The translator of my edition provides “fathoms,” which equal about six feet each this would make Fafnir truly immense (assuming at least some part of him-if not most of him!-has to remain anchored up on the cliff while he drinks.) The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Varagine describes the Tarasque subdued by Saint Martha as “greater than an ox, longer than a horse”-but perhaps a good deal longer, since it's capable of capsizing ships and devouring the passengers. However, the text states that the height of the waterside cliff from which Fafnir drinks is “thirty.” My Old Norse isn’t amazing, but I don’t think there’s actually a unit given in the saga. The Saga of the Volsungs doesn’t give an exact length for Fafnir (though there is some humorous back-and-forth between Sigurð and Regin on the subject-Regin insists that Fafnir isn’t as big as everyone claims Sigurð, examining the spoor of the creature he's about to battle, begs to differ). The wyrm slain by Beowulf measures a slightly more modest “fīftiges fо̄t”-that’s “fifty feet”-from head to tail. Orosius doesn’t use the word draco, but I think it’s still fair to assume that medieval authors would have considered this the same type of creature. Medieval European authors would have been familiar with classical sources which often provided lengths for giant serpents (this being the essential Latin meaning of draco.) Orosius, for instance, describes the serpent of the Bagrada River in North Africa-allegedly slain during the First Punic War-as measuring 120 feet. Great points from others here on general perceptions of dragons, and the art historical context of the 'attribute.' I am here to bring you some good, hard numbers! Previous AMAs | Previous Roundtables Featuresįeature posts are posted weekly. May 25th | Panel AMA with /r/AskBibleScholars

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Medieval dragon art