History Literature / TheDragonslayers

* BearyFriendly: The bear that Willie rescues and joins her in thanks turns out to be quite nice.
* ChildMarriageVeto: When King Mildred promises that whoever can slay the dragon may marry his daughter, he winds up sending Elizar, who's old enough to be Willie's grandfather. Willie privately refuses to even consider marrying him (good thing too, [[spoiler:seeing as it turns out his supposedly dead wife is still alive]]), and sets out to kill the dragon herself and thus earn the right to choose her own husband.
* CrusadingWidow: [[spoiler:Grizelda ''thinks'' she's this, seeking revenge on the king for the loss of her husband, who'd been drafted into his armies and never returned, and son, thinking King Mildred had burned her cottage with the child inside. In fact, both are alive and well - Brian was rescued from the burning house (which had been set on fire by enemy soldiers) by King Mildred and his men, but Grizelda didn't know this and abandoned the destroyed house in favor of finding a witch to teach her what she needed. Later, Elizar (whom Grizelda assumed had died in the war) returned to find his home destroyed. Thinking his wife and son were dead, he went wandering and eventually found employment at King Mildred's castle. Eventually, all three are reunited at the end of the book after Grizelda, having recognized Brian as her son, reveals their relationship and how she recognized him... and Elizar is shocked because ''his'' son had the same birthmark as hers.]]

* IOweYouMyLife: Throughout the book Willie, Brian, and Elizar each save a TalkingAnimal (Elizar quite by accident), who subsequently decide that the best use of their time is to help them on their quest, regardless of how...um...helpful they can actually be. (A bear, maybe. A housecat and a fox can only do so much where a dragon is involved.)

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Grizelda's reason for unleashing the dragon - it's to punish King Mildred, whom she blames for the loss of her husband and son, and she wants him to feel the pain of losing a child as she did.
* TheRunaway: King Mildred and his wife are ''very'' worried when they find their daughter's run off, and set out to search for her, along with all their knights and pages. They say they're calling off the StandardHeroReward because they don't want Willie to be unhappy.* StandardHeroReward: King Mildred promises half the kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever kills the dragon. When she kills it herself, it means she can choose her own husband.
* SweetPollyOliver: Princess Wilhelmina, who disguises herself as a boy named Bill when she sneaks out of the castle to find the dragon.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:About halfway through the book, the Witch Phrenella flys off to deal with the Dragonslayers. That's the last anyone ever sees of her.]]

* ChildMarriageVeto: When King Mildred promises that whomever can slay the dragon may marry his daughter, he winds up sending Elizar, who's old enough to be Willie's grandfather. Willie privately refuses to even consider marrying him (good thing too, [[spoiler:seeing as it turns out his supposedly dead wife is still alive]]), and sets out to kill the dragon herself and thus earn the right to choose her own husband.

* VengefulWidow: [[spoiler:Grizelda ''thinks'' she's this, seeking revenge on the king for the loss of her husband, who'd been drafted into his armies and never returned, and son, thinking King Mildred had burned her cottage with the child inside. In fact, both are alive and well - Brian was rescued from the burning house (which had been set on fire by enemy soldiers) by King Mildred and his men, but Grizelda didn't know this and abandoned the destroyed house in favor of finding a witch to teach her what she needed. Later, Elizar (whom Grizelda assumed had died in the war) returned to find his home destroyed. Thinking his wife and son were dead, he went wandering and eventually found employment at King Mildred's castle. Eventually, all three are reunited at the end of the book after Grizelda, having recognized Brian as her son, reveals their relationship and how she recognized him... and Elizar is shocked because ''his'' son had the same birthmark as hers.]]

* StandardHeroReward: King Mildred promises half the kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to whoever kills the dragon. When she kills it herself, it means she can choose her own husband.

* YouCantFightFate: The [[ExactWords Exact Wording]] of the curse Grizelda used to create her Fear Dragon. Its purpose was to give the King the pain of losing a child Grizelda herself has had to suffer through. Well, the creation of the Dragon is what put Willie in the position of choosing between taking care of things herself or else marrying an old man. She chooses to leave and the King now has [[AdultFear the suffering of parental worry]]. However, [[spoiler:seeing as the whole affair of Grizelda's family was a giant miscommunication, the pain is not as permanent as Grizelda intended to begin with, and both are happily reunited with their children.]]

