Dragons...creatures of immense strength.
Dragons...creatures of fire.
Dragons...magical and powerful.
Dragons...creatures representing goodness and luck.
Dragons...winged beasts with serpentine or reptilian features.
Dragons...guardians of treasure.
Dragons feature prominently in literature, particularly in stories featuring heroes! As the author G.K. Chesterton stated:
"Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon."
How better to demonstrate the reality of good versus evil than by having a dragon defeated by a hero!?
Or, perhaps dragons are misunderstood creatures who really just want to be left alone and have been forced into a life of violence in a desperate attempt to protect themselves from the angry villagers with pitchforks and the knights who are just out to rescue a damsel who may-or-may-not be in distress.
This series of geocaches features some of my favourite literary (and screen) dragons.
And, ok, it lets my geek side shine. Just a little. :)
Smaug-J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien introduces readers to Smaug, described in The Hobbit as “a most specially greedy, strong, and wicked worm”. He is intelligent, crafty, and a hoarder. Smaug inhabits Erebor, or the Lonely Mountain, and knows each item in his golden hoard. Fortunately for Bilbo Baggins and the Dwarves, they remember that:
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him”, as well as remembering how important it is to “never laugh at live dragons”...and...spoiler alert...”so comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings” (all quotes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit).