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A dragon from a medieval bestiary (c1270) by an unknown artist. Courtesy the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

A dragon from a medieval bestiary (c1270) by an unknown artist. Courtesy the Getty Museum, Los Angeles

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Why be dragons? How massive, reptilian beasts entered our collective imagination

A great many cultures have legends of dragon-like monsters. Of course, humans have, by definition, never come across mythical beasts. So where in our collective memory do the origins of these ‘great and terrible’ creatures lie? It’s a tricky question to untangle, as the historian Ronald Hutton makes clear in this lecture from February 2024 at Gresham College in London, where he is professor of divinity. But, armed with curiosity, humour and scholarship, Hutton sets out to slay myths and conquer mysteries about dragon lore, and account for its many permutations across cultures. The result is part palaeontology dig, part history lesson and part literary analysis, culminating in a a riveting dive into human imagination.

Video by Gresham College

30 May 2024
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