Rare Monsters

  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 ey...

  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 3 rd century Saint Cl é ment 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 Cl é ment 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 Cl é ment that the serpents in the amphitheatre were so venomous they made the air toxic so nothing could survive near them, but Saint Cl é ment was not deterred. He went to the...

  The Bete Ro was a dragon from La Rochelle in France. It was said to live specifically at Pointe de Raux, hillside jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by cliffs. The actual appearance of the dragon is left vague. It’s said to have wings, and a long reptilian tail, and live in the water, occasionally venturing onto land to attack the nearby settlements. An old worn down image of a beast carved into Church Sainte-Radegonde of Talmont was pointed to as the beast of Ro, however this is actually the lion of Ezekiel. It was said that the bete Ro would attack ships and villages up and down the coast. It was as smart as a humans and possessing a cruel cunning that allowed it to set ambushes for ships and shepherds alike. Eventually seven heroes travelled from across the sea to slay the dragon. They shot the bete Ro with seven arrows, two in its ears, two in its eyes, two in its nostrils and one in its throat. Once the beast was cut off from all its senses the seven heroes...

   The questing beast is a hybrid monster from Arthurian Legend. It’s also known as the Beast Glatisant, which is related to the french word glapissant, which means yelping or barking. In the Vulgate and earlier cycles describe a creature with the head of a lamb which is white, the legs of a dog which are black and the body of a fox which is red. In the post-Vulgate cycles the questing beast takes on a more familiar form of having the head of a snake, the front body of a leopard, the back half of its body of a lion, and the feet of a deer. The sound of barking dogs constantly issues from the questing beast’s belly, causing it to constantly flee from hunting dogs it can never escape, hence both its names. Even within this later description there’s a large amount of variation. In the Vulgate Estoire Del Saint Graal , the questing beast appears briefly at the beginning of the story, guiding a narrating character to the book containing the story of Arthur, making this ve...

  The carcolh is possible the strangest ‘dragon’ in Europe. It’s described as either a giant snail, or a serpentine dragon with a snail’s shell. In addition to this it has several slimy and hairy tentacles on its face. I imagine the hair helps keep copious amounts of slime on the tentacles. The carcolh lives in a network of caverns under the city of Hastingues, in south France. No one knows how it got there or how long it’s lived. During the Spanish invasion of the region in 1635 the treasures of Hastingues were taken down into the caves to be guarded by the carcolh. However the carcolh was loyal to no particular country and would attack humans indiscriminately, so no one has ever been able to retrieve the treasure. After many attempts were made the caves were walled off. Unlike many other European dragons the carcolh has never been defeated. While belief in the existence of the carcolh has all but disappeared, legend has it that it still lurks in the walled off caves. ...

  The cath palug was a monsterous cat from Arthurian legend. Like the rest of Arthurian legend, the cath palug started out in Wales, but was transposed and eventually became more popular in France. The appearance of the cat is rarely described, yet it is said to be an aquatic creature, being part cat and part fish, yet still fully capable of moving on land. The only consistency about the cath palug's appearance is that it's black in color, reminiscent of the many phantom cats seen around the UK. The cath palug was original born from the monstrous pig Henwen, who threw the kitten into the sea. Cath palug survived this ordeal and swam to the isle of Anglesey, where it was found and raised by the brothers Palug. Although eventually they too abandoned the cat as it grew in size and violence until they couldn't care for the creature anymore. In adulthood the cath palug tormented the isle of Anglesey, attacking livestock and people. Nine scores, or 180, heroes faced the cat and ...

In the years between 1764 and 1767 there was a string of some of the most bizarre animal attacks on farmers in history. In the French region of G é vaudan close to 300 people were reportedly killed by an unknown animal, who's species has never been identified. G é vaudan was a remote, mountainous and heavily forested region in southern French, which is now part of Loz è re. It was rugged and rural, the majority of people lived as shepherds and wood cutters. People didn't have access to the education and advancements of the enlightenment found in the more populous northern regions of France. For the average farmer life had changed little from the medieval era. The local noble ruler, the Marquis D'Apcher, spent most of his time in the royal court at Versailles, so actual leadership of the communities in G é vaudan was in the hands of the church and local elders. Rural people here lived a meagre life filled with hunger and hardship. Further compounding the hardships for the...

  Peluda, known as La Velue in French, is a dragon from the River Huisne in France. It was known by many names in the Medieval era, including the Shaggy Beast in English, yet today it's best known by it's Spanish name Peluda. Peluda was most well known and feared in the High Middle Ages period and early Renaissance. Peluda had a snake's head and tail, an egg-shaped body that was covered in thick fur. From between the fur was porcupine or hedgehog like quills that were tipped in poison. It stood on four sturdy tortoise like feet. It was the size of a large ox. Peluda was green all over, even it's fur. According to legend Peluda existed from the early days of creation, on the day when God created all the things that swam in the sea and crawled on the Earth. During the flood, Peluda tried to climb on the ark with the other animals being loaded on. Noah and his family fought Peluda off and refused to let it on board, knowing it would devour all the other animals. Yet Peluda...

  The codrille was a medieval dragon from France. Its overall appearances was a mix of cockatrice and wyvern, and was between them in size as well. The codrille also had the notable addition of a glowing crystal horn jutting out from its forehead like a demented unicorn horn. While it would be easy to write off the codrille as just a hybrid of two other monsters, there's far more to its legend than just that. First off, it's name is derived from crocodile. Travellers brought back tales of crocodiles from Egypt, with their name and description being mangled and combined with cockatrice into the codrille, which is also sometimes known as the cocodrille. The codrille has an interesting life cycle for a dragon. It starts out born from a yolk-less egg. The legend varies on whether this egg is laid by a chicken or another codrille, but there are specific nesting sites where the eggs can be found. The egg is left out to incubate in the heat of the sun. The codrille then hatches out ...