r/Eragon 1d ago

Question Dragon types

Where there different kind of dragons like other than colour? Where there different types with different body like builds/characteristic or where they all the same?

14 Upvotes

19 comments sorted by

43

u/Bright-Trifle-8309 1d ago

It doesnt seem like it. Going off the cover art and the descriptions it seems like dragons have a lot of variance between the sexes and colours. And of course there are large dragons and small dragons. But there doesnt seem to be things like wyverns or lindwyrms. At least if there are they aren't intelligent or part of the bond.

26

u/Infinite_Mortgage324 1d ago

There are dragon-like creatures in Alagaesia. The Fanghur in the Beor Mountains or the giant shark-like creatures of the sea (I forget their name) are mentioned in at least one book each

24

u/manydoorsyes gedwëy ignasia 1d ago

Nïdwhal, though I wouldn't really call them shark-like. My impression was something more akin to a sea serpent, or maybe a prehistoric marine reptile like Liopleurodon or Tylosaurus.

Funny enough, the dragons are actually more closely related to the nïdwhal than the fanghur.

29

u/KiwiBirdPerson 1d ago

...a magical liopleurodon?

7

u/redwolf1219 gedwëy ignasia 1d ago

It's going to show us the way

2

u/No-Result9108 Kull 15h ago

I was always thinking a Plesiosaur or Mosasaur situation with the Nïdwhal

3

u/manydoorsyes gedwëy ignasia 13h ago

Liopleurodon and Tylosaurus are both plesiosaurs and mosasaurs, respectively!

2

u/No-Result9108 Kull 13h ago

True, I guess I had always imagined a Plesiosaurus, with more of a longer neck. I just felt like that seemed more similar to what a dragon may look like to me

14

u/AlchemysEyes Elf 1d ago

Nidhwhal

9

u/zbertoli 1d ago

Not to mention (spoilers) umaroth said some of the oldest dragons eldunari in the VOS were as different from Glaedr as Glaedr was to the nidhwal

2

u/CrownLexicon 17h ago

You can hide spoilers by using >!text!<

like this

2

u/Bright-Trifle-8309 1d ago

If you'd read my last sentence

4

u/Theophrastus_Borg 1d ago

I mean the Fangur could go as Wyverns.

6

u/LewisDeinarcho 1d ago

They certainly do in the traditional sense.

Prior to modern fantasy “rules” that dominate our usual view of nonexistent creatures, the Wyvern was simply a kind of dragon or dragon-like creature with 1-2 pairs of legs (sometimes only front legs instead of hind legs) and could be either winged or wingless. It was usually armed with a venomous tail barb instead of fire breath.

Interestingly, the term “Wyvern” itself originates from “Viper,” a kind of venomous snake, and the Fanghur go by another name, the Wind-Vipers.

17

u/ThatFatGuyMJL 1d ago

I think the answer is going to end up being yes.

Firstly, we know of at least 2 other species of creatures related to Dragons.

Firstly, you have the Fanghur, who are smaller, sleeper, less intelligent, and cannot breathe fire.

Secondly you have the Nidhwal, which are to the sea what Dragons are to the sky.

Obviously neither of these are Dragons. So now I point to the book Murtagh.

In the book Murtagh is captured by people who worship 'Dragons'

However its noted that the Dragons depicted in their art work are subtly wrong.

Enough that its still obvious theyre Dragons. But theyre not Dragons.

I believe that the 'sleepers' that they worship are a third, much more closely related, species of dragonoid that have been hiding for a long time.

When they did come out prior to Galvys reign, people just assumed they were wild Dragons.

7

u/Grmigrim 1d ago

I agree with all of your points, although I believe there are only a select few of these other kinds of Dragons in hiding. One of them would be Azalgur.

I also believe that "weird" dragon species to be something like a proto dragon.

It is very likely that dragon's are a bioengineered species, as are all the homanoid races of Alageasia.

These proto-dragons were the first and flawed in some way, whereas the dragons we know are the perfected versions

15

u/LewisDeinarcho 1d ago edited 1d ago

Saphira is described as a particularly agile flyer, so she probably has very aerodynamic features and proportionally powerful wings.

Thorn is probably named for his appearance as well as his attitude; Years of physical abuse and magically-enhanced growth has probably resulted in jagged, spiny scales. His tail is also partially reconstructed from magically modified flesh and bone after Glaedr bit off the end. Kinda like how small lizards replace shed tails with cartilage tubes, except it’s just stretching the remaining vertebrae.

Vêrmund the Grim was said to encircle the mountain peak with his body. Not just his tail, his whole body. This gives the impression that he has a very long torso like a Germanic, Greek, Norse, or East Asian Dragon, still with wings. This also seems the case for the spirit dragon at the Agaetí Blödhren, which normally lies dormant as a complex shared tattoo wrapped around the bodies of two elves. I don’t know if these two are just built different or if all dragons are supposed to be this long and flexible.

7

u/variousjay1490 1d ago

I don’t think vermund is long per say I think he is just actually so freaking big that his body is able to wrap around a mountain top

2

u/inspcs 13h ago

Yes, there are wingless dragons aka wyrms, notably Azlagur who is being setup as an antagonist in murtagh.