writing an essay and need help.

[skulblaka]

I am wanting to write an essay about the common link of dragons in nearly every ancient civilization. What I would like is any, any information regarding this subject. I will also take anything that has to do with the mystical side of dragons, i.e. magic. This would be very helpful.

And, by the way, this is for a midterm, so will probably need to cite this if that's okay.
Thank you
Skulblaka
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I sing, I read, I live. In that order.

[Rayadragon]

Unfortunatly, the first sources that I can think of for this type of information off hand are books that may not necisarily be the best choice for citations, but can point you in the right direction.

There's normally a ton of "coffee table" type books that talk about dragons, and some actually have information about the older legends of dragons as well. While I wouldn't use the coffee table books as a source unless left with no other option, the books themselves should cite where they got their info from. You can backtrack their sources for your own use. If nothing else, once you have the name of some examples you want to use, you can use the encyclopedia to try to get some more info. You might also get lucky by just going to the library and searching the cataloge for "dragons" or "dragon legends" and just make sure that the books you're looking for are in the reference section.
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"People who are easily offended need to be offended more often."
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[Syrobe]

Did you already had a look at this part of the site?

http://www.ncsos.us/sdb/recom.php
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- power is gained through wisdom -

[skulblaka]

No I hadn't seen that part of the site yet. THANK YOU!!!
I half figured there was something on the site already, but I wasn't sure.
Again, thanks.
_________________

I sing, I read, I live. In that order.

[Rayadragon]

*laughs* I'm so used to running for the forums I forget that there's other parts to this site.

Be careful with some of the sources, skulblaka. Based on the original description, you're looking for more historical legends of dragons and not the more modern interpratations. In particular stay away from the *shudders* Dragonology books and even on the list Syrobe has, I'd stay away from Ciruelo's book (which from what I remember was more of a story and less about historical legends). Just take a critical eye to the sources and make sure it really relates to the way you want to present the topic. There's nothing wrong with using some of the modern dragon interpratations, just make sure you state from the begining that these aren't historical examples.
_________________
"People who are easily offended need to be offended more often."
"Do on to others as you would have others do on to you."

[Ragnarok]

I did a big paper on a similar subject a few years back... I found this book to be pretty useful.

It goes through dragon myths worldwide, and even looks into some existing creatures that the myths could be based on.
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To win against an opponent stronger than yourself, you must not be weaker than that opponent. - Takamachi Nanoha

[Rayadragon]

I can vouch for this book as well, and I happen to have it on my coffee table at the moment. While some of the legends are pretty abbreviated, it does give you a good jumping off point for finding out about several different ones at once.
_________________
"People who are easily offended need to be offended more often."
"Do on to others as you would have others do on to you."

[skulblaka]

question to mod:
would i be able to post my essay for proof reading and criticism?
_________________

I sing, I read, I live. In that order.