A Spotlight on Dragons!
by Faith McKay
Dragons have been described in stories in almost every culture; our fascination with them never seems to die. It's an exciting time for dragons at the moment, with the new Hobbit film being scheduled for production and the next novel in the Inheritance Cycle soon being released! Here, I would like to honor these dragons with a special spotlight on some of the famous dragons from fantasy books and films.
Dragon Quotes:
“Who wouldn’t like a forty-foot telepathic dragon as their best friend?” – Anne McCaffrey
"Come not between the dragon, and his wrath."- William Shakespeare, King Lear
"Never laugh at live dragons." - J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit
"This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don't want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don't want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise). No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time to trying to understand it."- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Dragon Art Links:
Dragon Girl by Sarah Mensinga
Larry Elmore has a large gallery with a number of Dragon pieces.
Looking for more dragon art? Check out the galleries at Elfwood or DeviantArt
Some Great Stories Featuring Dragons:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit
Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels
Terry Goodkind The Sword of Truth series
Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle
Jane Yolen’s The Pit Dragon Trilogy
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
Dragon Spotlights:
Here, I would like to spotlight two famous dragons. One, Norbert, is from the Harry Potter series-which seemed fitting since this issue has a series of Harry Potter articles. The other dragon is Falkor, from the novel and film The Neverending Story.NORBERT (or, Norberta)
Norbert is a Norwegian Ridgeback and Hagrid’s beloved dragon from the Harry Potter series. Most of Norbert's story was cut out of the Sorcerer’s Stone film for time reasons. Despite how much Hagrid cared for Norbert it was impossible for Norbert to stay at Hogwarts as the dragon got larger and Hagrid was eventually persuaded to send Norbert to Romania to live with Charlie Weasley, who studies dragons there. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Charlie reveals that Norbert is a female dragon, and had been renamed Norberta. He also says that female dragons are known to be more vicious.Quotes about dragons in the Harry Potter Series:
"It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous." - Ron Weasley
"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titilandus" translation – ‘Never tickle a sleeping dragon' the Hogwarts motto
FALCOR
Falkor (sometimes spelled Falcor, Fuchur in German) is a kind, humorous, luckdragon and a friend of Atreyu in The Neverending Story. Luckdragons can fly despite the fact that they are without wings.Trivia:
You can "ride" on Falkor's back on location at the Bavaria Filmplatz Munich, Germany.
Alan Oppenheimer did the voice of Falkor
Quotes:
“Never give up and good luck will find you.” - Falkor
“Having a luck dragon with you is the only way to go on a quest.” - Falkor
“You've already brought me the entire 10000 miles?” - Atreyu
”No, only 9891.” -Falcor
Stumble It!
