Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It looks very sick, as though it wasn’t very well looked after...

And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. They are born with relatively soft scales, which are shed and replaced with harder ones as the hatchling matures. Once a hatchling’s wings grow in, it typically marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own and are usually left alone by their mother.

Beowulf by Anonymous used to lead a sad life, like other neglected dragons, but one day a group of other hatchlings came together and convinced her that it would be fun to recite the Epic of Beowulf. They each named themselves after lines (or rather half-lines) of the poem. Beowulf by Anonymous loved the idea so much that she became their leader, an unusual role for a neglected dragon. She dreams of completing the poem one day, no matter how long it takes.