Saint George and the Dragon

Author: Jacobus de Voragine

Time Period: 501 CE–1000 CE

Country or Culture: Eastern Europe

Genre: Legend

Overview

The tale of Saint George and the dragon is part of a collection that Jacobus de Voragine, the archbishop of Genoa, assembled in the late thirteenth century as The Golden Legend. First published in Latin in 1470, it was quickly translated into Bohemian, French, Low German, and Italian, and an English translation was commissioned by the Earl of Arundel and printed by William Caxton in 1483. Gutenberg’s printing press had been developed only a few decades prior, in 1450, thus the work was clearly held in great esteem. It remains in print.

Voragine was born near Genoa, Italy, in 1228. He became a Dominican priest in 1244, assuming the responsibility of provincial of Lombardy and then becoming archbishop of Genoa. He attempted to be a peacemaker in the feud between the two powerful parties of Guelphs and Ghibellines; for this work, he was canonized as a saint in 1816. He entitled his collection of saints’ lives Legenda Sanctorum (Legends of the Saints), but because it was considered such a valuable resource, it became widely known as Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend). The book was divided into five periods of the church year, from Advent to Christmas, Christmas to Septuagesima, Septuagesima to Easter, Easter to the Octave of Pentecost, and from the Octave of Pentecost to Christmas. The work contains nearly two hundred chapters. As hagiography, it has been both reviled for gross inaccuracy and praised as a devotional text. In addition to writing a history of Genoa and a defense of Dominicans, Voragine also compiled 307 of his sermons.

In this version, the legend includes only a handful of characters. They include a king, his daughter, and her protector, along with unnamed townspeople. The star of the tale is the dragon—a serpent with an apparently insatiable appetite—that consumes sheep and human children daily. The king has capitulated to the will of the people, who demand the princess’s death as decreed by lot, following the deaths of their own children. Unlike some rulers, this king has fatherly feelings and pleads for the life of his daughter, to no avail; instead, he wins a week to mourn her. Saint George fortuitously appears on the scene as the consummate soldier, determined to rescue the king’s daughter, which he does. In this version, he is offered money as a reward, while in other variants, he is given the princess in marriage.

The story has been interpreted in a variety of ways. During the Protestant Reformation, it became an allegory of the triumph of Protestantism over the Roman Catholic Church. Other allegorical constructions include the dragon as sin (specifically sexual sin) and Saint George as the virtuous (and chaste) triumphant male.

A feminist reading brings interesting aspects of the narrative into relief and will be implemented below. Feminist literary critics began writing during the 1960s and 1970s in an attempt to question commonly accepted definitions of terms such as “female” and “feminine.” Feminist criticism later began to reclaim and study texts written by women, in an attempt to construct a female literary tradition. A number of feminist critics also have embraced the insights of post-structuralists such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Lacan. The analysis below will rely on feminist Samantha Riches’s study of the cult and imagery of Saint George.

Summary

Jacobus de Voragine begins his retelling of the tale of Saint George and the Dragon with several potential etymologies of the name George, together with their allegorical meanings. These possibilities include geos (earth) and orge (tilling), referring to George tilling his own flesh and bringing forth “the wine of gladness” and “the wheat of good works.” That imagery is symbolic of the Eucharist and thus links his martyrdom to that of Christ. Alternatively, the word may be a compound meaning “holy wrestler,” referring to combat against the dragon. It may also be construed as meaning “pilgrim and counselor.” Voragine is also candid that this narrative was rejected for inclusion in biblical scripture at the Council of Nicene. By that time, several versions of the story conflicted as to the location and the time of Saint George’s martyrdom.

The story begins with George’s birth in Cappadocia, in modern Turkey. As is common in stories of heroes, the narrative skips his childhood and jumps ahead to his arrival as a knight in Libya. In a pond outside the city of Silene lives a frightening dragon with breath that foul enough to kill people. To placate the dragon, the citizens of Silene offer him two sheep daily. When the sheep are nearly gone, a lottery is devised to select one person to accompany a single sheep.

