Dragons and Dragonslayers

Dragons and Dragonslayers

by Tim Chester
Publisher: Canon Press
Trade Paperback, 98 pages
Price: $10.99

This imaginatively illustrated book includes eight dragon myths from China, Greece, Japan, England, Iceland, and even America—and explains why we are telling these kinds of stories.

This collection tells story after exciting story about dragons. You have probably heard some of them, but some of them will surprise and excite you. We don't just hear the stories of St. George, Perseus, and Thor. We also learn the story of John Lambtown, a man who goes fishing, catches a tiny dragon that quickly grows to epic proportions, and can only be defeated with a bizarre suit of armor. We laugh at the story of the tiny storm god Susannoo who outwits a dragon the size of eight hills with rice wine. We shudder as we hear about the fight of the red and white dragons of Wales and the king that cleverly trapped them. We even get to hear about a dragon that terrorized Indians in Illinois.

Each of these stories resonates with us because of something deep in the human imagination that loves to hear about fighting fierce dragons. In the Garden of Eden, it was a dragon that tricked our first parents, and at the end of the Bible, the book of Revelation, the dragon is identified as Satan. Pastor and author Tim Chester explains what these stories mean, and how we should live in the world as a result.

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