Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Dragons of Lore Series: St. George's Dragon


The first time I became aware of St. George’s dragon myth, I didn’t even realize it for what it was. It was disguised in a fantasy movie that was more famous for being the first Disney film with partial nudity than anything else: Dragonslayer. Great movie, I’ve watched it dozens of times. The premise of the story, taken almost entirely from the St. George dragon myth, was of a kingdom terrorized by a terrible fire-breathing dragon. To appease the dragon, and to win an uneasy peace with it, the king’s spiritualist holds a lottery with every virgin in the kingdom included, with the unlucky winner to be chained outside the dragon’s lair as a blood sacrifice. When the king’s own daughter is chosen and condemned to die, she is deftly rescued by a daring foreign hero who happens by just at the moment of truth.
There are subtle differences: St. George, who lived in the late third, early fourth centuries, was a warrior priest, perhaps an early version of a Templar Knight. The Hollywood version simply changed the hero from a missionary warrior to an inexperienced young wizard; to appeal to the teenagers the producers pitched it to. Even though the flick was not a cinematic masterpiece, it was still a key building block in my growing love of dragons, and inspired me to learn more and that is how I discovered the myth of St. George.
In the movie the dragon is slain by means of sorcery. In the myth, St. George makes the sign of the cross, pins the dragon with his lance, asks the princess for her girdle, and proceeds to strap it around the dragon’s neck. The princess is then able to lead the wounded beast through the streets of the kingdom like a harmless lamb. When the townsfolk flee in fear, St. George agrees to behead the creature in return for the mass baptism of all the people in the kingdom.
In the movie, the young dragon slayer wins the love of his dream girl, a female warrior, not the princess, mind you. In the myth, St. George converted the entire kingdom to Christianity after slaying the dragon. The king offers him a reward of half the money in the kingdom. St. George refused. Instead, he demanded that the king take care of the churches, honor the priests and have pity on poor people.
After that, St. George left and continued on his personal crusade to convert pagans to Christianity.  Eventually he was martyred for his efforts. Death may have claimed George’s soul but he has been immortalized as patron Saint of England, as well as Portugal and Malta. The red cross he wore on his arms has been adopted as the Union Jack of England and also on the flags of Australia and New Zealand. There are many cities around the world named after him and even the Eurasian country of Georgia is indirectly named after him. The power of the cult of St. George is so prevailing that 365 Orthodox churches in that country bear his name.
Perhaps St. George’s greatest legacy is that he is venerated by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, as the man slew the dragon in Palestine and continued to work miracles, even after his death. I think that is about as rare as it gets in that regard.
Please check back with DeThroe Blog next week to read my next Dragons of Lore article about the Norse myth of Beowulf and his battle with a dragon.




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