Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer, #64: "The Dragon's Ploy"

Dragons are perpetually fascinating. Stories about them exist in many cultures. I knew them from European culture, but they also existed in Chinese myth and in the culture lore of other societies. Like vampires, they have developed character complexity over the centuries. In the Bible the Devil is represented as a dragon. Early dragons are brutal and destructive, like the dragon in Sir Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queen. But modern writers, as usual, began to question the usual characterization. Smaug, the dragon in The Hobbit, is ruthless and cruel, but he is also wise and astute in a cynical, pragmatic way. Today readers will encounter wise and benevolent dragons. There are good dragons, loyal dragons, pet dragons, baby dragons, dragon friends and companions. The only thing that has not change is the fascination. We encounter dragons in Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Game of Thrones, among other stories. My first memories of dragons were not good.

As a kid, I was scared of "monsters," and this included dragons. I remember running out of the living room in fear when a commercial for Walt Disney's film Sleeping Beauty showed the Prince fighting the dragon the evil witch transforms to in the last scene. In school, though, a few years later, we read a story by a writer named Heywood Broun, "The Fifty-First Dragon." Dragons were much less scary in this story and it amused me because it talked about the dragons like they were matter-of-fact things that one might encounter in day-to-day life. 

Daenerys and dragons in Game of Thrones

I wrote the story "The Dragon's Ploy," in response to a call for submissions. I had never written a dragon story before and thought it would be fascinating to give my particular "take" to the genre. In this story a young man named Terrowin is caught kissing a young woman named Matilda who is in the King's employ. The king, named Rimauld, cruel and facing a rebellion, decides to make examples of them. As punishment, Terrowin is taken to a mountain where a dragon has just died. He is drugged and thrown into the dragon's cave, where he goes to sleep on a pile of cursed dragon's gold. Matilda is sentenced to be imprisoned in a tower for the rest of her life. 

He wakes up bewildered and then remembers what happened. A scene in C. S. Lewis' The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader' where the character Eustace is transformed into a dragon greatly influenced me in this. When he fully comprehends what is happening, Terrowin is faced with a dilemma. His human side and his newly acquired "dragon" side begin to fight for dominance. He struggles to keep the dragon side subservient to his human spirit and manages to succeed. The only time he is overwhelmed by his dragon side is when he is flying and encounters a virgin. He devours her, not able to control himself. 

Matilda

Then he begins to wage war against King Rimauld. Terrowin flies over the kingdom and burns the estates of the King's main supporters. He incinerates Feste the Fool, who told the King about his attachment to Matilda. He attacks the castle and flings a cup from the dragon's lair into the tower where she is imprisoned. It is part of a ploy, and the ploy works. Thinking the dragon who was formerly Terrowin still has an attachment to Matilda, and knowing dragons have a distinct liking for virgins, he brings the wretched girl to the dragon's lair. But the king miscalculates. Terrowin is not driven mad with a desire to devour the young woman because of dragons' liking for virgins. He and Matilda, it seems, did more than kiss.

Having his senses about him, he frightens off the soldiers and kills the king. The King's sorcerer, Gaspar, is there, and says he knows how to change Terrowin back to his human form. He does not trust Gaspar, but Matilda vouches for him. He drinks a potion and wakes up in bed, changed back to his human form. The insurgency has taken over the kingdom. He is a hero. And, of course, he and Matilda marry and live happily ever after.

"The Dragon's Ploy" appeared in Hogglepot.  You can read it here.

For additional titles, novellas, and novels, check out my Writer's Page.

I would love to hear your comments. Do you have a favorite dragon story? Share it!

Check out my latest novel, Sinfonia: First Notes on the Lute. The vampire Nelleke Reitsma plays the lute well. Of course, she's had 300 years to practice. She performs for Queen Elizabeth and is very cozy with a playwright named William Shakespeare. But she has many other lovers and, like all vampires, a love of human blood.

Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer, #62: "Guinevere."

