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dragon mist

English translation: See explanation below...

11:33 Mar 8, 2005
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Fiction
English term or phrase: dragon mist
A nightwatchman sees an "apparition" on a misty morning. The ghost on a horse disappears - it is "swallowed up by the dragon mist", with only the slow, steady ring of iron on stone to convince him of what he'd seen.

The nightwatchman was startled. The fog was mysterious (I am retelling).

Can "dragon" mean something like "devilish"?
Alexander Alexandrov
Russian Federation
Local time: 22:12
Selected answer:See explanation below...
Explanation:
I've never come across it meaning anything like that, but I think the explanation is a lot simpler!

I think this is simply the personficiation of the mist as a 'monster that consumes' --- it's the same sort of construction as 'Lady Luck'

My reading would be 'the all-consuming monster that is the mist' --- so 'dragon' is not exactly being used like an adjective here.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:12
Grading comment
Thank you very much, Dusty!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +5See explanation below...
Tony M
4 +2dragons are supposed to be able to breathe fire and therefore
CMJ_Trans (X)
3The dragon is named "mist"
humbird


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
dragons are supposed to be able to breathe fire and therefore


Explanation:


they emit smoke which - I suppose - could give the impression of fog or mist...

".....because he can't breathe fire and therefore can't join in dragon games. ...
Firetongue was a young dragon who could not breathe fire like all the other ..."
www.diskuspublishing.com/littledragon.html

CMJ_Trans (X)
Local time: 21:12
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 52

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Arcoiris: This is my interpretation too, but is there anything in the story about dragons? otherwise Dusty might be right
6 mins
agree  Subtitle Translation
37 mins
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7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
See explanation below...


Explanation:
I've never come across it meaning anything like that, but I think the explanation is a lot simpler!

I think this is simply the personficiation of the mist as a 'monster that consumes' --- it's the same sort of construction as 'Lady Luck'

My reading would be 'the all-consuming monster that is the mist' --- so 'dragon' is not exactly being used like an adjective here.

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 260
Grading comment
Thank you very much, Dusty!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Kirill Semenov: it may be an allusion on the popular image in fantasy, "Dragon's Lair" series, and many comics and comp.games. As a mysterious creature in all cultures, dragon is kind of "veiled with the mist"
32 mins
  -> Thanks, Kirill!
agree  Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
4 hrs
  -> Thanks, Madeleine!
agree  Will Matter
6 hrs
  -> Thanks, Willmatter!
agree  juvera: The monster, that consumes everything, particularly ghostly images, which are misty anyway. Just a beautiful metaphor.
8 hrs
  -> Thanks, Juvera! Nicely put, yourself.
agree  tappi_k
19 hrs
  -> Thank,s T/K!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
The dragon is named "mist"


Explanation:
The "apparition" -- a ghost on a horse -- disappeared just like the mist of the misty morning when the sun had risen.
Dragon in this context is just a name what the writer of this fiction gave to the morning mist. Or if your context allows, it is one of those animated, mysterious, imagined creature just like many other fable stories, except this one is active in the night, and mist is one of his embodied form. He disappears at the daybreak.

humbird
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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