I’m working on a book, and we need a list of classic fantasy book titles for our main character to be reading. They should be instantly recognizable to reasonably well-read folks. Emphasis on younger readers. One of them needs to be the classic hero-with-sword-slaying-fire-breathing-dragon story. (That’s the main one I’m having trouble with.)
Ones I’m already thinking of:
The Hobbit
The Sword in the Stone
The Black Cauldron
The Last Unicorn
A Spell for Chameleon
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
I’ve been out of the fantasy-reading game for many years, so I can’t remember everything I read in my childhood. Help is much appreciated, esp. on the slaying-the-dragon point.
The recent publication of a fleshed-out version of Tolkien’s “The Children of Hurin” has the hero, Turin, fighting Glaurung, one of Morgoth’s dragons. Unfortunately, Glaurung isn’t of the fire-breathing variety. The original barebones story is in The Silmarillion.
Oh, and it’s also not the classic hero-slays-dragon-gets-the-girl-and-lives-happily-ever-after story, either. It involves a lot more incest, betrayal, emo self-pity and suicide than that…
Ann McCaffrey of course has the classic “Dragonriders of Pern” but the dragons aren’t the sort you slay - they are the companions and helpers of humans against a deadly threat.
Dragon’s Blood, by Jane Yolen, is a YA novel about a teenager who is an indentured servant of sorts on a farm where fighting dragons are bred for sport. Again, no dragonslaying - the main character steals an egg, and trains his dragon in secret so as to earn his freedom in the dragonfights.
Of the two, Anne McCaffrey is by far the better known, and the worse writer.
It seems to me that The Hobbit is about as close as you’re going to get to the classic “unlikely hero slays the dragon” (although, its not Bilbo who slays Smaug).
Robert E. Howard’s books get re-issued under new titles every few years. Something with “Conan” or “Kull” in the title.
Kyrick: Warlock Warrior and Kyrick Fights the Demon World by Gardner Fox.
Fritz Lieber’s books about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Most of them have the word “Swords” in the title. I think Swords and Deviltry was the first in the series.
C.J. Cherryh’s “Morgaine” books.
*The Gate of Ivrel,
The Fires of Azeroth,
The Well of Shiuan, *
and Exile’s Gate.
That’s what I was going to say. Also the Nibelunglied and the Volsunga saga. I don’t remember if either Beowulf’s or Sigurd’s (=Siegfried’s) dragon breathed fire, though.
There’s Dragon Rider, by Cornelai Funke. It’s a bit long, but ok. Again, the dragons are not the enemy or to be slewn, but there is plenty of action throughout.
What about the Redwall series? It may not feature dragons, but it’s an entire medieval world “peopled” by animals. It’s great fun (about 4-5th grade reading level). Brain Jacques (sp?) is the author.
The Gerald Morris books are funny; they deal with Arthurian legend, but in a fu way. They’re about 3-5 grade reading level. They deal in knights and quests, but no dragons that I recall.
I don’t know how easily recognized they might be by the ‘average well-read’ person. But any time I talk about some of my favorite dragon books, I make sure to mention Pat Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, beginning with Dealing with Dragons.
But this is another inside-out dragon fantasy story, with all the traditional elements set upon their asses. The princess chooses to serve the dragon, and then argues with the knights and princes that come to rescue her.
How about Astrid Lindgren’s “The Brothers Lionheart”? While they don’t strictly kill the dragon, it is defeated. The book is also very, very dark.
Well, as a point, the two brothers end up comitting suicide at the end to pass to the second heaven, together.
Other than that, there’s the Norwegian “Sigurd Drakedreper” (Sigurd Drake-Slayer) by Torill Torstad Hauge, which is based on the saga-hero Sigurd Favnesbane, from the Older Edda. (Norse mythology, if you’re not familiar with it. Which I bet most if not all of you are, of course. It’s also in the Germanic “Nibelungenlied”) Sigurd Favnesbane killed the dragon at Gnitahei, according to Germanic myth, by the help of the sorcerous sword Garm. This is by some believed to be origin of Glamdring. (It’s a very interesting book from a historical perspective, since Sigurd’s name is close to what we believe the germanic name for the general who defeated the three Roman legions in Teutoburge Wald, which halted the Roman advance northwards. Further, the weaponshield of Sigurd is the stag, which doesn’t match nordic customs, but the deer was the totem animal of the general.)
So the dragon would be Fafner in Wagner’s Ring Cycle?
This title of course lampoons the most famous hero-with-sword-slays-dragon story of all, that of St. George and the Dragon. St. George is better known from folklore than any particular book, but his name should be known to well-read people as he is a literary archetype as well as being the patron saint of several countries.
He does appear, sort of (as the Red Cross Knight), in Spenser’s Faerie Queene, a title that should be familiar to anyone with a passing familiarity with British literature even if they haven’t read it, and his adventure with the dragon was adapted into a children’s book called… wait for it… Saint George and the Dragon.
