Michaelmas Story

Here is my mash up of two popular Michaelmas stories.

This is just an outline, as it was a verbal telling of an outline in my head.  It is a rather long, detailed story, and at first I was worried it would be too much for my kids, aged 7.5 and newly 5, but they were riveted the entire time and asked for it again after I was finished!  I love successes like that :) 

***Feel free to use this story with your family at home, but if you share it with friends, kindly link back to this page.  Thanks!***

Way up in heaven lived an angel named Saint Michael.  Michael was the keeper of heaven, made sure that all kind souls had a place in heaven as angels, and protected them from harm.  One day a dragon, flying high in the sky. He flew so high that he ended up in heaven. He was an angry beast and when he saw all the kind and happy angels he tried to extinguish them with is fiery breath.  Saint Michael told the dragon to leave, but the dragon refused.  So Saint Michael fought the dragon to protect his angels, but the dragon knocked him down.  Stunned for a moment, Michael gathered all his strength and bravery and raised his sword, which shone brightly with the glow of the stars.  



The dragon was overcome with the power of the sword and fell to earth.  Michael realized that now the people on earth would be terrorized by the dragon, and watched to see that they were safe and able to defeat the dragon. 

Down on earth there was a beautiful kingdom, lead by a kind and fair king.  All the people on his land loved him and his equally kind hearted daughter Evelyn, and as a show of appreciation for his kindness, every year they would bring him gifts from the bounty of their harvest.  

One year the farmers and villagers came down the castle road, empty handed, with only two small and thin goats following behind.  The king's daughter asked the villagers why the all looked so sad, and they told him of a fierce dragon now lived by the old oak tree and had taken over the land, burning it all black as coal.  They had no harvest and no livestock left except for these two old goats. 

The king was immediately upset and sent his bravest knight to down the road to ask the dragon what it was he wanted and why he was terrorizing his kingdom.  

After many hours, the brave knight returned, injured with burns from the dragon's breath, his shield and armour melted from the heat, and said the dragon wanted nothing more than to feast on the village people and remove all kindness and happiness from the kingdom, and would not leave until he had done so. 

Upon hearing this the king called upon his knights to band together and go in to the hills where to old oak stood and fight the dragon to its death.  The king was met with silence, as all his bravest knights were too scared to fight the fierce dragon.  The king said he would not force anyone to go against their will, but reminded them without a bountiful kingdom, they would all surely starve.  

Suddenly, seeing the weeping village people and the frightened , the Evelyn stepped in front of her father and said the she would go to the dragon and attempt to slay it.  The king did not want his daughter to go, but she insisted and walked bravely with her head held high out the castle doors towards to old oak tree.  

On her way, she came across a man named George who was coming home from a long journey.  He asked her were she was going and she told him the story of the villagers and the dragon.  He was shocked that all the kings knights would allow only one person to go and fight the dragon, and raced back to the castle to convince them to join Evelyn in her fight.  

When the knights were approached, they said they had families they needed to take care of and could not fight a battle for the villagers.  George reminded them that without the villagers and their bountiful farms, there will be no food for the knights families.  He reminded them that in order to thrive as a kingdom, they all had to work together to keep everyone safe, not just those of their family.  The knights still refused, so George pledged that he would fight the dragon with Evelyn, and raced back down the road.

When he reached her she had just climbed the hill to the old oak, the dragon sneering down at her from his perch in the tree.  He breathed a blast of fire at them, and George protected them with his shield.  The shield melted under the heat of the fire, and George and Evelyn had no choice but to charge at the dragon with their swords.  As the two of them ran towards the dragon, he inhaled deeply to blast them with another fiery breath, and the two brave ones lunged at him with their swords held high.  Just then, the heavens opened up and Saint Michael, who had been watching from above, blocked the fire from reaching George and Evelyn with is mighty shield and slay the dragon once and for all with his sword forged from the stars.

George and Evelyn were relieved, and thanked Michael for his help.  Saint Michael said their bravery was admirable, and told them that because of their kindness and courage, they would be knighted to the highest order of knights.  As he knighted them, beautiful golden armour appeared on them, and they were now protectors on earth and Saint Michael was in the heavens.  

Once the knighting ceremony was completed, the three of them said the knights oath:

Brave and true will I be.
Each good deed sets me free.
Each kind word makes me strong,
I will fight for the right,
I will conquer the wrong.

Evelyn and George went back to the castle to tell everyone of their adventure, and they spent the next year helping the villagers to repair the damage to their land made by the dragon.  

The End


I hope your family enjoys this story as much as my family has!

Cheers!

Marina