«The Dragon Of The North» by Andrew Lang

The Dragon of the North is an Estonian fairy tale of a terrible dragon who devoured all in his path on his way from the north. One brave man sets out to find a way to conquer him and protect the people of his home. The man consults a magician, who tells him to seek the aid of birds. With the help of the birds, he discovers a witch-maiden who can help him, but whom he mistakenly crosses. The young man must then deal with the consequences of his actions. Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a Scottish writer who collected fairy and folk tales from various cultures and put them together in twelve volumes of tales. He was noted for taking the tales from as many original sources as possible, keeping the fairy tales close to their intended meanings.