* ActionGirl: Princess Wilhelmina, who proves a very competent fighter by killing a giant spider and defeating the dragon.
* AdultFear: King Mildred and his wife are ''very'' worried when they find their daughter's run off, and set out to search for her, along with all their knights and pages. They say they're calling off the StandardHeroReward because they don't want Willie to be unhappy.

''The Dragonslayers'' is a both a musical and a children's book (1994) based off it (the latter written by Creator/BruceCoville). It's the typical tale of a princess who needs to get married soon. Her parents are in despair, as she is not interested in anyone.

* AdultFear: King Mildred and his wife are ''very'' worried when they find their daughter's run off, and set out to search for her, along with all their knights and pages. They say they're calling off the StandardHeroAward because they don't want Willie to be unhappy.

* HonorBeforeReason: Willie has this issue. She refuses to kill a giant spider while its back is turned. Later, after [[spoiler:she slays the dragon]], her parents say they're calling off the StandardHeroAward because they love Willie too much to make her unhappy and will offer anything else. [[spoiler:Willie still insists they give her the award of their daughter's hand so that no one can use it to marry her. Then she reveals herself, making her parents relieved that they're not condemning her to an unhappy ArrangedMarriage]].

* AdultFear: King Mildred and his wife are ''very'' worried when they find their daughter's run off, and set out to search for her, along with all their knights and pages.

* EngagementChallenge: King Mildred promises that whomever can slay the dragon may marry his daughter. The only person who will go is the ancient squire Elizar, whom Princess Wilhelmina calls old enough to be her grandfather. Disgusted, she pulls a SweetPollyOliver and sets off to slay the dragon herself; doing so wins her the right to choose her own husband when she's ready.

* HonorBeforeReason: Willie refuses to kill a giant spider while its back is turned.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Grizelda's reason for unleashing the dragon - it's to punish King Mildred, whom she blames for the loss of her husband and son, and she wants him to feel the pain of losing a child like she did.
* StandardHeroReward: King Mildred promises half the kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to whomever kills the dragon. When she kills it herself, it means she can choose her own husband.

* VengefulWidow: [[spoiler:Grizelda ''thinks'' she's this, seeking revenge on the king for the loss of her husband, who'd been drafted into his armies and never returned, and son, thinking King Mildred had burned her cottage with the child inside. In fact, both are alive and well - Brian was rescued from the burning house (which had been set on fire by enemy soldiers) by King Mildred and his men, but Grizelda didn't know this and abandoned the destroyed house in favor of finding a witch to teach her what she needed. Later, Elizar (whom Grizelda assumed had died in the war) returned to find his home destroyed. Thinking his wife and son were dead, he went wandering and eventually found employment at King Mildred's castle. Eventually, all three are reunited at the end of the book after Grizelda, having recognized Brian as her son, reveals their relationship and how she recognized him... and Elizar is shocked, because ''his'' son had the same birthmark as hers.]]

* YouCantFightFate: The [[ExactWords Exact Wording]] of the curse Grizelda used to create her Fear Dragon. Its purpose was to give the King the pain of loosing a child Grizelda herself has had to suffer through. Well, the creation of the Dragon is what put Willie in the position of choosing between taking care of things herself or else marrying an old man. She chooses to leave and the King now has [[AdultFear the suffering of parental worry]]. However, [[spoiler:seeing as the whole affair of Grizelda's family was a giant miscommunication, the pain is not as permanent as Grizelda intended to begin with, and both are happily reunited with their children.]]

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* HeelFaceTurn: The witch [[spoiler: Grizelda]], once everyone finds out what happened.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: After her dragon is killed, Grizelda swoops in and informs Brian that she's his mother. When she points out the birthmark on his shoulder, which is how she knew, Elizar recognizes it as the one ''his'' son had. That's when they both realize who the other is.]]

* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler: When she became a witch, the peasant woman Maureen renamed herself Grizelda to fit her new image.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Sort of. [[spoiler:Elizar and Grizelda were married, but Elizar went off to war, and didn't come back. Later, Grizelda was working in the fields. When she returned home, she found her house on fire and her son gone.]]

