Dragon slayer



Dragon slayers are specific historical characters that have been portrayed in stories, myth and books and films the former far more ancient and the latter attempts to bring the ancient stories to a contemporary audience. Perhaps some of the most famous stories of dragonslayers are the knights of the Middle Ages which battled fierce dragon-like creatures and became epic war heroes of legend.

Beowulf

 * Main Article: Beowulf

Beowulf was a legendary heroic dragon slayer of the Geats who lived from 495–583 AD. His exploits include slaying several sea reptiles and a terrestrial dragon called a grendel. Beowulf ultimately lost his life at the age of 88 from wounds he received while fighting a flying reptile that may have been a giant pterosaur. The story of Beowulf is preserved in an epic poem of the same name that is often considered to be one of the most important pieces of Anglo-Saxon literature.

Saint George

 * Main Article: Saint George

The tale of St. George and the Dragon was included in Jacobus de Voragine's Legenda Aurea (or Golden Legend), a collection of Saints' lives compiled around the year 1260 and translated into English and published by William Caxton in 1483.

A modern version of the legend says: At the town of Silene, in Libya, there was a dragon, who was appeased by being fed two sheep a day; when these failed, the townsfolk offered by lot one of their young people. One day the lot fell on the King's daughter, who was led out to the sacrifice, dressed in her wedding gown. George appeared and transfixed the dragon with his spear and then using the Princess's girdle led the bemused dragon into the town, where it was beheaded. — Catholic Encyclopaedia

Other

 * Beatus of Lungern (Saint Beatus) Beatenberg, Switzerland. 1st century.
 * Bienheuré (Saint Bienheuré) Vendôme, France. 3rd century.
 * Clement of Metz (Saint Clement) killed the Graoully. Metz, France. 1st century.
 * Crescentinus (Saint Crescentinus) Umbria, Italy. 3rd century.
 * Donatus of Arezzo (Saint Donatus) Arezzo, Italy. 4th century.
 * Julian of Le Mans (Saint Julian) Le Mans, France. 3rd or 4th century.
 * Leonard of Noblac (Saint Leonard) Limousin, France. 6th century.
 * Mercurialis of Forlì (Saint Mercurialis) Romagna, Italy. 4th century.
 * Margaret of Antioch (Saint Margaret) Pisidia, Anatolia. 3rd century.
 * Martha of Bethany (Saint Martha) tamed the Tarasque. Provence, France. 1st century.
 * Quirinus of Malmedy (Saint Quirinus) Vaux-sur-Seine, France. 2nd and 3rd century.
 * Romanus of Rouen (Saint Romain) caught the Gargouille. Rouen, France. 7th century.
 * Veranus of Cavaillon (Saint Veran) Cavaillon, France. 6th century.