The episode of Saint George and the Dragon appended to the hagiography of Saint George was Eastern in origin,[1] brought back with the Crusaders and retold with the courtly appurtenances belonging to the genre of Romance. The earliest known depictions of the motif are from tenth- or eleventh-century Cappadocia[2] and eleventh-century Georgia;[3] previously, in the iconography of Eastern Orthodoxy, George had been depicted as a soldier since at least the seventh century. The earliest known surviving narrative of the dragon episode is an eleventh-century Georgian text.[4]
William Shakespeare refers to St. George and the Dragon in Richard III; act v, also in King Lear; act I.
| “ | Advance our standards, set upon our foes Our ancient world of courage fair St. George Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons..... Richard III. act v, sc.3. |
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| “ | Come not between the Dragon and his wrath..... King Lear. Act I, Sc 2 | ” |
The dragon motif was first combined with the already standardised Passio Georgii in Vincent of Beauvais' encyclopedic Speculum Historiale, and then Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (ca 1260) guaranteed its popularity in the later Middle Ages as a literary and pictorial subject.[5] The legend gradually became part of the Christian traditions relating to Saint George and was used in many festivals thereafter.[6]
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According to the Golden Legend the narrative episode of Saint George and the Dragon took place in a place he called "Silene," in Libya; the Golden Legend is the first to place this legend in Libya as a sufficiently exotic locale, where a dragon might be imagined. In the tenth-century Georgian narrative, the place is the fictional city of Lasia, and it is the godless Emperor who is Selinus.[7]
The town had a pond, as large as a lake, where a plague-bearing dragon dwelled that envenomed all the countryside. To appease the dragon, the people of Silene used to feed it two sheep every day, and when the sheep failed, they fed it their children, chosen by lottery. It happened that the lot fell on the king's daughter, who is in some versions of the story called Sabra.[8] The king, distraught with grief, told the people they could have all his gold and silver and half of his kingdom if his daughter were spared; the people refused. The daughter was sent out to the lake, decked out as a bride, to be fed to the dragon.
Saint George by chance rode past the lake. The princess, trembling, sought to send him away, but George vowed to remain. The dragon reared out of the lake while they were conversing. Saint George fortified himself with the Sign of the Cross,[9] charged it on horseback with his lance and gave it a grievous wound. Then he called to the princess to throw him her girdle, and he put it around the dragon's neck. When she did so, the dragon followed the girl like a meek beast on a leash.
She and Saint George led the dragon back to the city of Silene, where it terrified the people at its approach. But Saint George called out to them, saying that if they consented to become Christians and be baptised, he would slay the dragon before them. The king and the people of Silene converted to Christianity, George slew the dragon, and the body was carted out of the city on four ox-carts. "Fifteen thousand men baptized, without women and children." On the site where the dragon died, the king built a church to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint George, and from its altar a spring arose whose waters cured all disease.[10]
Traditionally, the sword[11] with which St. George slew the dragon was called Ascalon, a name recalling the city of Ashkelon, Israel. From this tradition, the name Ascalon was used by Winston Churchill for his personal aircraft during World War II (records at Bletchley Park), since St. George is the Patron Saint of England.
The figure of the dragon slayer figures in the founding myth of Delphi, where Apollo slays the drakon Pytho, and has ancient Near Eastern roots as old as Mesopotamian Labbu. A dragon is also an enemy figure in the Book of Revelation (chapter 12 onwards) and in the saintly legend of Margaret the Virgin.
The region had long venerated other religious figures. These historians deem it likely that certain elements of their ancient worship could have passed to their Christian successors. Notable among these ancient deities was Sabazios, the Sky Father of the Phrygians and known as Sabazius to the Romans. This god was traditionally depicted riding on horseback.
The iconic image of St. George on horseback trampling the serpent-dragon beneath him is considered to be similar to these pre-Christian representations of Sabazios, the mounted god of Phrygia and Thrace.
According to Christopher Booker it is more likely, however, that the "George and the Dragon" story is a medieval adaptation of the ancient Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda—evidence for which can be seen in the similarity of events and locale in both stories.[12] In this connection, the Perseus and Andromeda myth was known throughout the Middle Ages from the influence of Ovid. In imagery, other Greek myths also played a role. "Medieval artists used the Greco-Roman image of Bellerophon and the Chimaera as the template for representations of Saint George and the Dragon."[13]
These myths in turn may derive from an earlier Hittite myth concerning the battle between the Storm God Tarhun and the dragon Illuyankas. Such stories also have counterparts in other Indo-European mythologies: the slaying of the serpent Vritra by Indra in Vedic religion, the battle between Thor and Jörmungandr in the Norse story of Ragnarok, the Greek account of the defeat of the Titan Typhon by Zeus.[14]
Parallels also exist outside of Indo-European mythology, for example the Babylonian myths of Marduk slaying the dragon Tiamat.[15] The book of Job 41:21 speaks of a creature whose "breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth."[16]
In Italy, Saint Mercurialis, first bishop of the city of Forlì, is also depicted slaying a dragon.[17] Saint Julian of Le Mans, Saint Veran, Saint Bienheuré, Saint Crescentinus, Saint Margaret of Antioch, Saint Clement of Metz, Saint Martha, Saint Quirinus of Malmedy, Saint Donatus of Arezzo, and Saint Leonard of Noblac were also venerated as dragon-slayers.[18]
Others trace the origin of Saint George and the Dragon to Palestine,where the supposed dragon was controlled by Satan. The creature blocked the city's water supply and would only move if given a virgin sacrifice. Over time, all of the virgins were sacrificed except for the noble's daughter, and even she was sent to quench the castle's thirst. However, Saint George (or Mar Jiryis ) arrived at the last moment on his white horse, striking down the dragon with a spear between its eyes.[19]
The village of Wormingford in Essex, England also lays claim to the George and the Dragon legend. A dragon, now believed to have been a crocodile that escaped from Richard I, was slain in the River Stour. There are differing accounts, including different dragon slayers, however one popular account tells how Sir George Marney (of Layer de la Haye) killed the dragon with his lance. The church in Wormingford (which is dedicated to St Andrew) has a stained glass window depicting this scene.[28][29]
One version of the tale tells St. George as losing the battle with the dragon early on in the encounter. St. George retreats, and wanders down to the river. He prays over his challenges, and removes his armor to melt it down. He takes the melted metal and forges it into a metal box. He places his fears, doubts, and lack of faith inside the box, and goes out to face the dragon again, without armor. St. George instantly slays the dragon. Some scholars interpret the moral of this story is that our fears and doubts are all that prevent us from overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles.
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![[2]](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/tintoretto/st-george-dragon.jpg){kind=link}