Crosby, Stills, and Nash

The medieval period is a great era to glean material for stories. You can do a revisionist version of a well-known tale; you can write a story from a minor character's perspective (such as the life of Robin Hood and his merry men from the perspective of Little John—or Maid Marian); you can tell a tale from the perspective of a villainous character—maybe the Witch's side of the story in "Snow White." Lots of possibilities exist. The story "Guinevere" came from a couple of sources:  the poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which I had taught in classes on medieval literature; and the old song "Guinnevere" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash [Crosby's spelling of the name].

 This kind of cross-fertilization is good. The thing that got me going was the intriguing lyrics of the song "Guinnevere." Of that song David Crosby said, "It's about three women that I loved. One of who was Christine Hinton –the girl who got killed who was my girlfriend—and one of who was Joni Mitchell, and the other one is somebody that I can't tell. It might be my best song."

Whatever the circumstances of its composition, the imagination of the writer takes an item—poetry, music, art—and runs with it.

As I listened to Crosby's song, the lyrics intrigued me and I began to think of a backstory to it. The line that stood out the most was "Guinnevere drew pentagrams—like yours, my Lady, like yours. / Late at night when she thought no one was watching at all." Pentagrams are associated with satanic worship. Obviously, Guinevere was trying to hide her drawing, since she did it late at night when she thought no one would see her. I found this intriguing. "She thought"—the narrator of the song might have seen her doing it. But maybe someone else saw her as well and the narrator only found out when there were repercussions—worshiping Satan would be a gravely serious offense in the middle ages—a blasphemy.

So I had Guinevere secretly worshiping the devil at night and being observed by authorities from the village:  the priest, the head of the convent, and a local magistrate who were somehow tipped off as to her activity. And other things from the song:  who is the lady being addressed to whom the narrator says "drew pentagrams, like yours, my Lady"? And it is past tense. Why? Well, at least in my interpretation, Guinevere is gone but has left a child behind.

So the story formed:  Guinevere is a friend of Lucinda Bolingbroke. After her friend is burned at the stake for blasphemy, Lucinda adopts takes her child, Dorigen. But something happens at the execution. When Guinevere is dead, her body hideously blackened by the flames, the legendary Green Knight appears. He throws a sprig of holly on the fire. Guinevere's corpse disappears.

The Inquisition questions Lucinda but can't convict her of any wrongdoing and allows her to raise Dorigen. Years pass. Dreams from Guinevere force her to take Dorigen to the woods where the dreams have told her. She finds Guinevere there. She is married to the Green Knight and has small (green) children. Lucinda knows Guinevere wants Dorigen back. Though the child has become hers over the years, she relinquishes the little girl, who is eager to return to her mother and her new-found half-brothers and sisters.

As Lucinda departs, Guinevere gives her a ruby ring. This exchange takes place:

“The ruby ring I gave you,” Guinevere said—“don’t take it off.”

Lucinda glanced over at her. It was not like Guinevere to command.

She promises and rides off to meet the servants who escorted her to the limits of the enchanted wood where Guinevere now lives. She is told the plague has swept the village. Her husband is dead. The village is abandoned. Lucinda takes off her wedding ring as mourning requires but realizes she must not take off the ring Guinevere gave her and begins to understand why. She goes into the village, visits the grave of her husband, gathers up a few belongings and garments, and rides out. As she had suspected, Guinevere meets her just outside the stricken village.

Lucinda knows that the ring protected her and also that the dreams she dreamed removed her and Dorigen from the settlement to save their lives. Guinevere says Lucinda will live in the enchanted wood and possibly meet a young man who will marry her. She laughs. “Young man who will marry me? Give me children? Guinevere, I’m almost forty.” Life expectancy in the middle ages was about fifty years old. Guinevere tells Lucinda her youth will return once she is in the wood. She agrees to go with her old friend and the two of them depart, Lucinda to begin a new life, Guinevere to old enchantments.

"Guinevere" appeared in SNM Magazine, the May issue, and you can read it here. You'll have to scroll down to it (it's quite a ways down) but you can read it.

For a great read, get a copy of Sinfonia:  First Notes on the Lute. Nelleke the Vampire has lived from the time of Queen Elisabeth I and Shakespeare. Her abilities as a lute player are recognized. Of course, she has had a long time to practice.

For other titles, check out my Writer's Page. 

I would love to hear your comments.