When Sant Jordi ‘beat’ the dragon on Book Day

once upon a time April 23rd, or many April 23, a day in which the book becomes the protagonist. How many stories will we have read with that start! Every April 23 is celebrated the Day of the booka day for which, although it can be enjoyed practically anywhere in the world, Spain was a pioneer: while it did not become an international ‘holiday’ until 1995, the first Book Day took place in Spain in 1926. Of course, at the initiative of the Official Book Chamber of Barcelona, ​​where this day is even stronger than in the rest from the country.

Book Day is not a day marked in the Work calendar, but for the millions of Catalans (and also for the Aragonese) it is not another day either. Is he day of culture, the day of love (for culture and for others) and, in addition, the day of the patron saint of the autonomous community. In the Catholic saints, the martyred soldier Jorge is remembered, executed in Nicomedia for his Christian faith, but also the protagonist of the legend of the victory over the dragon and, for many, probable origin of fairy tales about dragons and princesses

The importance of Sant Jordi is such that Book Day becomes one of the main cultural attractions in the city of Barcelona every year, where a festival that mixes literature and romanticism takes place. Because yes, in addition, for the Catalans this Day of the Book or Sant Jordi day is, also, their Valentine’s Day. Historically, couples give each other gifts on this day; before, books for men and roses for women; thanks to social deconstruction, give a book and a rose It no longer depends on gender, not even on romantic relationships: books and roses are given to whoever you love, be it a partner, a brother, a friend, or a friend.

That Book Day and Sant Jordi are celebrated on April 23 has its explanation, although some are more realistic than others. He Book Day was decided to fix on this date due to the (supposed) coincidence on the day of death of two classical authors, William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, although the Spanish writer died on April 22 and was buried the following day, while the English writer died on April 23 of the Julian calendar, which is equivalent to May 3 of the Gregorian calendar. Sant Jordi, for its part, is celebrated following the date on which, according to biblical writings, the soldier named Jorge who is venerated today as a martyr was executed.

The legend of Sant Jordi, the dragon and the rose

From Biblical writings to the historical legend of the dragon, the history of Sant Jordi (or Saint George) has a lot of fantasy; so much so that it is even believed that this story was the origin of many of the children’s tales that speak of princesses and dragons. Legend has it, then, that there was a dragon that attacked the kingdom, some say that in Aragonese lands, others that in the town of Montblanch in Tarragona. What everyone seems to agree on is that the presence of this beast threatened to end the livelihood of the inhabitants there, so they decided to look for a way to keep the dragon away.

The first thing they did was give him sheep and lambs, but when these became scarce, they continued with oxen. And then with more animals… until there was no choice but to send people. Of course, the families received in return all kinds of wealth in compensation. The person who was sent before the dragon was chosen by lot: the names of all the inhabitants were placed, including those of the king and the princess, and each day an innocent hand was sent before the beast.

In this point the legend is covered in a certain nebula and several versions persist to this day: one, that the people got tired of never leaving any member of the royal family among those chosen to satisfy the dragon’s hunger and ended up choosing the princess by hand; the other, that the name of the princess came up by chance. In any case, the day came when the princess would be sent to become food for the dragon.

And it was at this point that Saint George (or Sant Jordi) became a legend: while the princess was about to enter the dragon’s cave, the knight appeared, he plunged his sword into the dragon’s chest. From the blood of the monster, now lifeless, a red rose bush arose, from which the knight Sant Jordi chose a flower to deliver to the princess.

From here arose that of giving a rose to women for Sant Jordi, although for some time now there are many Barcelonans who have wanted to give something back to this story to remember that no, that Women don’t need no gentleman to be saved, and that they can save themselves and kill their dragons.