Dragon Week: Guest Post from Author David Broughwen

My blog is focusing on dragons this week. They are such a big part of SFF. Several amazing authors have been generous with their time and are joining in on the conversation.



Today, I am happy to feature a guest post from David Broughwen, author of WIP, Spark .



Dragons by David Broughwen



Why dragons?



Dragons have been a mainstay of fantasy for practically all of history, but why? What made humanity love dragons so much that even after more than two thousand years, we still explore them in fresh and unique ways? To answer this question, we must look at the versatility of the dragon throughout our history.



Arrogant origins



First dragons in literature and myths, often dated before count, mostly fit into two very different camps: Gods and unthinking animals. Dragons would often be an obstacle for our heroes to face, “a dragon to slay” if you will, a force of nature against the ingenuity, bravery and skill of humans. God dragons would often be depicted as speaking leviathans, educating humanity, protectors of mankind. This dragon was but a shadow of what they would become. For one thing was missing: fire .



Hellfire breath



For half their history, dragons didn’t barbeque anyone. Instead, they were often depicted spitting poison like a house sized cobra. And then revolution! Dragons realized poison was inefficient and instead turned to incendiary reactions. Whether we look at the depiction from the Book of Job, or all the depiction of dragons breathing out a metaphorical hell, fire became a mainstay of dragon stories. Dragon became associated with treasure too, like a scaly Scrooge Mcduck, sitting in corridors, on mountains, inside caves and castles, always ready to fight whoever dared challenge it. Which brings us to another topic: dragons were everything humanity wanted… and feared.



Sky and fire



In all our history, humanity has invented millions of wonders, big and small. But fire is where it all began. Fire is what we used for light, for heat, for defense, even for decoration! And of course, the other fundamental truth of humanity is curiosity. We wish to know more. And until 1903, all we knew about the sky was what we could note down from the then tallest tower. 



Dragons were literature’s solution. Those brave enough could take to the skies to explore what lay beyond, see the unseen and all it had to offer, becoming a part of history. Dragons were still most often depicted as beasts to be slain and that would not soon change. For in the hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.   



Smaug



Smaug might be the most well known dragon in history, at least that is what my 2 am research states. He was everything humanity considered a sin: greedy, arrogant, murderous and most sinful of all, a bad neighbor . An unreasonable force of nature, capable of communicating with those beneath it. He would possess qualities that eventually also became synonymous with dragons and are used in stories to this day: smart, magical and interestingly, with human flaws. And it would be those human flaws that proved to be his undoing when Bilbo discovers his weakness through flattery. And so, Smaug fell. But the dragons would come back, for they always do.



Dragons everywhere



Suddenly, dragons became the uncontested alpha species of the fantasy community. Intelligent societal dragons of Heinlein’s Between planets, all the new dragons Tolkien cooked up, pet dragons and companion dragons, monster dragons and reformed dragons, little, big, flightless, winged, fire incarnate or river spirit. Dragons could be whatever you wished. Dragons were the one thing every writer wants in their story: versatility. Which brings us to the reason I read fantasy today.



Eragon



A lot of people feel ashamed for liking this series. But I cannot thank it enough, for it is the reason I read and write fantasy today. Christopher Paolini started his work on the Inheritance cycle when he was 15. And the dragons in these books? Delightfully weird. Communication through telepathy, binding to a dragonrider, their heart of hearts Eldunarí containing their magical energy and very soul? And they throw that little cannonball of pure magic up like a cat throws up a furball? That right there is what fantasy is all about: unique and weird. Speaking of cats…



Training



How to train your dragon’s Toothless might be my favorite depiction of a dragon. Why? Because… he’s a cat. A giant winged lizard cat that can retract its teeth and be a precise bomber. And somehow, without any of the dragons ever speaking, they have more personality than dragons in other media that go on monologue after monologue. Without mentioning the dragons’ ant-like hierarchy, their gradual bonding or even delving into the core message of the films themselves (which is that humanity at large will refuse to coexist with anything we deem different than us), these three movies depict dragons diversely and in my humble opinion, perfectly. 



Singing of fire and ice



While Toothless is my favorite individual dragon, I think dragons are at their best when they depict the flaws of humanity. And what flaw is more common than the fact that we will dehumanize, devalue and eventually attempt to subdue with lethal force anyone who we don’t deem as “us”? War has been around for about as long as humanity has been around. But old war was simple. Modern war? Not so much. Our weapons have become too broad, too indiscriminatory. From nuclear and hydrogen bombs, to plane bombers, missiles and ground based canons, one thing has become clear: control of our weaponry has become loose, and their targets are often unintended.



Which is why I love The Song of Ice and Fire’s idea of a dragon. A beast, capable of dishing out destruction indiscriminately, a game changer on the battlefield. The Targaryens believe they control them. But whether they are doing their masters’ bidding or snatching children and sheep from farmers, dragons cannot destroy only their target. They destroy everything. They ruin lives not meant to be ruined. They are what keeps their masters in power. And they are everything those beneath their masters wish never existed: Fire and Blood.



Conclusion



So why are dragons so popular? Because they can be anything you want them to be. A tool of wonder or of terror. A companion to bring out the best in humanity, or a weapon to bring out the worst. A God to lead us or an aggressive animal to be put down. A weirdo little cat capable of small-scale bombardment. What are they to me? Epic and strange. And to you? Who knows. But there is a dragon out there for everyone, each weird in their own special little way. There’s only the matter of finding them.



About the Author: David Broughwen is the pen name of a full-time dreamer from Slovenia.



While writing for him remains part time, he is extremely passionate about bringing well fleshed out worlds full of flawed characters to life. Currently, he is working on his debut novel codenamed Spark.



When not writing, David travels, watches too many war documentaries and endlessly tries to catch up on his ever-growing list of to be read and to be watched stories. https://linktr.ee/david_broughwen