Dragon Encounters

Beowulf

In the famous epic tale of Beowulf the last creature our hero encounters is an unnamed dragon. In his old age, Beowulf encounters a dragon. This dragon, with "belching flames" (2700, Beowulf), dies, cut in half by the hero. But no sooner does the dragon die than Beowulf himself dies from wounds inflicted during battle.

Gerolde

He was a dragon slayer of the Middle Ages. Gerolde wore armor so bright and shiny that it stunned the dragons he attacked when light hit it. This made his job of dragon slaying easy. Soon followers popped up, giving colorful ribbons to Gerolde, and begging him to tie them to his lance for luck. One day, after he had accumulated many ribbons, he weaved them into a jacket to wear in battle. A few days later, with the sun hidden behind the clouds, Gerolde encountered a dragon. With his colorful jacket thought to give luck, Gerolde had no fears. Unfortunately for Gerolde his jacket was covering his brilliant armor (even if it wasn't the sun wasn't shinning) and the dragon had no distractions. He was immediately burned to a crisp. Gerolde was later found and his remains buried at a cathedral with the highest honor possible. The good part of this story? The dragon survived!

Herakles

A child of the Greek Typhon and Echidna. The Hydra has a long snake-like body with an innumerable amount of heads. Each time Herakles (Hercules-Roman counterpart)cut off one of the Hydra's heads, two more would grow back in it's place. Finally, Herakles (Hercules) tried (actually his nephew, Iolaus did) burning the stump after he had cut off a head. This stopped the growth of two more heads but not even Herakles (Hercules) could destroy the main head of the Hydra so he trapped the monster in a cave and places an immense, immovable boulder before it.

Lambton

Heir to Lambton Castle, Lambton was out fishing at a local river while everyone else was at church on Easter Sunday morning. Perhaps as punishment for not attending church or for blurting profanity, a strange worm-like creature was reeled up from the water. The long creature, thought to be a worm or leech at first, turned out to be a dragon. Its head is described as having the face of the devil, and body foul-smelling. In fear he threw the creature down a nearby well. Lambton was forever changed from that time on. However, as time progressed the dragon grew and each attempted slaying ended in the dragon merely healing itself. Lambton sought out a wise witch that told him he alone could slay the dragon, but on one condition - he must kill the next living creature. He killed the dragon and returned home to the castle. Upon entering his father greeted him. Lambton could not, however, kill his father and instead killed his dog.

Maud

Maud, a little girl, was walking through the forest one day when she came across a little creature. Enchanted by the bright green scales and cute fluttering wings, Maud took the creature home with her. Her parents were not, however, as impressed with the creature. They recognized it as a baby wyven and told her to immediately put it back where she found it. Maud, heartbroken, left the house and ran to her special hiding place. There she raised the wyvern, feeding it milk, until it outgrew that diet. The wyvern then moved onto livestock. This was quickly noticed by local farmers and the creature was discovered. When attacked by the farmers the wyvern defended itself, killing the men, eating them. Maud was horrified and attempted to sway the creature, but to no avail. She was the only animal safe from the wyverns hunger. A man named Garston came to the rescue of the town. He attacked and slay the creature, leaving poor Maud weeping at the dead body of her best friend, the wyvern.

Siegfried

Siegfried, a Norseman, was persuaded to do something fearless by the dwarf Regin (Fafnir's brother). Regin remarked one day that it was sad that all of Siegfried's stepbrothers were heirs to their father's land. So, after being told about the horrible dragon Fafnir, Siegfried set out to kill the beast. He traveled to Fafnir's lair. Regin, who was using Siegfried to get at Fafnir's treasure, had suggested to the man to dig a pit. Siegfried dug the pit along the path the dragon took to drink at a stream. Regin disguised the opening of the pit with branches and leaves while the man lay inside. As Fafnir walked over him, Siegfried thrust his sword into the creature and killed him. The Siegfried was then told by the dwarf to cut out the heart, cook it, then give it to him. Siegfried obeyed. Before he handed the heart to Regin, however, he touched the heart to make sure it was cooked. He burned his finger and, as a reflex, put his finger in his mouth. All of a sudden he could hear the birds above him, discussing Regin's plan to kill him. Siegfried, enraged, killed the dwarf.

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