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Puff, Smaug and Other Famous Dragons
You might have guessed that we love dragons here at Dragonspace. Perhaps our name gave it away? We're fascinated by these enigmatic beasts and the stories they inspire. Guardians, protectors, sages, monsters, villains, friends and companions - dragons have appeared in lore and legend as all these things and more.
Though long associated with tales of old, dragons are still going strong in popular culture, becoming icons in some of our favourite contemporary fantasy stories. Let's take a look at a few of our favourites:
Puff
Are you already starting to sing the song? Puff was immortalised by the '60s pop-folk group Peter, Paul and Mary, though the lyrics to the famous tune are actually based on a poem by a university student named Leonard Lipton. In the song, Puff the dragon lives in a magical land called Honahlee, where he gets up to all kinds of adventures with his friend Jackie Paper. Puff is undoubtedly a docile friendly dragon, though his story isn't all sunshine and rainbows. At the end of the song, Jackie Paper stops coming to visit Puff, causing the dragon to "sadly slip into his cave." The tale is said to be about growing up and the loss of innocence - Puff represents the magic of childhood, when the imagination roamed free. Maybe that's why dragons continue to hold a mystical grip on us.
Smaug
Fearsome Smaug is the antagonist in Tolkien's The Hobbit tales. Like a traditional dragon of Western lore, Smaug greedily guards the treasure in the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor and launches a fiery attack on the village of Laketown. Some scholars theorise that Tolkien was inspired by the 'old night-scather' from the epic poem Beowulf when creating Smaug, as Tolkien was a Beowulf expert. Vengeful, treasure-hungry and aggressive, Smaug embodies the villainous dragon archetype. Tolkien interestingly chose to give Smaug the ability to talk, making him a little more humanoid than monstrous.
Falkor
Falkor the luckdragon is the faithful companion of heroes Bastian and Atreyu in the Germany fantasy novel The Neverending Story. In appearance, Falkor takes elements from a traditional Oriental dragon as well as a domestic dog, specifically a Golden Retriever or a Labrador...notoriously faithful animals! Falkor is optimistic, wise and friendly, and possesses extraordinary luck even in impossible circumstances. He's the type of dragon we'd definitely want as a pet, though he'd need a bigger backyard than your standard dog.
Mushu
Witty firecracker Mushu often steals the scene in the 1998 Disney animated film Mulan. In many ways, Mushu is a traditional Chinese dragon, with his blue horns, gold mustache and lack of wings, more resembling a lizard or serpent than a Western dragon. Once a guardian spirit of the Fa ancestors, Mushu was demoted after failing to protect a family member and is desperate to regain his prior position throughout the film. While Mushu is comedic and sometimes buffoon-like, he is ultimately a guardian and protector to Mulan. In Chinese mythology, dragons represent luck, fortune and protection, so Mushu fits the bill.
Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion
Game of Thrones has recently catapulted dragons back into pop culture fame. Even since Daenerys Targaryen stepped out of the fire holding her babies, these dragons have created some of the television show's most stunning scenes. While Daenerys's dragons are ultimately faithful to her - their mother - they're also wild and unpredictable, causing her to have to lock them up when she realises she can't completely control them. Fierce and impressive, everyone's looking forward to seeing what role these beasts will play in books and episodes to come. But no spoilers...
Norbert
Not a lot of people would use the word 'adorable' to describe a dragon, unless you're Rubeus Hagrid, of course. In the first of the Harry Potter books, we get to meet Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback baby dragon that animal-loving Hagrid hatches from an egg in his hut. In appearance, Norbert is a traditional Western dragon that looks like a 'crumpled black umbrella' with large spiny wings, stubby horns and orange eyes. Sadly, Hagrid has to give Norbert up to a dragon reserve in Romania after the dragon develops a reputation for biting. Norbert is just one of the dragons that feature in the series, from fierce Hungarian Horntails to Common Welsh Greens and Swedish Short-Snouts. We'd love to meet all the dragons of J.K Rowling's imagination (from a safe distance, of course).
From cuddly companions to wicked villains, dragons certainly add conflict and colour to some of our favourite stories! Who's your top dragon? Let us know in the comments below.
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See our full dragon collection here!
Spotlight on Fantasy Artists
Stepping into Dragonspace is a sensory experience, with visuals, scent and sound all coming together to create our little fantasy world. A lot of the visual wonder is thanks to the talented fantasy artists whose works line our shelves, adorning gift cards, art books, t-shirts, tarot decks, statuettes and more. These artists bring our imaginations to visual life, from the Gothic realms of Anne Stokes to the vivid wonderlands of Josephine Wall.
