Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2026-09-18
Books mentioned on SYSK Gets Weird Playlist: Dragons: As Real as Mermaids
Dragons are like mermaids in that they're not real. And that's about where the comparison ends.
Chuck Bryant discussed An Instinct for Dragons by David E. Jones. Also mentioned: The Iliad, History of Animals, Bible, The Book of revelation by Rupert Thomson, Paradise Lost by John Milton, Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Faerie queene by Edmund Spenser.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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An Instinct for Dragons
An Instinct for Dragons by David E.
Discussed“Yeah, there's a book called An Instinct for Dragons written by an anthropologist named David E. Jones about dragons and dragons throughout cultures and across cultures.”
Where to get it
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The Iliad
The Iliad by Homer is an ancient Greek epic poem that chronicles the fierce battles, heroic deeds, and tragic human costs surrounding the final weeks of the Trojan War.
Discussed“The word itself is, well, you can look back to the Iliad when Homer wrote about the D-R-A-K-O-N, the dracon, which supposedly is the first known use of the word.”
Where to get it
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History of Animals
Discussed“But then we go to the history of, not the history, but just history of animals. And that's the first sort of scientific take on the dracon, which is an enemy of the eagle because an eagle as a bird of prey would eat snakes, obviously.”
Where to get it
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Bible
The Bible is a foundational anthology of sacred texts shaping Western culture, law, and morality through historical narratives, poetry, and theological teachings.
Discussed“And you know this course goes straight to the Bible as well. In Revelations there's a lot of talk about the arch angels archangels battling a great dragon. In this case the dragon is Satan.”
Where to get it
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The Book of revelation
The Book of revelation by Rupert Thomson is a profound scriptural and literary work exploring apocalyptic visions and spiritual themes.
Discussed“In Revelations there's a lot of talk about the arch angels archangels battling a great dragon. In this case the dragon is Satan but again this is sort of a translation like Satan was always sort of the serpent.”
Where to get it
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Paradise Lost
John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost explores the fall of man, temptation, and the battle between good and evil.
Discussed“And this is when we see you know kind of what we would see later on which is metaphor for good versus evil in a big battle. So that's what William Blake's Paradise Lost is about. Right. I've never read it.”
Where to get it
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Beowulf
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney is a modern poetic translation of the ancient Anglo-Saxon epic detailing the hero Beowulf's battles against monsters like Grendel and a treasure-guarding dragon.
Discussed“Like there's a dragon that lives out by itself near a village and it's a greedy vengeful dragon and we need to appease this dragon with sacrifice once a year or else it will come down and like rain fire upon everyone.”
Where to get it
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The Hobbit
The Hobbit by J.R.R.
Discussed“I mean you know there are so many stories in literature and movies obviously that have had dragons throughout the years. Certainly Tolkien in the mid 1930s when he wrote The Hobbit this was a really evil dragon.”
Where to get it
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Faerie queene
The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser is an epic, allegorical English poem celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Queen Elizabeth I while exploring moral virtues through the adventures of various knights.
Discussed“And we were saying also that the first visual depiction of dragon shows up in Harley 3244. The first mention of the dragon in like a story like a fictitious story supposedly comes in Spencer Edmonds the fairy queen.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (4) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“And this is exactly what you think of as something from like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones or whatever. Yeah, it's like a dragon.”
“And this is exactly what you think of as something from like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones or whatever. Yeah, it's like a dragon.”
“It's called Nine Dragons or something. But it reminded me of the artwork in the original Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. I never read that. That artwork in there is just amazing.”
“So we should probably talk about famous dragons at this point because we've thrown a couple out like the one from Beowulf who apparently doesn't even have a name.”