DRAGON HUNTER by Nazam Anhar
TEACHERS NOTES
Advisory During the discussion of Dragon Hunter your students may raise subjects that are
both topical and culturally sensitive and they should be encouraged to question and
challenge stereotypes that may be hurtful, rather than simply repeat them, even in the form
of a joke.
Synopsis
Dragon Hunter is an exciting fantasy adventure novel for readers aged 10+
Set in the imaginary village of Shenzing and the surrounding mountains, it tells the story of a
boy Baran, a girl Tyan, and their quest to free the village from imminent destruction by the
dragons that live beyond the mountains.
Baran lives with his mother and sisters and tends their herd of goats. He has grown up
without the father who, rumour has it, abandoned his family. This is one reason he is made
to feel that he is strange. A second is that he has unusual powers of insight. In a dream
vision that is more like a nightmare, he sees dragons coming to destroy the village. He tries
to warn the villagers, but why would they listen to him? He comes from a race of outsiders
called the Rovers, who have never been welcome in Shenzing, because they are dark
skinned and regarded as liars and poachers: they graze their goats on village land.
In the past the people of Shenzing knew how to keep the dragons at bay, but they have
forgotten the old lore, so they are vulnerable. When dragons finally do attack them, just as
Baran has warned, they don’t believe the evidence before their eyes. Baran fights the
dragons and saves the village, but gets no thanks for his heroism. The villagers blame him
for invoking these attacks that he has foreseen in his vision: obviously he has made his
vision a reality, just to punish them for ostracising him.
There are calls for Baran to be sacrificed, but one of the elders remembers that beyond the
mountains to the east there is a temple called Manas, where followers of the old lore still
learn dragon hunting skills. If they burn cinna on a fire it will send up red smoke and
someone from Manas will come to help them. The villagers do so and nothing happens for
days. But then a stranger appears dressed in animal skins. His name is Hajur and he has
come to answer their call.
Although the village chief feels a threat to his own authority and does not welcome this
stranger, Hajur tells the people that the dragons will be back and that he can show them
how to defend their village, but there is a price. They must give him one boy, who will travel
back with him to Manas and become a follower of the temple. Reluctantly, the villagers
agree. Baran is surprised to see that there is no magic to Hajur’s strategy: he organises the
villagers to arm themselves with materials they already have. They build an enormous
crossbow and when two dragons attack, they kill the black one, but only wound the red one.
It escapes, and Hajur warns that it will return with reinforcements.
He chooses Baran as his price for saving the village. Baran doesn’t understand why he has
been chosen, but Hajur tells him it is because of his kindness and courage. As they pursue
the red dragon, Hajur teaches Baran to read the trail of signs their prey has left all around
them and teaches him how to use his bow and arrow. When they enter the forest they
sense they are not just the hunters, but the hunted as well, and their pursuer is revealed as
a girl called Tyan. She is dressed as a boy and has come to join the hunt. Hajur tells her that
this is not her fight, but she insists that it is. A dragon killed her family and she wants
revenge.
Hajur warns Tyan that her judgment is clouded by anger, and if she hunts the dragon in
anger, it will only result in her own destruction. In any case, she is a girl and will never be
accepted as a warrior. She proves that she is strong and skilled and Hajur is impressed.
Baran is not impressed, however: he recognises Tyan as one of the main offenders among
the villagers who have mocked him and made him feel like a sissy.
In their pursuit of the dragon across rugged terrain, the children nevertheless find that they
can put their differences aside and work together. When the dragon is cornered, Hajur tells
them to keep back so that he can fight the dragon alone. Despite being warned that a
warrior’s duty is to follow instructions, Tyan disobeys and joins the fight. When the dragon
attacks Tyan and carries her off, she screams ‘Kill him! Kill him!’ and Baran feels guilty
because he does not pursue the dragon and try to rescue her. The warrior code is tough and
Hajur appears to feel that Tyan’s fate is all her own doing.
