How to Kill a Dragon

Last updated
How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics
How to Kill a Dragon.jpg
Author Calvert Watkins
LanguageEnglish
Subject Comparative Indo-European poetics
GenreNon-fiction
Published1995
Publisher Oxford University Press
Media typePrint
Pages640 pages
ISBN 0195085957

How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics is a 1995 book about comparative Indo-European poetics by the linguist and classicist Calvert Watkins. It was first published on November 16, 1995, through Oxford University Press and is both an introduction to comparative poetics and an investigation of the myths about dragon-slayers found in different times and in different Indo-European languages. [1] Watkins received a 1998 Goodwin Award of Merit from the American Philological Association (now the Society for Classical Studies) for his work on the book. [2]

Contents

Synopsis

The book consists of seven parts and 59 chapters. Watkins uses the comparative method to find cognate formulas and mythological features that could be traced back to a common past in ancient texts written in Indo-European languages. He claims that it is not possible to understand fully the traditional elements in an early Indo-European poetic text without the background of what he calls a "genetic intertextuality" of particular formulas and themes in all languages of the family.

Reception

Critical reception for the text since its release has been positive. [3] [4] [5] The Classical Journal and the Journal of American Folklore both gave How to Kill a Dragon positive reviews, [6] and The Journal of American Folklore remarked that it was a "landmark book". [7] Journal of the American Oriental Society also praised the book, which they viewed as "a fundamentum which must henceforth serve as the starting point and inspiration for a discipline whose future is now secure." [8]

Related Research Articles

The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric ethnolinguistic group of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamata no Orochi</span> Japanese dragon

Yamata no Orochi, or simply Orochi (大蛇), is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Indo-European mythology</span>

Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, speakers of the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in preliterate societies – scholars of comparative mythology have reconstructed details from inherited similarities found among Indo-European languages, based on the assumption that parts of the Proto-Indo-Europeans' original belief systems survived in the daughter traditions.

Kuchean was a Western member of the Tocharian branch of Indo-European languages, extinct from the ninth century. Once spoken in the Tarim Basin in Central Asia, Tocharian B shows an internal chronological development; three linguistic stages have been detected. The oldest stage is attested only in Kucha. There is also the middle ('classicalʼ), and the late stage.

<i>*Dyēus</i> Masculine Sky-god in Proto-Indo-European mythology

*Dyḗus, also *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr, is the reconstructed name of the daylight-sky god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. *Dyēus was conceived as a divine personification of the bright sky of the day and the seat of the gods, the *deywṓs. Associated with the vast diurnal sky and with the fertile rains, *Dyēus was often paired with *Dʰéǵʰōm, the Earth Mother, in a relationship of union and contrast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Andrew Miller</span> American linguist (1924–2014)

Roy Andrew Miller was an American linguist best known as the author of several books on Japanese language and linguistics, and for his advocacy of Korean and Japanese as members of the proposed Altaic language family.

Graeco-Aryan, or Graeco-Armeno-Aryan, is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family that would be the ancestor of Hellenic, Armenian, and the Indo-Iranian languages, which spans Southern Europe, Armenian highlands and Southern Asian regions of Eurasia.

George Luzerne Hart, III is Professor Emeritus of Tamil language at the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on the classical Tamil literature and on identifying the relationships between the Tamil and Sanskrit literature. In 2015 the Government of India awarded him the title of Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulshedra</span> Demon in Albanian mythology and folklore

The kulshedra or kuçedra is a water, storm, fire and chthonic demon in Albanian mythology and folklore, usually described as a huge multi-headed female serpentine dragon. She is the archetype of darkness and evil, the complementary and opposing force to drangue, the archetype of light and good. The kulshedra is believed to spit fire, cause drought, storms, flooding, earthquakes and other natural disasters against mankind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Picene language</span> Ancient Italic language

South Picene is an extinct Italic language belonging to the Sabellic subfamily. It is apparently unrelated to the North Picene language, which is not understood and therefore unclassified. South Picene texts were at first relatively inscrutable even though some words were clearly Indo-European. The discovery in 1983 that two of the apparently redundant punctuation marks were in reality simplified letters led to an incremental improvement in their understanding and a first translation in 1985. Difficulties remain. It may represent a third branch of Sabellic, along with Oscan and Umbrian ,, or the whole Sabellic linguistic area may be best regarded as a linguistic continuum. The paucity of evidence from most of the 'minor dialects' contributes to these difficulties.

