The Penguin Book of Dragons (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014313504X ISBN 13: 9780143135043

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2022

Synopsis

The definitive global anthology of writings about dragons, from Ancient Egypt to the modern day

Since the earliest moments of human history, dragons have occupied a place in our imaginations. Bringer of night in Ancient Egypt; mortal enemy of the elephant in South Asia; slain by a god in Sanskrit hymn. In the Book of Revelation, there is the Leviathan; in Loch Ness, a monster. Their crushing coils and their treasure hoards are found throughout literature and language: in the Old English of Beowulf, in the Elvish of Tolkien, in the far-flung travels of Marco Polo.

The Penguin Book of Dragons is the definitive collection of all this and more: two thousand years of legend and lore about the menace and majesty of dragons.

About this title

About the Author

Scott G. Bruce is the editor of The Penguin Book of the Undead and The Penguin Book of Hell, and the author of three books about the Abbey of Cluny. He is a professor of medieval history at Fordham University in New York City. He worked his way through college as a gravedigger.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Contents

Ancient Enemies: Monstrous Snakes in the Greco-Roman World
·        The Hydra of Lerna: From Apollodorus’s The Library
·        Medusa, Mother of Monsters: From Lucan’s Pharsalia
·        Cadmus and the Dragon of Ares: From Ovid’s Metamorphoses
·        The Death of Laocoön: From Virgil’s Aeneid
·        The Dragon of Bagrada River: From Silius Italicus’s Punica
·        Dragons Against Elephants: From Pliny’s Natural History
 
Satanic Serpents: Dragons and Saints in Early Christianity
·        Biblical Beasts: From the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament
·        The Guardian of Heaven’s Ladder: From the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity
·        Descendants of Darkness: From the Acts of Philip
·        The Dragon Became Her Tomb: From Venantius Fortunatus’s Life of Marcellus
·        Coiled Couriers of the Damned: From the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great
·        The Monster of the River Ness: From Adomnán of Iona’s Life of Columba
 
Guardians of the Hoard: The Wyrms of Northern Literature
·        The Terror of Nations: From the Beowulf Poem
·        Sigurd, Slayer of Fáfnir: From Völsunga saga
·        Winged Dragons of the North: From the Saga of Ketil Trout and the Saga of Þiðrek of Bern
           
Books of Monsters: Dragon Lore in Medieval Europe
·        A Treasury of Ancient Dragon Lore: From Isidore of Seville’s Etymologies
·        Dark Age Creature Catalogues: From the Marvels of the East and the Book of Monsters
·        You Crushed their Heads Upon the Waters: From Hrabanus Maurus’s About Everything
·        Remembering a Pannonian Dragon: From Arnold of St. Emmeram’s Concerning the Miracles of St. Emmeram
·        God’s Fiery Vengeance: From Henry of Tournai’s Concerning the Miracles of St. Mary of Laon
·        Bone Fires and Dragon Sperm: From John Beleth’s Summa on Ecclesiastical Offices
·        The Prophecies of Merlin: From Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain
·        The Devil is the Largest Serpent: From the Medieval Bestiary Tradition
·        Hunting Monsters in Kara-Jang: From Marco Polo’s The Travels of Marco Polo
 
Draconic Demons and Ogres: Dragons in Byzantium
·        A Theologian Contemplates the Nature of Dragons: From Pseudo-John of Damascus’s On Dragons
·        Why Dragons Fear Lightning: From Michael Psellos’ On Meteorological Matters
·        A Demon in Disguise: From the Martyrdom of Saint Marina
·        The Treasury Dragon of Constantinople: From the Life and Martyrdom of Saint Hypatios of Gangra
·        The Terror of Trebizond: From the Life of Saint Eugenios
·        The Ogre-Dragon’s Pitiless Heart: From the Romance of Kallimachos and Chrysorrhoe
 
Dragons and their Slayers in the Later Middle Ages
·        The Dragon and the Lion: From Chrétien de Troyes’ The Knight with the Lion
·        A Dragon with the Devil Inside: From The Captives
·        Four Saintly Dragonslayers: From Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend
 
Antichrist Ascendent: Dragons in Early Modern Literature
·        The Dragons of Fairyland: From Edmund Spenser’s The Fairie Queene
·        A Farting Dragon Burlesque: The Dragon of Wantley
·        The Great Serpent Returns: From John Milton’s Paradise Lost
 
Gods and Monsters: Dragons of the East
·        The Dragon of Drought: From the Rigveda
·        A Black Wind from the Sea: From Al-Masudi’s Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems
·        No One Ever Escapes My Claws: From The Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsk
·        The Eight-Headed Serpent of Koshi: From O No Yasumaro’s Records of Ancient Matters
·        Chief of the Scaly Creatures: From Li Shizhen’s Collected Interpretations
·        My Lord Bag of Rice: A Japanese Folktale
·        The Fisherman and the Dragon Princess: A Japanese Folktale
 
Here Be Dragons: Monstrous Habitats in Early Modern Thought     
·        Strange, Yet Now A Neighbour to Us: From A Discourse Relating a Strange and             Monstrous Serpent or Dragon
·        A World Full of Dragons: From Edward Topsell’s The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents
·        Dwellers Below: From Athanasius Kircher’s Subterranean World
·        The Last American Dragons: Excerpts from Early American Newspapers
 
Terror Tamed: Domesticated Drakes in Childrens’ Literature
·        A Lizardy Sort of Beast: Kenneth Grahame’s The Reluctant Dragon
·        Your Kindness Quite Undragons Me: Edith Nesbit’s The Last of the Dragons

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 014313504X
• ISBN 13: 9780143135043
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320
• Editor: Bruce Scott G.