Dragons: From Eden to Middle Earth

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Step into a torch-lit world where dragons weren’t just monsters—they were symbols of power, chaos, faith and fear. Dr. Eleanor Janega explores the fire-breathing creatures that haunted the imagination of the Middle Ages. From the serpentine wyrms lurking beneath castles to the crowned basilisks whose gaze could kill, dragons shaped medieval mythology, religion and heraldry in profound ways.

Eleanor is joined by Dr. Sam Riches to uncover how dragons were used to represent everything from Satanic evil to royal might.

MORE

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Medieval Monsters, Ghosts & Werewolves

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0daEokZMvacfQVvHeHcZye

Gone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. It was edited by Tim Arstall, the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:02.6	And I'm Dr. Eleanor Yonaga.
0:04.2	And we're just popping up here to tell you some insider info.
0:08.0	If you would like to listen to Gone Medieval ad-free and get early access and bonus episodes,
0:13.3	sign up to History Hit.
0:14.5	With the History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries.
0:20.6	Such as my new series on everyone's favorite
0:22.8	conquerors, the Normans, or my recent exploration of the castles that made Britain. There's a new
0:29.9	release to enjoy every week. Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe, or find a link in the show notes for this episode.
0:45.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanorianica and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the
0:55.2	greatest millennium in human history. We uncover the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking
1:01.8	details, and the latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans, from kings to
1:07.9	popes, to the Crusades. We delve into the rebellions, plots and murders that tell us who we
1:15.3	really were. And how we got here.
1:38.2	I want you to picture a torchlit world where monks illustrate tales of monstrous serpents coiled in the darkness beneath mountains and castles.
1:47.0	Knights polish their swords, hearts pounding, as rumors swirl of beasts terrorizing the land,
1:51.0	with scales like iron,
1:54.0	claws like daggers,
1:56.0	and breath that scorches the earth.
1:59.0	In the flickering firelight, the dragon's silhouette
2:03.3	dances, sometimes as a hulking horned lizard with bat-like wings, sometimes as a sinuous,
2:12.2	legless worm, or even a crowned serpent, the dreaded basilisk whose gaze alone could kill.
	...

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