Graoully

 




Graoully is a dragon from Metz, France. It is most often depicted as a rather standard wyvern, although in the castle Haut-Koenigsbourg there’s a Graoully statue with four legs. I’ve based my art on the effigy that hangs over Taison Street. The name Graoully comes from the old Germanic word graulich, which means horrible or monstrous, and is the origins of the English word gruesome.


Legend has it that back in the 3rd century Saint Clément was travelling around Gaul Christianizing the population. When he came to Metz he found everyone hiding in their homes, afraid to come out. One of the locals told Saint Clément that a dragon named Graoully lived in the local Roman amphitheatre, along side a horde of serpents, and would routinely come out to terrorize the townsfolk. The townsfolk warned Saint Clément that the serpents in the amphitheatre were so venomous they made the air toxic so nothing could survive near them, but Saint Clément was not deterred. He went to the amphitheatre. There the serpents and Graoully lunged at him, but Clément made the sign of the cross, and the serpents were subdued. Saint Clément wrapped the stole from his vestments around Graoully’s neck and dragged the dragon out of the amphitheatre. He dragged Graoully out to the river Seille, with the serpents following close behind. There he told Graoully and the serpents to leave and live in a place uninhabited by either man or beast. Graoully left and was never seen again. The whole thing being a parable about the population being converted to Christianity and no longer taking part in the various things that happened in the pagan amphitheatre.


While the legend takes place in the 3rd century, it likely started being told in the 10th century, which is when the procession started. The procession was a parade that happened on Rogation day, which was the fifth Sunday after Easter. This procession was dedicated to Saint Mark, but also featured local saints, such as Saint Clément. At first the main focus of the procession was the various saints, with things such as holy relics being carried out of the cathedral for the public to see. Banners featuring the saint’s deeds were also carried, one featuring a dragon representing Graoully. Over time banners were replaced with statues, and Graoully started being a bigger feature of the parade, likely because people enjoyed the spectacle of it all. Eventually carrying around the Graoully effigy became the main focus of the parade. These effigies varied in construction, some being wood, others canvass stuffed with straw. Some even had mouths that could be moved with a pull string. These effigies could be quite big too, with one reaching 12 feet high. People would make a game of throwing bread into the effigies mouth. Graoully featured in these processions from the twelve century right up until the French Revoluion. Metz was far from the only city in Europe to have such dragon processions, they were common in almost every city from the renaissance to the beginning of the modern era, although almost all are gone now. Although it looks like the Graoully procession was revived for at least one year in 2024.


While the procession parade is gone, Graoully is still commonly depicted around Metz and is an unofficial mascot of the city. There is the aforementioned effigies on Taison Street and Haut-Koenigsbourg castle, as well as one in Saint-Etienne cathedral. There’s also multiple modern statues of Graoully made of metal, and modern murals on buildings. Graoully also features on the coat of arms of Sablon, a neighbourhood in Metz where the amphitheatre used to stand.



Sources


https://www.thedevilstonechronicles.com/Graoully.php


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graoully



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