Fire-breathing dragons?

[scabbie]

Who came up with the myth that dragons breathe fire?

[incitatus]

Who knows? It has been part of european myth since the thirteenth century at least, and (more rarely) chinese myth for thousands of years. Chinese dragons do not often breathe fire, but it is known....at least one incident occurs in Wu Cheng-en's Monkey.

[Peter R]

The early traditions of dragons in European cultures possibly came from the rapid, wide spread of Christianity in the early years AD. References such as...
'...Can you pull in the leviathan [possibly 'crocodile'] with a fishhook...[long description of its awesome power, leading up to...] His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out...(etc) Job 41:8
Read all of Job and you'll probably agree that this is just poetic licence - all the language is that descriptive. However, the fierce and superstitious tribes which converted to Christianity at the time tried to incorporate Christianity and superstition, and the dragon seems to have been one of the results.

[toecutter]

It's been said that this myth originated with the anaconda, a large snake with foul breath, don't know if it's true though.