Saint George and the Dragon by Tintoretto.
The first associations of a dragon with St. George probably come from the Greek Church, where early icons depicted St. George trampling the Dragon of the Apocalypse, representing the saint’s triumph over evil. This association seems to have spread out from Greece in the ninth and tenth centuries, and was soon seen in imagery all over Europe. The first written account of the battle between St. George and the dragon comes from the twelfth century. In that story, George subdues the dragon with the sign of the cross, a familiar motif seen in many saint-versus-dragon legends.
The turning point for the story of St. George and the dragon came in the year 1260, when the Italian Jacobus de Voragine compiled a large collection of saints’s lives into a work now known as The Golden Legend. This work became one of the most popular books of its day, and hundreds of copies have survived to the present. In 1483, England’s first book printer, William Caxton, translated The Golden Legend into English, and it became a popular work among the educated and well-to-do.
While The Golden Legend only tells a brief version of the story of St. George and the dragon, it contains all of the classic aspects that have become associated with the tale: the citizens feeding their children to the dragon, George saving the princess, and the binding of the dragon with a girdle. It is from The Golden Legend that the modern story of St. George has developed.
St. George as depicted in a German World War I propaganda poster.
THE HISTORICAL ST. GEORGE
Despite the enduring popularity of the St. George legend, almost every aspect of the story is open to debate and speculation. Indeed, any search for the ‘true historical St. George’ is something of a fool’s errand as even the earliest versions of his life are full of contradictions. In fact, as early as 494 AD, Pope Gelasius I, while canonizing George, warned that the story of St. George should be treated with ‘extreme circumspection’.
St. George is sometimes said to be from Cappadocia in modern Turkey, but this may result from confusion with another historical figure named ‘George of Cappadocia’, a far from saintly man. Just as likely, St. George came from Palestine, where the towns of Joppa and Diospolis both claim the honour. His parentage is unknown, though many possibilities are given in the various accounts. Even his position as a Roman soldier or officer cannot be convincingly confirmed. All that can truly be said is that there was probably a man named George, who lived somewhere in the Middle-East or North Africa in the third century AD who was martyred for his faith by the Romans.
Since the earliest days of the legend, many countries have tried to claim the saint as their own. At various times St. George has been identified as the patron saint of Portugal, Germany, Armenia, Hungary and Lithuania, as well as numerous cities from as far and wide as Ferrara, Antioch, Braganza and Bellay. Yet no location seems to have staked its claim harder than England. In the centuries since The Golden Legend, many versions of the St. George story have been written in English, and in each one, George seems to become a little more, well, English.
Around 1580, Richard Johnson wrote The Famous Historie of the Seaven Champions of Christendom. In this popular version of the tale, St. George is a native of Coventry who journeys to Egypt, fights a dragon and marries the princess. He then brings his bride back to England, where they have a long life together, before George fights a second dragon, which results in the death of both combatants (reminiscent of Beowulf). In this version, St. George is also the father of another noted dragonslayer, Guy of Warwick, who will be discussed later.
While the story of St. George was gaining wide popular appeal among the English populace, it was also being used more and more frequently by the royalty. The first monarch to have been really interested in the story of St. George was Edward III, and there is more than one medieval manuscript in existence that shows Edward III and St. George standing together. In the mid-1340s, Edward III established the Order of the Garter, one of the most famous English knightly orders, and designated the chapel of St. George at Windsor as its focal point. In 1349 the first formal celebration of St. George’s Day took place in the chapel.
Saint George and the Dragon by Santi Raffaelli. (Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy)
From then until today, St. George has been frequently and increasingly used by the English as a symbol of national identity. Even during the Reformation of Henry VIII, when the king banned nearly all religious holidays, St. George’s Day was given an exemption. Now, even as religion plays a diminishing role in the lives of most English people, it appears that the celebration of St. George’s Day will continue for many, many years to come.
Pope Sylvester I
Not long after Constantine became the Emperor of Rome, a great dragon took up residence in a deep pit on the edge of the city. From this pit, the creature’s foul, poisonous breath would drift up and roll across the city. Nearly three hundred people a day suffered sickness and death from the foul fumes, and they cried out to the Emperor for help and protection.
Pope St. Sylvester’s Miracle, a fresco painted on the wall of the San Silvestro Chapel around 1337. (Mandadori Electa / The Bridgeman Art Library)
Unsure how to deal with the dragon, Constantine summoned Pope Sylvester and asked his advice. The Pope replied that he would pray on the matter, and that God would show him the way to defeat the creature.
That night, Sylvester prayed to God and to all the saints who had gone before him for guidance. Then St. Peter, the first pope, appeared to him. Peter taught Sylvester a prayer to tame the dragon, and gave to Sylvester a silver thread to bind its mouth.
