Isaac Asimov's Worlds of Fantasy. Book 6: Mythical Beasties

Firedrake

The firedrake is a form of dragon. The second syllable, ' 'drake,'' does not refer to a male duck, but is a shortened form of the Greek drakon {large snake, or dragon).

Where emphasis is placed upon the dragon's fiery breath, it can be called a "fire-dragon" or firedrake. Both Sigurd (Siegfried) and Beowulf kilted firedrakes as culminating deeds of heroism.

The firedrake is, in the following story, abstracted into a principle of heat. People have, after all, always suffered from excess of heat and cold (depending on the season. altitude, and latitude) and have tended to maievolize them (if I may coin a word).

The sun is the obvious principle of heat, but it is difficult to maievolize the sun unless you live in an unusually hot, dry climate. The sun is too obviously a bnnger of welcome warmth and light, and is clearly a fructifying force on which life depends. A firedrake must then be converted into the principle of excessive heat. The discovery of fire gave humanity something else that showed this double aspect. It could warm and give life like the sun and could burn and kill like the firedrake.

There is no natural principle of cold-for cold is only the absence of heat. It is possible to invent one, however.

The Scandinavians in their myths had, among the enemies of the gods, both the fire-giants and the frost-giants. Naturally, considering the Scandinavian climate, it was frostgiants who were emphasized.

In the following utterly charming story not only is there a firedrake but also a sort of frost-giant which the author calls the Remora (a name also given to a small fish with a sucker organ on its back that hitches rides on sharks). The Remora, as described, seems even more frightful, though less malevolent, than [he firedrake.