Dragons: A Fantasy Staple
What is it about dragons?
Something about dragons just grips the imagination. They call to us.
Evil dragons lurk in caverns and darkened skies, a foe to fight, a villain to defeat, an evil to overcome.
Good dragons hide in plain sight, thrill our sense of possibilities, dare us to tame them, to befriend them, to ride them.
Fantasy and Dragons just go hand in hand. And while not all fantasy has to have dragons… we’re never bothered when they do show up. Of all the fantasy creatures out there to choose from, dragons show up the most often, and it’s no wonder. They inspire us to courage.
“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”
~G.K. Chesterton
And while some might argue that dragons are “overdone” they still manage to hold us spellbound.
I agree that more fantasy creatures should get more of the spotlight… but I can’t deny that if a story includes a dragon, I’m pretty much guaranteed to at least give it a shot. And I don’t even really have a preference between evil villainous dragons and good, beneficent dragons… though my favorite stories are the ones that include dragons that can be both good or evil and have an active choice in the matter.
So, in honor of one of my favorite things about the fantasy genre, I thought I’d compile here a not-at-all exhaustive list of some of my favorite dragon stories.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I mean, you have to start here. Smaug is the ultimate dragon villain and he knocks it out of the park with his cunning, his sharply dry wit, and his epic villainy.
The Magic Kingdom of Landover series by Terry Brooks
I know he’s better known for his Shanarra books, but the Magic Kingdom of Landover is my favorite series by brooks, not in small part because of Strabo, the last living dragon. He is such a tragic and terrifying and sometimes evil and sometimes helpful character and I just love him and what he adds to the story.
How to Train Your Dragon - Movies/TV Series
You thought I forgot this one in my list of middle grade tv shows we love, didn’t you?
you were right
But I get to remedy the oversight here because the HTTYD movie/tv franchise is one of my absolute favorites. I love all the movies and all the shows and it’s one I’d totally watch even if I didn’t have kids. I don’t know about you, but I am stoked about the HTTYD area of the new Universal Park that’s being built down in Orlando and I am definitely planning on going to it once it’s finished!
Such a great series about friendship and growing up and leadership and courage and just… ahhhhh, I want to ride on a dragon!
(As a side-note, I tried to read the books and simply couldn’t get into them)
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede
This middle grade fantasy series has the best dragons. If you haven’t read them, you definitely should! They’re short, sweet stories, and you can probably blitz through them pretty quick. But Kazul and the other dragons are just so fun, and it’s the first series I ever read that portrayed dragons as individuals who could be good or evil depending on their actions, versus just having to be evil because they’re dragons. If you like lots of humorous fairy tale references, characters who choose what is practical over letting their emotions order them about, flying carpets, humor, and fun… this is a series you should pick up and start reading right now!
Jane Austen’s Dragons series by Maria Grace
If you think that what Pride and Prejudice really needs is a good herd of dragons… then this series will be right up your alley. Equal parts fantasy and Jane Austen retelling, this series is an absolute riot of epic fun. Highly recommend.
Dragon and Scholar series by H.L. Burke
While Burke is best-known for her superhero series at the moment, the books that introduced me to her were this epic fantasy romance saga about a young scholar who befriends a moody dragon and has to figure out a way to save him from sword-wielding knights bent on killing him simply for being a dragon!
A beautiful story about overcoming all odds, friendship, sweet romance, surviving betrayal, and some epic moments of kingdoms teetering on the edge of war… I really love this one.
I could go on and list SO many more books, movies, and stories that I love that have dragons, but this is a good sampling to end with for now.
Do you enjoy fantasy stories that include dragons? Do you prefer your dragons to be good, evil, a mixture of both? What are some of your favorite stories that include dragons?