As the sun rose the following morning, Sylvester went alone to the great pit. Despite the poisonous fumes that boiled up around the pit, he walked safely to the edge of the hole. There he found a great staircase leading down. Lighting a pair of lanterns, he descended into the darkness. The staircase spiralled around the edge of the hole, running downward for one hundred and fifty steps, and, at the bottom, Sylvester found the dragon curled up amidst the bones of its many victims.
As Sylvester approached, it reared up and gazed down at the pope with baleful eyes.
Sylvester put down his lanterns, raised up his hands, and spoke:
Our Lord Jesus Christ which was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried and arose, and now sitteth on the right side of the Father, this is he that shall come to deem and judge the living and the dead, I commend thee Sathanas [Satan] that thou abide him in this place till he comes.
The Redcrosse Knight. In 1590 the English poet, Edmund Spenser, released the first part of his epic poem, The Faerie Queene. The hero of book one is The Redcrosse Knight, who is later revealed to be St. George. In the poem, St. George kills a dragon after an epic battle. This artwork illustrates this battle, one of the last major fights between a hero and a dragon in English literature before the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Then Sylvester took the silver thread and bound shut the dragon’s mouth, so that its breath could not escape. Sylvester returned to the surface, bringing the dragon with him to show everyone what had been done. The people of Rome rejoiced to be delivered from the creature, and many asked to be baptized on the spot.
Sylvester served as the pope from 314 to 335 AD. Although little can be said for certain about him, he reigned during a time of great growth and expansion for the Catholic Church. It was during his time that many great churches were built in Rome, including the first St. Peter’s Basilica. He also approved the decisions of the Council of Nicaea, the first great ecumenical council that codified a lot of early church doctrine.
St. Crantock (or Carantoc) as depicted in stained glass from Crantock Church in Cornwall. (Photographed by S. Tyson / Dan Mersey)
The story of Sylvester and the dragon comes from The Golden Legend, where it serves as an addendum to a longer and more famous story about the pope and Constantine. In this tale, God strikes Constantine with leprosy because of his persecution of Christians. When Constantine goes to his ph
ysicians, they say the disease can only be cured by bathing in the blood of three thousand children. The Emperor has his soldiers gather the children, but when he hears the wailing of their mothers, he decides not to kill them. Because of this, God sends him a message to go to Sylvester and be baptized. Upon his baptism, Constantine is cured.
The baptism story, like many other stories about Sylvester, was probably written in an effort to establish the authority of the church over that of secular rulers, and it is certainly possible to see the dragon story in this light. However, regardless of why the dragon story was written, it follows a very classic formula for saint-versus-dragon stories. Sylvester overcomes the dragon with the power of prayer and then binds it with something frail. What is somewhat unusual about the tale is that the final fate of the dragon is not stated. In almost all other stories of this type, including St. George above and St. Carantoc below, the dragon is led back to the people it menaced and then either killed or banished. Sylvester’s dragon, on the other hand, is brought up from the pit, and then the story just ends.
St. Carantoc and King Arthur
King Arthur paused atop the hill and looked back at the long column of men and horses that followed behind. For three weeks, they had hunted along the Cornish coast, following a trail of mutilated cattle and burning villages, but still had failed to find the dragon responsible. The only break in their monotonous search had been the discovery last week of a strange wooden table, washed up on the shore. The table was decorated with intricate carvings of men and beasts, and though it had apparently drifted on the ocean tides, it had suffered no damage. That night, they had tried to use the table for their supper, but any dish placed upon its surface was immediately cast upon the ground by some mysterious magical force. So they gave up and packed the table away, and it now travelled in one of the wagons in the rear.
St. Clément of Metz, the first bishop of Metz, fighting with the dragon Graoully. This stained glass window was designed by Hermann de Munster in the 14th century and can be seen in the Cathedral of Metz in France.
When Arthur turned back around, he saw an old man struggling up the other side of the hill. He carried a gnarled wooden stick and wore simple robes and a white stole, embroidered with a golden cross around his shoulders.
‘Father,’ said the king, as the man came closer, ‘by what name do you travel? And what brings you to this lonely place?’
The old man smiled. ‘I am called Carantoc, and I suspect that I am here for the same reason as you. I am hunting.’
At this, Arthur drew back. ‘Not hunting for the dragon, surely?’
‘Dragon?’ replied Carantoc. ‘No. Dragons are easy to find. I’m hunting for my altar. I tossed it into the sea many months ago and have been searching for it ever since. Wherever it comes ashore, I shall build a church.’
SAINTLY DRAGONSLAYERS
St. Beatus of Lungern (The Apostle of Switzerland)
Born in either Scotland or Ireland in the first century, Beatus was ordained as a priest in Rome by St. Peter. He then travelled to Switzerland to preach and baptize. Late in his life, Beatus travelled into the mountains above Lake Thun, where he battled a dragon. Beatus would live out the rest of his life as a hermit in the dragon’s cave.
