The previous chapters traced the evolution of representations featuring women and dragons from antiquity to the early medieval period, while probing the unique characteristics of this motif as distinct from that of the male dragon slayer. The current chapter centers on the most popular visual iconography of Saint Margaret, which presents her encounter with the dragon, while relating it to her hagiography and her cultic role in Western Europe from the late medieval to the early modern period. As I will argue, an understanding of the connection between the images of the saint's encounter with the dragon and the motif of the woman and the dragon is essential to the elucidation of her role as a patron of pregnant women and newborns, and of the function of both her written legend and her visual representations in childbirth rituals. This saint's encounter with the dragon is viewed as a continuation of the motif representing the woman and the dragon in a Christian context, focusing on the visual iconography of Saint Margaret.

As I will demonstrate, a comprehensive understanding of the iconography of Saint Margaret arises not only through its comparison with images of male dragonslayers, but also through a comparative study of the differences between written accounts of Margaret's life and her visual depictions. By exposing the inconsistencies between her written hagiography, or legenda, and her visual representation, and revealing the dissonance between word and image, the richness and complexity of her iconography can be fully appreciated, as can powerful role of visual imagery in the saint's cult.