10 REAL Dragon Slayers from History Pt 1

Dragons appear frequently in ancient legends. Unlike most of their eastern counterparts, western dragons were ferocious, fireb breathing, deadly creatures. And slaying one was the ultimate sigma status. But who achieved this impossible feat? Let's find out in this week's episode of Secrets of the Ancients. And don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell to never miss an episode. At number 11, the Greek legend, Jason from Jason and the Argonauts. The myth of Jason and the Argonauts is a Greek story about a hero and his crew who search for the golden fleece. The Colchian dragon was a massive serpent immortal and sleepless that guarded the golden fleece in Aries sacred grove in Cultus, the enchanted land of the Golden Fleece. Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, had to overcome the dragon, take the fleece, and present it to the usurper Pelus, in order to take back his rightful place on the throne of Ilkus. The Colchian dragon was one of the seven monstrosities born from the union between Typhen, a monstrous serpentine giant, and Ichidna, the mother of monstrous. He was the largest beast among his siblings and a very dangerous one. It was believed that either Zeus or Aries, the god of war, had sent this sizable monster to guard the golden fleece in the land of Cultus. Though the cultin dragon was an incredibly formidable monster and Jason an ultimate sigma legend, Jason didn't technically slay the dragon, but rather used a potion given to him by media, a powerful sorceress, to put the dragon to sleep, allowing him to stealthily take the golden fleece while the dragon was unconscious. Essentially, he tricked the dragon into slumber with magic rather than fighting it directly. At number 10, the tail of Ww Dragon. [Music] The Ww Dragon was a beast said to have inhabited the Ww Hill, a limestone outcrop in the city of Kau, Poland. At the time, Kau was the capital of the country and home to the first king of Poland, King Kakaras, who founded the city in 700 AD. He first developed housing on the Wool Hill. Despite the dragon living in a cave in the rockface, the dragon was ferocious and instantly began picking off the people who had moved to live near it. Eventually, the dragon made an agreement for peace in the form of a weekly ration of cattle, which it greedily devoured whole to the locals disgust. King Kakaras was disgraced by the beast's tyranny and together with his two sons set about trying to kill it. After several unsuccessful attempts, the sons stuffed cattle skins with ignited sulfur and left them for the dragon. Its habit of swallowing its meals whole was fatal. The sulfur suffocated the unsuspecting dragon. One of the sons, also named Kacris, killed his older brother in order to claim credit for the victory and blamed the dragon. The king believed him and the young Cacris succeeded his father, but was banished when the deception came to light. The Warwool dragon still looms large in the modern city of Krakow. Beneath the castle on Ww Hill is a cave known as the dragon's lair, where it supposedly lived. Outside Warwald Cathedral hung what used to be believed to be dragon bones carried there during medieval times protecting the cathedral from evil powers. However, now they are said to most likely be mammoth or whale bones. But what do you think? At number nine, Heinrich von Winkle Reed. [Music] Heinrich was a real German knight who died around 1303 and a witness to several important documents where his name was signed in German as Heinrich von Vinkler called the giant. It is unclear whether the nickname was a reference to his size or linking him to the figures of German legend who are often called giants. The legend is first mentioned in a Swiss chronicle of 1507. A dragon lived in a cave near the city of Stans on the Mutesh Fandenberg ridge. The dragon killed and ate people and their cattle as most dragons do. The dragon was ambushed several times by people with crossbows. But when it realized it was in danger, it would run back to its cave like a lizard. Hinrich vonvingide, who had been banished from the area for manslaughter, saw an opportunity for redemption and went alone to confront the dragon. The beast, seeing that Henrik was alone, came running at him with open jaws. Heinrich, who in the story is every inch the giant, shoved his spear down the dragon's throat and having skewed it in place so it couldn't resort to its usual tactic of valiant retreat, hacked it to death with his sword, thanking God, with his sword held a loft, the dragon's veinous blood dripped on Heinrich and he died from poisoning a few days later. At number eight, it's Beerwolf. [Music] Beerwolf is the longest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem written in Old English, dating from between 700 and 1,000. The poem is about the hero fighting and killing three monsters, Grenell and his mother, a pair of cannibalistic giants, and finally a dragon. 