Describes the saint taming and slaying a dragon that demanded human sacrifices; the saint thereby rescues the princess chosen as the next offering. Animation by Slurpy Studios. St. George and the Dragon In the year 280, in a town in Cappadocia, was born that great soldier and champion of the oppressed whom we call St. George. The legend of Saint George, patron saint of England, is that of a hero knight who saved a princess and townsfolk by slaying a bloodthirsty dragon. With absolutely gorgeous accompanying illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman (detailed to such an extent that they tell the story of the Red Cross Knight's fight with the fearsome dragon as vividly and as intensely as Margaret Hodges' narrative does), Saint George and the Dragon is basically the legend of Saint George (and how he became the patron saint of England) as adapted from a section of … His parents were Christians, and by them, and especially by his mother, he was most carefully instructed and trained. Saint George and the Dragon There are several stories about George fighting dragons, but in the Western version, a dragon or crocodile made its nest at a spring that provided water to Silene, believed to be modern-day Lcyrene in Libya. Synopsis. Who was Saint George? Saint George's feast day is celebrated on April 23, but if it falls before Easter, it is celebrated Easter Monday. George and the dragon British tales Once upon a time there was a brave knight called George. In time he earns his name and becomes known as Saint George. It is said Saint George killed the dragon near the sea in Beirut, thus Saint George bay was named in his honor. St. George is perhaps one of Christianity’s most famous saints, and is best-known as the patron saint of England. Print an activity for the story. St. George was an English knight, who went on the crusades to the "Holy Land." As the daughter of the king has to be sacrificed, St. George appears riding his horse and he manages to neutralise the dragon (the scene immortalized by artists). One day he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave next to the village. As luck would have it, St George was passing through and saved the princess by beheading the dragon. George’s slaying of the dragon may be a Christian version of the legend of Perseus, who was said to have rescued Andromeda from a sea monster near Lydda. St. George and the Dragon: Introduction The Dragon Episode in the St. George Legend The crusading knights of the late eleventh century believed that St. George, with his fellow "soldier-saints," Demetrius, Maurice, and Theodore, had fought alongside them in their battles against the Saracens at places such as Antioch and Jerusalem in 1098-99. Save to Wishlist. Emperor Diocletian executed St. George circa April 23, 303, in Lydda (modern-day Lod), Palestine, for protesting Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. According to folklore, St George rescued a princess who was about to become dinner for a dragon that had settled near the city of Silene – allegedly in modern-day Libya. Documents. St George & The Dragon. Then the people knew that from then on they could live safe and unharmed. — The story goes that St. George, a noble Christian knight who is traveling in Africa, comes upon a beautiful princess tied up beside a lake. Saint George was born circa 280 in Cappadocia, an area that is now part of Turkey. Story by LearnEnglish Kids. The King of the land offers his daughter, Princess Una, in marriage to the Knight and he accepts. There is a version of The Play of St. George in Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native. As the legend states, he rescued a princess by killing the evil dragon who had captured her. George had lots of adventures as he travelled by horse across many lands. A Roman soldier of Christian faith, Saint George saved the daughter of a pagan king by subduing a dragon with his lance; the princess then led the dragon to the city, where the saint killed it with his sword, prompting the king and … My Favorite Bit: St. George is perhaps one of Christianity’s most famous saints, and is best-known as the patron saint of England. Saint George and the Dragon, one of two versions of the theme by the artist, belonged to a series of miniature panels that Raphael painted in Florence for the celebrated court of Urbino. This special new paperback edition of St. George and the Dragon commemorates the 25th Anniversary of the Caldecott Award-winning picture book.Hodges retells an exciting segment from Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which the Red Cross Knight slays a dreadful dragon that has been terrorizing the countryside for years, bringing peace and joy back to the land. One day he came to a small village and met a man who lived in a cave next to the village. St. George and the Dragon In the year 280, in a town in Cappadocia, was born that great soldier and champion of the oppressed whom we call St. George. He then invites the princess to rope the dragon , now domesticated, to lead it into the town: witnessing this prodigious event, the king and the whole population converted to Christianity and, at the end, the dragon is killed. It turns that the lake is the home of an evil dragon, who will destroy the land unless the princess is fed to it. When people came to collect water, they inadvertently disturbed the dragon … We use cookies to secure and tailor your web use. Though the dragon has been killed and the Knight marries Princess Una, he must still go and fight other battles for the Queen of the Fairies.