Further on into the mountains, Hajur and Baran are welcomed at a village called Nagib, and
Baran reflects that although he is an outsider to these people, he has never been made to
feel at home like this in Shenzing. The villagers recognise him. He looks just like a dark
skinned hunter who passed their way years ago, trying to find food to feed his family. He
became legendary and Baran realises that this was his father, who had clearly not
abandoned him – he had gone in search of food and got lost or worse, killed. The Nagib
chief gives Baran a special necklace made of boar’s tusks, which will protect him.
The experience at Nagib confirms for Baran the decision to keep going until they reach the
Temple of Manas and maybe not come back. On their way through the snow, he notices a
blue bead, like those worn by girls in Shenzing, then another one and another. Tyan must
still be alive and leaving a trail for them to follow. Then suddenly no more beads. Perhaps
she is dead. Hajur tells Baran that if he should be killed in the final battle with the dragon,
Baran is to write a record of their adventures on a scroll, journey on to Manas and give it to
the followers at the temple. Baran feels a sense of foreboding.
At last they track the red dragon to a cave where he is waiting for them. Baran must face his
fears – particularly of swimming underwater in the cave – and eventually although Hajur is
seriously wounded Baran helps rescue Tyan and kill the dragon. Hajur acknowledges that
they have both proved themselves heroes and, while it is not certain that a girl will be
accepted by the traditional followers at the Temple of Manas, they have earnt the right to
go on and meet whatever challenges are ahead.
About the author
Although his family came to Australia from Lebanon, Nazam Anhar was born in Sydney,
Australia and when he was young loved adventure stories such as Treasure Island, Captain
Kidd’s Cat and Robinson Crusoe. As an adult he studied archaeology at the University of
Sydney and eventually became a freelance writer. His first book, Milad: the Voyage to Ophir,
is set in the ancient Phoenician empire and his second, Scrimshaw, is an adventure that
involves seafaring and piracy. So although Dragon Hunter continues Nazam’s interest in
history, its setting and its plot mark a new adventure in his own writing.
Nazam Anhar says
One of the earliest fantasy stories I read was The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien, who is
still a favourite author in this field. I was impressed by the way he was able to so powerfully
evoke a world which he created from myth and folktales. One of the features of the story
that I found most memorable was the cunning dragon Smaug. These are some of the things
that inspired me in writing Dragon Hunter.
I am also interested in history, and wanted to create a story that would have a feeling of
historical authenticity – what would dragons be like if they actually existed? I wanted to
place the story in a historical and geographical setting that would be suitable for this. I
wanted to avoid ‘magical’ elements, and instead portray the dragons and their conflict with
humans in a naturalistic way.
I chose to set the story in a Himalayan region, and tried to make the elements of the story
consistent with this – the landscape, the people, their culture, animals, and so on. I
researched the Himalayan regions, and found two areas that were very suitable as a basis
for the location of the story – the regions of Ladakh and Zanskar. The mountainous
landscape of these regions was a good match for the landscape of Dragon Hunter, as well as
the people and their way of life. These regions are some of the most isolated in the world,
and there are still people there who live in a way that has changed very little since ancient
times.
One of the things I most enjoyed about writing Dragon Hunter was researching these
fascinating places, and learning about such remote and little-known parts of the world, and
the people who live there. One of the things that I found the most difficult was managing
the length of the story. The original text which I wrote was much longer, and needed to be
cut down to fit the length of the book. I had to decide which parts of the story to leave out,
and it was difficult to remove some episodes that I liked very much – though in the end I
think that it made the novel better, with a more exciting pace and more impact.
Themes
 What happens in fantasy?
 The quest
 What does it take to be a hero?
 Dragons
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Gender equality
The power of dreams and visions
The price of forgetting the past
The importance of writing and studying
Learning to read the environment for information
Obeying the law
Moral dilemmas and the prioritising of values
Prejudice against outsiders
Loyalty to your family
With your students: before they have read Dragon Hunter
Show your students the cover of Dragon Hunter and ask them what they know about
dragons. (They are huge, they have wings and scales, long powerful tails, they have magical
powers, they have sharp eyesight, they breathe fire, they can fly, they live in a lair or den
that is often a cave, they are loyal, so they are often used to guard treasure, sometimes they
are regarded as bringing good luck.)
