The Reluctant Dragon is an 1898 children’s story by Kenneth Grahame (originally published as a chapter in his book Dream Days), which served as the key element to the 1941 feature film with the same name from Walt Disney Productions. The story has also been set to music as a children’s operetta by John Rutter, with words by David Grant. 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). It is Grahame’s most famous short story. It can be seen as a prototype to most modern stories in which the dragon is a sympathetic character rather than a threat.

In Grahame’s story, a young boy discovers an erudite, mushroom-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. St George, by this time, is quite elderly and has little interest in slaying dragons, though he resolves to do it, as it is his duty. The boy introduces St George to the dragon, and the two decide that it would be better for them not to fight. Eventually, they decide to stage a fake joust between the two combatants. The dragon appears to have died, and the townsfolk rejoice (though not all of them, as some had placed bets on the dragon winning). St George then reveals that the dragon had not died, and assures the townsfolk that he is not dangerous. The dragon is then accepted by the people.

One scholar describes the book as “a story about language”, such as the “dialect of the illiterate people,” and the “literary aspirations of the dragon.” The story also has an opening scene in which a little girl named Charlotte (a character form Grahame’s The Golden Age) and a grown-up character find mysterious reptilian footprints in the snow and follow them, eventually finding a man who tells them the story of the Reluctant Dragon; two abridged versions (one by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by John Segal and another abridged and illustrated by Inga Moore) both omit this scene. A New York Times review by Emily Jenkins notes that this framework is somewhat long-winded and might cause some

      Illustration by Inga Moore for “The New York Times”, October 17, 2004

parents to worry about whether the story can keep kids’ attention... however, she finds the unabridged version preferable to both abridgments (although she says that “Moore retains the pure joy of the author’s descriptive passages”).

Peter Green, in his 1959 biography of Grahame, writes that while the story can be viewed as a satire like Don Quixote, the characters can be seen on a deeper level as representing different sides of the author himself: St. George representing Grahame as a public servant representing the Establishment and the Dragon representing his anarchic, artistic, anti-social side.

The story has inspired the animated film produced by Walt Disney, directed by Alfred Werker, and released by RKO Radio Pictures on June 20, 1941.

The cartoon starts with an introduction by the narrator of the story. We are introduced to one of the main characters: The Boy, who is reading a book about knights and bloodthirsty dragons. His father comes rushing by, claiming to have seen a monster. The Boy reassures his father that it was only a dragon, to which the father panics and runs to the village in fear.

The Boy then goes to the Dragon’s lair, where he is confronted not by a ferocious beast, but a shy, poetry spouting creature. The Boy, though surprised at seeing what a nice creature the Dragon is, befriends him.

When he arrives back at the village, the Boy discovers that Sir Giles the Dragon slayer has arrived. He runs to tell the Dragon that he should fight him, only to be left disappointed when the Dragon announces that he never fights.

The Boy visits Sir Giles, and it is revealed that Sir Giles is an old man. The Boy tells Sir Giles that the Dragon will never fight and they decide to visit him.

Sir Giles and the Boy visit the Dragon while he is having a picnic. It turns out that Sir Giles also loves to make up poetry, so The Dragon and Sir Giles serenade each other. The Boy then asks if he could recite a poem of his own. He uses his chance to get a word in edgewise to shout at them to arrange the fight. The Dragon leaves but is persuaded back out of his cave when he is flattered by Sir Giles. Sir Giles and the Dragon eventually decide to fight, but as Sir Giles and the Boy leave, the Dragon has second thoughts.

The next day, the villagers have gathered to watch the fight. Sir Giles arrives waiting for the Dragon.

Inside his cave, the Dragon is too scared to fight. He cannot breathe fire. An insult from the Boy leads to the Dragon getting angry and eventually spitting flames. The Dragon jumps for joy, as he is now ferocious.

The fight starts. Sir Giles chases the Dragon around with his sword, and inside the cave, drink tea and make noises to make it seem they are fighting. Out in the open, they charge at each other, creating a cloud. Inside they dance, and Sir Giles reveals that it is time for the Dragon to be slain, but only for pretend, to which the Dragon gets excited. Sir Giles places his lance under the Dragon’s arm, and then the Dragon jumps out of the cloud and performs a dramatic death scene.

The story ends with the Dragon being accepted into society, to which the Dragon recites a poem:

“I promise not to rant or roar, and scourge the countryside anymore!”