Myths and legends of Babylonia & Assyria . myth are capable of application to certain typesof myth. The dragon story is all but universal : inChina it is the monster which temporarily swallowsthe sun during eclipse ; in Egypt it v/as the greatserpent Apep, which battled with Ra and Horus,both solar heroes ; in India it is the serpent Vritra,or Ahi, who is vanquished by Indra ; in Australiaand in some parts of North America a great frogtakes the place of the dragon. In the story ofBeowulf the last exploit of the hero is the slaying ofa terrible fire-breathing dragon which guards a hiddentreasur

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Myths and legends of Babylonia & Assyria . myth are capable of application to certain typesof myth. The dragon story is all but universal : inChina it is the monster which temporarily swallowsthe sun during eclipse ; in Egypt it v/as the greatserpent Apep, which battled with Ra and Horus,both solar heroes ; in India it is the serpent Vritra,or Ahi, who is vanquished by Indra ; in Australiaand in some parts of North America a great frogtakes the place of the dragon. In the story ofBeowulf the last exploit of the hero is the slaying ofa terrible fire-breathing dragon which guards a hiddentreasure-hoard ; and Beowulf receives a mortal woundin the encounter. In the Volsung Saga the covetousFaffnir is turned into a dragon and is slain by must not be confounded with the monsterswhich cause drought and pestilence. It is a sun-swallowing monster with which we have here to tablets here allude to the creation of man ;the gods, it is stated, so admired the handiwork ofMerodach, that they desired to see him execute80. o m^

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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcults, booksubjectleg