Ask, ‘What stories have you read, films have you seen or games have you played that
involve dragons?’ (Eragon, Dragonology, The Hobbit, The Trouble with Dragons, Puff the
Magic Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon, The Paper Bag Princess, Deltora Quest, Dragon
Rider, Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby, Pete’s Dragon, ‘Dungeons and Dragons’,
‘Dragon Flame’, ‘Dragon Hunt’, ‘The Neverending Story’, ‘Dragonslayer’)
Tell your students that dragons feature in a particular kind of narrative text type called
‘fantasy’ and that in fantasy the main character is often required to go on a journey or
quest. If the main character had to go on a ‘Dragon Hunt’, what kind of person would that
character have to be? What qualities would that character need? (strength, courage,
confidence, big muscles, need to be able to ride a horse, fight with swords, bow and arrows,
lance – however the protagonist in fantasy is often an unlikely candidate. He is reluctant to
go, because he doesn’t feel he has the right qualities. He persists, often with the support of
a friend, and is tested in a series of challenges before he reaches his goal. When he gets
there, he finds that unexpected character traits have ensured his success and he has grown
in confidence. He often has a sense of duty or responsibility to others as a result.)
‘Could a boy do it?’ (he might not be big enough or strong enough, but he might be clever
and outwit the dragon) ‘Could a girl do it?’ (stories such as the Lily Quench series say yes.)
This is a story about a boy called Baran. The villagers of Shenzing think he is a bit of a loser,
but he ends up saving their village from attack by two dragons. Here’s what happens when a
dragon attacks Baran’s precious herd of goats.
Read from p.38 to the end of chapter 2.
Read the back cover blurb of Dragon Hunter. Ask what ‘vengeance’ means. (payback,
revenge). Tell your students that those dragons will return to pay him back and burn the
village to the ground.
With your students: after they have read Dragon Hunter
In his theoretical study The Fantastic, Tzvetan Todorov says that one of the ways we know
that we are about to enter the fantasy realm is when the protagonist’s vision is momentarily
unclear. In colloquial English, the words ‘I see’ mean ‘I understand’. So if we can’t see
clearly, we can’t understand clearly. There may be a fog, smoke, clouds. Here at the
beginning of Dragon Hunt, Baran sees what might be two harmless birds, but soon turn out
to be dragons. At other points in the novel, for example, pp.1, 20, 74, 114, his vision is
unclear: this is a signal that we are entering a different reality.
Ask your students what they learnt about Baran in reading the novel. (He has dark skin, is
different, is regarded as an outsider and not welcome in the village, is not trusted, was
abandoned by his father, has a mother and two sisters)
‘Let’s talk about the topic of bullying – because that’s what Baran has to endure in Shenzing.
When you have observed bullying, what sorts of things do people say to make an individual
feel bad about him or herself?’ (they insult the victim’s appearance, race or religion, their
creativity, make fun of their body, their speech, their religion, their family, their food, their
sexuality)
How do the villagers insult Baran? (they say his father abandoned him, they shun him for his
dark skin, race, they call Rovers thieves for grazing their goats on village land, they call Baran
‘weaver-girl’, they don’t listen to his advice, they accuse him of deliberate attempts to
sabotage the village, they blame him for the dragons’ attack, one woman calls him a ‘witchchild’, they want to kill him)
Ask your students if they have heard the phrase ‘a witch hunt’ and the interesting word
‘scapegoat’. Suggest that they use a dictionary and the internet to find out their origins. Ask
how these words help us to understand what is happening early in Dragon Hunter.
(Although the phrase ‘witch hunt’ occurs in the late 19th century, the idea is old. Individuals
are persecuted by a group, who accuse them of witchcraft to account for some event or
phenomenon that is afflicting them. Most famously associated the trials for witchcraft in
Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century. The word ‘scapegoat’ comes from the Old
Testament ritual of releasing into the wilderness a goat that bore all the sins of the village. A
scapegoat is therefore an outcast, and someone who is made to bear all the blame – usually
unfairly.)
