The Dragon

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Hi guys, here goes a commission I done the last year for: A dragon, the dragon.. did you know Beowulf story helps to create the archetype for the modern occidental dragon? . hope you like it
Bamboo/pscs/7hours/music: Call of the dragon - therion.
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In the third act of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, the hero Beowulf fights a dragon, the third monster he encounters in the epic. Having returned home from Heorot, where he killed Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and rules wisely for 50 years. When a slave steals a jewelled cup from a dragonlair, the angry dragon brings destruction to the homes of Beowulf's people. With his thanes, Beowulf goes to slay the dragon; however faced with the dragon the thanes run away in fear. Only Wiglaf stays with Beowulf. The dragon wounds Beowulf fatally, and Wiglaf slays the dragon.

This depiction indicates the growing importance and stabilization of the modern concept of the dragon within European mythology. In fact, Beowulf is the first piece of English literature to present a dragonslayer. Although many motifs common to the Beowulf dragon existed in the Scandinavian and Germanic literature, the Beowulf poet was the first to combine features and present a distinctive fire-breathing dragon. The Beowulf dragon was copied in literature with similar motifs and themes surrounding the use of dragons in fiction such as in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, one of the forerunners of modern high fantasy.

The dragon fight, occurring at the end of the poem, is foreshadowed in earlier scenes. Beowulf's fight with the dragon symbolizes the fight against evil and destruction; in fighting the dragon the hero knows a failure on his part will cause destruction to his people. The scene is structured in thirds and ends with the deaths of the dragon and the hero.