Inspiring Images: Dragons

I think it is safe to say that I have a fondness for dragons. I love them dearly. I know that there are Christians who believe all dragons embody evil... or that they should, especially in fiction. But I think there is enough recorded in Scripture to prove that dragons could be good, evil, or simply neutral. See, for example:Job 41:18-21 (context: speaking of a creature called the "leviathan") - His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth.Did you know that the word "seraphim" used in Isaiah 6:2 describing the creatures surrounding God's throne literally translates to, "Fiery serpents"? True story.Then, of course, there's the dragon in Revelation 12, which is clearly evil.So, the good, the bad, and the beast... and the reasons why I don't think dragons have to always be portrayed as evil.All that aside, today's post is not about dragons in Scripture (could have fooled you, right?) but rather about inspiring images. Images that inspire me, images that have lent themselves to my writing craft. And today's images featured that greatest of all Fantasy devices: DRAGONS!Dragons feature heavily in my first series, The Minstrel's Song - and they are mostly portrayed as good, although we'll get to some evil dragons in the final book, and there are hints throughout that not all dragons have always been good.I can't always pinpoint specific moments in my life, but with dragons I can. This illustration in the version of The Hobbit that my dad read to us kids growing up was the moment that I fell in love with dragons:It was a full, two-page spread just focused on Smaug. I still think it's one of the best pictures of a dragon I've ever seen, especially one with four legs. It became the standard for me for how all dragons should aspire to look.Since this picture, many people have attempted to put dragons on the big screen, and for the most part these efforts have disappointed me. However, there are two notable exceptions:The dragons of "Reign of Fire" were definitely the Jurassic Park moment for dragons on the big screen. Suddenly, dragons could be imagined as realistic, terrifying, fierce, swift, and awesome. They weren't "fantasy" dragons, by any stretch of the imagination, as they had no speech and were just depicted as cunning predators, but that didn't matter, because they looked super cool.         Of course, a more recent favorite dragon image is the one my cover artist designed for my first book, King's Warrior. You don't get to see this if you buy the Kindle version, but the back cover has a dragon on it:What do you think? Do you have a favorite dragon or image of a dragon? What do you think of dragons in fantasy - do you prefer good dragons or evil dragons? Why?