Puff, the Magic Dragon poem titled "Custard the Dragon", about a "realio, trulio little pet dragon". The lyrics tell a story of the ageless dragon Puff and his playmate, Jackie Paper, a little boy who grows up and loses interest in the imaginary adventures of childhood and leaves Puff to be with himself. (The line "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys" is generally thought to imply only that "little Jackie Paper" grew up.) The story of the song takes place "by the sea" in the fictional land of "Honalee". Lipton was friends with Peter Yarrow's housemate when they were all students
The dragon (Beowulf) complicated plot of the narrative. The third act of the poem differs from the first two. In Beowulf's two earlier battles, Grendel and Grendel's mother are characterised as descendants of Cain: "[Grendel] had long lived in the land of monsters / since the creator cast them out / as the kindred of Cain" and seem to be humanoid: in the poet's rendition they can be seen as giants, trolls, or monsters. The dragon, therefore, is a stark contrast to the other two antagonists. Moreover, the dragon is more overtly destructive. He burns vast amounts of territory and the homes of