European dragon than with a lizard-like or dinosaur-like body as in later belief (though the dragon of Beowulf does show several features that would later become popularized with dragons–namely, it breathes fire–lives underground, and collects treasure). The most famous lindworm in Norse and Germanic mythology is Fafnir The Germanic stories of lindworms have them guarding a treasure hoard. The Fafnir lindworm guarded earthen mounds full of ancient treasure. The treasure was cursed and brought ill to those who later possessed it. Sea serpents are also called orms in Nordic languages, wyrms in Old English and worms in Middle English. These "dragons" are
Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology death. One of the earliest written references to black wolves occurs in the Babylonian epic "Gilgamesh", in which the titular character rejects the sexual advances of the goddess Ishtar, reminding her that she had transformed a previous lover, In Proto-Indo-European mythology, the wolf was presumably associated with the warrior class, who would "transform into wolves" (or dogs) upon their initiation. This is reflected in Iron Age Europe in the "Tierkrieger" depictions from the Germanic sphere, among others. The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology is McCone (1987) According to legend, the establishment of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius