Ice Dragon Lullabies Sing to a Harsh Existence
Ice Dragons by nature of their extreme and inhospitable environment may have a culture focused on survival, efficiency of energy, and sensing.
Because they are adapted to the frigid environment, their prey are generally less plentiful, and so food, and death by starvation (as opposed to other life forms’ focus on falling from trees, or death by pandemic and burning) may be their drive and fear, respectively.
Ice Dragons, to assist in catching the rare prey in their harsh environment, will have some specially adapted sensing which might be the source of lyrics.
They are of course, well adapted to harsh winters and will have natural affinity to sensing their surroundings. Even during the harshest ice storms, they will be adapted to survival. They may be attuned to sensing heat signatures, or have mastered hearing sufficient to filter out noises by the wind to better pinpoint needed food. These traits will be valued for continuation of the species.
I would imagine Ice Dragon lullabies and nursery rhymes to perhaps:
- warn of starvation, or mock death by starvation;
- praise strong senses;
- edify survival;
- value efficiency;
- mock as weakness temperate climates or those who live there.
Their surroundings are brutal, and so will be their songs.
Some examples:
Scottish lullaby about loss:
Hovan, Hovan Gorry og O
I’ve lost my darling baby, O!
Italian lullaby about giving baby up (for example if not enough food can be provided for it), which has ice-centric theme also as its final hook:
Ninna nanna, ninna oh.
To whom shall I give this baby?
If I give him to the old hag, she’ll keep it for a week.
If I give him to the black ox, he’ll keep it for an entire year.
If I give it to the white wolf, he’ll keep it for a long time.
A brutal Malaysian lullaby, Lima Anak Ayam, could be retooled to Ice Dragon eggs:
Five chicks
One chick dies
One chick dying leaves four
A Danish lullaby captures a similar hard-scrabble existence:
Dad is working very hard, Mum has to help.
Hans cries again and again when she has to leave.
We have to work to earn a living. The children will suffer.
We cannot give them any better even though we want to.
The Turkish lullaby, Incili Bebek Ninnisi, is a great example, telling the story of a man who promised to sacrifice three camels if his wife could have a child, but then decided to renege and keep the three camels after she gave birth. An eagle then carried the baby off and tore it to pieces. The song is from the perspective of the grief-stricken mother:
Above black eagles wheeling,
All of a sudden swooping,
My little baby stealing,
Sleep, little baby, sleep.
Above black eagles soaring,
A crown of pearls left lying,
Your stupid father snoring.
Dragon Lullabies Generally
Human lullabies, by contrast, focus on boogeymen or animals stealing a baby, or a cradle falling from tree, or just the stars above. Dragons aren’t generally going to embrace the boogeyman genre of lullabies — dragons are generally at the top of the food chain, unless their boogeyman is an abysmal fiend, Demi-god, or god. Physical suffering, like falling from tree isn’t a worry, especially when you have wings. And they can fly to the air, although twinkling stars — unreachable to even earthly-bound dragons — still might hold some wonder.