Hippocrates' Daughter As A Dragon Kills A Knight, In 'The Travels Of Sir John Mandeville'

The Travels Of Sir John Mandeville' presents itself as an account of China, India, and the Holy Land, written by an Englishman, Sir John Mandeville of St. Albans--who is in fact entirely fictitious. The identity of the true author is not known, but he was probably a mid-14th-century French cleric. The text was available in various versions and various languages, including Latin, French, and Middle English. The dialect of the present manuscript suggests that it was written in East Anglia, perhaps Norfolk. The story relates that the goddess Diana turned Hippocrates' daughter into a dragon, saying that she will be turned back if a knight kisses her on the lips. Two knights agree to do so, but run away when they see her, and she throws one of them off a cliff into the sea.