E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
The St. George of Mahometan mythology. He slew a monstrous dragon to save a damsel exposed to its fury, and, having drunk of the water of life, rode about the world to aid those warriors who invoked him. This tradition is exactly parallel to that of St. George, and explains the reason why the one is the field-word with the Turks, and the latter with the ancient English.