March 19 Dragons

J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, wrote a lesser-known story, Farmer Giles of Ham. In the story, Farmer Giles lived in a place called the Middle Kingdom, where a giant had been trampling on animals and buildings. He shot at the giant, chasing him away. Because the giant had done so much damage, Farmer Giles became the Hero of the Countryside. The townspeople cheered, and the King even sent congratulations, along with a belt and an old sword he found lying around the armory.
When the giant returned home to his land far away, he told stories of his travels, which he embellished a bit. The dragons listened to his stories, and one dragon decided to pay a visit to the Middle Kingdom.
The dragon also brought destruction. He burned up the crops, destroyed buildings, and took animals. Most people stayed inside their houses, but the parson came out and tried to convince the dragon to mend his evil ways. Instead, he ate the parson.
Farmer Giles discovered that the sword the king had given him had a name – Tailbiter – and that it had belonged to a great dragon-slayer. No dragon could resist it when it was in the hands of a brave man. Farmer Giles went after the dragon and, wielding Tailbiter, wounded his wing so that he could not fly.
Although the dragon said, “Knights always kill dragons, if we don’t kill them first,” Farmer Giles didn’t kill him. Instead, he went into the dragon’s cave and took his treasure, which would pay for the damage to the town. He strapped the treasure onto the dragon’s back and they walked back to the Middle Kingdom. People came to see the dragon Farmer Giles had captured, and he became very rich. He was the Darling of the Land.