Random Thoughts Volume 1: Dragon Size

So it occurs to me that the general idea of dragons as being giant elephant + size monsters seems a little ridiculous. Like an elephant then, you'd think they'd be a pretty obvious thing to spot and they'd have been recorded in history as having been something truly real as opposed to something of legend. I think the truth of most breeds of dragons, if they were (are?) real, is that they were more likely much much smaller. Many depictions of St. George and the dragon, show a relatively small wyvern, being not much larger than St. George. That got me thinking about present day nightmares, like mountain lions, or even something larger (but still tiny compared to dragons)like grizzlies or polar bears. These critters are sporting claws and teeth, and could easily kill a person in one quick swipe. Now imagine something cougar-sized, sporting not just fangs and claws, but spines, and horns, can spew fire or noxious gas, and on top of all of that might be capable of flying. Even at half my size that would be freakin' scary and if you did survive would probably seem quite larger in memory than it actually was. I think a knight and his horse would be lucky to survive an attack by something the size of a mountain lion, so any knight telling you that they've slain something the size of a house is full of crap...I mean, aside from them telling you that they're a dragon hunting, armour wearing knight, that is.