A guivre is a

mythical creature A legendary creature (also mythical or mythological creature) is a type of fictional entity, typically a hybrid, that has not been proven and that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), but may be featured in historical accounts ...

similar to a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

. In legend they were portrayed as serpentine creatures who possessed venomous breath and prowled the countryside of Medieval France. The words "guivre" (

wurm The Wurm (; nl, Worm ) is a river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It rises in the Eifel mountains and flows for 57 kilometres before discharging into the Rur. Geography The Wurm is a left (western) tributary of the ...

wyvern A wyvern ( , sometimes spelled wivern) is a legendary winged dragon that has two legs. The wyvern in its various forms is important in heraldry, frequently appearing as a mascot of schools and athletic teams (chiefly in the United States, Unit ...

hich is derived from it or serpent) and "givre" are spelling variations of the more common word "vouivre". Vouivre, in

Franc-Comtois Frainc-Comtou (french: franc-comtois) is a Romance language of the '' langues d'oïl'' language family spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France and in the Canton of Jura and Bernese Jura in Switzerland. Sample vocabulary References Bi ...

, is the equivalent of the old French word "guivre." All these forms are derived ultimately from Latin ''vīpera'', as is English ''viper''.

Description and habits

Guivres were said to possess a long, serpentine body and a dragon's head. The hind feet are not as visible if present at all. The guivre had horns in its forehead in some accounts, as well. Locally in France it was known as an extremely aggressive creature that would sometimes attack without being provoked. They were afraid of naked humans, and when saw them, blushed and looked away. Documentation points to their residence as being in small bodies of water like pools and lakes, forests, and any damp place. also found in Europe.

La Guivre

Samson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Cornish saint, who is also counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin. Born in southern Wale ...

was present at an encounter between a small dragon-like creature (known as "La Guivre") and a priest. Samson had come to visit Saint Suliao with an entourage of followers. Suliao was impoverished but sought to provide a meal as best as possible for the group. One priest, uneasy with the low quality of food, took a bread roll and hid it under his robe. Almost instantaneously he started convulsing and Suliao pulled apart his bosom, seeing what the man had done. He admonished the priest and removed a hideous serpentine creature from the robe. There he

exorcised Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

it and then compelled another man to throw it from the roof of a building in Garot.

Vouivre

Guivres are also well known as vouivres, and the terms have become synonymous. For example, in ''The Drac: French Tales of Dragons and Demons'', the vouivre is depicted as a female creature with dazzling, green scales which emanate sound as the vouivre flies. The vouivre is depicted as greedy, her head crowned with pearls and a golden ring about her tail. The beast in this story stayed in a cave for most of her time, then left to bathe only for a few minutes. According to the ''Contes et légendes de Franche-Comté'', the Vouivre is a unique gigantic snake like dragon, wearing a ruby on its forehead, and using it as its eye.

Literary use

Steve Alten Steven Robert Alten (born August 21, 1959, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American science-fiction author. He is best known for his ''Meg'' series of novels set around the fictitious survival of the megalodon, a giant, prehistoric shark. Bio ...

's '' The Loch'' the Loch Ness Monster is originally thought to be a guivre which got into

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; gd, Loch Nis ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for clai ...

through

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...

. The guiuvres were said to be a species of giant eel, a predecessor to the Anguilla. In the 1989 film ''La Vouivre'', the vouivre was a wood nymph.

References

Bibliography