Mataj the Dragon

Mataj is a mighty dragon who lives in the Abyss of the Sleeping Dragon. He is old, very old, perhaps as old as time itself. And so, he is wise as he is mighty. Tarragon seeks the assistance of Mataj in his quest to obtain the vast treasure that is buried deep within Treasure Mountain.

The name Mataj was inspired by Slovene scholar Vlado Nartnik’s belief that Mataj, a dragon, was the offspring of Mother Earth and the original source for the famous Slovene legend Kralj Matjaž (“King Matjaž”).¹

The word dragon stems from the ancient Greek drakon, which described both “dragons” and “giant serpents”.² The word, in turn, is thought to derive from the verb derkein, which means "to see clearly". Thus, the term "dragon" literally means the "sharp-sighted one".³

Since earliest antiquity, the dragon has captivated the imaginations of people worldwide. As Karl Shuker writes:

Of all the countless legendary beasts that have been conjured forth from the seemingly limitless capacity of the human imagination, none can remotely compare with the dragon for its sheer diversity of form, its symbolic significance, and its cross-cultural presence.⁴

Throughout history, dragons have been linked with or seen as symbols of wisdom, transcendence, transformation, birth, death, chaos, creation, fertility, magic, healing, evil, and meteorological phenomena.⁵ French historian Jacques Le Goff concluded that the dragon is “one of the most complex symbolisms of the history of cultures”.⁶

Dragons come in many shapes and sizes, but they can be broadly classified into two categories: Western and Eastern dragons.⁷ Western dragons are portrayed as dinosaur-like or giant lizard-like creatures with four legs, long necks and broad shoulders, horned, armoured scales, and a serrated ridge of spines running along their entire body. They may or may not possess a large set of bat-like wings and often, but not always, breathe fire. On the other hand, Eastern dragons are wingless, four-legged, elongated serpentine creatures with sharp claws. Despite having no wings, they still possess the ability to fly with the use of magic. They rarely breathe fire, and they had the ability to shape-shift into other animals, even humans.

Slovenia is a land steeped in dragon lore.⁸ Dragons were believed to have lived in various caves and swamps throughout the country, even in the capital city of Ljubljana. Here, according to the famous legend of Jason and the Argonauts, Jason is said to have slain a dragon, which subsequently became the city’s mascot. Another legend, Zlatorog (“Golden Horn”), features a multi-headed dragon/snake guarding a vast treasure buried within Mount Bogatin. The white snake, a sacred and mysterious animal, is said to have lived in the Baba Jama cave, which was considered the earthly heart of the Great Mother by the Old Believers (“Staroverci”).⁹ ¹⁰ When the sanctity of Baba Jama was disturbed, the white snake escaped the underworld through a hidden exit, transformed into the shape of an eagle and flew away.

To this day, Slovenia is one of the few countries in the world where baby dragons, known as the olm or proteus, are born.¹¹ ¹² These aquatic salamanders are found only in water-filled caves in the Dinaric Alps of Central and Southeastern Europe. These blind, snake-like amphibians can grow up to 40 centimetres in size and have a remarkable lifespan of up to 120 years.