CREATURES THAT NEVER LIVED, STORIES THAT DID

Worms, wyrms
and sources.

Two dragons under a Welsh hill. A worm thrown down a well. A hoard, a stolen cup and a hero’s last fight. Explore dragon tales from Britain and around the world, and see exactly which parts are legend, which are literature and what the records really show.

Open the dragon notebook ↗Legend or history?

Every sentence is labelled History, Literature or Tradition, with its source beside it.

Painting of a knight on a white horse driving a lance into a green winged dragon while a princess holds it on a lead — SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON · PAOLO UCCELLO, ABOUT 1456 · A PAINTING, NOT A RECORDPaolo Uccello · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons ↗

FIELD EDITION 01

For curious readers, families and teachers who like a good story with a source beside it.

How we tell it ↗

THREE THREADS TO PULL

Begin under the hill.

All the notebook articles ↗

Retold from a 9th-century history

Vortigern’s dragons

A fortress that will not stand, and a red and a white dragon asleep beneath it.

Read the notebook ↗Retold from a County Durham legend

The Lambton Worm

A fishing trip, a worm in a well and a suit of spiked armour.

Read the notebook ↗Isle of Man guide

The Manx Sigurd crosses

A Norse dragon-slayer carved on crosses in Andreas, Jurby, Malew and Maughold.

Read the notebook ↗

PLACES HOLD THE THREAD

A hill, a well,
a river, a cross.

Dinas Emrys and Dragon Hill, Worm Hill and Spindleston Heugh, Linton and the Manx crosses. Choose a place, read what the story says and what the records show.

Unfold the dragon atlas ↗

DINAS EMRYS / LAMBTON / ANDREAS

“Did a dragon live here?” is a fair
question.
“Who first wrote it down, and when?”
is a better one.

AN ORIGINAL READING NOTE · NO ROUTE PLANNING

THE DRAGON TIMELINE

Stories have dates.

A Welsh history of about 800, Manx crosses of the tenth century, Caxton’s Golden Legend in 1483, a Tudor badge and a flag approved in 1959. Follow the dragon as each age adds to it.

Walk the timeline ↗

1485

A red dragon at St Paul’s

Henry Tudor presents his dragon banner after Bosworth.

Read the heraldry guide ↗

late 10th century

Sigurd’s Cross, Kirk Andreas

Read the Isle of Man guide ↗

A SMALL TEST OF CURIOSITY

Legend, literature or history?

Sort twelve statements into the right pile, then try the eight-question quiz. Explanations after every answer.

Play the sorter ↗

SIX STAMPS TO COLLECT

The dragon stamp card.

A question from under the hill, one from the River Wear, one from a Norse saga. Answer from the notebook and earn the ink.

Prefer paper? Printable dragon lore packs, with a free sample.

Open the stamp card ↗

THE READING SHELF

Read the old dragon texts free.

Nennius, Beowulf, the Volsunga saga, the Younger Edda, Werner on Chinese myth and Fox-Davies on heraldry are all free to read online. If you want a printed copy, compare translations before the cover catches your eye.

Free texts & the reading shelf ↗

A NOTE FROM THE ISLE OF MAN

No Manx dragon tale?

We looked for a Manx folk tale about a dragon and did not find one in the sources we checked. The island’s dragons are carved in stone instead.

Read about the crosses ↗