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.
