The Medieval Dragon by Joyce Tally Lionarons (1998, Hardcover)

This is an absolutely fascinating book; technical, yet readable. I am by no means a Medieval or Germanic scholar, but was able to following Mrs. Lioarons' thought process well. As she reminds us in the very first paragraph of the first chapter, dragons tend to be taken more seriously today than they generally were when Tolkien wrote "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" in 1936. In the last half of the twentieth century, dragons became popular. But do we really understand what a dragon is? What was the significance of the dragon to the medieval reader, and how does this apply to us today? If you have any interest at all in the etymology of words, and a particular interest in dragons, this book is definitely for you.