Nothing else quite says out-of-this-world like a dragon. Maybe that is why so many fantasy authors choose to incorporate them into their themes. Dragons, like wolves (W is for Wolf on April 28th) , tend to get a bad rap. Tales like “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon” shed new light on dragons proving just because we don’t understand an animal; it doesn’t need to be feared or loathed.
How to Train Your Dragon is set in a mythical Viking kingdom in a land far far away. The story’s hero, Hiccup, was born to be a ruthless dragon slayer. His compassionate side struggles with the notion. His village fears and loathes dragons and has for so long they no longer remember why. Over the course of the story Hiccup heroically proves to his village that the dragons don’t need to be exterminated. They can be friends and allies. Man and nature can coexist together, peaceably. This is the major moral theme I take away from the story though there are many, many others.
How many animals today do we as a people fear and loath unnecessarily? Snakes? Spiders? Bees? Wolves? Are these animals really out to get us? No. They aren’t. Given the chance they will evade us. We are much more of a threat to them, than they are to us. They have all been labeled in such way as to create feelings of fear and loathing. Unnecessarily. I applaud “How to Train Your Dragon” author Cressida Cowell for challenging this stereotypical way of thinking. Similar streams of thinking flow through the pages of my stories. Compassion is river. The source is within. Don’t fear the dragons.
Scarlet*Embers 
Loved this post. I don’t fear dragons but will scream bloody murder when I see a bee (or a spider).
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Don’t fear the bees Judi! They are here to help us. I saw a documentary about how we are very short on bees. Bee farmers actually relocate bees every few months to pollinate multiple crops because there are not enough bees to go around.
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I hear that everything will fall to pieces if bees become extinct. It’s incredible how detrimental humans have been to nature. I’m still afraid of bees (having been stung by wasps as a child) but I don’t want them to die out!
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And they don’t want to die either. Once a bee has stung someone, it dies so it’s in the bees best interest to avoid you. I think if more people knew that there wouldn’t be such bee hysteria. My husband had an opportunity to apprentice as a bee keeper one summer. He had a great time. We’d like to keep a hive but our city has an ordinance against keeping them within X amount of feet from another dwelling. With the city wide mosquito spraying our town does every summer they would likely be choked out anyway. That’s the reason my backyard garden is never very fruitful. I hand pollinate the garden with a tiny paint brush taking pollen from 1 bloom and inserting it into another in hopes of a harvest, but it’s not as effective as bees. 😦
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I just found a post on bees from an A-Z poet 😉
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How kind of you to come back here and leave that info for me. I will head over and give it a read.
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Dragons do seem to be an integral part of fantasy. I’ve only read the first GAME OF THRONES book (and only a few episodes of the TV series), so I found it interesting that the first appearance of a dragon, and as far as I can recall, the first strong taste of “fantasy” in the story, was right at the end. There are hints of fantasy throughout, but nothing so overt as a dragon. I hope that wasn’t a spoiler! 🙂
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I have not yet read or watch GAME OF THRONES. Now that I know there’s a dragon I may have to find the time. 🙂
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My grandson loves dragons. When i was in college during the ’60’s, i sang and played on my guitar, “Puff the Magic Dragon” , how i loved that song, though sad. I’m thinking of pulling out the guitar and seeing if i can brush up! Meanwhile, i’m forwarding this wonderful post on to my spider-phobe adult daughter! She’ll love it and it might help.i love “The source is within. Don’t fear the dragons!” Perfect!
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Yes, Peter, Paul & Mary. I know that song. The children in my reading classes can tell you. Mrs. Embers keeps a pet spider in her room. It’s not in a terrarium. It roams. It all began one day when students got a little crazy about an itsy bitsy spider on my window’s ledge. They all got a bit out of control and instantly wanted to smash the spider to which I screamed “Stop! It’s my pet!” Everyone backed away from the spider. I explained how all creatures had a job to do to keep our ecosystem in balance. I then asked would they prefer a room full of mosquitoes biting them as they read or would they prefer a single spider perched on the window ledge. They all agree the spider was preferable and came to understand that spiders are our friends. They eat the mosquitoes that want to eat us. Now, when a new child or adult enters the room and catches a glimpse of my pet spider the children all sing in union “Step away from Mrs. Ember’s pet spider.” Then they explain the rational. Honestly it’s probably not even the same spider each time, but that’s not the point. The point is I am trying to instil a a deeply rooted respect for nature in the next generation.
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I have to tell you,my adult daughter was taken by your reply, and told me to come and look at your story! You never know where seeds will be planted.Thanks Scarlet!
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I had a close encounter with a rattle snake on Superstition Mountain. I knew, I was supposed to stay still and not make any noise. But when I heard that rattle, and saw the snake three feet in the air…rattling at me, three feet away from me. I ran like never before and screamed so loud, people probably heard me in Texas! And don’t get me started on bees, I don’t like bees. They’re fine as long as they stay away from me. Great post! 🙂
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Most animals are fine, at a distance. 🙂
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Yes, that’s true! 🙂
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Humans have an innate fear of things they don’t understand. My son loves snakes, and as such he’s studied up on them. He knows which ones not to touch. He understands why they hide under rocks. I liked this post a lot! And I love that movie!
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Thank you. My kids love animals of all kinds and have a great respect for them. My daughter in particular is fearless, but not stupid. Thank you for your reply.
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