There are many versions of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon, but the general narrative is consistent: Saint George, a valiant and faithful Christian knight, discovers a dragon is terrorizing a kingdom while its king sacrifices a woman per day to the dragon. Victims are selected by lottery, and when the king’s daughter is chosen, Saint George vows to kill the dragon in exchange for the maiden’s hand in marriage and the kingdom’s conversion to Christianity. He finds a gap in the dragon’s scales, piercing its heart with his lance.

The similarities between the legend of Saint George and the Dragon and the supposed actions of Galian Berethnet in A Day of Fallen Night are clear, though Samantha Shannon subverts the myth and shifts the heroic action to the “maiden.” Like Saint George, Galian fights the Nameless One for Cleolind’s hand in marriage and the conversion of Lasia to the Six Virtues, but in the novel, Galian cowers, and Cleolind takes up his sword, thus defeating the beast. She refuses his hand, banishes him, and her realm does not convert. A Day of Fallen Night gives the maiden figure agency, autonomy, and the power to not only defend herself but lead her people.