I found the Red Cross Knight's duel with the dragon to be quite interesting and figuratively abundant. The significance of the three days of the fight parallel with Christ's three day journey after his crucifixion. Christ had to travel into Hell and he rose on the third day (as did the hero of Book I). Red Cross also goes through baptismal cleansing at the end of the first two days of the battle. The first day, he is thrown into a renewing fountain of life that affords him power and replenishes his strength. At the end of the second day he falls under a tree that is a reflection of the Tree of Life, an additional biblical allusion. Red Cross conquers the dragon on the third day, "and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:4). Red Cross is not meant to be the actual Christ, but a Christ figure. Red Cross kills the dragon by thrusting his sword into the dragon's mouth and down his throat. The dragon's mouth figuratively represents the fiery mouth of Hell. Red Cross conquered his flesh oriented flaws and severed his ties with Hell and sin.
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