Dinosaurs and Dragons

My novels Harriet and the Secret Rings, and Harriet and the Secret Librarian, feature a helpful Welsh red dragon called Gruffyd. Last week, My husband and I visited the National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra. I have been wanting to go there for many years, and I wasn't disappointed. One specimen in particular caught my eye, as he matches exactly the description of a child-eating dragon in The Secret Librarian, whom Harriet and Will encounter.........” Turning around, she came face-to-face with the evil green dragon from the book cover. He looked even more fearsome up close. His breath was shallow, and his lips curled over pointed teeth......his yellow cat-like eyes glistened, and suddenly Harriet lost her nerve......the dragon narrowed his eyes to slits, and peered through his tessellated black-green eyelids, where his almond-shaped pupils became barely visible.”It was fantastic. While wandering around outside looking at the incredibly life-like dinosaur models, I started to wonder whether dragon legends were based on dinosaurs. It was easy to see how they could have been, especially with Pterodactyls and other flying reptiles. Research was needed, and I discovered a wonderful article from the U.S. written 10 years ago, which I read with interest. Stanford Humanities Center reported that the discovery of a dinosaur skeleton, named Dracorex, (Dracorex hogwartsia in honour of J.K. Rowling), was indeed a dragon-like dinosaur. A scholar had remarked that the skull had an incredible resemblance to dragons in the cultures of Ancient China and medieval Europe. It is easy to see how legends can be born. And how good is that for those of us who like to write some fantasy and use our imaginations. Check out the article: http://shc.stanford.edu/news/research....