Here be dragons!

It is Saint George's day today, the patron saint of England, he is famous for killing dragons. Not something that I hold with personally!

 

So whilst every girl dreams of her knight in shining armour, I hope that when mine turns up he realises that killing the dragon isn't going to win me over, and is probably not the best way forwards. 

Rather than celebrate St George I am going to make a stand for Dragons! Like the one who lived down my plug hole and kept me safe from the wardrobe monsters when my Dad wasn't there. My Dad called him Grendall.

I remember the first time I went to Jo's house, it was already apparent how similar we were but yet at the same time different. When I walked into her conservatory it was amazing, we both collected Enchantica dragons! What were the chances of that? Our mutual love of dragons and randomness sealed out friendship, and as the saying goes "the rest is history"! So dragons have a very special place in my heart.

I love my Vivien of Holloway Sarong dresses, they are flattering and feminine and I love the colourful prints. This is one of my favourite ones, the blue reminds me of Lapis Lazuli, and the gold embossed dragons reminds me of the tiny flecks of gold you get in good quality lapis lazuli. 

No other country on earth has such rich dragon lore as the British Isles. Our tiny little homeland is crawling with legends of these beasts. Several species of dragon were said to dwell in Britain.

Dress: Sarong Dress in Dragon Print by Vivien of Holloway

Shoes: Schuh

THE TRUE DRAGON

Also known as the heraldic dragon, or firedrake, this is the dragon par-excellence; the most well known of all dragon types, the most widespread, and the most powerful. The true dragon is a gigantic reptilian beast with four legs. It sports two leather, bat-like wings and is covered with armored scales. Its head is usually depicted with horns or a crest. It has a spined tail and savage teeth and claws. The true dragons main weapon, however, is its breath; its most famous attribute being the jets of flame that it spat from its jaws.

This was the ultimate challenge for a folk hero or knight. The true dragon was almost impossible to kill. It had only one vulnerable spot on its whole body, and this was usually well hidden. In many, although not all, legends these creatures protected a horde of treasure. They are also attributed magical powers such as invisibility and self healing. Dragons such as these often laid waste to vast areas and put whole communities under siege.

The true dragon occurs more often than any other type in British legend.

THE WORM

Sometimes rendered wyrm (from the Norse orm and the Germanic vurm) the worm runs a close second in its number of appearances in British legends. It is, in essence, a titanic snake. These limbless giants often grew from tiny innocuous looking serpents, a motif also found in the folklore of China and Scandinavia.

Worms did not breathe fire but spat venom or blew blasts of poisonous gas. A worm would often poison whole areas, withering crops. As well as its deadly bite and breath, the worm crushed its prey in monstrous coils like an outsized python or anaconda.

Worms also had some odd attributes. They seemed fond of milk (an odd diet for a reptile) and would often suckle from cows. Some were placated by being given troughs of milk. They were also known for being able to rejoin severed sections of their bodies, making them exceedingly hard to kill.

THE WYVERN

The wyvern resembles the true-dragon in many ways. It is a reptilian, winged monster that brings death and destruction. It fulfils the same roll in legends as its relative - a guardian of treasure, and an obstacle to be defeated by a hero. The main difference between the two creatures is that the wyvern has only two legs, as opposed to the dragons four. Many wyverns sport scorpion-like stings in their tails. They have a bats wings, and a snake-like head and neck. The legs are eagle-like, with curved-talons. Like the true dragon, the wyvern’s head is often furnished with horns or a crest. Wyverns were generally smaller than true dragons. Most wyverns flew, but some were earthbound and crawled despite having wings.

Wyverns were believed to be disease carriers, spreading pestilence wherever they appeared. Plague outbreaks and illnesses of both humans and livestock were blamed upon them. Some wyverns breathed fire in the fashion of true-dragons, while others spewed forth a noxious poison gas.

THE BASILISK OR COCKATRICE

 Of all the British dragons the basilisk was the smallest, most being only a few feet long at their maximum. It was believed that occasionally - in old age - a rooster could lay an egg. If such an uncommon egg were to be incubated by a snake or toad, and successfully hatch, then a basilisk would emerge.

What the basilisk lacked in size it made up for in deadliness. Its death-dealing powers came not from fiery-breath or tooth and claw but from its withering glare. Any creature that caught the eyes of the basilisk would fall dead. The one exception to this was the weasel. It was believed that God never created a bane without creating some cure for it, like the stinging nettle and the dock-leaf. The dragons own gaze was as lethal to itself as to any other creature. Hence, its own reflection would kill it stone-dead! Equally, for some cryptic reason, the sound of a cock crowing at dawn would also kill the basilisk.

The basilisk usually took the form of a small snake with a crest resembling a rooster’s comb, or a crown. In later stories, they looked like a horned rooster with the tail of a snake. In this form it was referred to as a cockatrice.

THE GWIBER

The gwiber is a legless winged serpent. In appearance it is half way between the wyvern and the worm. The word gwiber is a corruption of viper. Most of the British winged serpent stories come from Wales. In Wales, gwibers actually outnumber the more familiar type of dragon that we see even today on the Welsh flag. Gwibers did not usually breathe fire, but they had a highly venomous bite.

The Welsh had some strange folklore pertaining to the genesis of the gwiber. It was believed that serpents loved milk, and would - given the chance - suckle from cows. Women’s milk was favoured even more, but if an ordinary snake drank the milk of a woman it would grow into a gwiber. Nursing-women had to be careful not to let any of their milk fall to the floor where a snake might lap it up, or to fall asleep on the ground where a snake might reach their breasts.

Another strange quirk of Welsh gwiber tales is that they are never killed by a knight or any sort of nobleman. It is always a shepherd, farm hand, or some other peasant-lad who puts paid to the gwiber with his wits.