The Dragon Stone

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Location:
Wharncliffe Chase, Yorkshire, England, Europe

Images:

Description:
The dragon of Wantley made his home near Wharncliffe Chase in Yorkshire. He was known for eating people and having a runny nose (with burning snot). It may be apparant at this point that the story has a satirical angle to it. Eventually the locals call upon More of More Hall to deal with the dragon. He is famous in the area for acts like swinging a horse around by its mane. The locals offer all their worldy goods to him in return for slaying the dragon. He refuses, saying instead he wants a sixteen year old girl to prepare him for the fight, dressing him in the morning of the battle.

More goes to Sheffield to get his armour covered in steel spikes. With that done, he hides in a well to wait for the dragon. When the dragon appears, he hits it. Jumping out of the well, the battle continues with More and the dragon exchanging comments. Eventually More kicks the dragon's behind (literally) and it falls down dead.

This folktale does not seem to have that old an origin. The first known retelling was an anonymous poem published in 1685. The poem was clearly quite modern for the time, as it included turkeys (introduced from America in the 1500s). The later version published by Thomas Percy (1765) included an explanation that it was based on a lawsuit against Sir Francis Wortley (the dragon) by other land owners, where the lawyer was More (the knight). It is difficult to know if this is true. Some of the elements could be a satire about a lawsuit. Other elements are classic to dragon myths in this area. It is possible that this story was a combination of several tales.

Other Dragon Stone Pages:

• The Dragon of Wantley (Poem) - A original poem from 1685.
• Percy's Wantley Dragon - The 1765 (clean) version.

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