Arthur Rackham was an outstanding illustrator with a wide variety of skills and numerous preferences. The presentation of mythological creatures was definitely one of them. We dug through dozens of the books he illustrated until we made a selection of some of his most famous dragons. Here there are, together with resources and one or two amazing tidbits:

The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie by Richard Wagner, translated by Margaret Armour, William Heinemann, London & Doubleday Pace & Co., New York, 1910

"Oh! Oh!

Horrible dragon,

O swallow me not!

Spare the life of poor Loge!"

The character of Loge is created by Wagner after Loki. There are some changes though. Wagner saw him much more multilayered than he is presented in classical Norse mythology where he is a clearly negative entity.

Fafnir, sometimes called Fafner, is in essence presented as a guard of Alberich's ring. This is, of course, a magic ring, made of gold of the river Rhein, and the very same ring after the whole of Wagner's cycle The Ring of the Nibelung is named.

Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods by Richard Wagner, translated by Margaret Armour, William Heinemann, London & Doubleday Pace & Co., New York, 1911

Fafnir aka Fafner is not 'just' a dragon. He is a son of dwarf king Hreidmar. He turned into a dragon after being cursed by another dwarf named Andwari. Andwari, on the other hand, served as an inspiration for Alberich in Wagner's work (Fafner, by the way, is presented as a giant, not a dwarf, in Wagner's masterpiece).

"In dragon's form Fafner now watches the hoard!"

The form of the dragon, as terrifying as it is, is not a very popular one and it's only a matter of time when some hero tries to slay you. In Fafner's case, this was Siegfried.

Siegfried kills Fafner.

Siegfried was a mortal grandson of Wotan, the king of the gods. His attack on Fafner was not motivated by the powers of the ring (at least not exclusively) because we can understand it as a kind of revenge for Fafner's vicious deeds and protection against dragon's wicked plans. Fafner, if you didn't know, was thinking about destroying gods!

"The hot blood burns like fire!"

The dwarfs quarreling over the body of Fafner.

Even when the dragon is already dead, his cadaver is so impressive dwarfs are willing to fight over it.

The Land of Enchantment, Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Toronto, and Melbourne, 1907

Stories from Edda by E. S. Buchheim

Did you know the character of Sigurd is sometimes called Siegfried? Here he is in the already presented scene where he kills the dragon Fafnir, but this time in the story adapted for younger readers.

Sigurd pierced him with his sword, and he died.

A Wonder Book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hodder & Stoughton, London & New York, 1922

The book is a selection of popular Greek myths, adapted for kids. One of the stories is about the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster composed of a lion, a goat, and a snake. Bellerophon from Corinth, riding the flying horse Pegasus, battled and killed it.

Its three heads spluttering fire.

English Fairy Tales, retold by Flora Annie (Webster) Steel, published by Macmillan Company, New York, 1918

St. George of Merrie England

A vignette above illustrates the story about Saint George who killed a dragon.

The Laidly Worm

Laidly Worm is a princess May Margret, enchanted by her step-mother. She is cursed to be trapped in the body of a dragon until the end of the world or until her brother (who is at the time of the curse already missing for many years) kisses her three times.

The Allies Fairy Book, William Heinemann, London & J. B. Lippencott Co, Philadelphia, 1916

Three stories from this book used an image of the dragon.

Jack the Giant-Killer

This is a vignette made to decorate the first story in the book: Jack the Giant-Killer. There are no dragons in the story though. But dangers as dragons, witches, or giants were often presented interchangeably and illustrator obviously opted to use a vignette of a dragon for the initial decoration of the story.

Llud and Llevelys

A story about Llud (London supposedly got its name after him) and his younger brother, both warriors, who fought different monsters, dragons included.

Cesarino and the Dragon

An Italian fairy tale about poor Cesarino who fought a dragon to rescue a beautiful princess.

So valiantly did they grapple with him that they bore him to the ground and slew him.

The Golden Apple-Tree and the Nine Peahens

A Serbian variation of the well-known story about the golden apples being stolen, which leads to the quest od three brothers, resulting in the youngest taking all the credits.

The dragon flew out and caught the queen on the road and carried her away.

Grimm's Fairy Tales, Constable & Company, London, 1909, limited (750 signed copies) edition

The Four Clever Brothers

This story belongs to the 1909 version of Grimm's Fairy Tales, published by Constable & Company in London. Four brothers are seeking adventures and rescuing the princess from the claws of the dragon is the ultimate test.

The king's only daughter has been carried away by a dragon.

They found the princess still on the rock, but the dragon was asleep with his head on her lap.

That's it. Some of the best pictures of dragons by Arthur Rackham. We may find a few more in the future. If you like what you saw, don't forget to tell your friends!