So what do you guys think the size of the average dragon is from tip to tail? I'm somewhat confused as descriptions of them vary from book to book and am trying to imagine them properly. Are there any definitive descriptions you guys have found?
PS: Also, Yedan Derryg is the most badass character in fiction, killing multiple Soletaken dragons and several Hounds of Light.
Posted Oct 9, 2020, 5:29 PM UTC
Well, we at least know that two dragons appearing suddenly within an inn will make the inn violently explode at the minimum. Yet even Rake is able to barely fit in the streets of Darujhistan in GotM. Personally I picture them as being ~building sized with their wings and tails tucked in. Maybe a smaller one is the size of a house, while an ancient is the size of a 3 story walk up. Tiam is basically Ancalagon in my mind.
Someone who's good at maths can maybe extrapolate from the info we have. Several dragons carry people with their hind-legs (Scabandari, Osric), so if they comfortably fit a Tiste-sized person in those we may have a decent idea on how big their claws are.
Personally, I don't think they are excessively big like some dragons in fantasy (Ancalagon, etc.), but certainly intimidating.
On average, I think they are rather large, but not like mountain-big. So maybe 150 ft long, with a wingspan about the same, but not a whole lot of mass, if that makes sense. But I've never seen Erikson put a number on it, and I've look every time I've re-read the series.
I don't think they are quite that big, seeing as Korabas was mounted on an X shaped cross spread-eagle that was only 4 stories tall and she was big enough to crush a regular dragon in her jaws. It's also frequently mentioned that a regular dragon's claws are as long as a scimitar, and Korabas's teeth (if I remember correctly) are about that size per the scene with Kalyth in book 9.
EDIT: I reread the scene and it does not say that, its says that the long bones of the dead dragon Korabas killed (I'm assuming a femur bone) are as long as a tree and that it's fangs were as heavy as a club. It then later says that Korabas's head was the size of a migrant's wagon (however large that is). Also, I saw in book 10 that it compares Korabas's size to the other dragons like a condor to a crow.
EDIT 2: These links give a good comparison to show how huge Korabas is:
they vary in size, they are alike crocodiles - they keep growing.