DRAGONS & WIZARDS

1. You're A Wizard Harry
2. The Dragon Smaug
3. Merlin
4. Merlin Lore
5. Merlin's Divine Conception
6. Merlin's Red And White Dragons
7. Myrddin
8. Merlin The Master
9. July 31st
10. Dragon's Blood
11. Dragons And Treasure
12. Damsels In Dragon Distress
13. Thor And Jormungand

1. You're A Wizard Harry

JK Rowling's boy wonder wizard, Harry Potter, is only the latest in an infinitely long tradition of wizard characters. Long before Harry, there was JRR Tolkien's Gandalf. Now reborn to cinematic audiences the world over with the new films, Gandalf was first introduced in the famous story, "The Hobbit" and later in the epic novel trilogy "The Lord of the Rings".

2. The Dragon Smaug

In the famous tale, "The Hobbit", Gandalf assists the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and a band of 13 dwarves on an adventure to reclaim a Dwarven treasure being horded by the dragon called Smaug. As in most dragon tales, Smaug has an impenetrable scale-plated skin. Only this time, Smaug is missing a single scale that should be covering his heart. This one flaw proves to be his Achilles' Heel when a single arrow brings the beast down in the final battle.

3. Merlin

Merlin, the fictional advisor to King Arthur, is with little doubt the most famous wizard of all. The modern interpretation was galvanized by TH White's story of "The Sword in the Stone" written in 1938. Later in 1963, Walt Disney transformed the tale into an animated feature by the same name. In this version, the great wizard is portrayed as an old absent-minded master magician, his head full of a lifetime of magical lore and would-be myths. With Merlin's guidance, Arthur learns the ways of sorcery and gains the ability to transform himself into an animal. Arthur grows wiser and stronger with Merlin's mentoring and becomes the King's eternally trusted advisor.

4. Merlin Lore

The sources that TH White drew upon to create his version of the Arthurian legend tell a somewhat different tale of Merlin and his origins. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a "History of the Kings of Britain" in the 12th century, in his tome, Merlin first appears as an advisor to the 5th century British king, Vortigern. Vortigern's son Ambrose and Ambrose's son Uther all have Merlin by their sides while they rule. In turn, Uther's son, Arthur carries on the tradition. Supposedly Merlin was born in 460 and died in 580, making him a very long-lived man during the Dark Ages.

5. Merlin's Divine Conception

Apparently Merlin was the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess that was visited by a demon in the night, gaining Merlin his supernatural gifts and his visionary powers. Merlin nearly died at the hands of Vortigern, who had been told that only the sacrifice of a bastard child would prevent his kingdom from falling into ruin.

6. Merlin's Red And White Dragons

Merlin saved his own neck by determining the root of Vortigern's troubles. He showed Vortigern that a red and white dragon were battling beneath the foundation of his castle. He predicted that the red dragon would be the victor and only then the fighting would stop. Not a true literal analysis, as the red dragon represented Wales and the white dragon embodied the Saxon invaders. Merlin used his knowledge of politics to gain Vortigern's favor and was entrusted to the king as his advisor.

7. Myrddin

It seems that the original tale of Merlin, otherwise known as Myrddin, started in the 6th century. He was a military commander who witnessed four of his brother's being killed in battle and went mad with grief. Insane and stricken from society, he retreated to the woods to live as a wild man. A year later, he was discovered by representatives of King of Strathclyde and brought back to his court. Living in the kingdom but remaining wild in nature, he was said to have the gift of prophecy and was able to communicate and interact with the wild creatures of the forest.

8. Merlin The Master

The TH White version and Geoffrey versions of Merlin are identical in that they both were involved with Arthur and his trial of the sword, Excalibur. However, White's version has him playing the absent-minded professor, while Geoffrey paints him with more sinister and cunning colors. His psychic powers and demonic parentage made him more than a man, in Harry Potter's universe Merlin would be sort of a Dumbledore and Voldermort combination, someone to be admired and feared.

9. July 31st

July 31st is Harry Potter's and author JK Rowling's birthdays. During the making of the first film it was stated that Harry Potter actor, Daniel Radcliffe was also born on July 31st. As it turns out, this was only a publicity stunt and he was actually born on July 23rd.

10. Dragon's Blood

In the film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (otherwise known as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" everywhere else but in the US), it was revealed that the 12th use for dragon's blood is as an oven cleaner.

11. Damsels In Dragon Distress

The original story of a knight rescuing a damsel in distress from the clutches of a marauding dragon was with Saint George. He was a Roman Calvary officer that rode to the aid of a town in Cappadocia. The people their had been plagued by a dragon and sacrificed their best sheep to try and appease it, failing they offered up a village virgin. Saint George swooped in on his white steed and lanced the dragon, saving the virgin princess. Hearing this heroic tale, knights all across the land set out to save damsels in distress from dragons. This trend led to the eventual extinction of all known dragons, at least the ones willing enough to put damsels in distress.

12. Dragons And Treasure

Dragons love to horde treasure. This tale supposedly started with the tale of Sigurd, the dwarf Regin and the Dragon Fafnir. It seems that Fafnir and Sigurd were brothers, but Fafnir was filled with greed and killed their father to gain his fortune. On doing so, however, Fafnir was transformed into a mighty dragon and doomed to forever guard his ill-begotten treasure. Wishing to rid the scourge of the beast and regain his father's wealth, Sigurd took his father's sword and with the help of his companion, the dwarf Regin, they devised a plan to slay the dragon. They dug pits outside the creature's lair, covered it with branches and waited for the beast to return home. Once it was over the covered pit, Sigurd rose up and stabbed the dragon through its tender under belly, killing it. Soon after, Sigurd's friend, the dwarf Regin plotted to kill Sigurd to have the treasure all to himself. Talking birds let Sigurd in on the dreadful deed and he instead killed the dwarf before he could be attacked - a nasty little tale.

13. Thor And Jormungand

Thor's only worthy adversary was a serpent dragon known as Jormungand the Midgard Serpent. Jormungand was the son of Loki and Angerboda and was expelled by Odin, forcing it to encircle the earth and hold its tail in its mouth under the depths of the sea. Many ages pasted and then came the Day of the Last Battle. This was a war pitting gods against giants, deities against demons, and men against monsters. Jormungand returned to the surface to confront Thor. The battled it out on the beach, Thor volleying lightning bolts and the dragon snapping at him with its massive jaws. Thor eventually prevailed by fatally slamming his War Hammer on the dragon's skull. In turn, however, Thor met his end right after by being suffocated from the dragon's last venomous breath.