Princess and dragon is a generical story common to many fairy tales. It is not a fairy tale itself, but along with the white horse rider , is a repeated cliche.

History

Its origin is probably from the Saint George Tale.

The tale begins with a dragon making its nest at the spring which provides a city-state with water. Consequently, the citizens had to temporarily remove the dragon from its nest in order to collect water. To do so, they offered the dragon a daily human sacrifice. The victim of the day was chosen by drawing lots. Eventually the "victor" of this lottery happened to be the local princess. The local Monarch is occasionally depicted begging for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon but at this point a traveling George arrives. He faces the dragon, slays it and saves the princess. In Saint George's tale, the grateful citizens then abandon their ancestral Paganism and convert to Christianity.

Tales with princess and dragons

• Sleeping Beauty