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You'd have to go to his source to decipher this. He was inspired by Beowulf, and the dragon in that story is based in general dragon mythology of its times. The
by greenhearth 3y ago
You'd have to go to his source to decipher this. He was inspired by Beowulf, and the dragon in that story is based in general dragon mythology of its times. These could be read (in a non-Christian, pagan frame, which is where Tolkien was working) as allegories of environmental/ecological dangers - deadly wildlife, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.
- angiosperm 3y agoThe original dragons were fought to release the rain. The hero who fought the dragon was always named "Third" in the local language; he came after King and Priest, who got actual names. In later versions, the dragon had rustled cattle and the hero retrieved them. Those became princesses only very, very recently.