Moving right along to day five of the A to Z Challenge!

Today we have:

E is for Evil Dragon Attack

As much as I prefer my dragons to be friendly, beneficial, and sometimes even cute, one must admit that much of dragon lore over the span of humankind has put dragons in the role of monster or villain instead, an enemy to be vanquished, as Beowulf killed the serpent terrorizing his realm or as St. George slew the dragon to save the princess.

With that in mind, today’s art pays homage to the destructive nature of these beasts with Evil Dragon Attack by Stanley Morrison, found on his deviantart site.  Below is another piece by Stanley called Beowulf Dragon.  He notes on his site that both pieces were created as illustrations for a “book of dragons in history for Q2A Media,” but I wasn’t able to track down the book itself.

Giant dragons can certainly cause massive destruction as the first picture shows, but even smaller ones like the Beowulf Dragon above make for formidable opponents against mere mortals.  That reminds me of the old joke, re-purposed from a Tolkien quote: “Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!”

I don’t intend for every dragon in my book to be friendly, that’s for sure, but I’m definitely going more for the depiction that other authors have cultivated before me — dragons as intelligent and free-thinking creatures, rather than mindless beasts of rage, with a variety of personalities and personal motivations, as varied as the humans who inhabit my world.

Stanly Morrison has more wonderful art at his site, including some cute dragons too, and a whole series of winged-cat Zodiac pictures that you should definitely check out.  All right, stay creative!

Image credits:
Evil Dragon Attack
Beowulf Dragon