romance of _Athis_ (quoted by Du Cange),

"Ce souloient Romains porter,
Ce nous fait moult a redouter:"

"This the Romans used to carry, This makes us very much to be feared."
Thus the dragon and wyvern (i.e. a two-legged snake, M.E. _wivere_,
viper) took their place as heraldic symbols (see HERALDRY).

As an ecclesiastical symbol it has remained consistent to the present
day. Wherever it is represented it means the principle of evil, the
devil and his works. In the middle ages the chief of these works was
heresy, and the dragon of the medieval church legends and mystery plays
was usually heresy. Thus the knightly order of the vanquished dragon,
instituted by the emperor Sigismund in 1418, celebrated the victory of
orthodoxy over John Huss. Hell, too, is represented in medieval art as a
dragon with gaping jaws belching fire. Of the dragons carried in effigy
in religious processions some have become famous, e.g. the Gargouille
(gargoyle) at Rouen, the Graully at Metz, and the Tarasque at Tarascon.
Their popularity tended to disguise their evil significance and to
restore to them something of the beneficent qualities of the ancient
_dracontes_ as local tutelary genii.

In the East, at the present day, the dragon is the national symbol of
China and the badge of the imperial family, and as such it plays a large
part in Chinese art. Chinese and Japanese dragons, though regarded as
powers of the air, are wingless. They are among the deified forces of
nature of the Taoist religion, and the shrines of the dragon-kings, who
dwell partly in water and partly on land, are set along the banks of
rivers.

The constellation Draco (_anguis_, _serpens_) was probably so called
from its fanciful likeness to a snake. Numerous myths, in various
countries, are however connected with it. The general character of these
may be illustrated by the Greek story which explains the constellation
as being the dragon of the Hesperides slain by Heracles and translated
by Hera or Zeus to the heavens.

See C. V. Daremberg and E. Saglio, _Dictionnaire des antiquites
grecques et romaines_ (Paris, 1886, &c.), s.v. "Draco"; Pauly-Wissowa,
_Realencyclopadie_, s.v. "Drakon"; Du Cange, _Glossarium_, s.v.
"Draco"; _La Grande Encyclopedie_ s.v. "Dragon"; J. B. Panthot,
_Histoire des dragons et des escarboucles_ (Lyons, 1691). See also the
articles EGYPT: _Religion_, and BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN RELIGION.
(W. A. P.)

In zoology the n