This is also believed to be the reason griffons are also sometimes associated with treasure, as they're supposedly inspired by ceratopsians, being quadrupeds with beaks. Miners who were digging for gold would sometimes find dinosaur bones buried nearby, hence the association between the two. One possible explanation of the origin of this trope comes from the old hypothesis about dragon legends being inspired by dinosaur fossils. In fact, up to the 17th century, dragons were considered the emblematic representation of Greed. Dragons, it was concluded, must be pathologically avaricious and stingy - kind of like a species of compulsive hoarders with a Money Fetish. More often than not, they don't do anything beyond brood over or sleep on their treasure. People have also long noticed - see that Beowulf quote - that dragons have no apparent use for treasure: they cannot spend, wear or process it. Whatever the reasons, on average dragons show noticeably less interest in other treasures, like silver or even jewels. In some ways, hoard-guarding dragons are no different from other treasure guardians: They make sure it isn't too easy for the hero to get at a desired MacGuffin, and a heap of treasure in itself provides a convincing motivation for a hero to engage in an exciting monster-fight.ĭragons have a peculiarity, though, in that they are especially attached to gold: dragon-hoards almost always contain at least a substantial share of gold. Justifications in-story for why a dragon sits on a hoard, including backstories of how hoard and dragon came together, vary considerably. Curiously, there is no consensus as to why dragons do this. This trope is especially ingrained in Germanic Mythology - in fact it is hard to find a dragon in ancient Anglo-Saxon, German or Norse legends that doesn't guard gold. In some settings, dragons tend to guard hoards of treasure - typically by lying on top of it.

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