DRAGONS OF THE WEST
By Nigel Pennick, published by Capall Bann at £10.95. 210pp. ISBN: 186163007-7
Pennick fans will have a fair idea of what to expect from any new Pennick book and will not be disappointed by this, his latest offering. It is also one of Capall Bann's most useful offerings recently.
This really is everything dragons - from Gods, Goddesses and heros connected with dragons to dragons as symbols in alchemy and the dragon-prowed ships of the Vikings, from dragon-slaying and dragon-taming saints such as George, Catherine and Martha to dragons in folklore, legend and mythology. Dragons on pub signs and heraldic standards, dragons in civic pagentry, dragons in folksong and drama, dragons on weathervanes and in Medieval chronicles, dragons in Soviet propaganda and Welsh nationalism, in military history and much more - and finally a gazetteer of dragon sites, legends, carvings and so on around the UK. Extensively illustrated throughout with old woodcuts, line drawings, alchemical symbols etc.
This has to be one of the most thorough studies of a single image or symbol that I have seen - absolutely essential for dracophiles and devotees of pub trivia quizzes. And just about everyone else.