paarthurnax

I think the issue with this is that "dragon", "wyvern", "wyrm", and "drake" aren't concretely defined terms unless you're looking at a Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. For example, Tolkien uses "dragon", "drake", and "worm" to refer to Smaug. These words mean whatever a specific author wants them to mean.

Makes sense.

What about Harry Potter, those dragons had two legs? Or Dragonslayer which also had two-legged dragons? Not to mention Reign of Fire or the numerous dragons from Yugioh that don't have four legs or Porunga from DBZ or Game of Thrones or The Legend of Zelda or the ones from other series that aren't listed here.

I see your point fahdon, but as zeymah Paarthurnax said, These words mean whatever a specific author wants them to mean. So if a dovah has two legs, so be it.

I debated on this matter again at school today with another friend. He says that the creators of the Elder Scrolls made an error when making the dov of Skyrim. Dov origionated from the continent of Akavir. According to what he says and books he has read, those dovah had four legs and were larger. The dov from Skyrim, that were two-legged,  were called Dragons, because "Bethesda had thir head stuck up their ass." That's what he said. Thoughts?

I did some lore hunting and came across The Story of Lyrisius, a book from Daggerfall. The last line would seem to imply this so-called wyrm was four-legged:

The dragon nurses a grudge against Lyrisius and all of his kind. It has vowed never again to trust two legged bearers of weapons.

The scholar's note is also important to take into consideration:

Scholar's Note: If this legend has a basis in fact, the artifact Fearstruck was utterly destroyed. No other reference to it has ever been found.

Since it is a legend, it's debatable whether the exact details of the story should be taken as fact. This is true for quite a bit of Elder Scrolls lore anyhow.

The book appears in Daggerfall and no other games, so if dragons were at all four-legged, that has been retconned. Every visual depiction since Redguard has shown dragons as two-legged, so it is what it is. I suppose it's up to opinion whether you think Bethesda ought to have made the dragons two or four-legged.

Another famous retcon example is Cyrodiil. From Arena to Morrowind, Cyrodiil was described as a jungle province. Lo and behold, it was quite different when it made its debut in Oblivion. This is now famously chalked up to a "transcription error". Much the same, now that Bethesda has quite firmly established the appearance of its dragons, the wyrm's description in "The Story of Lyrisius" should be taken as legend rather than fact.

paarthurnax

I did some lore hunting and came across The Story of Lyrisius, a book from Daggerfall. The last line would seem to imply this so-called wyrm was four-legged:

The dragon nurses a grudge against Lyrisius and all of his kind. It has vowed never again to trust two legged bearers of weapons.

The scholar's note is also important to take into consideration:

Scholar's Note: If this legend has a basis in fact, the artifact Fearstruck was utterly destroyed. No other reference to it has ever been found.

Since it is a legend, it's debatable whether the exact details of the story should be taken as fact. This is true for quite a bit of Elder Scrolls lore anyhow.

The book appears in Daggerfall and no other games, so if dragons were at all four-legged, that has been retconned. Every visual depiction since Redguard has shown dragons as two-legged, so it is what it is. I suppose it's up to opinion whether you think Bethesda ought to have made the dragons two or four-legged.

Another famous retcon example is Cyrodiil. From Arena to Morrowind, Cyrodiil was described as a jungle province. Lo and behold, it was quite different when it made its debut in Oblivion. This is now famously chalked up to a "transcription error". Much the same, now that Bethesda has quite firmly established the appearance of its dragons, the wyrm's description in "The Story of Lyrisius" should be taken as legend rather than fact.

Seems fair. And vahzen. Bethesda does need to get some things right.

Mulhahlor

Wyverns are generally accepted to be the ones with two legs, yes, but aren't wyverns (aka wind vipers) smaller than Skyrim's dragons?

Technically speaking Wyverns are HUGE compared to dragons, they ate elephants.

I think of wyverns as being bestial and having two legs and no breath weapon. Skyrim's Dovah have only two legs, but are most definitely intelligent (plus immortal) and possess a "breath weapon." Therefore, dragons.

GallantBlade475

I think of wyverns as being bestial and having two legs and no breath weapon. Skyrim's Dovah have only two legs, but are most definitely intelligent (plus immortal) and possess a "breath weapon." Therefore, dragons.

Wyverns have fire breath or a poisonous bite, but I agree with them having less intelligence than a dragon/Dovah.

But not immortal. At least not after Dovahkiin finds them. Rok los lotzu'ul ah.