How to dragon

[pmmg]

Not sayin that wyverns are not cool and all with their four limbs, but I think that may just be a creation of those who wanted there to be a difference between these creatures. Dragons and Wyverns may just be interchangeable terms in the way the wizards and mages and sorcerers are. If I recall, Dungeons and Dragons made the difference between these creatures that one had a breath weapon and the other didn't. Number of limbs though may more likely be an expectation of todays reader, but not one that is a true universal definition. And there are certainly more varieties of dragon than just to two mentioned in the OP. Oriental style of dragons don't match either of these.

I had read something once on the subject of flying dragons (forget the source, sorry), that dragons, by nature of being able to breath fire, had a belly full of hot gas, which aided in making them more buoyant, similar to a hot air balloon, and thus able to fly, even though they should not be able to. I have also heard that a bumble bee defies science in its ability to fly. As for something that big not being able to fly, the air bus it pretty big. Anything big can fly with enough of the right elements.

Not being able to imagine the musculature that would allow for a six limbed creature that can fly does not mean that such could not just exist anyway. If you want the creature to have the musculature, just write that they do, and their shoulders are a bit larger because of it (I doubt you will be called on to show diagrams of this).

And of course, dragons are usually cast as magical beings. If superman can fly because of yellow sun energy, dragons can fly just because of a magical nature.

Ultimately though, I side with those who have been saying dragons are well established in fiction. Readers will buy flying without much explanation.

 

[TheKillerBs]

Bumblebees don't defy science to fly. That's a myth I wish would stop being perpetuated. The most over-simplified explanation to how bumblebees (and every other insect ever) fly is that the high-speed movement of their wings acts like a helicopter rotor to provide lift.

 

[Zeppo]

For me, when it comes to dragons, if they have wings, they can fly. If you talk to a physicists or a biologist, they would certainly tell you that Dragons are simply too heavy for those wings to function in the manner that a 'typical' dragon is seen flying. So, although magic doesn't need to be a cop-out, I think that with Dragons, we can have a general suspension of dis-belief regarding Dragon flight. Check our the Adventures of Merlin, the Dragon certainly shouldn't be able to fly, but it does, and it appears as though it would be physically able to.

I guess my point is that you don't need to scientifically explain why things work the way they work unless you are focusing specifically in a non magic or skeptical world view.

 

[Draconianwriting]

The prospect of many different types of dragons has piqued my interest. While writing my novel, (or attempting to) I decided to have 8 types of elemental dragons, not separated by color like normal, but by physical and mental characteristics. A dragon can really be anything you want it to be. It really doesn't even have to be a lizard, but people may call it a dragon anyway.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

^^Ahem. Haku wants to have a word with you about that.