- Origin
- England/Spenser
- Source
- Saint George and the Dragon:
- A Golden Legend Adapted by Margaret Hodges
- from Edmund Spenser's "Fairie Queene"
- Illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
- Little, Brown: Boston, 1984
- The Story
- Hodge's retelling of the well-known tale of the battle between St.
George, the Red Cross Knight, and the dragon is both poetic and graphically
powerful. Sent by the Fairie Queen to rid of the dreadful dragon who is
the cause of the fair maiden Una's sorrow for laying waste to the land of
her parents, the king and the queen. After three days and three nights,
with help from magical plants and natural resources, the dragon is killed
by St. George and he is wedded to Una.
- Comments
- The nameless dragon in this story is monstrous, horrible, and vast,
armed all over with scales of brass fitted so closely that no sword or
spear could pierce them. It has wings. Its long tail with two sharp
stings at the end, speckled red and black, sweeps the land behind him for
almost half a mile. Sharp claws seem to be his most deadly weapon. This
dragon is beasty and purely evil. It breathes fire. But, other than
that, it does not possess any magical power.
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Introduction/Index