St. Clement of Metz
Sent out by St. Peter in the earliest days of the Church, St. Clement travelled to Metz, where he found the local population being held prisoner by a dragon. This dragon, known as the Graoully, had taken up residence in the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre, along with an army of lesser serpents. Using the sign of the cross, Clement tamed the Graoully and his serpents and banished them from the world of men and animals.
St. Murrough O’Heany
Soon after the death of St. Patrick, a great dragon called Lig-na-Paiste terrorized the Roe Valley in Ireland, and the people called upon Murrough to save them. After praying for nine days, Murrough went to the dragon and challenged him to a contest. If Paiste would allow Murrough to place three rods upon his back, the dragon could then try to eat him. The dragon agreed, but when Murrough placed the rods across his back, they immediately grew down into the ground, pinning Paiste to the earth. Murrough then banished the dragon until Judgement Day, into the waters of Lough Foyle, where, it is said, he still struggles against his bonds. Paiste was the last serpent in Ireland.
St. Theodore Tyro
A contemporary of St. George, Theodore also served as a cavalryman in the Roman Army. While stationed near his hometown of Amasea in Turkey, he heard tell of a fire-breathing dragon attacking the people nearby. He found the dragon near an abandoned village and killed it with a spear thrust to the head. Theodore was later martyred for his Christian faith, which he had kept secret for most of his life.
The Blessed Ammon
According to Rufinus in his Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, the blessed Ammon encountered a giant dragon with poisonous breath in the midst of the Egyptian desert. Ammon called upon the power of God to strike down the charging dragon, and the dragon immediately vomited up his life and burst with a loud crack. Ammon is thought to have been the first hermit to found a Monastery.
St. Bernard of Menthon
Born in the early tenth century, St. Bernard ran away from his rich family to become a priest in the Benedictine order. From then on, he devoted his life to the conversion of the people living in the Alps. In one story, while travelling in the Alps, St. Bernard and his followers came across a brigand who was using a dragon to terrorize the local populace. Bernard went up to the dragon and threw his stole across it. The middle part of the stole miraculously turned into chains that wrapped around the dragon’s neck. Thus chained, Bernard’s followers were able to dispatch the beast.
St. Magnus
Probably the most prolific of all holy dragonslayers, St. Magnus was born around the year 700. Later that century, Magnus would go on a dragonslaying tour around southern Germany. He defeated his first dragon, a monster named Boas, near the city of Kempten, bashing in its head with a staff. In the valley of Rosshaupten he faced another dragon. This one he killed by tossing pitch and resin into its mouth, causing it to explode. Finally, at the village of Ronsberg, St. Magnus faced off against three dragons. These he defeated by unleashing a pack of trained bears that hunted them down and tore them to shreds.
Though it is hard to believe, these are just the best known of the many dragons that St. Magnus is said to have killed or banished during his lifetime, and his total may reach as high as eighteen!
St. Bernard and the dragon.
‘You say dragons are easy prey, but I would gladly trade knowledge of your altar to see the dragon that plagues this land.’
‘Indeed?’ said Carantoc. ‘Well, wait here my king and you shall see.’ Carantoc turned and walked back down the hill. Then he knelt down in prayer by a long stretch of marshy ground.
A few moments later, the ground rumbled, and Arthur stared in amazement as a winged dragon burst from the earth. It gave a pathetic cry from its fanged mouth, like a calf calling to its mother, and came running over to the holy man. There it laid its head down by the old man’s feet. Carantoc stood up, removed his stole, and wrapped it gently around the dragon’s neck. Then, leading the dragon behind him, Carantoc walked back up the hill to where King Arthur stood. Arthur reached for his sword, but Carantoc laid a gentle hand upon his.
‘You asked to see the dragon and you have done so. There is no need for swords. I shall banish it from this place, never to return.’
King Arthur nodded. ‘And I shall bring you your altar, and then I will take you to the place where my men found it.’
Carantoc banished the dragon, and Arthur kept his promise. He took St. Carantoc to the spot where they had found the altar. Then the king and his men helped the holy man build his church.
St. Carantoc, whose name is also spelled Crantock, Carannog, Cairnech, or Carantocus, was a sixth century saint born in either Wales or Cornwall. What little is known about his life comes from a fantastical biograph
y, preserved in a twelfth century manuscript. At the time he lived, the Celtic Church was mostly disconnected from the Roman Catholic Church, and it is only in later generations, with the reintegration of the two, that the lives of the early Celtic saints became part of the Catholic tradition.
Saint Magnus by Andreas Brugger. (INTERFOTO / Alamy)
While the story of St. Carantoc and the dragon still survives as a folktale in parts of Cornwall, and a church still stands on the supposed site that his altar washed ashore, it is the association with King Arthur that has likely preserved it. Because Arthur remains such a popular legend, any early work which contains him is closely studied, especially those stories that, like St. Carantoc’s, appear independent of the later British traditions that mostly stem from the works of Geoffery of Monmouth.
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