Dragons,saints and wells

Stories of conflict between saints and dragons flourished between the eighth and fourteenth centuries at the disputed boundary zone between folktale and hagiography. The presence of dragons at wells was an accepted image in vernacular culture, independently adopted by successive writers of saints' Lives to enliven stories about the spiritual power of their heroes and the pastoral and missionary work they performed. In the transition of hagiography from its Middle Eastern origins the dragon, originally a plausible desert snake, took on mythical status and became identified with social evils from paganism to corruption. Christian imagery of baptism involved a symbolic contrast of lethal and healing waters, given visual expression in the sculptural motif of a dragon encircling the font. But the story of the dragon-fight could carry multiple meanings. Earlier texts reflect a world in which clerical culture had to make headway against lay power, and the dragon is something to be banished, like the aggressive chieftains faced down by saints. Later on Christianity was presented as part of a harmonious social order, and the dragon is crushed by the pious force of chivalry.