The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon, is Kenneth Grahame's (The Wind in the Willows) 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. The story takes place in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire where, according to legend, St George did fight a dragon. 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.