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Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar
Thanks to all of you who have revived this thread with your comments! I agree with the general consensus that the "Catholic" references are more cultural than religious; still, it is an interesting look at a time long gone by, isn't it? And I'm still pondering the difference between the "religious" saint's tale, in which the dragon gets killed, and Tolkien's parody, in which the dragon stays alive and becomes a helpful ally of the hero!
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I think that has a lot to do with different conceptions of a "dragon". The dragon St. George reputedly killed is associated with the devil (ie. the serpent). The tale is expressly a story of the triumph of sanctity over evil. End of story.
[EDIT]It just occurred to me that one could also associate the image of the "religious dragon" with various scriptural writings. I believe the Book of Daniel and Revelation have "dragons" of sorts in them--though I'm not sure that the term is actually used in both cases. These "dragons" however, are very different in conception and description from the classic western European conception exemplified in Smaug and others, other than being the biggest and most fearsome of beasts.[/edit]
However, as we see with Smaug and Glaurung, Tolkien was fascinated by DRAGONS. And with those examples, certainly, we are seeing dragons in the normal pattern of dragons. But with Chyrsophylax especially, and with Smaug nextmost, I think we're seeing Tolkien's childlike fascination with "green, great dragons". And, personally, I think a lot of us find dragons fascinating for much the same reasons; these big, scaly, independent, fire-breathing, enigmatic, vainglorious flying dinosaurs are simply cool.
And since I would say that
Farmer Giles is an explicitly more lighthearted adventure, told for the fun and not for any epic purpose, it seems right that Tolkien allows the coolest character in the book to survive.