Dragon Legends: Fact or Fiction?

Well, let’s start with an analogy from our Dragon Legends exhibit to answer this question.

Legends of an ancient flood exist in hundreds of cultures around the world. A large number of these traditions share common elements with the biblical Flood described in Genesis. For example, many of these stories assert that man’s wickedness brought divine judgment upon the whole world and that eight people and some animals survived aboard a large boat.

The Bible provides the historical account of the worldwide Flood. By carefully comparing these legends with God’s Word, we see that many of these traditions have distorted, embellished, or lost information about the actual events.

Similarly, cultures from all over the globe also have dragon legends. Epic battles between gallant knights and fierce dragons are rather common, and the descriptions of some of these beasts are often very similar to those of dinosaurs.

Of course, ancient people would not have called them “dinosaurs” since that word was coined in 1841. Carvings and cave paintings of these monsters have been discovered. Some of these dragon legends contain mythical elements, while others likely lost all the true details and retain nothing more than tall tales. But in many cases, the dragons were viewed as real animals. Do some of these dragon legends actually speak of dinosaurs?

In the Bible, God told Job about two creatures that could be considered dragons: the Behemoth and the Leviathan [a great sea creature, not technically a dinosaur]. Some Christians suggest that these are mythical monsters, but the mention of Behemoth and Leviathan in the book of Job follows the descriptions of about a dozen real animals. Why would God go from describing real creatures to mythical ones? Furthermore, why would God tell Job to consider two beasts that did not even exist?

I would argue that it’s certainly possible that some of the dragon legends could be encounters with what we today call dinosaurs.

It’s certainly possible that some of the dragon legends could be encounters with what we today call dinosaurs.

Guests at the Creation Museum have been loving our “cinematic answer” to this question in our 4D Special Effects Theater. Our new show, Dragons: Quest for Truth, follows Gabe, a Creation Museum guest, as the dragon exhibit comes to life and takes him on an exciting adventure. Families love this fun 4D experience. Don’t miss it on your next visit (this theater showing is included free with museum admission).

Plan your visit at CreationMuseum.org.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.