The Lugal-e - One of the earliest dragon-slaying myths
From the Sumerians, we have the myth poem "Lugal-e" from the late 3rd millennium. In this story, the god Ninurta defeats the dragon Asag, stopping him from destroying cities and preventing the flow of the river Tigris. Asag has no clear description of what he is in the story, but is referred to as being a mountain or a rock demon, but many scholars accept the identification of Asag as a dragon, and some even refer to this myth as a dragon slaying one. Though, while most myths of this time are between a storm god and a sea, this one differs as being one between a god associated with hunting, war, farming and law against a land-dwelling monster.
It was a time of ritual and feast! Ninurta is sitting upon his throne drinking, while his wife Bau presents the prayers of a king. Ninurta's divine weapon, Multitude Flattener (Šar’ur) reports to him about Asag, described as an "impregnanted green earth" producing widespread offspring who call themselves the names of different stones, and Asag ruled over them all on his own throne. Asag expanded into new territory daily and trapped the river Tigris, reducing her flow. Threatening Ninurta's authority, he prepares for battle and advances with this first attack while his divine weapon watches over. With Ninurta temporarily thwarted and losing, Multitude Flattener goes to Ninurta's father, the god Enlil, for assistance.. Enlil sends over a rainstorm and, upon Ninurta's second advance of attack, Asag is defeated. The river Tigris is restored, and with the fallen stones, Ninurta constructs a dam providing mountain water to the Mesopotamian plain. He then blesses and curses each stone and establishes their individual properties, such as assigning a particular stone the fate of being used for funerary figurines. The mountain is dedicated to his mother and is established as a place of lush abundance and growth.
Photo: Rock Dragon by Kekai Kotaki
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