>
>George, martyr, protector of the kingdom of England (303): Throughout
>Europe in the later middle ages the *Legenda Aurea* rendition of the
>story of St George was the best known. William Caxton translated the
>work. In this translation St George's encounter with the halitosisian
>dragon is related: One day St George came upon a city near a marshy
>swamp.
The story of St George and the Dragon appears to be a conflation of the
legends of two local heroes. George really existed, and was a native of
Lydda in Palestine. Another native of Lydda, according to local tradition,
was Perseus, who slew the dragon and rescued the maiden Andromeda. The two
heroes seem to have got mixed up, and the result was George killing the
dragon. It's rather a pity that such an admirable martyr should have been
confused with a mythical hero.
Doctor Elasticus.
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