There are probably few saints as well known as Saint George, whom we celebrate today, and around whom so many stories and legends have gathered. He is highly venerated throughout Christianity and is often depicted in paintings as the slayer of the dragon. Concerning the slaying of the dragon, the following story is told about him, which I present here in abridged form from the Legenda Aurea by Jacobus de Voragine:
“George, the knight (born of Cappadocian lineage), once came to the land of Libya, to the city of Silena. Near the city was a lake as vast as a sea, in which dwelt a poisonous dragon who had often driven the entire population into flight whenever they marched out armed against him. He would come right up to the city walls and poison everything with his venomous breath. The citizens of the city—still pagans—offered him two sheep every day. As the number of sheep dwindled, they began to sacrifice human beings as well, drawing lots to determine who would be chosen. The lot fell also upon the king’s daughter. Though shaken to his core, the king could not protect her, for the people threatened to burn him and his house if he did not abide by the law he himself had enacted.”
The legend continues, recounting that Saint George witnessed the moment when the king’s daughter was about to be sacrificed to the dragon.