What effect does the bullying have on Baran? (Baran becomes a loner, he would rather
spend time with the goats than with people – at least the goats don’t judge him. He loses
confidence in himself. When Hajur needs someone to train in dragon hunting, Baran doesn’t
think he is good enough; the village elder tells Hajur that practically any other boy in the
village would be better than Baran. Baran doesn’t trust people, he withdraws from Tyan and
doesn’t want to be friends or work with her.)
The parallels with what is happening in Australia to many individuals and groups of people
who are different will be obvious to some of your students. Accept their comments and
questions without hammering a political point.
‘Why do the villagers need help to fight the dragons?’ (They used to know how to protect
themselves, but they have forgotten their own history and have not handed their own
traditions – their Lore – on to the next generation p.46.)
How will they get help? (There is one group of people who have kept records of the past and
observe the Lore of Fire, so they know how to fight dragons p.47. They live at the Temple of
Manas in the east. The people of Shenzing need to ask for their help.)
Ask the class why they think Hajur chooses Baran to become a dragon hunter. (he is kind to
the wounded archer (p.84), he is loyal to his family and protects them (p.25), he is
courageous. P.218 Baran has inherited curiosity, kindness and imagination from the Rovers.
During their quest for the dragon, Tyan and Baran must learn important lessons. As a class,
brainstorm some of them on the board:
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p.112 keep your eyes open and learn to read the signs
p.117 we are most afraid of the unknown
p. 127 carrying out a task in anger only leads to your own destruction
p.143 Baran must begin his journey towards forgiveness and Tyan her journey
towards atonement
p.160 people must put aside their differences and work together
p.169 to be a warrior you must follow the rules
p.193 don’t be fooled by appearances
p.209 a hero must always help people in need
p.232 preserving history is essential for survival in the future
p.247 Baran must face his worst fears and overcome them
During the journey Baran faces a series of moral dilemmas. What is a ‘dilemma’ and what
are some examples in Dragon Hunter?
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Pp96-97 should Baran have hurried back with the lance as instructed or stopped to
help the wounded archer?
p.100 should he go on the quest or stay to protect his family?
p.133 should Baran pity Tyan for having lost her family, or resent her for not pitying
him when he was being bullied?
p.188 should Baran have pursued the dragon to try and save Tyan, when she was
ordered not to get involved in the fight?
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p.204 assured that he can choose whether to go on to Manas or return to his family,
Baran does not know what to do
What does Hajur learn on their quest?
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p.128 That to prevent girls and women from being warriors is to waste their talents.
On p.144 Hajur says to Baran, ‘Your anger is like a dragon that you nurture inside of you,
until it has eaten you away. You must kill the dragon, Baran, before it is too late.’
How does this comment help us to understand the symbolic meaning of the dragons in this
novel? (Baran has inherited the hatred that has been directed at his people, the Rovers. The
villagers’ capacity to hate comes back to attack them, just like the dragons. Their ancestors
knew how to deal with its destructive potential, but the villagers haven’t bothered to
remember the past or to learn from it. The only way to defend the village from its power to
destroy them is to face the hatred, hunt it down and eliminate it altogether. To achieve that
they will require honesty, courage, imagination and kindness. And they will need to be
disciplined.
Again the relevance to contemporary political and social issues is obvious and does not need
to be laboured.
Activities
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Draw a mural of a dragon, but instead of arrows flying towards it have words that
will counteract its destructiveness: kindness, courage, loyalty, family and so on.
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Discuss the contribution that verbs can make to a piece of writing. Using a scene
such as the defeat of the dragon on pp.37-38, highlight on the board the verbs that
make this scene so energetic and exciting.
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Create a mural or a short film about heroes. Who would your class call heroes today
and what qualities do they have?
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Brainstorm stories your students may know about people who seem to lack the
qualities to become heroes, but succeed despite the challenges. (David and Goliath,
the Little Engine that Could, Mother Teresa – there are hundreds of them)
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The villagers don’t believe Baran when he warns them they are in danger. Read
Aesop’s fable ‘The Boy who Cried Wolf’ and maybe make a class poster based on it.
Why is this fable only partly relevant to Baran’s situation early in Dragon Hunter?
(Baran always tells the truth, but they still don’t believe him.)