniature of Ningishzida resides therefore at the extreme left in dragon form.

This then gives me a bit more confidence that the representations of certain other cylinder seals are actually meant to portray dragons rather than "just" griffins or some other such legendary anomaly.

But so what?

Well, if one likes the concept of the Dragon, I suppose that anything about it is interesting, especially if the ancients were using this imagery in important contexts. The romance of the moment might even inspire some belief in the possibility of physical reality. I don't go there, because the six-limbed dragon is evolutionarily a loser of a structure [i.e. it cannot evolve]. But I AM quite the fan of at least imagining the possibility that encounter anomalies might involve paranormal or faerie-based entities, at least "once-upon-a-time."

For me, the main intrigue in this is more of a baby-step. If the concept of a proper dragon was alive in 3rd millennium Mesopotamia, and if such origins could have inspired Beowulf's dragon 2000+ years later, what was the root/route of contact? Did these "dark" myths travel with Celts or Cymmerians or even more mythological peoples across lower central Europe, much as did the first glimmerings of the druidical style of life? Or did the imagery of Beowulf survive because there was some actual encounter knowledge of such beings?

So what if this is Out Proctor and close to going All-the-way-fool? Let's keep the ideas alive and the pathways unfenced as we walk these forbidden forests with eyes wide open.

Peace.

You never know who's watching out there......