The tale of a chivalrous knight defending a village against an evil dragon harks back to well before the 9th century. The story goes that the dragon was demanding livestock, treasure and even human tributes from a helpless community for some time, that is, until a princess was chosen as the next offering.  Several Christian heroes were credited over the centuries with the feat of bringing the dragon to justice, but St George - a 12th century knight of the First Crusade - was ultimately the one immortalised as having done the death-defying deed.