Just a question for some research: if you have dragons in fiction do you prefer them to stay more like an animals or do you like them to talk - more human like? More "Game of Thrones dragons" or "Smaug"?
Smaug. I prefer my dragons to be clever and calculating. Though I'm alright with similar creatures like hydras and wyverns having beastial level intelligence.
Depends on the story. I think if you have several creatures that can communicate with humans or human-type figures it makes sense but it's sort of weird if there's only humans and dragons that can communicate. I kept thinking okay what makes the dragons so special?
Mostly, I don't. I think it's stupid most times. But if the dragon can speak telepathically I tend to give it a bit more leeway. You find this in games like Neverwinter Nights, and other Forgotten Realms business. I guess I can get behind a five to ten thousand year old dragon or wyvern figuring out how to use telepathy.
I don't really have a problem either way so long as an explenation is given as to why it is that way or another. If there is nothing to justify how it is in your world, then I often have difficulties following and accepting it. Even if the explenations if cheap and terrible is better then nothing, it gives me something to at least go on.
No. I like it when they are ambiguously sentient but non-communicative. It makes them scarier and cooler if you have to keep guessing at just how smart they really are.
Personally, I love it! I like dragons best when they are presented as being better at absolutely everything than humans, and that includes being more vocally clever and charismatic. However, seeing as dragons' mouths, throats and vocal organs are structured differently than a human's, I feel as though a dragon that has learned to speak in the tongue of humans should have a very potent and unique accent that can't be accurately represented through text. It should sound hard, yet elegant, as the organs that are producing the sound are finely tuned and highly specialized for the dragon's native language, but are being used to create sounds that they were not designed for. Terrifying, yet strangely beautiful to the ear. That's how I've always imagined the voices of dragons in literature, anyway.
That's why I liked how it worked in The Hobbit. Animals and people could theoretically talk to each other, but only if they understood what the other was saying. The thrush by the keyhole couldn't speak to the dwarfs, so it got Röac, king of the Ravens, because he could speak Westron. When I was a kid that was one of those sense of wonder moments for me. But, yeah, I don't mind talking dragons. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles are probably my favourite use of them, but they also weren't, quote-unquote, serious fantasy. It really depends on the execution for me.
Depends. Most dragons as depicted would simply not have mouth parts necessary for articulate speech. They could roar, but for speech, you need lips and cheeks (and rather flexible tongue). So I am rather sceptical about dragons properly talking, though I am ready to tolerate it if the story is otherwise good (e.g. Hobbit, Temeraire).
Depends on the story. Personally, I think that having dragons not-talk is less common. So in general I'd like to say more of it. However if the story is better with talking dragons, then by all means let the dragons talk!
Smaug. I think it elevates the dragon to a more mythical level instead of animal. A creature of magic just as much as nature. When they talk, they become a "real" character for me. A true villain or hero, compared to a pet or wild animal. Although, the Game of Throne dragons did the no talking very well. They were a major point of the plot and a big influence of a person's power. I guess it depends on the story. If they are meant to be a character, or a plot device.
