Wyvern folklore is rarely fire-breathing like the four-legged dragon. Sometimes modern fantasy book and media authors have wyverns that are frost-breathing or poison-breathing instead of fire-breathing. The current spelling "wyvern" is not attested before the seventeenth century as "winged two-footed dragon". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is an alteration of Middle English "wyver" (attested thirteenth century), from Anglo-French "wivre" (cf. French "guivre" and "vouivre"), which originate from Latin "vīpera", meaning "viper", "adder", or "asp". Conversely, medievalist William Sayers proposes a more complex origin for the term. He notes that the Anglo-French "guivre" and its Middle English derivative ceased to
Westland Wyvern "Albion" until March 1955 when the problems had been resolved. 830 Sqn. took the Wyvern into combat from HMS "Eagle", flying 79 sorties during Operation Musketeer; the armed response to the Suez Crisis. Two Wyverns were lost to damage from Egyptian light anti-aircraft fire; both pilots of the aircraft successfully ejected over the sea, and were picked up by "Eagle"'s search and rescue helicopter. The squadron returned to the UK on "Eagle" after this conflict and disbanded in January 1957. Consequently, 813 was the last Wyvern squadron, disbanding on 22 April 1958. All Wyverns were withdrawn from service by 1958: