Of Knights and Dragons

In a world where wild fantastic visions of yesterday become the everyday cultural knowledge of the present day, at a time when representatives of a once-marginalized genre fill the screens of sold-out cinemas, in which the correct pronunciation of magic spells with dubious Latin roots is not an exception, and in which one can always rely on the last-minute swooping in of an eagle, a book emerges that wishes to observe and record the zeitgeist with curiosity.

Of Knights and Dragons is an artistic theoretical exploration of the dragon fight in modern historical narrative. The encounter of a hero with a reptile-like monster is a long-standing motif originating in many different myths, and it has become very significant in our culture. It is perhaps exemplary for the fantasy genre as a whole, and according to what authors make of it, conclusions can also be drawn for other genre elements.

The book Of Knights and Dragons is divided into two large chapters; The first tells in comic book form a paradigmatic story of the dragon, in order to later draw on the characters from the story and to illustrate several theoretical models and conceptions. This helps us to get a glimpse into the past of the motif of the dragon fight, its change over time, the phenomena that play a role - as well as its contemporary position and the undiminished great influence it continues to exercise.