Humans and Dragons *contains spoilers for Liveship and Tawny Man books*

[Nuytsia]

He also says that throughout history, every culture except our modern world has invented complex rituals to deal with the killing of animals by humans; rituals of shredding off blame, asking forgiveness, honoring the animals' soul, abating the anger of the spirit guardian.
So maybe by having these mythical creatures perform similar acts of violence and murder against human beings, they also shouldered a part of the guild that humans carry?

I knew some cultures had those rituals but I didn't realise every (non-modern) culture did. Interesting! Hmmm that is also an interesting thought about the guilt of humans for killing animals being one possible motive behind the mythical half-animals that kill humans.

Just like nature could be overwhelming to the primal man, so this technology stirs a fear in us so we have invented mythical beings who always have technology which is more advanced then our own, and who can judge and destroy us with it.

That's true, but I think we still fear nature as well. In some ways there only a thin veneer between us and the potentially destructive power of nature - although it's more natural disasters rather than wild animals these days that we fear. But it is kind of ironic that the technology we use to try to tame nature's power is now something we also fear!!!

I have always wondered why cultures the world over have invented dragons, even without any contact between them whatsoever.

While humans did not come into contact with dinosaurs, early mammals certainly did-- as their prey. Their genetic memory probably passed on to us, hence our antagonism/fascination with reptiles. I suppose humans will never get over the fear of being eaten even if we are pretty much on top of the food chain.

I was watching a TV show about the dissection of a crocodile tonight and the 'armour' on the back and tail are incredibly dragon like to me! I think the largest documented crocodile is over 6 metres long - that's pretty damn huge - and it is rumoured they used to be a lot bigger than that. I think something like a 10 metre long crocodile is definitely getting into dragon size territory!!!!
I cannot explain where the real world inspiration for the wings of a dragon could possibly come from though!