Here’s a bit more about the artists you’ll find as you roam the store:
Amy Brown
American artist Amy Brown is known for her fairies, which she’s been painting since 1992. Amy predominantly uses watercolours in subdued hues that remind us of the changing seasons. We particularly love the eclectic fashions on Amy’s fairies, which are clearly inspired by fashions throughout history - Victorian corsets, striped stockings, medieval gowns, white furs and Steampunk goggles. There's a real sense of story to Amy's often wistful fairies, and you can't help but want to know more about them as you peek inside their worlds.
Amy is also the artist behind our fantastic fairy teacup collection (which sold out quickly - but let us know if you want us to notify you when we get more in!)
Browse our full collection of Amy Brown products here.
Anne Stokes
Anne Stokes is a well-known British fantasy artist with a penchant for the Gothic. Her work is easily identified by its striking subjects and moody aesthetic, from fallen angels and vampire queens to dragons with their princesses. Her art also litters the world of pop culture - her illustrations have been featured in the Dungeons & Dragons books, and in the early days of her career, she designed tour merchandise for bands like Queen and the Rolling Stones, and fashioned jewelry lines for Discword and Harry Potter brands (what an enviable resume!) We love the boldness of Anne’s art, and the way she shows the shadowy side of the fantasy world without being sinister.
Browse our full collection of Anne Stokes products here.
Josephine Wall
Who doesn’t love visiting the surreal rainbow landscapes of Josephine Wall’s imagination? Josephine’s art is a dream come to life, recognisable for its gorgeous use of light and colour, with a heavy focus on purples, pinks, bright blues and yellows. You have to stare at Josephine's pieces for a while to truly appreciate them, as they’re often a collection of images that blend into one another to form a larger whole. British-born Josephine is heavily inspired by nature, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a piece of her art that doesn’t have some kind of natural element in it - curved shells, bright flowers, shimmering moons, dancing butterflies, sprawling trees, the list goes on and on.
If you’re in England, you might actually get a chance to visit Josephine. Her magical gallery is in Dorset and she welcomes visitors by booking.
Browse our full collection of Josephine Wall products here.
Nene Thomas
American artist Nene Thomas’s art is Romantic and intriguingly realistic, even if the content is mythical. Her fairies have a real human quality and intricate fashions that you can admire for ages. Like Anne Stokes, Nene Thomas has also contributed art to fantasy role-playing games, working with Magic: The Gathering at the start of her career. While early on she favoured watercolours, Nene now creates all her art digitally - adding a modern aesthetic to traditional fantasy. Nene’s work spans the dark and light ends of the magical world, featuring Gothic fairies, whimsical forest scenes, romantic embraces, snowscapes, oceanscapes, beauties and beasts of all kinds.
Browse our full collection of Nene Thomas products here.
Brian Froud
While all our featured artists have large followings, Brian Froud's work has probably had the biggest influence on popular culture. If you've seen cult fantasy films The Dark Crystal or The Labyrinth (and who hasn't?) then you've come across Brian's art - he was a conceptual designer on both films. His work is quirky and gloriously grotesque, with his most famed illustration collections including Goblins, Trolls, Good Faeries/Bad Faeries and Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book. There's a huge sense of humour and playfulness to Brian's art, and his partnership with Jim Henson's Creature Shop (responsible for The Muppet and Sesame Street) seems only natural. His wife, Wendy Froud, is also a talented fantasy artist and puppet-maker. We'd love to see what their dinner parties are like!
Browse our full collection of Brian Froud products here.
We're forever in awe of the artists that help make Dragonspace even more magical with their spell-binding creations. Do you have another favourite fantasy artist you think we should check out? Let us know in the comments below!
Of Feathers and Fur
If you’re a practitioner of magic or other esoteric arts, chances are you feel a deep connection to the animal world. You might have a ‘familiar’ or have found your animal spirit guide, and you probably watch out for powerful animal omens in nature, like crows in certain numbers and cats crossing your path.
We’re huge animal lovers here at Dragonspace. Some of you might remember our dear old familiar, Harry the black cat who was as much a member of staff as we were! Many of the treasures in our little shoppe pay tribute to the animal world, be they magical creatures, wild beasts or domestic companions.
The concept of the ‘familiar’ comes from European folklore. Familiars were believed to be supernatural entities guised in animal form that assisted witches and folk healers in their magical practice. In the days of the witch trials, familiars were incorrectly believed to be incarnations of demons or the devil, but we know now that this is far from true. In modern Wiccan practice, familiars are commonly domestic companions - cats, dogs, birds, or rodents - who are fundamentally attuned to nature and thus help us connect.
