The Sword and Laser discussion

Something Todd McCaffrey said made me wonder--what was the first dragon you met in fantasy? I have a vague memory of being exposed to Smaug in The Hobbit in elementary school, followed by the dragons met by A Wizard of Earthsea. Both talkative, intelligent dragons who liked to drive other sentients out of their living quarters, but who met very different ends. What was your first dragon impression?

In books? Most likely Smaug. In TV/movies it would have been Falkor or Puff or Elliott from Pete's Dragon

Falkor! Good times.

H.R. Pufnstuf. I loved that show when I was a kid.

Watching it as an adult made me wonder what the writers were on when they wrote it.

In Books probably the Jabberwock in "Through the looking Glass"

Probably Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. Scared the crap outta me.

Felina wrote: "Falkor! Good times."

Me too!

Elliot from petes dragon and of course the magical song puff the magic dragon lol,later in life dragons in dragon age origins and dragon age 2 video games and the books, love me a dragon!

I too was going to say Puff. But in a fantasy sense, I think Legend of Huma in grade 7. Can't remember any of the dragons's names though.

The horoscope Asian dragon, since I was born in the year of the dragon. I've always known the Asian dragon motif, especially during the new year (Asian calendar) when there's always a dragon (men in big dragon costume) dancing to the loud beat of the drums. Very first western dragon, it would be Puff the magic dragon. They're also in the fairy tales and Disney movies. I can't remember the exact one.

No matter what medium, the answer is the same: Smaug.

The dragon from Dragonslayer was my second (and I dressed as that dragon or Halloween that year too).

Aloha wrote: "The horoscope Asian dragon, since I was born in the year of the dragon. I've always known the Asian dragon motif, especially during the new year (Asian calendar) when there's always a dragon (men ..."

Nice, Aloha, this means you must be 12 years old then me because I was also born in the year of the Dragon. Plus 2012 is also the year of the Dragon.

I don't think I ever knew that Pufnstuff was a dragon. Just a big, yellow...thing. Like a Grimace.

Think mine was probably Smaug.

Puff, definitely. But it was the other Puff. The Magic Dragon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wik2uc...

(and no, I was only four: I didn't know anything about the druggy meaning.)

anyone ever heared of Draco from the movie "dragonheart" ?

Just realised this is a bit like 'who was your first kiss' for Fantasy fans...:D

Joseph wrote: "Just realised this is a bit like 'who was your first kiss' for Fantasy fans...:D"

no, the first dragon is more like " who gave you the first hug outside of your family circle"

Mark wrote: "Probably Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty. Scared the crap outta me."

I was at my sister's a couple weeks back and my 6 year old nephew was watching Sleeping Beatuy with his 3 year old sister who had not seen it. When Maleficent turned into the dragon, my niece FREAKED out and went screaming from the room.

I have no memory of not knowing what a dragon was, so its likely my first exposure was probably something like Knighty Knight Bugs

As far as books go, it was probably Smaug.
When I was a little kid my parents got me a little portable record player and a few of the book/record combinations that were popular at the time. That was my first exposure to The Hobbit.
A trip down nostalgia lane

Oh my, I had Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and of course The Hobbit. My first serious love of fantasy probably came from that Hobbit record/book set. :D

For any interested . . .
The Hobbit

My first exposure to audio books too.

Never really thought of them as 'audiobooks' in those days. The BBC used to run a kids TV series called Jackanory. For 15 minutes, 5 days a week, a well known actor would sit in a big armchair and read to us from a book. The first story I can remember being read that way was The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. Jackanory ran for about 30 years, and I probably watched most of the first 10...

Somewhat off topic though, sorry.

Definitely Elliott from Pete's Dragon, with Smaug as a close close second.

My first non-cartoon, non-neverending story/movie dragon, was Khisanth from Dragonlance. She was pretty rad.

My first dragon was the dragon in "There are no such things as dragons," the more culturally known first I think would be Smaug, it could have been Falkor though.

Probably The White Mountainsthough perhaps that would be a laser. It feels like a fantasy even though it has aliens.

First definite dragon would either be the Hobbit or Fellowship of the Ring as I no longer remember which I read first.

Would have to have been The Hobbit as there are no dragons in The Lord of the Rings.

Cool thread. While I'm sure I encountered other dragons before... the first one that caught my eye and imagination was Skye, the blue dragon of Kitiara in Dragonlance.

And maybe the Ruth the white dragon from the Dragonriders series (I don't recall which came first.)

After that, of course, Draco from Dragonheart. Someone said all dragons speak in Sean Connery's voice - if they're male, I agree!! ;-)

Plenty since then.

Strange that the thread started with Todd McCaffrey - My first dragons were the Dragons of Pern... can I remember the first one's name? No, but F'lar was definitely his rider, and he was a bronze. I have been obsessed with the Pern series ever since... or at least until Todd McCaffrey started writing. I have read the Todd McCaffrey books, but they just don't enchant me the way his mother's writing did.

as most here, it was Elliot from Petes Dragon i loved him then i love him now :)

My first dragons were actually in a poem book for children Dragon Poems i got this when i was 8 and loved it and ever since i've loved dragons :)

one i remember if you'll read it is called No Contest

The little boy was in distress
'dad' he yelled 'quick help!
A fiery dragon's just got mum,
she's fighting it herself.'

