Here be dragons

Whitlock, Ralph

ISBN 10: 0043980074 / ISBN 13: 9780043980071

Published by London: George Allen & Unwin, 1983

About this Item

Whitlock, Ralph. Here be dragons. First edition. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1983. Hardback, VG, in unclipped dustjacket,bumped to corners, a little sunned to spine, with light shelfwear and a small patch of laminate loss to top front. Black cloth, bumped to corners, with gilt lettering to spine. Binding strong. Light tanning strip to endpapers. Frontispiece b/w map. 165pp., b/w illustrations. Contents clean and bright. Dragons are everywhere in the British countryside! They are woven into the folk history of villages and hamlets, they snarl from church decorations and they survive in mumming plays and other pageants. Tracing their remains, in whatever form they are to be found, is no only a fascinating pastime but a glimpse into how our rural forefathers thought and behaved, for dragons played the vital role of representing evil and destruction in the pantheon of the country dweller. Ralph Whitlock has found almost 200 places in England, Scotland and Wales where there is evidence of a dragon tradition. He describes every one in a comprehensive Gazetteer, and also provides in his long introduction an examination of dragon legends throughout history and in other lands. He examines, too, the ways in which the Church made use of dragon lore to put across its ideas - an intriguing example of the meeting of pagan and Christian. The text is illustrated by 59 engravings and photographs, and will be an important source for folklorists as well as providing hours of fascination for would-be dragon-hunters. RightWayUp Books aims to provide accurate and detailed descriptions. All images are of the actual book for sale - no stock images are ever used. Thank you for looking at this listing.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1734612864944

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Here be dragons
• Publisher: London: George Allen & Unwin
• Publication Date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0043980074
• ISBN 13: 9780043980071
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Myths and legends

About this title

Synopsis

Dragons are everywhere in the British countryside! They are woven into the folk history of villages and hamlets, they snarl from church decorations and they survive in mumming plays and other pageants. Tracing their remains, in whatever form they are to be found, is no only a fascinating pastime but a glimpse into how our rural forefathers thought and behaved, for dragons played the vital role of representing evil and destruction in the pantheon of the country dweller.

Ralph Whitlock has found almost 200 places in England, Scotland and Wales where there is evidence of a dragon tradition. He describes every one in a comprehensive Gazetteer, and also provides in his long introduction an examination of dragon legends throughout history and in other lands. He examines, too, the ways in which the Church made use of dragon lore to put across its ideas - an intriguing example of the meeting of pagan and Christian.

The text is illustrated by 59 engravings and photographs, and will be an important source for folklorists as well as providing hours of fascination for would-be dragon-hunters.