Tradition: English Mythology
Alternative Names: Mordiford Dragon, Dragon of Mordiford
Category: Dragon
The Myth
The Dragon of Mordiford was a fearsome creature said to live in the woods and waterways around Mordiford, where the River Lugg meets the River Wye. Its form changes in the telling of the legend, sometimes appearing as a winged wyvern and sometimes as a great poisonous serpent.
In the tale of Maud and the wyvern, a young girl named Maud discovered a tiny, brightly colored creature prowling among some flowers in the forest. It had a snout and small translucent wings, and Maud, delighted to have found a new companion, carried it home. Her parents immediately recognized it as a young wyvern and ordered her to return it to the forest, warning that it would bring trouble to the village.
Maud pretended to obey, but secretly hid the creature in the woods. She began raising it as her pet, feeding it milk, playing with it, and watching it struggle to fly. The little creature grew enormously with each passing month. Its body became emerald green and its wings grew thick and powerful.
Eventually, milk was no longer enough. The dragon developed an enormous appetite for meat and began attacking the farms around Mordiford. It killed cows and sheep, and when the farmers tried to destroy it, the creature turned upon them as well, discovering that it liked human flesh.
Maud continued visiting her old companion and begged it to stop its killing. The dragon listened to no one except Maud, sparing her while destroying everything else that crossed its path.
The people of Mordiford could endure the attacks no longer, and the noblemen of the village were called upon to destroy the beast. A man of the Garstone family rode out in full armour to confront it. The dragon was almost invisible among the plants of the forest, but when the knight approached, it suddenly unleashed a blast of fire. He barely managed to deflect the flames.
Gathering himself, Garstone aimed his lance at the dragon’s throat and drove it straight through the beast, killing it.
Maud emerged from the forest when she saw what had happened. Overcome with rage and grief, she mourned the creature that had once been her beloved little pet.
Another tale gives the Dragon of Mordiford a more serpentine form. This creature lived in Haugh Wood and terrorized the surrounding countryside with its poisonous nature. Its attacks became so severe that the working population of Mordiford began to decline.
Eventually, a local convict offered to kill the serpent in exchange for a pardon. Once his pardon was promised, he obtained a bow, arrows, and a large cider barrel. He concealed himself inside the barrel beside the River Lugg, where the serpent came to drink.
When the dragon arrived at the river and began drinking, the convict fired an arrow through a hole in the barrel. The arrow struck the creature in the heart and killed it.
But the victory cost the convict his life. As the dying dragon’s poison flowed into the barrel, it poisoned and killed the man who had slain it.
Sources
“Dragon of Mordiford.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 20, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_of_Mordiford