Theologian and friend Sheamus J MacLean came by to discuss dragons in hagiography on the weekend at our family farm dinner. He got me thinking about all of the Saints that can make this claim, and so I did a bit of research and compiled this list of most pious dragon - slayers.

According to Sheamus, the many stories of conflict between dragons and men (most of which became Saints) that lived between the eighth and fourteenth centuries sit at the crossroads of folktale and hagiography. Early on, the dragon is sometimes portrayed as a snake in the desert from the middle east, but it grew proportionately larger to match the stature of every hero that slayed it.

Dragons are very old, and are seldom portrayed as being anything but evil. Some of the oldest dragon slayer stories have Classical origins. In Greek legends, a dragon fought on the side of the Titans and attacked Athene, who flung him into the heavens, where he became a constellation around the Pole Star. Hercules encountered and killed a dragon while fulfilling his eleventh labor. In Scandinavian literature, Beowulf was slain by a dragon. So of course its easy to see why religious writers would later borrow the best local stories for their new heroes. All these weeks and months in Toronto, Sheamus has been secretly studying the lives of Saints. And he always had a special fondness for dragons. So he did treat myself and six other couples to a lovely presentation and learned account of these subjects over red wine and biscuits. Hagiographers would amplify the spiritual power of their heroes by making them triumph over local beasts. The saints are often shown crushing a dragon under foot and thus representing the triumph of Christianity over the forces of evil, and the banishment of paganism from a land. 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. In both Eastern and Western cultures, the dragon is the symbol of things, attitudes, or habits which although difficult to resist must be overthrown. The Japanese Buddhist, Fudo-Myoo, overthrew blindness and ignorance symbolized by the dragon. In Christian imagery, 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 Roman tyrants, and the Northern European chieftains and and African shamans 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.

St. George of the Cappuccino, whom you can see in the stain glass window opposite. George did his dragon slaying in Libya Saint Mercurialis, first bishop of the city of Forlì, is also depicted in early medieval art slaying a dragon. Mercurialis attended the Council of Rimini in 359 and died approx 406. He was a zealous opponent of paganism and Arianism.

St. Philip the Apostle is said to have destroyed a huge dragon at Hierapolis, in Phrygia.

St. Martha of Tarascon killed a terrible dragon called Tarasque at Aix (la Chapelle).

St. Radegund of Poitiers of which nothing much is mentioned in regard to the dragon. Its like it never happened.

St Clement of Metz was sent by Saint Peter to the city in northeast France, during the 1st century AD and is the hero of a legend in which he is the vanquisher of a local dragon called the Graoully which lived in an decrypt Roman amphitheater in the town. This feat of religious power did not however convince the locals to convert to Christianity. Indeed it was only after Bishop Clement performed a miracle of resurrection and brought a local magnate's daughter back from death that most folks there took the cloth. Today the Metz soccer club uses the Graoully as mascot and there is a hundred year old school for girls here in Toronto called St. Clement's School but that's probably named after Clement I who was an early Pope and Christian martyr.

St. Victor of Bayeux is listed as a dragon slayer but there isnt much else

St. Romian of Rouen slayed a dragon (called Gargouille) in the wild swamps on the left bank of the Seine . The huge serpent or dragon who "devoured and destroyed people and beasts of the field". his legend was the origin for the bishops' privilege (lasting until 1790) to pardon one prisoner condemned to death each year, by giving the pardoned man or woman the reliquary holding Romanus's relics in a procession.

St. Andrew of Aix-en-Provence was a famous dragon slayer.

St. Armentaire of Draguignan The most famous Polish dragon is the Wawel Dragon or Smok Wawelski (Dragon of Wawel Hill). In legend, it terrorized ancient Kraków and lived in caves on the Vistula river bank below the Wawel castle. There is a famous metal sculpture of the Wawel Dragon in Kraków which breathes fire noisily every few minutes. The Wawel dragon can also be found in many Kraków tourist merchandise

St. Michael the Archangel

It was Saint Michael who vanquished Satan and drove him out of heaven. In the Book of Revelation (12:7-9) Saint John wrote of Michael's role in the War in Heaven where he hurls Satan and the fallen angels out of heaven to earth:[15]

"And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

The name "dragon" comes to us from the Greek word that means 'for seeing'. In legends it is known as a prophet; a riddler; and a guardian of temples, paradises, magic, and hidden treasures. And slaying one is often very good for making Saints.