When encountering a dragon in battle, it’s important to know what kind of critter you are up against. There are, after all, thirteen types of dragons, and a good rule of thumb is to count the legs and see if it has wings.
If the creature breathing fire down your considerably singed neck has wings but only back legs, what you have is a Wyvern. Some say that Wyverns aren’t true dragons, but according to SteelySam (more of an expert on the topic than are we), all Wyverns are dragons, but not all dragons are Wyverns.
Got that?
Barb tailed and winged, Wyverns (sometimes called dragonets) are the most common type of dragon. They are outstanding flyers, highly territorial, and very grumpy. Their breath may not have the “firepower” of, say, a Wyrm, the largest and most powerful of all dragons, but Wyverns quite literally have killer breath. Because Wyverns exhale pestilence, they were blamed for spreading the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, the Black Death, which caused the deaths of 40% to 60% of western Eurasia and Africa in the mid 14th century.
When not killing off half the world, Wyverns could be spotted hanging out with other dragons, often in mountainous regions such as the Alps, the birthplace of another magnificent creature, the Saint Bernard (and you wondered how we were going to bring dogs into this).
Saint Bernards are the descendants of ferocious Asian Molossers brought to the Swiss Alps by Roman armies over 2,000 years ago. They weren’t known as a particular breed in those days, but were colloquially referred to as Talhunde (“valley dogs”) or Bauernhunde (“farm dogs”).
We would love to share stories with you about epic battles between Wyverns and Saint Bernards, but there aren’t any because dragons aren’t real.
There is a place where dragons are real, and that is the world of fantasy, mythology, and role-playing games. There, scaly monsters do exist, and so do magical guardians known as patronus (the plural form of patronus). Did you know that the sixth most popular patronus is not only a dog, but the St Bernard? This according to WizardingWorld.
It stands to reason. A patronus is a magical manifestation of one’s inner self, a deeply personal choice that represents a person’s inner strength and positive energy. The St Bernard is not unlike a character in the Harry Potter fantasy books, Rubeus Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Known for his great size, Hagrid is nevertheless kind, loyal, and good-natured, and tacitly acts as guardian to Harry Potter and his pals, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
If Hagrid was a dog, surely he would be a Saint Bernard: Both are big, big hearted, brave and loyal.
We conclude with a wink and nod: We like to have fun with legends and myths, and don’t promote the idea that dragons are real.
Or are they?
Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, a Swiss physician who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries, traveled in the Alps and recorded the stories passed along by locals. According to him, people who lived in remote valleys in the Alps had a centuries old oral history of strange creatures living in forests and caves. You can read excerpts of his account here.
Read about the Saint Bernard’s history at the parent club’s website.