Tarasque

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 monster allegedly 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". 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), 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 () 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, 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. 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, 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 [the castle with crenelated towers argent] a dragon of sinople devouring a man and covered with scales of gold". though earlier commentators, such as Faillon who supplied detailed drawings of the capital, considered it to be an example of early Gothic art from the 11th century. ==Festivities==

. The festival of the tarasque was initiated on April 14, 1474, during Pentecost in Tarascon, at the behest of René of Anjou, in order to amuse his citizens with a reenactment of St. Martha's miracle. A tarasque used in the jeu de tarasque during the Pentecostal festival is described by the Count of Villeneuve in 1826, as an effigy of a "monstrous dragon, whose torso is assembled from hoops covered with a painted sheet metal, and whose back is made using a huge shield to imitate a turtle's carapace. The paws are clawed, the tail scaly and several times curved, the head is like a bull and a lion. A gaping mouth reveals several rows of teeth". The wooden hull described in 1818 required eight men to carry, and the one in 1861 needed six men. which are dragged or pulled by persons known as Tarascaïres, but since 1946 they have become a yearly event and tourist attraction. Subsequently, the holding of the tarasque festival in this last Sunday or weekend of June became annually recurrent. == Theories ==

Celtic origin hypothesis , dated to 3rd to 1st century B.C. == Commemorations ==

The Tarasque was designated one of "Processional Giants and Dragons in Belgium and France" listed in November 2005 as part of UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. == See also ==

• Alt URL • • • • • • • • • ; Volume 2 (1848); • • • • • • • • • • (translation) • • • • • • • • • • • • ; copy via Google ==External links==