The Trojan language was the language spoken in Troy during the Late Bronze Age. The identity of the language is unknown, and it is not certain that there was one single language used in the city at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Armenian language</span> Reconstructed language

Proto-Armenian is the earlier, unattested stage of the Armenian language which has been reconstructed by linguists. As Armenian is the only known language of its branch of the Indo-European languages, the comparative method cannot be used to reconstruct its earlier stages. Instead, a combination of internal and external reconstruction, by reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European and other branches, has allowed linguists to piece together the earlier history of Armenian.

Edgar Howard Sturtevant was an American linguist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dragonslayer</span> Fictional profession

A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classification system. They continue to be popular in modern books, films, video games and other forms of entertainment. Dragonslayer-themed stories are also sometimes seen as having a chaoskampf theme—in which a heroic figure struggles against a monster that epitomises chaos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarḫunna</span>

Tarḫunna or Tarḫuna/i was the Hittite weather god. He was also referred to as the "Weather god of Heaven" or the "Lord of the Land of Hatti".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvert Watkins</span> American linguist and philologist

Calvert Watkins was an American linguist and philologist, known for his book How to Kill a Dragon. He was a professor of linguistics and the classics at Harvard University and after retirement went to serve as professor-in-residence at UCLA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rigveda 1.32</span> Poem within the Rigveda (c 1400–1000 BCE)

Hymn 1.32 of the Rigveda is a poem praising the deity Indra for his victory over the serpent Vritra. While this myth is often referred to in the Rigveda, hymn 1.32 is the only detailed description of it. The poem describes in 15 stanzas how Indra smashes Vritra with his mace, thereby liberating the waters. The hymn is rich in similes and has long been valued for its beauty. The linguistic and metrical traits of the poem suggest it was composed relatively late in the Rigveda period. Preserved in mandala 1 of the Rigveda, the hymn is attributed to Hiraṇyastūpa Āṅgirasa, a rishi of the Angiras clan.

The Indo-European cosmogony refers to the creation myth of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European mythology.

*Trito is a significant figure in Proto-Indo-European mythology, representing the first warrior and acting as a culture hero. He is connected to other prominent characters, such as Manu and Yemo, and is recognized as the protagonist of the myth of the warrior function, establishing the model for all later men of arms. In the legend, Trito is offered cattle as a divine gift by celestial gods, which is later stolen by a three-headed serpent named *H₂n̥gʷʰis ('serpent'). Despite initial defeat, Trito, fortified by an intoxicating drink and aided by the Sky-Father, or alternatively the Storm-God or *H₂nḗr, 'Man', together they go to a cave or a mountain, and the hero overcomes the monster and returns the recovered cattle to a priest for it to be properly sacrificed. He is now the first warrior, maintaining through his heroic deeds the cycle of mutual giving between gods and mortals. Scholars have interpreted the story of Trito either as a cosmic conflict between the heavenly hero and the earthly serpent or as an Indo-European victory over non-Indo-European people, with the monster symbolizing the aboriginal thief or usurper. Trito's character served as a model for later cattle-raiding epic myths and was seen as providing moral justification for cattle raiding. The legend of Trito is generally accepted among scholars and is recognized as an essential part of Proto-Indo-European mythology, although not to the level of Manu and Yemo.

*H₂n̥gʷʰis is a reconstructed Proto-Indo-European term meaning 'serpent', as well as a possible name for a mythological entity, polycephalous sea serpent or dragon which was slain by a hero named Trito with the help of the god Perkʷunos.

References

  1. Floyd, Edwin D. "The Persistence of "Man-Slaying" as an Indo-European formula in Gregory of Nazianzus". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  2. "Goodwin Award of Merit - Previous Winners". APA. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  3. Kelly, David H (1998). "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (review)". The Classical World. 1992 (2): 175–176. doi:10.2307/4352252. JSTOR   4352252.
  4. Allen, N.J. (2000). "'How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics,' by Calvert Watkins.(review)". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 6 (1): 159–160. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  5. Justus, Carol F. (Sep 1997). "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics by Calvert Watkins (review)". Language. 73 (3): 637–641. doi:10.2307/415905. JSTOR   415905.
  6. Dunkel, G. E. (Apr–May 1997). "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics by Calvert Watkins (review)". The Classical Journal. 92 (4): 417–422. JSTOR   3298411.
  7. McCarthy, William Bernard (Spring 1999). "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics by Calvert Watkins (review)". The Journal of American Folklore. 112 (444): 220–222. doi:10.2307/541955. JSTOR   541955.
  8. Klein, Jared S (April–June 1997). "How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics (review)". The Journal of the American Oriental Society. 117 (2): 397–398. doi:10.2307/605527. JSTOR   605527 . Retrieved 24 May 2014.