These dragon trivia questions take the old stories in four rounds: the word and the ancient Near East, Greek and Roman dragons, Norse sagas and medieval Europe, and the dragons of China, Korea and Japan.
Read the full guide
Four rounds, from Egypt to Japan
Greek and Roman dragons has the Hydra, the dragon's teeth of Cadmus and the serpent of the Bagrada. Norse sagas and medieval Europe runs from the roots of Yggdrasil to the shoemaker who outwitted the Wawel Dragon. The eastern round asks Korean scales, claws and talons.
For a fantasy club or a myth unit
Each round plays on its own, and the question sheet prints with a separate answer key. The word and the Near East opens the pack: the Latin draco, the ouroboros, Marduk and Tiamat, and Rakhsh, the horse of the Persian epic.
Questions and answers
What are three easy dragon trivia questions to start with?
What is the serpent doing in the symbol called the ouroboros? Which god slays the serpent Python near Delphi? What does the name Hydra mean? The answers are swallowing its own tail, Apollo and water snake.
Are dragons from novels, films and games in the pack?
No. The questions stop with the Jabberwock of 1871. Modern novels, films and games are left out, and so is scripture: the pack treats dragons as folklore and old literature.
Where were the answers checked?
Every answer was read on October 3, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article Dragon, linked under the question. Many questions name the old book or poem that tells the story, such as the Iliad, the Argonautica or the Golden Legend.
A horned dragon of Mesopotamian art, with a snake's neck and a lion's forelegs, had an Akkadian name meaning what?Answer: Furious serpent. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The azhdarchids, a group of pterosaurs, are named from a Persian word. What does that word mean?Answer: Dragon. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The earliest surviving true ouroboros is on gilded shrines in the tomb of which pharaoh?Answer: Tutankhamun. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The Greek word behind dragon most likely comes from a verb with which meaning?Answer: I see. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In an old Egyptian tradition about sunset, which god goes down to battle the serpent Apep?Answer: Ra. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Sumerian poetry, who is often compared to a gigantic serpentine monster?Answer: Great kings. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Babylonian creation epic, who slays Tiamat?Answer: Marduk. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Persian epic Shahnameh, which horse helps the hero Rostam against a dragon?Answer: Rakhsh. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
One theory says some dragon stories were inspired by ancient finds of what?Answer: Fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Rostam's fight with the dragon is which of his Seven Labors?Answer: The third. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
To a Roman, what was a draco?Answer: A huge serpent. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
What is the serpent doing in the Egyptian symbol called the ouroboros?Answer: Swallowing its own tail. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Which modern English word for a dragon descends from the Old English draca?Answer: Drake. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Greek and Roman dragons 16
For how many years did Cadmus have to serve Ares after killing the god's dragon?Answer: Eight. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Hipparchus gave the constellation Draco fifteen stars. To how many did Ptolemy raise the number?Answer: Thirty-one. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Hesiod's Theogony, how many serpent heads does the monster Typhon have?Answer: One hundred. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Argonautica, how does Medea deal with the dragon that guards the Golden Fleece?Answer: She drugs it to sleep. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the founding myth of Thebes, what does Cadmus plant in the earth on the advice of Athena?Answer: The teeth of the dragon. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Iliad, which king has a blue dragon motif on his sword belt?Answer: Agamemnon. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In which work does the first mention of a dragon in ancient Greek literature occur?Answer: The Iliad. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Javelins could not hurt the Bagrada serpent. With which machines did the army of Regulus defeat it?Answer: Ballistas. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The one notable dragon story the Romans made themselves is set on which river of North Africa?Answer: The Bagrada. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The serpent Ladon never sleeps. What does it guard in the Garden of the Hesperides?Answer: A tree of golden apples. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Slaying the Lernaean Hydra was which of the Twelve Labors of Heracles?Answer: The second. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The warriors who grew from the planted teeth were called spartoi. What does the word mean?Answer: Sown men. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
What does the name Hydra mean in Greek?Answer: Water snake. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Where does Zeus hurl Typhon after scorching his heads with lightning?Answer: Into Tartarus. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Which god slays the serpent Python near Delphi?Answer: Apollo. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Which nephew helped Heracles in the fight with the Hydra?Answer: Iolaus. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Norse sagas and medieval Europe 16
Between which centuries was European interest in dragons as living creatures at its height?Answer: The eleventh and thirteenth. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The coat of arms of Uther Pendragon was said to carry two crowned dragons of which color?Answer: Gold. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The first full account of Saint George and the Dragon is an eleventh-century text in which language?Answer: Georgian. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
How many heads does Zmey Gorynych, the dragon of Russian and Ukrainian folklore, have?Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In a medieval French legend, the dragon La Gargouille troubled which town on the Seine?Answer: Rouen. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Albanian folklore, which winged hero fights the many-headed kulshedra?Answer: The drangue. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Golden Legend, the dragon of the Saint George story lives by a lake near the town of Silene. In which land?Answer: Libya. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the legend told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, what colors are the two dragons under the tower of Vortigern?Answer: Red and white. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the oldest record of the Wawel Dragon, the dragon is tricked into eating calfskins filled with what?Answer: Burning sulfur. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Poetic Edda, a dragon gnaws at the roots of what?Answer: Yggdrasil, the world tree. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the version of the Wawel Dragon story that is most popular now, what is the trade of the clever Skuba?Answer: Shoemaker. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Volsunga saga, how does Sigurd get close enough to kill the dragon Fafnir?Answer: He digs a pit on its path to the spring. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Through the Looking-Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll, which creature of a poem is a kind of dragon?Answer: The Jabberwock. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
What can Sigurd understand after he tastes the blood of Fafnir?Answer: The language of the birds. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
What did Thor use as bait when he fished for the Midgard Serpent?Answer: An ox-head. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Who tells Vortigern that two dragons sleep in a pool under his tower?Answer: The child prophet Merlin. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Dragons of China, Korea and Japan 14
According to a writer of 1896, the Japanese dragon is always drawn with how many claws?Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
By one Korean account, how long must an imugi survive to become a full dragon?Answer: One thousand years. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Compared with the Chinese dragon, the Korean dragon developed a longer what?Answer: Beard. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
The dragon Ying Long helped the Yellow Emperor defeat the tyrant Chiyou. What does Ying Long mean?Answer: Responding dragon. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Emperor Shun gave a tamer of dragons the family name Huanlong. What does it mean?Answer: Dragon-raiser. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
How many scales were Korean dragons said to have on their backs?Answer: 81. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In a famous Chinese story, Lord Ye Gao filled his house with dragon designs. What did he do when a real dragon visited?Answer: He ran away in terror. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Chinese legend, what did Fu Hsi invent from the dots on the horse-dragon he saw at the Lo River?Answer: Chinese writing. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In Korean folklore, what is the Yeouiju that a dragon sometimes carries in its claws or mouth?Answer: An orb. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Japanese village of Okumura, why did villagers parade a straw dragon in a drought?Answer: To attract rainfall. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the Joseon period, how many talons did the dragon on the insignia of the king have?Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
In the tales of the Han people, Short-Tailed Old Li flew away to become the god of which river?Answer: The Black Dragon River. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
What is Nitta Yoshisada said to have thrown into the sea at Sagami to appease the dragon-god?Answer: A famous sword. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon
Which king of Silla wished on his deathbed to become a dragon of the East Sea and protect his kingdom?Answer: King Munmu. Source: Wikipedia: Dragon