The Art of Dragons

Origins of the dragon as a symbolic beast for the church has curious roots. Before the advent of Christianity monsters and dragons were commonly described in Greek legends that  later came to be regarded as pagan by the Christian church. Outside religion, dragons were symbols of power and evil that lurked in dark forests beyond the borders of civilisation or used to demonstrate the bizarre and uncivil character of a foreign land with their presence (4). After the establishment of the church leaders were baffled with how to reconcile these unholy monsters with the pure creation of god. It was decided that these monsters could have not been created by god, as god could only create what is good and pure and thus dragons and monsters were the product of the sinfulness of man, created by man as a result of his evil nature (4).

In medieval culture dragons were at the same time both real creatures and representations of powerful evil. Authors would describe dragons using realistic features taken from the context other animals such as the teeth of a crocodile or the ears of a mule (4).  In the Golden Legend, animals were useful symbols helping to develop and purpose the life of a saint. Their interpretation was structured around the understanding of their part in the design and organisation of the world that god created (2). For the church that meant that dragons were an antithesis to god, playing their part in the world as a tool of the devil and sin,  repeatedly defeated by saints to show the victory of Christ,  as seen throughout the Golden Legend.