When the lottery is held and the lot falls on the king’s daughter, he begs the people to take his silver and gold instead, but they refuse. If the girl is not offered, they threaten, they will burn both the king and his house. After eight days that are granted to mourn their impending loss, the king and his daughter come forth for the sacrifice, the young woman wearing bridal finery.

Saint George arrives in time for the sacrifice, asking why the girl is weeping and how he might help. Despite the princess’s injunctions to him to leave so that he will not perish, the knight vows to slay the dragon in the name of Jesus Christ. George spears the dragon when the creature rushes them and tells the princess to place her girdle around the dragon’s neck. They lead the beast into the city, where he frightens the people. George tells them that he will slay the dragon if they agree to believe in Jesus and be baptized. In all, the king and about fifteen thousand men are baptized, with no count made of women and children. The slain dragon, whose head is cut off, is taken outside the city in four carts and thrown into the fields.

In his gratitude, the king builds a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to Saint George. A healing fountain appears at the church as well. Although the king offers him money, the knight refuses it, telling the king to give it to the poor instead.

This segment of the legend is a later addition to the tale of martyrdom that Voragine includes, admitting that there are discrepancies as to the location and ruler. In his telling, he prefers the event to have occurred during the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian in the late third century CE. In light of the martyrdom of twenty-two thousand in a single month, many Christians recant their faith and sacrifice to idols, as requested. Upon seeing this defection, George sets aside his knightly garb, sells his possessions, and distributes his proceeds to the poor. He then courts martyrdom, proclaiming the pagan gods to be devils and his God the true God and creator of the heavens.

“Thus as they spake together the dragon appeared and came running to them, and S. George was upon his horse, and drew out his sword and garnished him with the sign of the cross, and rode hardily against the dragon which came towards him, and smote him with his spear and hurt him sore and threw him to the ground.”

George survives several forms of torture, including hanging on a gibbet, beatings with both wooden and iron staves, branding, and imprisonment. God appears to encourage him in prison. Next, George drinks strong poison that does not harm him but leads instead to the conversion of the magician assigned to kill him. When George is placed on wheels to break his body, the wheels break instead. Next, he is dipped in hot lead, which has no effect.

The frustrated emperor (whose name changes to Dacian from Diocletian during the telling of the tale) offers George honor if he will only offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. George agrees to this, and a public show is planned. However, rather than offer sacrifice, George prays for God to destroy the temple. Fire descends and burns the temple, and the earth opens and swallows the ashes.

A conversation between the emperor Dacian and his wife leads to her admission that she has also become a Christian. Dacian beats her almost to death; when she consults George about dying without being baptized, he assures her that she will be baptized in blood. Dacian also has George beheaded. On Dacian’s way home, however, the ruler and his servants are consumed by fire. Voragine dates the event to the year 287. Subsequently, when Christians from Antioch go up to defend Jerusalem, George goes before them and gives them victory. The narrative includes mention of the Order of the Garter and of a college at Windsor said to contain the heart of the martyr. Voragine concludes by saying that Saint George is the patron and protector of England and his name the cry of men in battle.

Bibliography

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. 3rd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2009. Print.

Clark, Elizabeth. Women in the Early Church. Collegeville: Liturgical, 1983.

Jacobus de Voragine. “St. George.” The Golden Legend:St. George. American Buddha, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Morgan, Giles. St. George. Edison: Chartwell, 2006. Print.

Riches, Samantha. St. George: Hero, Martyr and Myth. Phoenix Mill: Sutton, 2000. Print.

---. “Saint George as Male Virgin Martyr.” Gender and Holiness: Men, Women and Saints in Late Medieval Europe. Ed. Samantha Riches and Sarah Salih. New York: Routledge, 2002. 65–85. Print.

---. “Virtue and Violence: Saints, Monsters and Sexuality in Medieval Culture.” Medieval Sexuality: ACasebook. Ed. April Harper and Caroline Proctor. New York: Routledge, 2008. 59–78. Print.

Showalter, Elaine. “The Feminist Critical Revolution.” The New Feminist Criticism. Ed. Showalter. New York: Pantheon, 1985. 3–17. Print.