Traditionally, Targaryen princes received a dragon's egg in their cradle, allowing them to bond with the dragons as soon as the eggs hatched. ĭragons believed to be female, e.g., Syrax, Dreamfyre, Tessarion, and Meleys, are referred to as a she-dragon or sometimes a queen. Barth believed that dragons can change sex at need, but Maester Anson believes this to be erroneous, and states in his Truth that Barth's statement is simply a misunderstood esoteric metaphor. However, according to Barth and Maester Aemon, dragons have no fixed gender, but are “now one and now the other, as changeable as flame”. When a dragon is never observed to have laid eggs, this is taking as proof that it must have been male. According to Archmaester Gyldayn, and agreed upon by Maester Yandel, the ability of a dragon to lay eggs is proof that said dragon is female. Dragons lay large, scaled eggs to reproduce. Historians, like Septon Barth, Grand Maester Munkun, and Maester Thomax, disagree on the mating habits of dragons. It has been used to make brooches, bows, hilts of Valyrian steel daggers, and whip handles. ĭragonbone is as strong as steel, but lighter and far more flexible, and impervious to fire.
Since the death of the last dragon in 153 AC, summers grew shorter and the winters colder and crueler, while magical spells became less powerful. ĭragons are believed to be intrinsically tied to magic in the world. When Balerion returned with Princess Aerea Targaryen before Aerea's death, the dragon had large new bloody wounds from an unknown cause. Dragons are not invulnerable a scorpion bolt through the eye killed Meraxes. Balerion was near two hundred years old when he died, but as the only known example of a dragon who died of old age, it is unclear if this should be considered typical. Balerion, the largest and oldest Targaryen dragon, already alive when House Targaryen moved from Valyria to Dragonstone in 114 BC died of old age in 94 AC during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. The lifespan of dragons is many times that of a human, though their maximum natural lifespan is difficult to determine: as beasts of war, most of the known examples died in battle. Where a hatchling's flame can set straw aflame, the flames of older dragons, like Balerion and Vhagar in the fullness of their power, could melt steel and stone. Similarly, as dragons age, the fires they breath become hotter and fiercer. As a dragon ages, its scales thicken and grow harder, affording even more protection, leaving dragons nearly immune to fire, although they can still be wounded by dragonflame (e.g., Moondancer's eyes being blinded by Sunfyre's fire during the Dance of the Dragons). Ī dragon's scales are largely, but not entirely, impervious to flame as well, and serve as protection for the more vulnerable flesh and musculature beneath. Dragons only eat cooked meat, and use the extremely hot dragonflame which they breathe to cook their meat before eating it. Great heat emanates from dragons' bodies, to the point that they steam during cold nights. It is said that dragons are fire made flesh. The Field of Fire, by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games Sea dragons in the Sunset Sea and ice dragons in the Shivering Sea are recalled in legends and folklore, but scholars have no proof of their existence, or how closely related they are to dragons. ĭragons, demons, and other creatures are said to inhabit the cliff caves above the Ash.
Dragonbones are black due to their high iron content. The polished skulls of the Targaryen dragons look like glittering onyx, and their teeth like curved daggers of black diamond. Balerion, the largest Targaryen dragon, was large enough to swallow an aurochs or a mammoth from Ibben whole. Although increasing age means increasing size, a larger size does not always show a higher age (e.g., the younger Meraxes was larger than the older Vhagar).
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Dragons which are locked up, e.g., the Targaryen dragons housed in the Dragonpit in King's Landing, do not grow as large as dragons left free to fly as they wish. A dragon given such freedom can reach a span width of twenty feet within a year and a half. If it has enough food and freedom, a dragon never stops growing. As young hatchlings, they are around the size of a cat. ĭragons have strong jaws, sharp teeth and claws, leathery wings and long necks and tails, with horns on their heads. Nonetheless, some A Song of Ice and Fire artwork shows them with four legs and a detached pair of wings.Īccording to Martin, the color of the dragons has no bearing on their character. Martin came to his decision as he was bothered by the fact that no animal in nature has ever evolved in such a way (i.e. Martin's dragons thereby differ from the traditional depiction of dragons as six-limbed creatures.
They have four limbs: two wings, which are used as forelegs like bats and pterosaurs, and two rear legs. Dragon skulls in the Red Keep cellars by Kim Popeĭragons are scaled, reptilian creatures.