THE DRAGON NOTEBOOK

Every dragon has
more than one layer.

Choose a thread. Read the story, see which book, poem or record it comes from, and keep the source beside it.

Find a threadKind of story13 articles

Retold from a 9th-century history

Vortigern’s dragons

A fortress that will not stand, a boy with no father, and two sleeping dragons under a hill in Snowdonia.

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Retold from the Golden Legend

St George and the dragon

A poisoned lake, a princess chosen by lot, a girdle used as a lead, and a soldier saint who probably never saw a dragon.

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Retold from a County Durham legend

The Lambton Worm

A boy who skipped church to go fishing, a worm thrown down a well, a suit of spiked armour and a promise that went wrong.

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Retold from a Northumbrian ballad

The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh

A jealous queen, a princess turned into a worm, a ship with rowan-wood masts, and three kisses.

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Retold from an Old English poem

Beowulf and the dragon

A stolen cup, a dragon woken after three hundred winters, an iron shield and one loyal young warrior.

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Retold from a Norse saga

Sigurd and Fafnir

An otter’s skin full of gold, a cursed ring, a pit dug on a dragon’s path, and a burnt thumb that taught a hero the speech of birds.

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Retold from the Younger Edda

Thor and the Midgard serpent

A serpent so long it circles the world, an ox-head on a fishing line, and a final meeting at the end of the world.

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World guide

Chinese dragons

The long: spirits of the waters, bringers of rain, dragon kings under the sea and the emperor’s five-clawed emblem.

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Heraldry guide

The red dragon and heraldry

From a Roman standard to the flag of Wales, plus how heralds tell a dragon from a wyvern or a cockatrice.

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Places guide

Worms of England and the Borders

Sockburn’s falchion, the Worm of Linton, Mordiford, Deerhurst and the dragon of St Leonard’s Forest.

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Isle of Man guide

The Manx Sigurd crosses

Fafnir carved in stone: four Manx crosses that show the Norse dragon-slayer, and a Dragon Cross at Kirk Michael.

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History guide

Legend or history?

Where dragon stories come from, the real St George, and the honest answer to whether dragons were ever real.

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Reading guide

Dragon timeline

From a Welsh history of about 800 to the flag of Wales in 1959, in dated steps.

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