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Dragons are a stable part of modern fiction, but this was not true in the past. This essay looks at the history of modern fictional dragons in the English speaking world. Key pieces of dragon literature are discussed and compared. The fantasy genre is an important one in the history of dragon fiction, but it should be kept in mind that dragons can appear in other genres. The fictional dragons described in this essay will not all be from fantasy. Fantasy Origins (1850 to 1899) It would be the late 1800s that would see the rise of modern fantasy fiction. The start of modern fantasy is often attributed to George MacDonald. He published 'Phantastes' in 1858. This story did contain a dragon in a minor role. The dragon had been slain by a knight and strapped to the knight's horse. The tale describes the dragon as follows: "The horrid, serpent-like head, with its black tongue, forked with red, hanging out of its jaws, dangled against the horse's side. Its neck was covered with long blue hair, its sides with scales of green and gold. Its back was of corrugated skin, of a purple hue. Its belly was similar in nature, but its colour was leaden, dashed with blotches of livid blue. Its skinny, bat-like wings and its tail were of a dull gray. It was strange to see how so many gorgeous colours, so many curving lines, and such beautiful things as wings and hair and scales, combined to form the horrible creature, intense in ugliness." This dragon was clearly taken straight from traditional dragon-slayer myths. The book helped to promote fantasy fiction as a whole, but dragons were not a major part. Early Dragons (1900 to 1949) Fantasy-style stories had always been popular for children in the form of folktales and fairytales. An early influential children's writer was E. Nesbit who published a number of dragon stories in the Strand Magazine in 1899. The popularity of the stories meant that in 1900 they were compiled into a book called 'The Book of Dragons'. Nesbit's stories varied greatly. Some had evil and destructive dragons. Others had good dragons. These stories are still popular today. It is clear that stories like this would be influential. Many children would grow up listening to these stories. An early dragon story aimed at adults was published in 1912. This was 'Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance', part of 'The Book of Wonder' by Lord Dunsany. This story is shorter than a modern fantasy story, but is significant in that it seems to be a twist on the normal dragon and maiden tale. In this story the dragon carries off the maiden as company. The golden dragon is described: "She did not notice the roar of the dragon's golden scales, nor distinguish above the manifold lights of London the small, red glare of his eyes. He suddenly lifted his head, a blaze of gold, over the balcony; he did not appear a yellow dragon then, for his glistening scales reflected the beauty that London puts upon her only at evening and night." This dragon is portrayed as a gentle and majestic creature. This is a very early example of a dragon being shown in this way in fantasy fiction. Though Lord Dunsany's stories are well-known, it did not start a revolution in fantasy literature. It is very likely that it did inspire other authors to try their hand at this genre. Lord Dunsany was not the only author who had thought to look at dragon myths in a new way. In 1936, Ogden Nash published the poem 'The Tale of Custard the Dragon', part of 'The Bad Parents' Garden of Verse'. This whimsical poem turned the dragon myths on their head. The dragon is the hero, rescuing the heroine from the evil knight. It was the following year, in 1937, that 'The Hobbit' (by J.R.R Tolkien) was published. Smaug from 'The Hobbit' was not the first instance of a fantasy dragon, but it was the one that paved the way for future books. Smaug became one of the most famous fantasy dragons. Despite the influence in fantasy fiction as a whole, Tolkien's depictions of dragons were not that creative. They followed the standard pattern of evil dragons hoarding treasure. Dragon Diversity (1950 to 1979) The story of early fantasy fiction can easily end at this point. Fantasy had taken hold and had a wide readership. Dragon fiction is another matter. Dragons only tended to be the focus of the story in children's literature. They were usually incidental characters in adult fiction. A good example of a children's dragon of this era was 'Puff, the Magic Dragon'. The song was originally from a poem written in 1959 by Leonard Lipton, inspired by 'Custard the Dragon'. Puff was first released as a song in 1962 by the group Peter, Paul and Mary. Puff has undoubtably influenced many peoples attitudes towards dragons. Many years after the song's release, children still learn this song at school. The gentle dragon template had become well-established in children's literature. 1967 saw the publication of the short story 'Weyr Search' by Anne McCaffrey in ANALOG Magazine. The story was popular, leading to the book 'Dragonflight' being published the following year (1968). This would turn out to be a long running series of books covering the Dragonriders of Pern. Pern had its own system for dragons, including thoughts about how they might work at a scientific level. This series has to be one of the most popular modern dragon series and inspiration for others. 'Dragonflight' was not the only story with dragon characters to see success. 'The Dragon and the George' (Gordon R. Dickson) was released in 1976. It won the British Fantasy Award for novels in 1977. Peter Dickinson's 'The Flight of Dragons' (1979) saw the more scientific angle of the modern world take hold in dragon literature. Dragons were starting to reach a level of popularity where dragon textbooks were in demand. There have been other fictional dragon textbooks since then, but this one has the accolade of being the first successful book of its kind. Conclusions (1980 Onwards) The later part of the twentieth centuary, and beyond, saw many pieces of dragon literature. It becomes hard to identify one as being more influential than another. The dragon genre owes a great deal to those early dragon stories, which started to explore how dragon might act outside of mythology. Further Reading Reading in the Dragon Stone
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