Dragons: A History - Ronald Hutton
166,992
Published 2024-03-06
Has the Western attitude to dragons changed in the modern era? Did Christianity give rise to a different idea of what a dragon should be? These are the questions that this lecture sets out to answer.
This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 14th February 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
Ronald is Gresham Professor of Divinity.
He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/dragons
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All Comments (21)
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Professor Hutton is unable to give an unengaging lecture. What a treat that these lectures are free to watch!
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"Noble dragons don't have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who is still alive." - Terry Pratchett, "Guards, Guards"
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"Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." -- Neil Gaiman
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I wish I could have had this gentleman as a college prof. I could listen to him all day!
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Not so much as reverence but cautious respect for Coyote the trickster. Apache here and taught by my Grandfather. Ya'ta'hay!
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To be fair, Pernese dragons are specifically NOT Earth dragons. To give Ms. McCaffery proper credit....
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I was surprised you didn't mention Tiamat when talking about Leviathan
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This guy is a treasure. Thanks for this terrific presentation.
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I saw a video of a big alligator climbing a perimeter fence at least 8 feet high at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville Florida. Clearly a flying dragon.
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I would love an entire lecture series on dragons and dragon myths. Just a comprehensive dive into this stuff. I want to know absolutely everything he knows. It's so hard to find that information.
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Ivor the Engine's dragon was very nice and friendly! He was Welsh.
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Has everyone seen, "Dragonslayer" from 1981? In my top 20 All-time films.
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You missed the Welsh dragons. Which is one of the few Western dragons that fulfills a protective role.
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Wow! I am from Mid Wales and I remember being told the story about the Gwiber growing up. I was looking into it just the other day. The mountain was Moel Bentyrch
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This was tremendous fun! I think the cryptozoologist's theory about dragons with hydrochloric acid in their stomachs, therefore being prone to exploding, may have been borrowed by Terry Pratchett for his Discworld dragons.
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I thoroughly enjoy Prof. Hutton's lectures, interviews, cozy chats, whatever.
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Thank you very much! Always enjoy Professor Hutton’s lectures
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I will listen to Ronald Hutton speak about anything.
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There’s a number of ‘worms’ in Scotland, I live near a place called Wormit, across the Tay in Dundee there was another one with a n area named after the battle, Strathmartin, meaning ‘strike Martin’.
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Thank you so much Professor Hutton. Your knowledge is wide and deep…like the habitation of some dragons. The presentation is amusing and riveting.
