Dragon
From Zeugma
In C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy the symbol of the dragon is represented through the character Ransom. Ransom is known as the "Pendragon," which is often referred to in Arthurian Legend as the "Chief Dragon," or "Head Dragon." In Arthurian Legend, Arthur was also referred to as the "Pendragon." This title was given to him in order to reinforce his status as both a warrior and a king. C.S. Lewis uses the dragon in this novel in order to symbolize the kingly figure that Ransom represents to his group of followers. -EH
In the Arthurian legends, King Arthur was a flawed king that fell into disaster because of the circumstances around him that he could not control. If Ransom is a reference to King Arthur then it can also be said that Ransom himself is NOT a perfect messianic figure, but rather a flawed individual himself that can, and WILL, bring ruin to the land.
Pendragon is also the name of Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father. Uther's epithet Pendragon means literally "head dragon" or "dragon's head", probably in a figurative sense of "chief warrior." In the early stories Uther is dubbed "Pendragon" because he witnesses a portentous <a title="Dragon" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon">dragon</a>-shaped comet, which inspires him to use dragons on his <a title="Flag" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag">standards</a>; later versions attribute this to his older brother, and have Uther assume the epithet "Pendragon" in his honour when he dies.
WIKIPEDIA ENTRY ON HISTORY
Uther is best known from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (1136) where he is the youngest son of King of Britannia <a class="mw-redirect" title="Constantine III (usurper)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_III_%28usurper%29#The_legend">Constantine II</a>. His eldest brother <a title="Constans II (usurper)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constans_II_%28usurper%29">Constans</a> succeeds to the throne on their father's death, but is murdered at the instigation of his adviser <a title="Vortigern" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortigern">Vortigern</a>, who seizes the throne. Uther and his other brother <a title="Ambrosius Aurelianus" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrosius_Aurelianus">Aurelius Ambrosius</a>, still children, flee to <a title="Brittany" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany">Brittany</a>. After Vortigern's alliance with the <a title="Anglo-Saxons" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxons">Saxons</a> under <a title="Hengest" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hengest">Hengist</a> goes disastrously wrong, Aurelius and Uther, now adults, return. Aurelius burns Vortigern in his castle and becomes king.
With Aurelius on the throne, Uther leads his brother's army to <a title="Ireland" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland">Ireland</a> to help <a class="mw-redirect" title="Merlin (wizard)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin_%28wizard%29">Merlin</a> bring the stones of <a title="Stonehenge" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge">Stonehenge</a> from there to Britain. Later, while Aurelius is ill, Uther leads his army against Vortigern's son Paschent and his Saxon allies. On the way to the battle, he sees a <a title="Comet" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet">comet</a> in the shape of a dragon, which Merlin interprets as presaging Aurelius's death and Uther's glorious future. Uther wins the battle and takes the epithet "Pendragon", and returns to find that Aurelius has been poisoned by an assassin. He becomes king and orders the construction of two gold dragons, one of which he uses as his standard. He secures Britain's frontiers and quells Saxon uprisings with the aid of his retainers, one of which is <a title="Gorlois" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorlois">Gorlois</a>, <a title="Duke of Cornwall" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Cornwall">Duke of Cornwall</a>. At a banquet celebrating their victories, Uther becomes obsessively enamoured of Gorlois' wife, Igerna (Igraine), and a war ensues between Uther and his vassal. Gorlois sends Igerna to the impregnable castle of <a title="Tintagel" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintagel">Tintagel</a> for protection, while he himself is besieged by Uther in another town. Uther consults with Merlin, who uses his magic to transform the king into the likeness of Gorlois and thus gain access to Igerna at Tintagel. He spends the night with her, and they conceive a son, Arthur; but the next morning it is discovered that Gorlois had been killed. Uther marries Igerna, and they have another child, a daughter called Anna. She later marries <a title="King Lot" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lot">King Lot</a> and becomes the mother of <a title="Gawain" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawain">Gawain</a> and <a title="Mordred" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordred">Mordred</a> (in later romances she is called <a title="Morgause" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgause">Morgause</a>, and is usually Igerna's daughter by her previous marriage). Uther later falls ill, but when the wars against the Saxons go badly he insists on leading his army himself, propped up on his horse. He defeats Hengist's son <a title="Octa of Kent" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octa_of_Kent">Octa</a> at <a title="Verulamium" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verulamium">Verulamium</a> (<a title="St Albans" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Albans">St Albans</a>), despite the Saxons calling him the "Half-Dead King." However, the Saxons soon contrive his death by poisoning a spring he drinks from near Verulamium.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uther_Pendragon#_note-5">[6]</a>
~JP
