The popular western image of a dragon is likely based on a conflation of earlier dragons from different traditions, and of inaccurate scribal drawings of snakes. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia Apep in Egyptian mythology Vṛtra in the Rigveda the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible Grand'Goule in the Poitou region in France, Python, Ladon, Wyvern, and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology and the dragon from Beowulf.

Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. The earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.

Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Dragon-shaped bows on ships in Ystad, Sweden resembling Viking longshipsĪ dragon is a large, serpentine, legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide.

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