Image and legend of Saint Margaret as an aid in childbirth rituals

Focusing on objects of medieval rituals, this article discusses the iconography of St. Margaret and the Dragon, emphasizing the gap between the saint's legend and her visualization in medieval art. I refer to the pagan sources of the image and to its secular and folkloristic perspectives, suggesting that the figure of St. Margaret is a mirror image of demons that prevent fertility, such as Lilith, and was conceived as part of the historic development of the motif of "the woman and the dragon" and an anguiped (half-woman and half-dragon) image, intending to chase away her mirror rivals. Thus, it is clear that the portrayal sprang from the secular folk sphere and was adopted and clothed in Christianized sacred schemes.