Russian Myths

Russia is a country filled with tales of dragons.  Some have three heads, some have nine heads and some have as many as twelve heads.  Russian dragons come in a variety of forms.  Up until the Christianization of Russia, the tales of dragons depicted very few of them as evil.  Once Christianity took hold, the dragon became a cruel, fierce and very evil creature.  Stories of saints killing dragons are a very popular theme in the religious icons of Russia.  However, since everything that became Christianized suffered some degree of corruption to suit the Church's purposes, I will deal only with the pre-Christian tales.

Like most descriptions of dragons from around the world, they were said to live in caves and caverns.  They also are said to guard great treasures - anything from gold and jewels to important sources of water.  Russian dragons also have the power to transform themselves into human form.  It was a commonly held belief that shooting stars and comets were actually dragons going to visit their human lovers.

Lightening Dragons

Lightening was believed to be the fiery arrows of the thunder god Perun.  The dragon was associated with Perun, paintings often depict these dragons with arrow-pointed tongues and tails.  Since the thunder and lightening was usually followed by rain (which was good for the crops), people believed that the dragons could control the weather.  They had the power to not only send rain, but also send drought.