Introduction
Dragons are great mythological creatures whose popularity among fantastic creatures is unrivaled. This exhibit will explore early renditions of works featuring the ubiquitous creatures. First, the passage, “Sekandar Reaches A land Where the Men Have Soft Feet and Kills a Dragon” will be explored from the Shahnameh which was written by Abolqasem Ferdowsi during the 10th century in Persia. The passage follows,
“Sekandar asked them the best way forward and by which paths he should lead his army. They made their obeisance before him and greeted him as the world’s king, and then said:
“A path exists around this mountainside
But first you’ll have to find a willing guide;
Beyond the crest there lies a dragon’s lair,
His poison sickens birds that venture there.
The noxious vapors reach the moon, there’s no
Safe route by which your warriors could go.
His massive maw breathes fire, and he could snare
An elephant with his two locks of hair;
Our city doesn’t have the strength to fight.
We have to take up five cows, every night,
For him to feed on; and how fearfully
We place them on the rocks for him to see,
Afraid that if he finds us he’ll come down
And, piece by piece, destroy us and our town.”
Sekandar said, “Tomorrow, see that no one takes him any food.” When the time for his meal had passed, the dragon stood on the mountain slope breathing fire, and Sekandar ordered his troops to shoot a storm of arrows against him. The foul dragon exhaled fire and caught a few men in the blast. Sekandar had the war drums beaten, and the dragon drew back in fear from the echoing drums” (Ferdowsi, Sekandar Reaches A Land Where the Men Have Soft Feet and Kills a Dragon).
The aforementioned passage focuses on Sekander, also known as Alexander the Great. Within the passage, Sekander is traveling and encounters a land of soft footed warriors. Sekander and his army defeat the warriors and proceed to their city whereupon they are greeted by gifts. However, their passage out of the city is blocked by a mountain where a dragon has nested. The cityfolk sacrifice five cows per day to keep it sated and distracted. Sekander, who must travel through the mountain, devises a plan to kill the dragon. He purchases five cows, slaughters them, then fills their body with poison. Sekander feeds the dragon the poisoned cows, defeating the dragon thus allowing Sekander to pass through the mountain (Ferdowsi, Sekandar Reaches A Land Where the Men Have Soft Feet and Kills a Dragon).
The chosen object is an illuminated manuscript page, MS. Lat. Th. d. 33, which is a page from a rendition of the Enchiridion, created within the 11th century (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Lat. th. d. 33). The manuscript shows a historiated initial of the letter ‘D’ which depicts a dragon devouring a man (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Lat. th. d. 33). The manuscript is currently held by the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.
Both the passage and the illuminated manuscript share similar content, that being dragons. The passage describes a fierce dragon which requires many daily sacrifices in order to satisfy the dragon, and the depiction of the dragon from the manuscript shows a dragon that has not been sated, and hence devouring a man. Through these early depictions of the dragon found within Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and the illuminated manuscript, we can begin to see how the modern quintessential depiction of the dragon developed.