What is the Dragon?

Beowulf's Dragon

“Middle English (also denoting a large serpent): from Old French, via Latin from Greek drakōn 'serpent'. A mythical monster like a giant reptile. In European tradition the dragon is typically fire-breathing and tends to symbolize chaos or evil.” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013)

The story:
After successfully slaying Grendels Mother, Beowulf rules Geatland as their King for 50 years.
However a slave steals a golden cup from the Dragons lair and awakens him the dragon then burns all the Geats homes and land. Beowulf (though now in his old age) decides to slay the dragon. He and the Thanes climb to the Dragons lair, but when the Thanes see the Dragon they abandon Beowulf and Wiglaf. They successfully slay the Dragon, only to find that Beowulf has been mortally wounded by a bite in his neck.

Beowulf is the first piece of English Literature to present a Dragonslayer (Evans, 2010) and a fire breathing Dragon, and was later the basis on which J. R. R. Tolkien based Smaug in The Hobbit, which was the forerunner of the modern High Fantasy genre (Tolkien, 1936). However, the original author would have had access to earlier Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian oral stories, although these stories have been lost.

Characteristics:
• Fire breathing
• Venomous
• Draca (dragon) and wyrm (worm)
• Nocturnal
• Treasure hoarding
• Vengeful

Semiotics of ‘The Dragon” (Beowulf specific)
• Fire: Hell fire,
• Middle English word Dragon: Chaos and evil
• Nocturnal: Darkness is its protection; also means the fire looks cooler! :p
• Gold: Hoarding, against the code of Hospitality
• The battle of Beowulf and the dragon probably symbolizes the battle against evil (Alaxender, 2003)
• It is actually Wiglaf who finishes the dragon off, not Beowulf. Its his courage that shows him the be the right successor of Beowulf.

Cool things I think are cool:
I found the entire book of Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics by Tolkien and you can read it online! http://www.scribd.com/doc/21301124/J-R-R-Tolkien-Beowulf-The-Monsters-and-the-Critics

Bibliography
Alaxender, M., 2003. Beowulf. Penguin Books Limited.
Evans, J., 2010. The Dragon'Lore of Middle Earth: Tolkien and Old English and Old Norse Tradition. Greenwood Press.
Oxford Dictionaries, 2013. dragon. [Online] Available at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dragon?q=dragon [Accessed 22 January 2013].
Tolkien, J.R.R., 1936. Beowulf: The Monsters and The Critics. New ed. [Lecture] Harper Collins. Sir Israel Gollancz Lecture.

P.s. Most dragon make-up isn't that good, to be honest. But I found a few that I thought were cool.