50 years pass after Beaolf slayed Grenell and his mother. And Bewolf is king of the gates. >> Bearwolf, son of Ato shall be king. [Music] >> He has fought many battles and wisely presides over a peaceful kingdom. However, one night, a disgraced slave is banished by his master and tries to win favor by stealing a cup from a sleeping dragon who had lived there peacefully with its treasure for 300 years. The dragon wakes up and instantly realizes that the golden cup is missing. It waits until nightfall and flies far and wide over the settlements, burning people alive in their homes. Hearing of this, Beerwolf is determined to kill the dragon himself despite now being quite elderly. But he also predicts he will die in the process. He summons the cup thief, who escaped the dragon's wrath and is led to the barrerow, where he delivers a rousing speech to his soldiers. Then Beerwolf roars at the barrerow, and the dragon flies down to meet him in combat. A fierce battle ensues, and Beerwolf's shield is burned to ashes. His trustworthy sword, which has served him so well, fails to pierce the dragon's hide, and his warriors flee in panic. Only one remains, Waglath, who runs to Beerwolf's aid and manages to injure the dragon's belly. Bewolf then delivers the death blow with a dagger. He is however mortally wounded and dies a noble death after admiring the dragon's vast treasure horde enabling Wiglaf as his heir. For number seven, we have Hercules. [Music] According to the ancient Greek legend, Hercules, the son of Zeus, king of the gods, had to complete 12 labors of extreme difficulty in order to live forever among the gods at Mount Olympus. It started due to his stepmother, Ha, who, when Hercules was born, sent two snakes to kill him in his crib. However, the unusually strong baby boy strangled the snakes. But here kept up her dirty tricks. Later, she would cast a spell on her stepson that drove him temporarily insane and cause him to murder his beloved wife and two children. Guilty and heartbroken, Hercules went to Apollo, the god of truth and healing, and begged to be punished for what he had done. Apollo understood that Hercules crime had not been his fault, but he agreed that the young man should make amends. He ordered Hercules to perform 12 labors to be absolved of his guilt and achieve immortality. During those 12 labors, Hercules fought Hydra, a multi-headed water dragon. Hercules traveled to the city of Lerna to slay the nineheaded Hydra who lived underwater, guarding the entrance to the underworld. For this task, Hercules had the help of his nephew, Eulus. He cut off each of the monsters heads while Eolus burned each wound with a torch. This way, it stopped Hydra's heads from growing back. This wasn't the only dragon Hercules fought. Later in the tale, Hercules also kills the dragon Leaden, who guards the golden apples in the Garden of Hisperodities. Leaden was a serpentlike dragon who had 100 heads and was slain by bow and arrow. At number six is Rah, the Egyptian deity of the sun. In Egyptian mythology, a pep, the god of chaos, was seen as a giant snake or serpent, leading to such titles as serpent from the Nile and evil dragon. Some elaborations say that he stretched 16 yards in length, and he had a head made of flint. Apep was an evil entity that tried to kill Rah, the sun deity, each and every night to prevent sunrise and bring Egypt into eternal darkness. Egyptian coffin texts imply that Upep used a magical gaze to overwhelm Rah and his entourage. Rah was assisted by a number of defenders who traveled with him, including Set, the god of deserts. No, I said deserts. Deserts, guys. Come on. Apep's movements were thought to cause earthquakes, and his battles with Set may have been meant to explain the origin of thunderstorms. In one account, Ra himself defeats Apep in the form of a cat. The ancient Egyptians performed rituals and superstitions to help Ra in his battle against Apep. In an annual ceremony called the banishing of Apep, priests would build a box that contained all of Apep's evil and then burnt it. The Egyptians believed that solar eclipses occurred when Apep was victorious over Ra. I'll never see an eclipse in the same way again. So that's it for 11 ancient dragon slayers part one, but join us next time in part two for more fire breathing legends. Thanks for watching Secrets of the Ancients.