Saint George and the Dragon
an index page for the legendary saint
edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 2000-2024
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Saint George (St. George) is one of the most durable legendary heroes in
the western world. According to tradition, he was born in England in the
fourth century and served in the imperial army in Asia Minor. He has been
the patron saint of England since the middle ages and is among the
greatest saints for the Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches. His famous
duel with the dragon is set in various Holy Land locations plus North
Africa, Mediterranean Europe, and even northern Europe.
Folktales about dragon slayers are classified as Aarne-Thompson-Uther
type 300.
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- Mar Jiryis (Saint George) and the Dragon
(Palestine).
- Links to related sites.
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fairy tales, and mythology.
Palestine
There was once a great city that depended for its water supply upon a
fountain without the walls. A great dragon, possessed and moved by Satan
himself, took possession of the fountain and refused to allow water to be
taken unless, whenever people came to the spring, a youth or maiden was
given to him to devour. The people tried again and again to destroy the
monster; but though the flower of the city cheerfully went forth against
it, its breath was so pestilential that they used to drop down dead before
they came within bow-shot.
The terrorized inhabitants were thus obliged to sacrifice their
offspring, or die of thirst; till at last all the youth of the place had
perished except the king's daughter. So great was the distress of their
subjects for want of water that her heart-broken parents could no longer
withhold her, and amid the tears of the populace she went out towards the
spring, where the dragon lay awaiting her. But just as the noisome monster
was going to leap on her, Mar Jiryis appeared, in golden panoply, upon a
fine white steed, and spear in hand. Riding full tilt at the dragon, he
struck it fair between the eyes and laid it dead. The king, out of
gratitude for this unlooked-for succor, gave Mar Jiryis his daughter and
half of his kingdom.
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- Dragon Slayers: An Index Page.
- Saint
George, from Wikipedia, the
free encyclopedia.
- The Legend of Saint
George,
abstracted from The Golden Legend; or, Lives of the Saints.
- The Legend of Saint
George as recorded by S. Baring-Gould.
- St. George and the Dragon, retold by Horace E. Scudder.
- Saint George Ballads from
Thomas Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, edited by D. L. Ashliman.
- Saint George Legends from Northern Europe,
translated and edited by D. L. Ashliman.
- Alpine Dragons, legends from Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.
- British Dragons, legends from England, Wales, and Scotland.
- Return to the table of contents.
Return to D. L. Ashliman's folktexts, a library of folktales, folklore,
fairy tales, and mythology.
Revised May 5, 2024.