European dragons are very different from their Chinese cousins. According to medieval legends, they were huge reptiles with four legs, two leathery wings, sharp claws, and a long tail. They could breathe fire, and they loved to terrorize villages by burning down houses and snacking on cattle, sheep, or unlucky travelers.
The biggest thing European dragons cared about was treasure. The legends say a dragon would steal every piece of gold and jewels it could find and pile them up in a cave somewhere. Then it would curl up on top of the pile and guard it fiercely for hundreds of years.
These dragons usually had a single weak spot, which is how brave knights and heroes managed to kill them. The hero Beowulf, the dragon-slayer Sigurd, and Saint George all became famous for defeating dragons. Medieval people often believed dragons were real, and old maps sometimes had “Here be dragons” written across unexplored regions.
