HC SVNT DRACONES –Fire-Breathing, World-Circling, Castle-Destroying...Elizabeth’s Dragon
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. :)
Ah, Elizabeth. The Paper-Bag Princess. Heroine, butt-kicker, puts up with nothing from that dumb-butt Ronald who thinks she looks like a mess, despite the fact that she faced a dragon to rescue him! “He was easy to follow, because he left a trail of burnt forests and horses’ bones”. Elizabeth finds the dragon, flatters him (“Is it true that you are the smartest and fiercest dragon in the whole world?”) and sends him off to complete exhausting tasks: burning forests (160 of them!) with his fiery breath until he has no fire left...not even enough to cook a meatball; flying around the world very very quickly until he has no energy left...not even enough to enough to wake up when she yells right into his ear! Alas, Ronald is unappreciative (“Elizabeth, you are a mess! You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess.”), she responds brilliantly (“...your clothes are really pretty and your hair is very neat. You look like a real prince, but you are a bum.”), and best of all...“they didn’t get married after all” (all quotes by Robert Munsch, in “The Paper Bag Princess”).
Best. Story. Ever.