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Talk6 min

Why do so many cultures have dragon legends?

Timothy J. Burbery · TED

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About

From the Chinese Loong to the Filipino Bakunawa, the Scottish Beithir and the Greek Hydra, dragons have inflamed imaginations for millennia. Their ubiquity across world mythology has led many scholars to ponder their possible origins. Could it be that tales of dragons were crafted to make sense of violent weather events? Timothy J. Burbery shares what geomythology has uncovered about dragons. [Directed by Sailesh Gopalan, Lanlan Studios, narrated by Alexandra Panzer, music by André Aires].

The talk

  1. Why do so many cultures have dragon legends? 6 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Timothy J. Burbery
Year
2025
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Earth and environment, History, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed