Tarasque

The Tarasque is a fearsome legendary dragon-like mythological hybrid from Provence, in southern France, tamed in stories about Saint Martha, such as the one told in Jacobus de Voragine's ''Golden Legend'' (13th century).

The tarasque was described as having a lion-like head, a body protected by turtle-like carapace(s), six feet with bear-like claws, and a scaly tail like a serpent's tail in a text (pseudo-Marcelle or pseudo-Marcella) which is similar to and roughly coeval with the ''Golden Legend'', and issued poison breath according to one hagiography (pseudo-Raban Maur) of perhaps somewhat later date.

Medieval iconography such as renditions in church sculpture did not necessarily conform to this description in the earlier Gothic period, and examples which seemed to were later assigned later, 14th century dates. The hexapedal carapaced tarasque was the form depicted on the city seal of Tarascon around the 15th century, and this held to be the norm in 16th- and 17th-century paintings. As St. Martha purportedly encountered the beast in the act of swallowing a human victim, it has become a stock motif in art to portray the beast swallowing a human head first, with the victim's legs still dangling.

According to tradition, in 1474 René of Anjou initiated the use of the tarasque in the Pentecostal festival, and later used also on the saint's feast day of July 29. Yearly celebration in the last weekend of June was added in the modern day. The effigy or float (french: char) of the tarasque has been built over the years for parading through town for the occasion, carried by four to a dozen men concealed inside.

Legend

The legend of the Tarasque probably arose in Provence, France, from early to late 12th century. The legend is recorded in several sources, but especially in the story of St. Martha in the ''Golden Legend'' (''Legenda aurea''), which was "the most influential".

Legenda aurea

In Provence, France, the creature inhabited the forested banks of the Rhône between Arles and Avignon, around what is now the town Tarascon (then called Nerluc or 'black place'), but lurked in the river and attacked the men trying to cross it, sinking boats. The creature was described a dragon, half animal, half fish, thicker than an ox, longer than a horse, with "sword-like teeth as sharp as horns".

The Tarasque ( la, Tarasconus) was said to have come from Galatia, a cross-breed between the biblical Leviathan and the legendary Onachus (or onacho, or bonacho) is read "bonacho" and given other spellings as well in variant texts. Caxton's translation also gives "Bonacho". ) of Galatia, this onachus being a creature that retaliated against pursuers by flinging its dung ( la, ) like an arrow, and causing burns. The people besought Saint Martha for help, and she found the creature in the act of devouring a man. Merely by sprinkling holy water and holding up the cross, she caused the creature to become submissive and obedient. She then tied her girdle (to its neck) is explicitly stated in the pseudo-Raban: "with her own girdle she bound its neck" or "having bound its neck with the girdle which she had been wearing (')".), leading the beast to the villagers who cast rocks and spears at it until it died.

Other sources

The account of St. Martha and the tarasque in the ''Golden Legend'' (LA) roughly correspond to the versions of the legend found in the pseudo-Marcella ("V"), and in Vincent de Beauvais's ''Speculum historiale'' ("SH"). are near contemporaneous works (late 12th and 13th century), with the pseudo-Marcella probably being the oldest, and dating "between 1187 and 1212 or 1221". The three texts LA, SH, and V are similar in content with only modest variations.

There is also a fourth variant Latin account, a "Life of St. Mary Magdalene and her sister St. Martha" (''Vita Beatae Mariae Magdalenae et sororis ejus Sanctae Marthae'') with somewhat divergent content from the other three, whose authorship had formerly been credited to Raban Maur (d. 856 AD), but since rejected as a false attribution, being the work of an unknown author perhaps as early as the late 12th century, or as late as the second half of the 13th century. The work is referred to as the "pseudo-Raban" by Louis Dumont and others.

There is also a brief notice on the tarasque which occurs in Gervase of Tilbury (Gervais de Tilbury). Gervase assigns the habitat of the tarasque ( la, tarascus) to be an abyss near the city-gates of Arles and the rock/cliff beneath the castle/fort at Tarascon.

Description

As for the description of the tarasque's physical appearance given in the ''Legenda aurea'', it is given a somewhat dissimilar treatment in the corresponding passage in the c. 1200 pseudo-Marcella:

This description is said to "correspond rather closely" to 17th and 18th century iconography in paintings and woodcuts and to the modern-day effigy. Even the turtle-like carapaces ( la, parmae "shields") is attested in this c. 1200 piece of writing, even though some commentators ventured it to be a 15th-century addition, created out of expedience to conceal the men carrying the beast's effigy paraded through town for the Pentecostal festivities.

The head has later been described as being similar to a bull and a lion or having the muzzle/face of a lion, or, having the head of a lion with a black mane., quoted by : "La Tarasque est figurée par un monstre à tête de lion avec crinière noire, carapace de tortue, armée de crocs et de dards : dents de lézard, ventre de poisson, queue de reptile, jetant par les naseaux de longues traînées d'etincelles produites des fusées", etc.

Tail

The "tail of a serpent" detail is given in both the Pseudo-Marcella and the ''Speculum Historiale''. The tail was "long and ringed and looked considerably like that of the scorpion" in a lost sculpture on a face of an old church (Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon) according to surgeon-author . It is a ringed tail, and does turns upright as can be verified in facsimile sketch of the sculpture printed by Faillon. Some modern-day authors have gone a step further, claiming the tarasque's tail ended in a scorpion sting. Or rather, the tail terminated in a ( cock's) according to writer Jean-Paul Clébert. There has also been past comment that the tail should end in an arrowhead's shape, according to tradition.

Poison breath

The pseudo-Raban speaks at length of the poisonous fumes exhaled by the tarasque:

Rather than its eyes literally shooting flames, some French sources take it to be a figure of speech, that "its eyes glare sulfurously". One source (Abbé François Canéto) has Raban Maur stating that the poison breath shot out of the tarasque's nostrils in thick vapours.

Medieval depictions

Heraldry and numismatics

The Tarasque is featured on the coat of arms of Tarascon, and here too, the beast/dragon is depicted as devouring a human, at least in later versions of the seal. In 11th or 12th century seals of the city, the tarasque is given an appearance of a crocodile or some sort of amphibian according to one opinion. The city seal from the 13th century appears much as a plain dragon according to one 18th century writer on medieval coats of arms, though Faillon counters that this represents not a dragon guarding the city, but the tarasque. This early type perhaps dates to as far back as the 11th century, seen on seals struck on '' méreau'' type tokens. The later design of the seal depicting the tarasque with a (turtle-like) carapace appeared in the 15th century.

Later design of the city seal distinctly shows the tarasque swallowing a human. In the language of heraldry, the coat of arms has been described as featuring "below he_castle_with_ he_castle_with_crenelated_towers_argent">crenelated.html"_;"title="he_castle_with_crenelated">he_castle_with_crenelated_towers_argenta_dragon_of_he_castle_with_crenelated_towers_argent">crenelated.html"_;"title="he_castle_with_crenelated">he_castle_with_crenelated_towers_argenta_dragon_of_Sinople_(heraldry)">sinople_devouring_a_man_and_covered_with_scales_of_gold".

__Illuminated_manuscripts_

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__Architecture_

There_are_also_depictions_in_architecture.

The_aforementioned_sculpture_once_incorporated_into_the_right_side_exterior_of_Église_Sainte-Marthe_de_Tarascon_

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_purportedly_dated_to_the_11th_century,_and_counted_as_the_oldest_representation_recorded._This_sculpture_of_the_tarasque_depicted_the_beast_in_the_act_of_devouring_a_human,_in_typical_fashion._This_tarasque_was_a_quadruped_that_bore_close_resemblance_to_the_beast_trodden_underfoot_by_St._Martha_in_the_paneling_sculpture_of_the_Choir_(architecture).html" "title="Sinople_(heraldry).html" ;"title="crenelated_towers_argent.html" ;"title="crenelated.html" ;"title="he castle with crenelated">he castle with crenelated towers argent">crenelated.html" ;"title="he castle with crenelated">he castle with crenelated towers argenta dragon of Sinople (heraldry)">sinople devouring a man and covered with scales of gold".

Illuminated manuscripts

In late medieval manuscripts the monster is often depicted devouring people.

Architecture

There are also depictions in architecture.

The aforementioned sculpture once incorporated into the right side exterior of Église Sainte-Marthe de Tarascon purportedly dated to the 11th century, and counted as the oldest representation recorded. This sculpture of the tarasque depicted the beast in the act of devouring a human, in typical fashion. This tarasque was a quadruped that bore close resemblance to the beast trodden underfoot by St. Martha in the paneling sculpture of the Choir (architecture)">choir