In the Dragon’s Lair introduces Alex Teague, a dragon-shifter whose family comes from Cornwall. When writing this story, I took a few liberties with English folklore—tales of dragons are less common in Cornwall compared to the rest of the country.

One intriguing explanation for the relative scarcity of dragons in Cornish folklore is that the region suffered fewer attacks by Vikings. It’s suggested that, without the dragon prows of Viking ships, dragons didn’t occupy the forefront of people’s minds. I’m not entirely convinced by this explanation. I live in a landlocked part of England, yet there is still a strong local tradition of dragons—or rather, one dragon: the one killed by St George at Dragon Hill, near Uffington Castle.

Dragon Hill, seen from White Horse Hill.

Dragon Hill is a natural chalk mound with a top that was flattened artificially sometime before the Roman invasion of Britain. The patch of chalk on which no grass grows is said to be where the dragon’s blood spilled. Dragon Hill is also mentioned in Arthurian legends as the place where Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, was killed in battle and laid to rest. As if that wasn’t enough, the hill is thought to have been the inspiration for Weathertop in The Lord of the Rings.

The Old Post Office, Tintagel

Despite the relative dearth of dragons in Cornwall, when I visited Tintagel village, I was told that dragons were responsible for the wavy roof line of the fourteenth-century Old Post Office. Apparently, they used to perch there. Alex would like to assure you he would never be so thoughtless as to cause a roof to sink.

Tintagel has been intertwined with Arthurian myths and legends ever since Geoffrey of Monmouth suggested it was where King Arthur was conceived. It wouldn’t be right to mention the place without sharing a picture of the bronze sculpture that was erected at Tintagel Castle in 2016. English Heritage, who installed the sculpture, insist that it isn’t a representation of a single person, but it is commonly referred to as King Arthur. It’s striking, whoever it is!

Sculpture at Tintagel Castle

I’m looking forward to sharing Alex and Nate’s adventures with you on June 10th.

Photo credits:

Dragon Hill – photo by https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Frasmacon. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Source.

Old Post Office, Tintagel – photo by Lewis Clarke. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license Source.

Gallos sculpture, Tintagel – photo by Brian Henley. Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. Source.