Mongolian Dragons, Luu | Folklore & more
Dragon’s aren’t wholly absent from Mongolian mythology and culture, so far as I can tell, but they’re certainly not as prevalent compared to other East Asian countries. In truth, the image I’ve used as a base was a chance finding from a Quora post—according to the poster, it comes from an old Mongolian book on astrology, written by a Tibetan monk.
Mongolia’s calendar is based on the Tibetan calendar, which includes a Year of the Dragon afterall. The original response is from a poster that claims dragon stories came from Mongolia, though I’ve yet to be able to corroborate this. Most likely, any dragon influence came from China.
Animal representation: Snakes
Mongolian folk religion, Tengerism or Shamanism, includes some mention of dragons. The Tolin Center for Healing & Tengrism Studies notes:
The dragon is cons[id]ered the king of the water, and if we disrespect the spirit and king of the water we can then get what in Mongolian we call “dragon illnesses,” which are a consequence of disrespecting the sacredness of water.
This is why in Mongolian shamanic symbolism you see a lot of snakes, because in most Asian cultures snakes are considered little dragons, and by recognizing snakes in our symbolism we are thereby also honoring the Water Dragon, the king of that realm.
Just as the Ancient Greeks conceived of Zeus to explain thunder, so Mongolians conceived of water dragons to explain contamination and waterborne illness. Pretty neat—and not bad at ensuring people take care of the source.
Archeology
Dragon fans will already be aware that 2019 saw a pretty unique and glorious discovery was unearthed: a tomb of silver dragons. A team from the Ulaanbaatar University and the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology took 3 years to finish excavating the tombs of Xiongnu or Hun State aristocrats and discovered two exquisite silver dragon statues. It’s thought this shows the “cultural exchange and interaction” between Chinese and Mongol societies back in the day.
So, what of Mongol folklore? Well, I really struggled to find any stories that centered around dragons, but eventually found just the one.
Mythology: The Hunter-Boy
This tale tells of a skilled man known as “Hunter-Boy”. This successful orphaned hunter was going about his business one day when, from above, he hears a cry for help coming from a thin white snake in the talons of a hawk. Full of empathy, he shoots the hawk down with an arrow, saving the snake. This snake happens to be the daughter of the Dragon King and she says to Hunter-Boy:
“Come and collect a reward—my father will offer you all kinds of riches, but ignore those and ask for the round stone stone he keeps in his mouth. You’ll be able to understand any four-legged creature. But don’t ever tell any human what you’ve heard, or you’ll turn to stone.”
Sure enough, when he meets the Dragon King, he requests the stone over the riches. Dragon King gifts him the stone, and from then on he has the ability to understand all four-legged creatures talking. Alas, one day he hears a gathering of animals discussing how the nearby mountain will burst and flood, destroying everything in its path.
With no other choice, he explains to his village that they’re in imminent danger. Just as he’s finishing his story, he turns to stone, and the mountain erupts. They flee to safety and return the next day to find only his statue remained. Apparently even now, in the Altai Mountains standing upright next to the source of a natural spring, is a blue rock formation—so named, the “Hunter-Boy”.
