1. The story of St George and the Dragon first appears in the Legenda Aurea, the Golden Legend, of Jacobus de Voragine in the thirteenth century. A clear indication that it is derived from the Perseus myth is that it specifically places the battle with the dragon at much the same place on the coast of Palestine which in classical times had been associated with Perseus’s freeing of Andromeda.

2. Another mediaeval version of the Overcoming the Monster story we may note, because it introduces a rather more significant variation on the basic plot, is the fable of St Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio. The townsfolk of Gubbio were terrified by the ravages of an abnormally powerful, man-eating wolf, which lived in the forest outside the town. St Francis arrives to save them and ventures out alone to confront the wolf. Instead of killing it, he merely speaks to it, gently but firmly, in such a way that the wolf is tamed. It is no longer a ‘monster’ but becomes a friend to the people of Gubbio, who feed it on its regular visits to the town. Another example of the same variation is the story of Androcles (made the basis for Shaw’s play Androcles and the Lion), who in the desert shows love to a fierce lion by pulling out a thorn from its paw. The resolution of the story comes years later when Androcles, as a Christian, has been thrown to the lions in Rome. When one approaches to eat him, it turns out of course to be the same lion to which he previously showed kindness and his life is saved. This form of the story which shows the true hero able to change the life-threatening monster’s nature by a combination of courage and love is found not only in the Christian tradition but elsewhere in the world. A well-known Indian version is one of the legends associated with Buddha. This tells how ‘Prince Five-Weapons’ (an early incarnation of the Buddha) confronts, subdues and finally converts the fearful ogre Sticky-Hair. But this type of story really belongs to a later stage of the book (see Chapter 11, ‘Rebirth’) where we look at tales which show the monster going through a ‘change of heart’.