Dragonslayers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Siegfried (or Sigurd)

Fafnir is a dragon found in the Nordic Volsunga Saga as well as in the Germanic Nibelungenlied. Once a dwarf, he obtains the huge store of gold and treasure of the magician dwarf Andvari. But Andvari had cursed the gold, which results in Fafnir's being transformed into a dragon.

In the Nibelungenlied, the basis of Wagner's great opera series, "The Ring of the Nibelung," the hero Siegfried slays Fafnir and, except for one spot, becomes invulnerable when the dragon's blood flows over his body.

In Norse mythology Fafnir is slain by Sigurd, at the inducement of Fafnir's brother Regin.

Answer: Hercules

Ladon was the serpent-like dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides. In one compendium of Greek myths and legends called the "Bibliotheca," stealing the apples of the Hesperides is the eleventh of the Twelve Labors of Hercules. The dragon Ladon is often pictured as a serpent with one or more heads coiled around the tree bearing the golden apples.

Another dragon-like creature Hercules was required to kill was the Lernean Hydra, which had nine heads.

Answer: Wiglaf

In the great Old English epic poem "Beowulf," the hero successfully slays both the monster Grendel and its mother. However, when Beowulf, now king of the Geats, attempts to kill an enraged dragon that is ravaging the kingdom as a result of a theft from his hoard, the hero is nearly disabled and his sword is shattered. Wiglaf then assists in the final demise of the monster.

While Fafnir had already appeared in Nordic and Germanic literature, the dragon Beowulf fought first appears in English literature in the "Beowulf" epic. Both feature a fearsome fire-breathing beast with a hoard of gold.

Answer: Susanoo

In Japanese culture, Susanoo (also called Susanoo-no-Mikoto, among other spellings) is the Shinto god of the sea and storms. He is brother to Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Tsukoyomi, the god of the moon. On one occasion, Susanoo is banished to the earth and descends to the province of Izumo, where he meets an elderly couple who are awaiting the dragon Yamata no Orochi, which has destroyed seven of their daughters and is now coming to devour the eighth.

When the dragon appears, with eight heads and an eight-forked tail, Susanoo cuts it up into small pieces.

When he reaches the tail, he finds within it a sacred sword, which he presents to his sister as a reconciliation gift. She, in turn, gives it to her descendant Ninigi, who is, in the "Nihon Shoki," the great grandfather of the First Emperor, Jimmu.

The sacred sword, Kusanigi, is one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, or the Imperial Regalia.

Answer: Turin Turambar

Glaurung was a great dragon that was introduced in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" as the first of the Dragons. In "The Children of Huin," Turin Turambar slays Glaurung by driving the sword Gurthang into the beast's belly while it attempts to cross the ravine of Cabed-en-Aras of the river Taeglin.

Glaurung was also called The Golden, Father of Dragons, The Great Deceiver, and The Great Worm.

Answer: St. Murrough O'Heaney

St. Murrough O'Heaney's tale comes to us from Irish myth, but he does represent an actual priest, also called Mordeani or Muirdeach, who founded the Old Banagher Church in County Derry.

Also known as the "Last Serpent of Ireland," Paiste was somehow missed by St. Patrick and became a problem in the area around Lough Foyle after Patrick's death. St. Murrough fasted for nine days and nights before engaging Paiste. Although the saint did not actually destroy the dragon, but using three reed rods and God's help, he managed to imprison Paiste in the earth beneath Lough Foyle, where the monster still coils and writhes, affecting the currents and tides around Lough Foyle to this day.

Answer: Dobrynya Nikitich

Dobrynya is a major figure in the Russian genre byliny, or epic oral narrative poems. He is a knight in the bogatyr tradition of East Slavic folklore. Although legendary, Dobrynya was based on the real warlord of the same name who led the armies of Svyatoslav the Great and tutored his son, who would become Vladimir the Great.

Zmey Gorynych was a three-headed dragon that had captured Prince Vladimir's niece, Zabava Putyatishna. Dobrynya traveled to the Saracen Mountains to fight the dragon. The battle lasted three days, but Dobrynya prevailed.

Answer: Skuba Dratewka

Also known as the Dragon of Wawel Hill, Smok Wawelski was a fire-breathing dragon of Polish legend who not only destroyed property, but also required the sacrifice of young maidens and small children, who would be left outside his cave at the base of Wawel Hill near the Vistula River. King Krak of the newly founded city of Krakow sent his best knights against the dragon, but they all failed. The king then promised his daughter Wanda to whomever could overcome the beast. In the end it was the cobbler Skuba Dratewka who tricked the dragon into eating a sacrificial lamb stuffed with sulfur, which caused the monster to explode himself by overdrinking from the Vistula to counteract the effects of the sulfur.

A species of archosaur from the Triassic period, whose fossilized remains have been found in southern Poland, was named Smok wawelski in 2011.

Other versions of the legend have one of King Krak's sons killing his only brother and then slaying the dragon, only later to have his fratricide being discovered.

Answer: Pitaka

Hotupuku and Pitaka are part of the Maori tradition in New Zealand. Among the Maori, Hotupuku is one of the taniwha, supernatural creatures that took many forms, including protectors of humans and devourers of humans. Hotupuku is one of the latter, a land monster in the form of a tuatara, a New Zealand lizard, but as big as a whale.

When travelers between Taupo and Roturua begin disappearing, a group of men from Ngati Tama, led by Pitaka, set out to find the taniwha and destroy him. They weave a great rope in the form of a noose.

When Hotupuku smells human flesh, he emerges from his den in pursuit of the men, who then run through the great loop. When the monster's head enters it, the men pull it tight to hold their prey and then kill it.

When they cut Hotupuku open, they find his previous victims, whom they bury, before roasting and eating the monster in turn.

Answer: Bard the Bowman

Like Fafnir and Beowulf's dragon, Smaug of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit", jealously guards a hoard of gold. After Bilbo Baggins steals a cup from Smaug's stash with the help of the wizard Gandalf and a company of Dwarves, Smaug and the hobbit have a conversation which reveals the dragon's one weak spot. Later, when Smaug attempts to destroy Laketown, Bard the Bowman is informed of the dragon's lone vulnerability by a thrush, and he is able to kill the beast with a well-aimed iron arrow.