I became fascinated by dragons. It was the act of killing them that intrigued me. St. George slew a dragon that had been terrorizing a small village. St. George obtained a mythological position in the Middle East due to his courage and understanding of the vulnerability of that despicable dragon. The German artist, Albrecht Dürer, did this etching of St. George and the Dragon on a woodcut from 1504.

Saint George and the Dragon

While St. George disposed of the dragon originating in the Middle East and then spread into Europe, there are stories worldwide. In Japan, there was a famous legend of the dragon Yamata no Orochi.

Yamata no Orochi

Yamata no Orochi was a huge eight-headed and eight-trail dragon. That beast emerged in the early eighth century. Susano-o no Mikoto met an elderly couple that had eight daughters, seven of whom had been devoured by Yamata no Orochi. Susano-o no Mikoto gets the dragon drunk to protect his remaining daughter by giving each of the eight dragon’s heads a barrel of sake. While the drunk dragon is in a drunken stupor, Susanoo no Mikoto kills it.

In Poland, there is the legend of Smok Wawelski, which is Polish for the Wawel dragon. The stories about Smok Wawelski all revolve around this dragon. Many of them include an intelligent shoemaker.

Smok Wawelski, a fire-breathing dragon

In Krakow, Poland, there is a hill called Wawel. At the top of the hill is Wawel Castle. King Krakus wants to rid the dragon of Krakow. He offers to give Princess Wanda, his daughter, to the person to accomplish that task. While many tried, they all failed, which cast a pall over the city and the surrounding countryside.

Enter Skuba, a local shoemaker. He devised a means to rid Krakow of the fire-breathing dragon. Skuba filled a sheepskin with dragon yummies for the unwanted dragon. Along with goodies, he added sulfur.

The dragon devoured the sheepskin treat, including the sulfur, which hurt the dragon’s throat. Therefore, the dragon went to the river to soothe his sore throat. He started drinking from the river until the water mixed with sulfur. Suddenly, the dragon exploded like a giant fireworks display.

My last example of how to destroy a dragon originated from an early Christian legend of Saint Margaret of Antioch. Margaret of Antioch became a Christian when she was quite young. Several years later, a governor in that area wanted to marry her. There was one condition to the marriage. Margaret had to renounce her faith, which she refused to do. She had even been tortured to have her recant faith.

St. Margaret on Antioch emerging from the belly of a dragon

Margaret was tortured by a dragon that happened to be the devil in a dragon disguise. The dragon devoured Margaret. Nevertheless, Margaret kept her faith and lifted up her cross inside the dragon’s stomach. The dragon was so irritated with Margaret holding her cross that he burst open, which killed the dragon while Margaret of Antioch emerged from its belly. Interestingly, she became the patron saint of childbirth.

While these means of killing dragons in today’s world seem a bit dated, they are metaphors for all of us. When we face our 21^st-century dragons of life, we must remember that it is up to us to kill the dragons surrounding us as we journey down our yellow brick roads of life. We need to be honest with others. However, that honesty starts with being honest with ourselves.

Finally, think about why and for whom we are killing a dragon. Some dragons are legitimately for us to slay. We need to take care of our personal needs, whether they relate to learning, health issues, or enjoying our lives. However, we need to help others by helping them dispose of their dragons. Remember that it is in giving that we get. The more we share helping others, the more we will get from that process. Life is more about the we than it is about the me.