draconis?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

warabi	25 Jan 2003
It's been a while since last posted :). I have been reading the book Dances with Dragons that someone recommended me from this forum and I have a question about it. Hopefully this is right place to post, so if not I am sorry. I also hope no one gets offended by my question because of the other post on dragon that many seem to be upset about. I do not mean any offense, I just need help with my poor english. I am up to the chapter Basic Rituals and am wondering about a word "draconis" because it is not in my english-japanese dictionaries and english dictionary either. The closest word I see is "draconian" which means exceedingly harsh and very severe, but that is not what I had in mind when I wanted to read this book. I would ask my wife but she has already said when I bought the book that she does not want to help me as she feel that her skeptical view toward it would ruin my experience. Please help me understand this word. I would really appreciate it :).

fairyhedgehog	25 Jan 2003
Hi warabi, I think that 'draconis' is Latin, and I think that it means 'dragon'. However, I mainly know about dragons from Terry Pratchett books, so maybe someone else will have better information?

warabi	26 Jan 2003
Thank you very much fairyhedgehog! You help me alot ^_^! I do not know Terry Pratchett books though... I will look them up thanks!

fairyhedgehog	26 Jan 2003
You might not find Pratchett books much help - they are comic fantasy books. Only he tends to be quite knowledgable about what he writes about and has clearly been exposed to Latin and makes use of it. I think that 'draconis' is only mentioned in passing in one of his books. Sorry :(

Marion	26 Jan 2003
I looked up a Latin-English dictionary online, and draconis does not appear to be a Latin word. I also tried ancient Greek and modern Greek. No luck. There is a constellation called Draco, and the English name for it is Dragon. A search on 'draconis' brought up several fantasy role-playing groups, and the implication is the word means dragon. I have no idea what language, though one of the groups appeared to be Welsh.

Macavity	26 Jan 2003
Hmm "Draconis" IS the Latin gentive case of: Draco, -onis (m) (think school dictionary :)) meaning a of the serpent/dragon. This case is used by astronomers when specifying stars belonging to constellations. The brightest stars of the constellation Draco are (in order): Alpha Draconis, Beta Draconis etc. 'Course "Alpha" Draconis (Thuban) isn't actually the brightest star in Draco now, but that's another story... ;) Macavity - boring for Britain :D

Mystick Dragon	27 Jan 2003
Draconis- of the Dragon That word is a major one in the Draconic language. Trust me, I am fluent in it! --Mystick Dragon

patter	28 Jan 2003
I think it is an neologism -- a recently made up word using the latin form -- rather than a word that's been kicking around a long time. Draco normaly refers to dragons, any big impressive monster, satan, and thanks to Bram Stoker it has a few vampiric connotations too.

DarkElectric	28 Jan 2003
OK, This is according to the Websters Third International Dictionary. Draconian: In reference to the Athenian lawgiver, DRACO, who lived in Greece in 621 BC, refering or related to harsh laws of extreme serverity or cruelty. Draco: Latin, Serpent, more at Dragon. Drake: A prehistoric West Germanic/North Germanic word borrowed from the Latin, Draco, meaning Dragon. Dragon: Variant of the Latin Dracon-Draco, meaning serpent, and the Greek Drakon:serpent. It's possible that this Athenian lawgiver was possibly born with another name, and he became known as "Draco" because he was such a harsh guy. And the Ancient Athenians considered dragons to be harsh creatures too. Take the legend of Andromeda, for example. She's only one of a panoply of Grecian Mythological maidens to be sacrificed to some dragon or another, only to be salvaged by whatever mighty Greek hero Du Jour. Draconis, Draco, Drakon, are indeed archaic words, Latin and Greek. Since these cultures were extremely interrelated, it comes as no surprise that the words are so similar. When in doubt, check it out.

patter	29 Jan 2003
Draco is an archaic word stem -- however I would challenge anyone to find 'draconis' being used more than a hundred years ago.

The draconis? thread was originally posted on 25 Jan 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.