A dragon is one of the original representatives of Bosnian mythology whose cult was widespread among our Illyrian ancestors shaped in the belief of a black sky dragon who devours the sun or moon during an eclipse. That's why an eclipse inspired hysterical fear from end of the world, and the Illyrian's tried to save themselves banging on various metal buckets creating a dreadful noise in order to scare and chase away the dragon. The black sky dragon among the Illyrian tribes was considered a god of evil and the belief was upheld until modern times through various stories and legends.
The belief of our ancestors was preserved among the Bosnian people and that's why even today among the elderly we can hear statements that claim that the eclipse is nothing else but a dragon devouring the sun. That's why the elderly regularly warn people not to go anywhere during an eclipse, they should sit down and wait for it to pass. Since a dragon is described as a large snake in Bosnian mythology we can see open hostility of the sun and the snake. Namely, according to a belief from Central Bosnia when someone kills a snake the sun stops in the sky and utters "May your hands be golden!", and if someone comes across a snake and doesn't kill it the sun curses him with words "May your hands shrivel!".
An old Bosnian legend reveals that three sun's used to be in the sky, until a dragon ate two of them and the third was saved by a swallow, which took it high into the sky. That's why a swallow and a dragon (snake) are mortal enemies. As another legend mentions, the swallow saved mankind from a snake which went to god with a wish to feast on humans. As soon as the swallow heard that, she managed to trick the snake into stretching out her tongue and as soon as she did that, the swallow struck her tongue with her beak and split it into two parts, the snake went to god, and she wasn't able to speak clearly which infuriated god who determined that the snake shall feast on frogs and mice.
Among the Bosnian folk there are numerous beliefs and legends about snakes (dragon) as a confirmation how much this animal represents a totem to our ancestors, it had a dominant role in the spiritual consciousness of the Bosnian folk throughout history. Regardless of numerous legends the snake is after all considered as a saviour of mankind which is best illustrated by the legend of Noah's ark and the mouse.
