Vouivre or Guivre

 



The guivre or vouivre is a confusing dragon with many different descriptions. Both names came from the Latin vipera, and both are mythologized versions of the snake. It’s unclear if the two versions are two different dragons or interpretations of one. They’re both certainly regional variations of each other. And both have a wide range of regional variations within the use of the same name. It’s even unclear if the legends about this creature are meant to refer to a species of dragon, or one individual. Most often guivre is used like a species of monster, while vouivre is treated as an individual, yet sources still use them interchangeably.


The appearance of this beast also varies widely, from a winged serpentine dragon, to a wingless serpentine dragon, to even things like a giant bird, will-o-wisp like fire balls and streaks of fire flying across the sky. The most detailed description, which is usually applied to the vouivre, is that of a wyvern like dragon, with a single eye made of ruby, pearls on her four head, gemstones down her back and a diamond on her tail. This version is also consistently considered female, where as no distinction is given to the guivre.


The legend of these dragons is found across a wide portion of eastern France and some parts of Switzerland, such as Burgundy, Franche-Comté, Savoie, Jura, and the Aosta Valley. Vouivres and guivres were associated with fire, hence appearing as fire balls, and water. They lived in springs, lakes, flooded caves, any out of the way source of mountain water.


These dragons were said to guard precious treasures, and in the case of the vouivre, even having gemstones are part of its body. It was said the vouivre would remove its ruby eye at night to sleep, leaving it vulnerable to theft. Without the ruby the vouivre was blind and vulnerable to attack. But also the ruby was imbued with magic that would bring luck and riches to anyone who possessed it. The wouivre was also said to drop pearls and gemstones as it flew through the air. In some regions she also possessed a necklace of immense value, which she guarded jealously.


Vouires and guivres were plagues on the land. They had venom so potent that it would render large areas uninhabitable. And they would burn up the land with their fire as well. Yet they could easily be scared off by the sight of a naked person, as the vouivre was very modest and could be embarrassed away.


One legend associated specifically with the guivre came from the saint Samson of Dol, when he was visiting saint Suliao. Suliao lived a very modest life as a hermit and therefor had only meagre, low quality food, yet he offered what little he had to his guests. One of the priests following Samson of Dol was disgusted by the quality of bread, so instead of eating it he pocketed the bread and pretended he had eaten it. A small guivre climbed into the priest’s pocket, or the bread was transformed into a guivre because of his sin. When the priest reached into his pocket again he bitten by the guivre and started convulsing from the venom. Saint Suliao neutralized the venom and healed the priest with a prayer. He then took the guiver and threw it into a pit outside, which became known as Trou de la Guivre, or the Guivre’s Hole.


Legend also states the method of stealing the vouivre’s treasure and killing the dragon. The trick was the enrage the dragon by stealing some of her treasure, then hiding under a spiked barrel. The vouivre would then impale herself on the spikes trying to get at the thief. Although the various stories using this method fail and kill the would be hero just as often as they succeed. In Condes it was said a man managed to steal the diamond off the dragon’s tail and then hide under a nail covered washtub, with the dragon then impaling itself and dying. In Reyvroz a man stole the vouivre’s necklace and hide in a spiked covered barrel. The vouivre constricted around the barrel, killing the man inside but also becoming impaled and dying herself. There was another story from Manigod where a man stole the dragon’s necklace. The vouivre smashed the barrel open with her diamond tail and swallowed the thief whole.


When the Normans invaded England they brought with them many French legends, including that of the vouivre (which suggests in the past the legend of this dragon had a much larger range, as Normandy is on the other side of France). In England the vouivre became the wyvern. However it was stripped of most of its mythology and wyvern just became another generic word for dragon. Wyverns became distinct from dragons again in heraldry, where the wyvern had two legs and dragons had four. Although this was a distinction only in UK heraldry, with continental Europe still using them interchangeably.


Meanwhile the legend of the vouivre continued to evolve in France. As time went on the vouivre became more similar to Melusine, as they were both female monsters, as Melusine was sometimes interpreted as a half dragon or serpent woman (and other times a mermaid). The vouivre became a sort of reverse Melusine, being a dragon most of the time, but turning into a beautiful woman when she bathed. In other places the vouivre lost her dragon traits entirely, being interpreted as an evil, yet beautiful, fairy woman who would guard treasure in the mountains and lure men to their deaths.



Sources


https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/12/11/vouivre/

https://dragons.fandom.com/wiki/Vouivre

https://dragons.fandom.com/wiki/Guivre

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



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