ATU 300 The Dragon-Slayer
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The tale in brief
A young man, in many versions a shepherd with three dogs, kills a dragon and saves the king's daughter.
Summary written for RunoVerse from Antti Aarne’s list of tale types of 1910 and the Finnic texts linked on this page.
Runosong types
Possibly related: the songs of these types tell this tale (as judged by a language model).
- Lohikäärme ja neito Dragon and Maiden · SKVR · 138 poems
Finnic and Finland-Swedish sources cited in the catalogue
The entries of the catalogue’s list of literature and variants that concern Finnic tradition.
Finnish Rausmaa 1982ff. I, Nos. 1, 91
Finnish-Swedish Hackman 1917f. I, Nos. 48a, 53(3), 103(12)
Estonian Aarne 1918
Livonian Loorits 1926
Livonian, Wepsian, Wotian, Lydian, Karelian, Syrjanian Kecskeméti/Paunonen 1974
Full references:
- Rausmaa 1982ff.: Rausmaa, Pirkko-Liisa (ed.): Suomalaiset kansansadut 1–6. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1982–2000.
- Hackman 1917f.: Hackman, Oskar (ed.): Finlands svenska folkdiktning I A: Sagor. Referatsamling 1–2. Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1917–1920. Read online ↗ (National Library of Finland)
- Aarne 1918: Aarne, Antti: Estnische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. Verzeichnis der zu den Hurt'schen Handschriftensammlungen gehörenden Aufzeichnungen. FF Communications 25. Hamina: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1918.
- Loorits 1926: Loorits, Oskar: Livische Märchen- und Sagenvarianten. FF Communications 66. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1926.
- Kecskeméti/Paunonen 1974: Kecskeméti, István; Paunonen, Heikki: Die Märchentypen in den Publikationen der Finnisch-ugrischen Gesellschaft. Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 73 (1974), 205–265.
Motifs and related tale types
Motifs: Sacrifice of Human Being to Dragon B11.10·Fight with Dragon B11.11·Seven-Headed Dragon B11.2.3.1·Helpful Animals Obtained by Exchange B312.2·Helpful Dog B421·Dogs Kill Attacking Cannibal (Dragon) B524.1.1·Dragon-Fighter's Magic Sleep D1975·Waking from Magic Sleep by Letting Tear Fall on Sleeper D1978.2·Dragon-Tongue Proof H105.1·Attention Drawn by Helpful Animal's Theft of Food from Wedding Table; Recognition Follows H151.2·Rescue Tokens H83·Impostors Claim Reward (Prize) Earned by Hero K1932·Impostor Forces Oath of Secrecy K1933·Rescue of Princess (Maiden) from Dragon R111.1.3·Periodic Sacrifices to a Monster S262·Princess Offered as Prize to Rescuer T68.1
Combines with: ATU 1088 Eating/Drinking Contest·ATU 1115 Attempted Murder with a Hatchet·ATU 1137 The Blinded Ogre·ATU 1640 The Brave Tailor·ATU 1910 The Bear (Wolf) Harnessed·ATU 300A The Fight on the Bridge·ATU 301 The Three Stolen Princesses·ATU 302 The Ogre's (Devil's) Heart in the Egg·ATU 303 The Twins or Blood-Brothers·ATU 303A Brothers Seek Sisters as Wives (previously Six Brothers Seek Seven Sisters as Wives)·ATU 304 The Dangerous Night-Watch (previously The Hunter)·ATU 313 The Magic Flight·ATU 314 Goldener (previously The Youth Transformed to a Horse)·ATU 314A The Shepherd and the Three Giants·ATU 314A* Animal as Helper in the Flight (previously The Bullock-savior)·ATU 315 The Faithless Sister·ATU 317 The Tree that Grows up to the Sky (previously The Stretching Tree)·ATU 326 The Youth Who Wanted to Learn What Fear Is·ATU 327 The Children and the Ogre·ATU 327A Hansel and Gretel·ATU 328* Three Giants with One Eye (previously A Boy Guards the King's Garden)·ATU 400 The Man on a Quest for his Lost Wife·ATU 425 The Search for the Lost Husband·ATU 425A The Animal as Bridegroom·ATU 425C Beauty and the Beast·ATU 465 The Man Persecuted Because of his Beautiful Wife·ATU 502 The Wild Man·ATU 505 The Grateful Dead·ATU 511 One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes·ATU 511A·ATU 516 Faithful John·ATU 516B·ATU 530 The Princess on the Glass Mountain·ATU 531 The Clever Horse (previously Ferdinand the True and Ferdinand the False)·ATU 537 The Flight on the Grateful Eagle (previously The Marvelous Eagle Gives the Hero a Box)·ATU 550 Bird, Horse and Princess (previously Search for the Golden Bird)·ATU 551 Water of Life (previously The Sons on a Quest for a Wonderful Remedy for their Father)·ATU 554 The Grateful Animals·ATU 567 The Magic Bird-heart·ATU 567A The Magic Bird-Heart and the Separated Brothers·ATU 569 The Knapsack, the Hat and the Horn·ATU 590 The Faithless Mother (previously The Prince and the Arm Bands)·ATU 592 The Dance Among Thorns·ATU 613 The Two Travelers·ATU 650A Strong John·ATU 850 The Birthmarks of the Princess·ATU 851 The Princess who Cannot Solve the Riddle·ATU 910B The Observance of the Master's Precepts (previously The Servant's Good Counsels)·ATU 935 The Prodigal's Return
Sources
Tale-type number, title, classification, related types and the Finnic sources: Hans-Jörg Uther, The Types of International Folktales (FF Communications 284–286, Helsinki 2004). · Uther 2004, part I (FF Communications 284), free online ↗
Possibly related runosong types: a reading of the song types by a language model (Claude Opus 5.5, 2 November 2026); only links it rated high or medium in confidence are shown.
Motifs and combinations with other tale types: the Trilogy dataset, from Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature and the ATU catalogue.
The plot summary, the notes and the arrangement of this page are RunoVerse’s own.