* VengefulWidow: [[spoiler: Grizelda ''thinks'' she's this, seeking revenge on the king for the loss of her husband and son. In fact, both are alive and well - Brian was rescued from the burning house by King Mildred and his men, but Grizelda didn't know this and abandoned the destroyed house in favor of finding a witch to teach her what she needed. Later, Elizar (whom Grizelda assumed had died in the war) returned to find his home destroyed. Thinking his wife and son were dead, he went wandering and eventually found employment at King Mildred's castle. Eventually, all three are reunited at the end of the book after Grizelda, having recognized Brian as her son, reveals their relationship and how she recognized him... and Elizar is shocked, because ''his'' son had the same birthmark as hers.]]
* WickedWitch: Lead villain Grizelda, her associate Phrenella and Grizelda's teacher are all evil witches. [[spoiler:Grizelda no longer qualifies after being reunited with her family.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: About halfway through the book, the Witch Phrenella flys off to deal with the Dragon Slayers. That's the last anyone ever sees of her]]
* YouCantFightFate: The [[ExactWords Exact Wording]] of the curse Grizelda used to create her Fear Dragon. It's purpose was to give the King the pain of loosing a child Grizelda herself has had to suffer through. Well, the creation of the Dragon is what put Willie in the position of choosing between taking care of things herself or else marrying an old man. She chooses to leave and the King now has [[AdultFear the suffering of parental worry]]. However, [[spoiler: seeing as the whole affair of Grizelda's family was a giant miscommunication, the pain is not a permanent as Grizleda intended to begin with.]]

''The Dragonslayers'' is a both a musical and a children's book based off it (the latter written by Creator/BruceCoville). It's the typical tale of a princess who needs to get married soon. Her parents are in despair, as she is not interested in anyone.

And then the dragon attacts the kingdom. But even ''with'' the king offering half the kingdom, and the princess's hand in marriage to the one who kills said dragon, no one is willing to take up the job except Elizar, who is old enough to be the princess's father. Naturally, she's not happy with this. Disguising herself as a boy, she runs off the kill the dragon herself. But the dragon [[OurDragonsAreDifferent isn't a "normal" dragon]], and instead it is the creation of a witch, who wants revenge for something...

'''''The Dragonslayers''''' is a both a musical and a children's book based off it (the latter written by Creator/BruceCoville). It's the typical tale of a princess who needs to get married soon. Her parents are in despair, as she is not interested in anyone.

* DawsonCasting: Averted in the audio drama. Wilhelmena is 14 while Brian is 13 in the novel. However, in the audio book, the pair are played by 13 year old Carmen Rose Viviano-Crafts and 12 year old Will McAullife respectively.

%%* ActionGirl: The princess.
* DistinguishingMark: A dragon-shaped birthmark.
* EyeOfNewt: The first chapter includes a large list of items to create the dragon. The witch Phrenella is actually surprised that the trope namer ''isn't'' one of them. That's when Grizelda pulls out a live newt and says she's actually using the whole thing.
%%* FieryRedhead: The princess.

%%* OrphansOrdeal: What Brian went through.

%%* RebelliousPrincess: Guess who.
%%* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Grizelda's reason for unleashing the dragon.

%%* SweetPollyOliver: The princess (yet again).

** King Mildred
** Princess Wilhelmina (aka Willie).

%%* WickedWitch: Grizelda, Phrenella and Grizelda's teacher. [[spoiler:Grizelda no longer qualifies after being reunited with her family.]]

* [[RedHeadedHero Red Headed Heroine]]: The princess (again).

* ActionGirl: The princess.

* FieryRedhead: The princess.

* OrphansOrdeal: What Brian went through.

* RebelliousPrincess: Guess who.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Grizelda's reason for unleashing the dragon.

* SweetPollyOliver: The princess (yet again).

* WickedWitch: Grizelda, Phrenella and Grizelda's teacher. [[spoiler:Grizelda no longer qualifies after being reunited with her family.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Sort of. [[spoiler:Elizar and Grizelda were married, but Elizar went off to war, and didn't come back. Later, Grizelda was working in the fields, and she got back to her house, it was on fire and her son was gone.]]

** Princess Willhelmina (aka Willie).

The Dragons Slayers is a both a musical and a children's book based off it (the latter written by Creator/BruceCoville). It's the typical tale of a princess who needs to get married soon. Her parents are in despair, as she is not interested in anyone.