Note 56.1 — Chapter XVII · THE RESCUE OF ANDROMEDA IN SAGAS.

These examples stand by no means alone. The carving at Brent Pelham, referred to in a note on a previous page, appears to be the origin of a similar story. In the church of Mordiford, in Herefordshire, is a painting representing a winged serpent about twelve feet long, with a large head and open mouth. The tradition is that a dragon infested the neighbourhood, and a condemned malefactor was promised pardon if he would destroy the creature. He fought and killed it in the river Lug, but fell a victim to the poison of its breath. Here again the representation probably suggested the tradition as a special appurtenance of the village; and among others of which we may suspect the same are the famous worms of Lambton in Durham, and Linton in Roxburghshire.56.1 The dragon held a prominent place in the mythology of the northern nations, as it has done in many others, and was a favourite subject of both Teutonic and Celtic Art. To trace its somewhat complex artistic history is foreign to my purpose; but the briefest notice of local traditions could hardly be considered complete without some mention of the influence of sculptures and pictures whose meaning had been lost.