'Don't worry son'his dad replied,
Ignoring his son's pleading.
'The dragon's in with half a chance' -
And carried on his reading.

thats the only one i remember by heart, the book is in my collection somewhere :)

I saw dragon in the title and my brain immediately translated it to sword . . . as in whats the first sword book you ever read which is why my earlier post is what it was.

Ok,my first dragon and I'll bet the first dragon for many was Puff the Magic Dragon. Thankfully I didn't hold that against future dragons.

♫ Puff the Magic Dragon ♫

lol

As a book dragon, I'm pretty sure it was The Dragon and the George. I preferred Science fiction to Fantasy in my younger years.

I don't remember for certain, but like many, I would say Falkor or Ellior from Pete's Dragon. Bookwise, probably Smaug.

I think the first dragon I saw was Elliot from Pete's Dragon. But I definitely remember my mom singing to us kids and listening to Peter, Paul, and Mary doing "Puff, The Magic Dragon." My first book with dragons was probably Dragonflight. I seem to think there was a children's book I read with a dragon (maybe something by Shel Silverstein?) but I'll be darned if I can remember...

The dragon from Ray Harryhausen's THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD is my oldest memory. Saw it TV & feel madly in love with monsters.

My first literary dragon encounter was Gorbash from Gordon R. Dickson's Dragon and the George.

I don't know if I can remember back that far...it was either the dragon from the Dungeons & Dragons (Tiamat??)cartoon from the 80's, Falkor from TNES or a Reading Rainbow episode featuring a book about dragons ...Dragon's Blood I think maybe.
Edit: It was a CBS Storybreak episode. Google yay. Apparently Rikki Tikki Tavi wasn't on Reading Rainbow either.

Definitely His Grand Presence, Smaug the Magnificent and Terrible as voiced by the inimitable Richard Boone in the 1977 film. Show of hands: how many of you can recite that fabulous speech by heart?: "My armor is like tenfold shields..."

D&D followed shortly thereafter and I was lost for good.

Kazul from the Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C Wrede. Dealing with Dragons To this day, they are one of the very few books I've had to buy multiple copies of because I wear them out.

It was probably Puff from the songs and cartoon, but the first I consciously remember encountering was Tolkien's Smaug. He captured my heart, and I've spent the rest of my life wanting to drive dwarves out of a mountain so I can sleep on their gold.

At first I was thinking smaug but then I realized there was another, Charizard from Pokemon

Smaug :)

My dad had a mostly complete set of Godzilla VHS tapes, so the first I really remember was King Ghidora fighting off Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan. I'm sure I saw one before in a book or on some show, but that's the first one that stuck, and it blew my mind!

I kept thinking mine must've been Smaug as well, but I went deeper into my book collection. Not counting Disney movies, my first dragon appears to have been Firethroat from Into the Land of the Unicorns.

Man, it's hard to think that far back!

My first literary exposure to dragons had to be Anne McCafferey's Dragons of Pern series. I can remember my mom giving me the combo book with the first three all together in 6th grade and I fell in love with the series. Anne McCafferey was my gateway author into the world of fantasy. but I grew-up watching old Godzilla movies with my big brother, and I watched Rodan until the tape died.

First dragon I ecountered was probably the one resembling Tiamat from D&D at the opening of the old D&D animated series.
as for the first dragon I READ about - it was either Fafnir (from norse mythology) or Khisanth (from Dragons of Autumn Twilight).

My first dragon was Smaug from the Hobbit

I just realized nobody mentioned mine yet. It's the "Terrible Dragon" from
Richard Scarry's Peasant Pig and the Terrible Dragon: With Lowly Worm the Jolly Jester!

Granted it wasn't a real dragon, but it was still my first. Based on that book, I wanted my first house to be a castle. And although I don't have a mote all the way around my house, it is brick and right next to a river, close enough right?...

This is hard as I am old and cannot remember that far back. LOL. Probably would be Puff the Magic Dragon. I remember loving that song. But as far as literature it probably would have to be Ann McCaffery's books. But I cannot remember the names anymore. It was the first time I encountered dragons in literature that worked with humans without eating them.

Wow, this thread has taken me back. I think my first-ever encounter with dragons was probably the Dragon Zord on the original Power Rangers series. I was three at the time.
After that is was some children's book who's title/author I can't even remember. I do remember however, that it was about how awesome dragons were, and how, for some reason, they had to go away forever. I also distinctly remember that this occurred before I could actually read.
Other than that, my first literary dragon was the one in My Father's Dragon.

I don't know his or her name but the one from The Fires of Merlin then Auron and the many others of Dragon Champion .

My first dragon was probably the Soup Dragon from the British TV show The Clangers.

My 6 year old son's first dragon was the dragon from The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch