Firedrakes (also spelled fire-drake; , "fiery dragon"; , , "fiery serpent"), among other names, is a European type of dragon stemming from sightings of shooting star and will-o'-the-wisp phenomenons, said to appear as sparking streaks of fire in the sky. Such are primarily evil beings, more than often shapeshifted demons or spirits.
Appearance In East Slavic tradition, the "fiery serpent" is said to generally resemble a fiery shaft (, "fiery carrying pole"), a flaming broom, or a glowing ball of blue fire, releasing sparks during its flight.
In Swedish folklore, the flogdrake ("flying dragon") has been given the analogy of a fiery steelyard balance, firebroom, or flaming sheaf of straw. It lacks any visible limbs to wings, and is said to appear in the evening sky surrounded by sparks, looking like a golden stripe that sweeps across the sky.
The origin of the image The firedrake beliefs stems from inexplicable sightings of shooting stars, bolides, and comets, seen as streaks of light flying across the sky, and sometimes crashing and boring into the ground. The association with dragons is not unique to Slavic folklore, and appears variously across Europe to some extent. Similar being also appear in other parts of the world – .
Eastern myth The origin of the Slavic myth is unknown, and the "fiery serpent" appears across the pan-Slavic world. citing and other sources. The folklore mirrors various European folklore regarding demons and spirits (gnomes, wights, etc) shapeshifting into dragons (serpents) in order to protect and gather treasure, a motif seen in famous stories such as the Völsunga saga, and also connecting to the myth of "that which lies under a serpent grows with it", ie, dragons broods treasure to get richer. Other gnome traditions also carry over, such as the egg-lore of the Schrat etc (see ).
According to Russian folk belief (around Tula), when the archangel Michael cast down the fallen angels, some of these devils evaded falling down to earth, and remained flying in the atmosphere in the form of fiery serpents.
Western myth As opposed to Slavic myth, where the fiery serpent is a unique folklorean entity, in western myth, firedrakes are rather ambiguous with dragons, shooting stars, and will-o'-the-wisps, in general.
Even in Sweden, where the firedrake is more defined (see flogdrake), descriptions are sometimes generic, simply referring to it as "the dragon". Swedish archivist wrote in 1947 the following in his book about Bohuslän legends:
Per the above, such phenomena have also been associated with the devil etc.
English folklore
In English, the term is firedrake (fire-drake; ), ambiguous with "fiery dragon" and "fiery meteor", as well as will-o'-the-wisp.
English firedrakes are quite obscure; the lexicographer James Murray wrote for the former the following definition in volume 5 of the Oxford English Dictionary (1901), but does not elaborate further:
Such have been thought to be the Devil himself, and have been used as a kenning or noa-name for Satan or other personification of evil and deceit, etc.
Slavic folklore
Demons took on various shapes, and the "fiery serpent" of the East and West Slavs, as well as the "flying serpent" of the Southern Slavs appeared as serpents in air, and as humans on ground. It releases sparks during its flight and enters the (women's) house through the chimney.
The evil spirit reputedly visits the woman at night-time. Women who were widowed, or separated from her husband was particularly vulnerable to having affairs with this certain type of devil, because the devil will assume the shape of the dead or absentee husband. In their grief, and their desperation to be rejoined with their lost love, women do not recognize the serpent and become convinced that their lover has returned. It is told that those who are visited by the serpent experience weight loss, exhibit signs of insanity and eventually commit suicide, or wither and die. In addition, victims of the serpent often experience hallucinations, including visions of supernatural torment, such as suckling on breasts which excrete blood rather than milk.
The serpent may bring gifts, but those gifts turn to horse manure at sunrise (Russian, west-Ukrainian).
Mythology also tells that the fiery serpent had a son by a human woman, and she bore a werewolf (), the "Fiery Serpent Wolf" (; ). Thus women can have the fiery serpent's children, and illegitimate births are still often explained as such devil spawn. If a woman conceives a child with such a devil, the pregnancy will be exceedingly long, and the child will be born with black skin, with hooves instead of feet, eyes without eyelids and a cold body (Russia), or its body will be cold and jelly-like (East Ukraine). Such births are not viable, and the children die.
Swedish folklore
The Swedish version is historically called flogdrake (Old Swedish: floghdraki, "fly-dragon"), elddrake ("fire dragon") or eldsdrake ("fiery dragon"). Whether mythologically related to the Slavic tradition, it stems from seeing light phenomenons in the sky. It is a wingless worm-dragon that flies across the sky while glowing, looking like a streak of fire or light akin to a shooting star, living in mountain tunnels that it drills, called ("dragon tubes").
Some interpret the fire streak phenomenon as the dragon "firing over his possessions" or "illuminating his goods", and thus pointing out where the treasure or dragon's nest is to be found. Other interpret the fire streak as the dragon itself.
Baltic folklore
Estonian folklore
The Estonian kratt (Estonian Swedish: ) can manifest itself as a fiery being with a sparking tail, which in some variants is a dragon analog to the firedrake of Swedish folklore: flogdrake, intended as a mean to guard and transport their treasures. The Swedish flogdrake was likewise thought to transport treasure it had stolen. The kratt is also related to the Swedish folklore of Nordic gnomes and wights, which also are said to transform themselves into dragons and thereof to both guard and transport their treasures. The same motif is also found in the related Northern German Schrat (, ), which likewise can transform into a dragon to handle treasure and thereof.
Some commentators also see some parallel to the Belarusian flying serpent, however, the Estonian version fails to act as an ardent lover to a human woman.; cf.
Lithuanian folklore
Some commentators see some parallel between the Belarus flying serpent, etc., with the Lithuanian aitvaras, which also brings riches, love to be fed egg dishes, and retributes using fire. But similar lore may be widespread simply due to the pan-European mythology of basilisks disseminated during medieval times, or perhaps somewhat later in the 16th century.
Names Country Name Etymology Belarusian () "flying serpent" English , from , "fiery dragon" rare form; , , , , Polish "the flying one", associated with the wind Russian () "fiery serpent" () "serpent of fire" () "serpent-lyubak" () (), (), "pupil, fosterling, nurseling", a Ukrainian house-spirit born from eggs () "raider", () "raid", () "flyer", () "flying one" () "flying one", same form as , found in southern Russia () "beckoner", from ", , "to beckon" () "charmer" Serbian () "fiery one", in the Serbian epic ballads () "fiery dragon", in the Serbian epic ballads Swedish "fly-dragon" (archaic form of ), from Old Swedish floghdraki, flughdraki, a literary loan from Old West Norse ("flying dragon"). "fire dragon" "fiery dragon" Ukrainian () "tempter, seducer" () "tempter, seducer" reconstructed ancestral form *per-lьstьnik'ъ () "tempter, seducer" ) "flying one", also in southern Russian: () "flyer", () "raid", () "raider", () "fire serpent", Ukrainian term for the pan-Slavic "fiery serpent"
Explanatory notes
See also
Flogdrake – similar myth in Sweden
References Citations
Bibliography