1. The dragon's mother tries to find a safe place for him to live, a place where the people won't harry him. "It's all those stories and legends," she says. Investigate some of the dragon stories and legends in European literature. Compare these with some from Oriental literature.

2. Analyze Matilda's moral code. On what does she place the most value?

What does she consider to be wrong?

How does this compare with other characters in the book?

3. The author describes Angus Og as "a big man—though perhaps not quite as big as he believed." What is Angus' concept of a "big man"? How well did he live up to that idea?