Wyvern (Dungeons & Dragons) Wyvern (Dungeons & Dragons) In the "Dungeons and Dragons" fantasy roleplaying game, the wyvern (pronounced WIH-vern (as in "did learn") or WHY-vern) is a species of dragon. The wyvern was based upon the wyverns of legend. The wyvern was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the "Dungeons & Dragons" "white box" set (1974), where they were described as smaller relatives of dragons with a poisonous sting in their tails. The wyvern appears in the first edition "Monster Manual" (1977), where it is described as being distantly related to dragons, stupid but very
Wyvern modern fantasy fiction, though its first literary appearances may have been in medieval bestiaries. The wyvern is a frequent charge in English heraldry and vexillology, also occasionally appearing as a supporter or crest. A white ("Argent") wyvern formed the crest of the Borough of Leicester as recorded at the heraldic visitation of Leicestershire in 1619: "A wyvern sans legs argent strewed with wounds gules, wings expanded ermine." The term "sans legs" may not imply that the wyvern was "without legs", rather that its legs are not depicted, being hidden or folded under. This was adopted by the Midland Railway in