Edna is the name of the villainous dragon of the dueling roller coaster Joris en de Draak in the Dutch amusement park Efteling. The dragon lived in the swamps of a kingdom. In order not to endanger the inhabitants of the kingdom, first sheep and then young women had to be sacrificed to the dragon until Edna was defeated by the young knight Joris.
History[]
Edna lived in a swamp with her golden dragon eggs and was only peaceful as long as she had enough to eat. The king had no choice but to sacrifice sheep to the beast every day. One day when all the sheep were sacrificed, the dragon asked for a young girl every day. The king now took the initiative and announced a reward of 1001 ducats for whoever defeated the dragon. But until then, the dragon had to continue to receive his food and it was drawn by lot which girl should be sacrificed. Ironically, the king's daughter was drawn and when she was about to accept her fate, the young knight Joris appeared. Brave as he was, he took on the dragon and defeated it, the ruler of fire and water, with his own elements. Back in the kingdom, Joris gave up his reward, distributed the ducats among the population and turned down the princess' offer of marriage.
Description[]
Edna sits along the path that runs in front of the attraction, in a somewhat closed piece of swamp that lies between two sections of the path. Mist hangs over the swamp and the water is bubbling. The dragon sits in the water and there are large dragon eggs around it. Its tail runs a little backwards along the track. By 2019, Edna would occasionally tilt her head fully upright to emit a burst of fire. However, the animatronic often suffered from malfunctions and therefore often had to be repaired and maintained. In October 2019, the park management announced that maintenance work would be halted. Since then, the dragon has been in a state of disrepair alongside the track. The paint is peeling, all movement has stopped, and one pupil is permanently tilted upwarts.
Despite being 10.5 meters (34.4 feet) tall, Edna is barely visible from the track. In the construction phase, the animatronic was planned to be twice as large, but this was rejected due to a too low budget.
Name and Gender[]
The dragon's name is a reference to Mount Etna in Sicily, the most active volcano in Europe. Both the volcano and Edna in the Efteling spit fire, that's the idea.
The name Edna was originally used by the Efteling as a working title. However, the name stuck and has been commonplace in the fanbase ever since. However, in official publications such as the Efteling Gouden Bookjes, the name is avoided and the dragon remains nameless.
Edna is usually a female name. The fact that the dragon is guarding eggs could mean that the dragon is female. However, the eggs do not necessarily have to have been laid by that dragon, and in the case of reptiles, the eggs are usually not incubated by the mother. The tale of George and the Dragon, on which the attraction is based, names the dragon as male, from which one might conclude that this is the official gender.