Kenneth Grahame

The Reluctant Dragon Illustrated Kenneth Grahame

The Reluctant Dragon" is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame, originally published as a chapter in his book Dream Days. It is Grahame's most famous short story, arguably better known than Dream Days itself or the related 1895 collection The Golden Age.[1] It can be seen as a prototype to most modern stories in which the dragon is a sympathetic character rather than a threat. The story takes place in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire (where the author lived and where, according to legend, St. George did fight a dragon). In Grahame's story, a young boy discovers an erudite, poetry-loving dragon living in the Downs above his home. The two become friends, but soon afterwards the dragon is discovered by the townsfolk, who send for St George to rid them of it. The boy introduces St George to the dragon, and the two decide that it would be better for them not to fight.