Why a funny-looking dragon has everything to do with Alfred the Great
Hi friends! Today’s post is a guest article by my friend Amy Ullrich, author of the Heroes of Wessex series! Enjoy! Have you ever read any of G.A. Henty’s books? He was a prolific historical fiction author who wrote especially for boys. But there are many girls (like me!) who have enjoyed his books. Of course, one of my favourites is his The Dragon and the Raven which is set during the reign of Alfred the Great. It was Henty who first introduced me to the concept of King Alfred’s dragon flag. While working on the final book in my Heroes of Wessex trilogy, I have done some extra research into this flag. I mean, wouldn’t it be amazing to know exactly what King Alfred’s standard looked like? Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how it would have looked, but we do know that it would have featured an unusual, two-legged dragon called a “wyvern.” Historical sources suggest that the wyvern was the symbol of Wessex since at least a century before King Alfred. The wyvern is even depicted...
