The Dragon Stone

[ Return to European Dragons ]

Location:
River Rhone, France, Europe

Description:
La Tarasque was a french dragon, described as both male and female, depending on the retelling. The story of the dragon is re-enacted by parades in Tarascon. Old pictures, and descriptions of the parade dragons, describe Tarrasque as having six legs. She has a green tortoise-like shell with red spikes on it, a long tail and a lion-like head. Modern versions of Tarasque sometimes have only four legs.

'The Golden Legend' says that Tarasque was the offspring of Leviathan (the Biblical sea monster) and Onachus. It claims that Tarasque originally came from Galicia and calls the dragon Tarasconus. This version of Tarasque is male and has wings, but still has the long tail and lion-like head.

La Tarasque and Saint Martha
Tarasque came out of the sea and decided to live in the river Rhone, terrorising the area of Southern France around the river. Many heroes died trying to kill her. The local people made an attempt to trap her, which also failed. After 21 years St. Martha visited the area. She went out the face Tarasque with only a jar of holy water. Using the power of the cross and the holy water she subdued Tarasque and led her back to the town. There the townspeople killed the dragoness. A church was built in honour of St. Martha, and the town was renamed Tarascon.

Related Dragons:

• Leviathan (Part of African Dragons)

Selected References: Caxton, William (1483); Pennick, Nigel (1997)

[ Return to European Dragons ]