Like other Jack Tales, this one shows how remnants of old hero tales and legends brought to America by European settlers were transformed into folktales filled with details from the language and everyday life of regional Appalachian culture. Jack is a young man from an ordinary family concerned with clearing the land, keeping food on the table, and helping others when trouble comes—even if trouble takes the form of a wicked dragon. His struggles in the realm of the dragaman or fire dragon resemble those in many tales when the folk hero, with some help which is often supplied by female characters, escapes from giants, devils, or dragons. Haley, Gail E. Jack and the Fire Dragon. New York: Crown, 1988. N. pag. Jack's opponent, "the wickedest and biggest giant," appears first as a mountain man stealing food. In Haley's colorful linocut illustrations, his green cat-like eyes and green coat with a scale pattern foreshadow his transformation underground into a "slinky, scaly fire-breathing dragon." One sideways illustration, covering 2/3 of a double-page spread, shows Jack being let down in a bucket by his jealous brothers, with imps around the cave walls. There are also tall heroic images of Jack facing and fighting the dragon. With some magic help, brave Jack rescues three sisters from the dragon, forgives his brothers for abandoning the quest, and wins the heart of the youngest sister, Jenny (whose name links her with King Arthur's Guinevere). Description in Fairrosa Cyber Library of Children's Literature. Haley, Gail E. Jack and the Fire Dragon retold as a longer story than Haley's picture book. Reprinted in Yak's Corner by the Detroit Free Press Newspapers In Education Program as a serial story in Summer 2005, with links to biography, activities and background on folk and fairy tales, part of the "Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds" state summer reading program in Michigan. (This link not functioning in Feb. 2009.) The biography says Haley heard the story from Ray Hicks (see below). "Old Fire Dragaman" retold by Richard Chase:
“Jack and Old Fire Dragon.” Told by Ray Hicks. In Ray Hicks Telling Four Traditional Jack Tales. LP. Sharon, Conn: Folk-Legacy Records, 1964. "Jack and the Old Fire Dragon." Told by Ray Hicks. In Jack Tales. 1 Audio cassette. Sharon, Conn: Folk-Legacy Records, 1963. Also includes "Jack and the Three Steers,""Big Man Jack, Killed Seven at a Whack," and "Whickety-Whack, into my Sack." Hicks, Ray and Luke Borrow. Jack and the Fire Dragon. Vidocassette (20 minutes). Appalachian Storyteller Ray Hicks Series. Part 3. Derry, NH: Chip Taylor Communications, 1997. Produced by Luke Barrow, Fandangle Films. Based on Richard Chase's The Jack Tales. "Old Fire Dragaman" and other tales. Told by Stanley Hicks, 1985, on field tapes in Cheryl Oxford Collection, Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. See Inventory of Cheryl Oxford Collection, 1981-1988. "Old Fire Dragaman." Listed with program "Jack's Mama" by Sharon Kirk Clifton, Indiana storyteller, 2001. "Jack and the Dragaman." In Doherty, Gillian. Usborne Stories of Dragons. London: Usborne, 2006. Unfortunately, this book contains no acknowledgements or notes on the sources of stories. For example, "Jack and the Dragaman" appears to be a retelling in standard English of the Appalachian Jack tale. It says that Will, Tom and Jack live in a log cabin miles from anywhere. They rescue one girl from the dragaman and the girl doesn't help much in the escape. Jack cuts the dragon's head off after trying twice with a hatchet and getting hurt with a fireball. "Old Bluebeard." In Isobel Gordon Carter. "Mountain White Folk-Lore: Tales from the Southern Blue Ridge." Journal of American Folklore 38 (1925): pp. 340-74 (this tale on pp. 341-43). A landmark article containing Jack tales told by Jane Hicks Gentry (1863-1925), recorded by Carter in 1923. Carter comments on the decline of storytelling among mountain families who used to know them better, although they had not been recorded as ballads had. This tale is very similar to the dragaman tales except that the villain is a man with a blue beard and long teeth. Available online through library services such as JSTOR. Teaching Four "Jack" Books includes activities on Jack and the Fire Dragon. See also: Stephenson, R. Rex. "Jack and Ol' Greasy Beard." The Jack Tales. Schulenburg, TX: I. E. Clark, 1991. Story theatre dramatization, as performed by The Ferrum Jack Tale Players. Ol' Greasy Beard steals food from Jack and his brothers. In a chase scene, the brothers rescue Sally, who has been kept captive in Mr. Greasy Beard's cave. Sally calls Jack "brave and clever"; later they marry and have seven clever sons. Musick, Ruth Ann. Green Hills of Magic: West Virginia Folktales from Europe. 1970. Rpt. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing, 1989. Section 5, "Dragons, Giants, and Other Monsters," contains several tales with dragons. "How Dragon Run Got Its Name." In Virginia Folk Legends. Ed. Thomas E. Barden. Charlottesville: U of VA Press, 1991, pp. 216-17. A legend passed down for 200 years, collected in Gloucester County, VA in 1938. A man falls sick and dies after seeing, while fishing in a stream, a dragon or devil driving a chariot—"the most horrible and gruesome looking creature imaginable." Compare with: The Gnome or "The Elves." Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Household Tales. Trans. Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 2:24-28. This reprint in Fairy Tales, Memorial University of Newfoundland English Department web site. In tale 91 a small "earth mannikin" harasses three huntsmen until Hans stands up to him and the mannikin takes Hans down a well to rescue three princesses held by dragons with different numbers of heads. Hans' brothers try to kill him after he rescues the princesses but they are hanged after Hans escapes (by using a magic flute which brings elves to help him) and the king hears of their deceptions. "The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs." Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Household Tales. Trans. Margaret Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884, 1892). Reprinted online at SurLaLuneFairyTales.com, In this tale the King tries to get rid of the lucky boy who is prophesied to marry his daughter, so the King sends him to fetch three hairs from the devil, which the hero accomplishes with help from the devil's grandmother. See also Dragons in Children's Literature: Annotated Bibliographies by Tina L. Hanlon.
Last update:
06/27/2008 |
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