St George

When I got to work this morning, the building next door is all set up for St George's Day. I dunno why but it seemed a really big deal when I was a kid. I'm kind of into the idea of St George, not the Christian bit, but the rad story of him killing a Dragon. Yeah thats right.... only an English man could kill a Dragon, cos they're so real. Just like our other well known English animals we have on our passports, the Lion and the Unicorn.

There used to be Unicorns and Lions in the field behind my studio before the Dragon's chased them all away.....






St George and the Dragon was a legend brought back with the Crusaders and retold . George had been depicted as a soldier since at least the seventh century.

In the full version a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene" in Libya. Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep, and if no sheep can be found, then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life to be spared, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears Saint George on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays the dragon, and rescues the princess. The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.