Discussion Main / TheTamingOfTheGrue

Pulled this. I'd like to see a source for the claim that there was ever a version of St. George and the Dragon in which George converted the dragon. Plus even if this claim was true (which I doubt), it would be the exact opposite of the trope described.

• The oldest tales of Dragons (in the Western world) describe them as very large, very vicious reptiles, who may or may not have a penchant for eating maidens. The idea of sentient, sapient dragons that are not necessarily hostile to humanity is new, and might be consequence of cross-cultural pollination from Eastern conceptions of dragons. There has always been the occasional dragon that could talk, in legends—at least back to the Migration Period in Europe—but they mainly used the ability to boast, make demands, or trick heroes. However, in some of the older versions of the St. George legend, he doesn't kill it, but baptizes it—meaning that dragon not only isn't a brute monster, it has free will and an immortal soul.

Whoever deleted all the examples seems to be Completely Missing The Point of this page.