SOURCE: “Tristan's Combat with the Dragon,” in Revue Celtique, Vol. 41. Reprint. Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1966, pp. 331-49.

In the following essay, van Hamel studies the details of the dragon-slaying episode in the Tristan legend and compares these elements as they appear in different versions of the legend.

When Tristan and his men, in quest of the Princess of the Swallow's Hair, have reached the Irish coast and lie in the harbour, they learn that the country is being devastated by a fiery dragon, and that the king has promised his daughter and the half of his kingdom to the man who will slay the monster. The next day the hero sets out alone and accomplishes the deed. He cuts out the dragon's tongue as a trophy. Overcome by his burns, he lies down in a brook and falls asleep. An impostor, the king's seneschal, desires the royal bride for...