As fans of the Immortal Knight Chronicles will know, a motif of the saint plays a part
in the series, symbolising the struggle between Richard and William. The Order of
the White Dagger is formed by Richard of Ashbury because of the symbology.
Because as Richard says, he is the dragon slayer but he is also the dragon…
Saint George - if he ever really existed - was a Christian Greek soldier of the Roman Empire,
from Cappadocia or perhaps Syria who was martyred for refusing to sacrifice to the Roman gods.
He was a heroic figure to people right across Christendom
and one who was particularly attractive to soldiers because he had been one himself.
His popularity really took off across Christendom during and after the Crusades,
probably in part because he was a local saint to some extent but also because
a more ancient form of his legend already existed in the minds of Europeans.
He became the patron saint of England, Portugal, Romania, Georgia, Malta,
Catalonia, Aragon and more. Some people like to use this fact to cheapen the
notion of George being the patron saint of England because he's not "special" to any one country.
“He’s not even English,” you might hear or read people saying.
But that just betrays their ignorance of our
past pan-European (what for centuries was called "Christendom") cultural history.
Why did his legend take off so much?
Interestingly, the image of a horseman driving his lance into a monster dates back far beyond
the medieval period, and in England and Europe at least the celebration of St George
overlays a more ancient motif, or rather a development or new incarnation of it.
The image is found our ancient past because, in the Indo-European tradition, the giant serpent
represents the chaos that is always attempting to destroy our people, our civilisation, our society.
The serpent as a symbol in stories and art represents the external, the other,
the great enemy, the demons, the evil that wants nothing but to destroy us.
And the dragon-slayer therefore represents order, stability, continuity.
He is the strong arm of the mighty that keeps chaos at bay.
For example, the Germanic hero Sigurd (known as Sigeweard to the English
and Sigfried to the Germans) is the archetypal dragon slayer in Germanic heroic myth.
It's also seen in the ancient myths of Perseus slaying the snake headed Medusa
(which is the story of my novella the Wolf God - get a free copy by the link in the description).
And it appears in Herakles slaying the Hydra and Ladon the Dragon. And there's
Indra slaying Vitra and Thor battling Jörmungandr and many other examples.
For the medieval people of Christendom, St George also represented heroism and bravery,
honour, fame, piety and righteousness.
He was the perfect icon for the chivalric ideals of the age.
After it was adopted and promoted by the kings of England, it became a motif embraced
by the English generally, and not just the nobles.
How many Englishmen through history fought battles while crying his name?
The idea of righteously charging down a monster with your lance
couched, with God on your side, is a glorious and inspiring one whether you
are a knight or an archer or a redcoated lieutenant in the 44th Regiment of Foot.
It's no surprise then that it has proved so popular and is so enduring.
Saint George may have died in about AD 300 but by celebrating him and using his symbol
as inspiration for our nation we are continuing a tradition that is thousands of years old.
And this symbol has a meaning so deep and ancient, repeated so often down the centuries, that we
might feel the importance of it instinctively without knowing exactly where it comes from.
So he is a man, a legend, a symbol, to be admired and emulated by all those who oppose evil.
A hero for the English people.
Happy St George's Day!