But there are also animals out in the wild that we might feel a connection to - an owl who comforts on a dark night, or a wolf admired from afar. There are certain animals that have always straddled the threshold between our world and the next, and these animals tend to be common motifs in spiritual communities. Let’s take a look at some.
THE CAT
Ask someone to picture a witch’s familiar, and a cat probably springs to mind. Cats have a strange magical energy; a glint in their eye that’s seeing something we can’t. In Ancient Egypt, cats were considered sacred, with associations to the goddesses Bast and Sekhmet. The maneki-neko cat in Japanese culture - also known as the Beckoning Cat or Happy Cat - with its paw raised in a sign of welcome is a symbol of good fortune in the home. Then of course there are superstitions about black cats being ill luck, or that our feline friends can predict the weather and sense when a person is going to die. Whatever your belief, the cat - loyal yet solitary, playful yet fierce - has an undeniable link to the magical world.
THE DOG AND THE WOLF
Dogs aren’t as commonly seen as magical familiars in popular culture and myth as cats are, but they are no less worthy. Dogs make steadfast pets, and are also attuned to the spiritual world - there are many stories of dogs becoming visibly restless in mystical or 'haunted' locations. Again in Ancient Egypt belief, the dog manifests as Anubis, the jackal-headed guardian of the underworld, and in Ancient Greek legend, the three-headed dog Cerberus also guarded the gates to the afterlife.
And then there's the dog’s wild original form. The wolf is a sacred animal in cultures the world over, particular those with an animistic spiritual system. Wolves are considered fierce protectors and spiritual guides, steadily navigating wild territories both in the real world and its more magical layers. In Clarissa Pinkola Estés' famed book ‘Women Who Run with the Wolves’, the wolf symbolises the inner wild woman inside us - a fierce creature, a loyal creature, and a deeply intuitive and mystical creature. The ‘shapeshifting’ concept of the wolf, which manifests in werewolf legend, reflects this.
THE DEER AND THE STAG
The deer plays a role in many mythologies, particular that of the Celts - a culture we have a deep connection to here at Dragonspace. In old Celtic belief, the ‘feminine’ deer was called Hind or 'Eilid' in the Gaelic tongue, and symbolised subtlety and grace. Her male counterpart, Damh the Stag, represented independence and pride. In old Scottish and Irish lore, otherwordly beings like fairies and deities often chose to morph into the form of a deer when they walked this earth. Being a woodland creature, the deer is also associated with many woodland gods - Cernunnon, the great Celtic Horned god of fertility, bore deer or stag antlers on his head, and tales of Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and wilderness, frequently feature deer or stags. Graceful yet strong, it’s no wonder cultures throughout history have bowed their heads to the deer.
THE OWL AND THE RAVEN
Heading into the avian world, owls often appear in tales of witches and fairies, age-old symbols for wise ones. But why is the owl considered so wise? After all, there are smarter creatures in the animal kingdom. It’s oft-debated, but many trace the association back to Greek mythology, as the Ancient Greek goddess of Wisdom, Athena, had an owl companion. The famous British nurse, Florence Nightingale, notably had a pet owlet named Athena that she carried around in her pocket - her familiar, perhaps?
The raven is another feathered creature often associated with magic. Whether it’s Huginn and Muninn (a.k.a Thought and Memory), Odin’s ravens in Norse mythology, or the Celtic goddess Morrighan who appeared in raven form, these black birds pop up in many mythologies throughout the ages. In other cultures, ravens are considered tricksters and harbingers of death. There are actually a group of captive ravens ever-present at the Tower of London to protect the city, following the old superstition that “if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it.”
THE SNAKE
The splendid snake tends to get a bad rap in many old tales. In the biblical creation myth, the serpent represents the devil, and the snake-headed Medusa of Greek mythology isn’t the most pleasant of figures. But other belief systems hold the snake in a more favourable light. The snake is one of the symbols of the Chinese zodiac, celebrating transformation and agility with the shedding of skin. In the Dreamtime stories of Indigenous Australian culture, the Rainbow Serpent is a great creator god, giver of life and maker of mountains. And of course, there are the associations between serpents and our friends the dragons, with the same coiled bodies and reptilian skin - some even speculate that the ‘fiery’ venom from a snake’s fangs inspired the legend of the fire-breathing beasts that we now know.
Be they furry or feathered, scaled or slimy, we’ve all got an animal that we feel a spiritual connection to. Maybe it stems from your culture or spiritual belief system; maybe it’s because you see glimmers of your own personality reflected in that of your animal companion; or maybe certain creatures strengthen you, and help forge that connection to unseen worlds. We’d like to know - who’s your familiar or animal guide? And what’s their story? Tell us in the comments below!
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