~*~ Gargoyles~*~
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Merry Meet to All,
I will be doing a variety of Topics with brief introductions on "Mythical Creatures of the World", I decided to embark on this Topic with "Gargoyles" as my first mythical creature. Feel free to have a look & drop a line or two if you feel like it!
Blessed be,
Oceanos
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A Brief Introduction to the Mythical Gargoyles
Most people think of the supernatural as a very intangible thing. Many perceive it to be an enigma that just can't concretely be proved one way or the other. But there is proof of the supernatural all around us. While strolling through the streets of almost any city in United States or Europe, just look up at some of the magnificent architecture and you're bound to spot a gargoyle leering back at you.
Gargoyles can trace their history back many thousands of years to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Terra cotta waterspouts were formed in the shapes of animals such as lions and birds to serve the physical function of running the rainwater away from the walls and foundations of buildings, and the spiritual function of protecting from evil forces.
The idea of monsters, dragons, and other creatures of mythical proportions do have a solid foundation in history. Author and researcher Adrienne Mayor theorized that monster legends date back to nomads discovering fossilized dinosaur bones in central Asia several hundred years B.C.E. Imagine stumbling upon the giant bones of a pterodactyl or a protoceratops? You may have no idea that these bones were millions of years old -- just that they clearly belonged to a giant, powerful beast. From these early discoveries and with the help of folklore, griffins, monsters, and dragons may have been born. -
do they turn to stone or something like tat?
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Merry Meet BrUtUs,Originally posted by BrUtUs:do they turn to stone or something like tat?
Well Gargoyles are just entities, presented & seen in the Human Realm in Stone Statues & various type of Carvings! They are actually a kind of lesser dragonic creature of the Dragon Realms, very Protective & Ferocious creature, mostly associated with Gothic form of Dark Magick however they can be called upon to guard & protect a place from unwanted energies & other entities! Later on i will post some of Gargoyles Medieval Legends which might be of your interests!
Blessed Be,
Oceanos -
i like the cartoon!!!
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Gargoyles are not to be trifled with...With gruesome look too....doesn't make good cartoons....later nobody wanna watch it!!!Originally posted by kopiosatu:i like the cartoon!!!
kakaka -
The Legend of La Gargouille
La Gargouille was a scaly, fire-breathing dragon with a long neck and giant wings who lived in a cave near the river Seine in France in the seventh century B.C.E. As the story goes, once a year La Gargouille would come to the village of Rouen and demand a human offering. The villagers would occasionally get away with offering a prisoner, but La Gargouille's favorite feast was a virgin maiden. The villagers quickly learned that without the sacrificial offering, the dragon would rain terror and destruction on them -- spouting water on their riverboats and fire on their buildings and fields. ( "Gargouille" in Old French means "throat." )
Folklore states that a priest who came to be known as St. Romanis arrived in the village intent on spreading Christianity. St. Romanis asked the people of Rouen to build him a church and convert to Christianity. The villagers told the priest if he could solve their dragon problem, they would do what he asked. According to legend, St. Romanis met La Gargouille on his way up the hill to the village of Rouen and subdued the beast using only a crucifix. He then led the dragon into the village on a leash made from tearing his robe, and the villagers burned the dragon at the stake. La Gargouille's head and neck would not burn because they were tempered from his fiery breath, so the head would be placed on top of the newly-built church as a symbol of this priest's power over La Gargouille. In Rouen till this very day, there is a cathedral there with a dragon gargoyle on it." -
Evolution of Gargoyle
As time progressed and the Pagan roots of gargoyles began to fade from history, new meaning and reason for them began to evolve. "Gargoyles were also interpreted to be a sign of damned souls who were forever caught in stone on their way to hell. So they were inhabited by spirits."
Gargoyles served to teach a mostly illiterate population about messages the Church was trying to convey about the afterlife. By the Middle Ages, gargoyles were being placed on many of the churches and cathedrals being built. Although the names of many of these sculptures of sacred scarecrows may have been lost to history, a lot of their work is still around today. Apparently many of the artists had quite a sense of humor. According to them, “Gargoyles were the only place that carvers and sculptors had any artistic license. So the carvers would often put lewd and obscene sort of figures up at the top of these spiritual places -- and they didn't get caught.”
Gargoyles as we know them today may have their roots in Europe, but over the centuries they have spread around the world, and each country has added its touch and culture to these creatures. "As they evolved in America, they've taken on this whole comic sort of tone. They've really lightened up. They're less evil- and scary-looking and in many ways they reflect American culture," -
Originally posted by OCEANOS:
yup...i saw that when i been to Paris. Cathedral of Notre Dame has gargoyles on its spires.
[b]The Legend of La Gargouille
La Gargouille was a scaly, fire-breathing dragon with a long neck and giant wings who lived in a cave near the river Seine in France in the seventh century B.C.E. As the story goes, once a year La Gargouille would come to the village of Rouen and demand a human offering. The villagers would occasionally get away with offering a prisoner, but La Gargouille's favorite feast was a virgin maiden. The villagers quickly learned that without the sacrificial offering, the dragon would rain terror and destruction on them -- spouting water on their riverboats and fire on their buildings and fields. ( "Gargouille" in Old French means "throat." )
Folklore states that a priest who came to be known as St. Romanis arrived in the village intent on spreading Christianity. St. Romanis asked the people of Rouen to build him a church and convert to Christianity. The villagers told the priest if he could solve their dragon problem, they would do what he asked. According to legend, St. Romanis met La Gargouille on his way up the hill to the village of Rouen and subdued the beast using only a crucifix. He then led the dragon into the village on a leash made from tearing his robe, and the villagers burned the dragon at the stake. La Gargouille's head and neck would not burn because they were tempered from his fiery breath, so the head would be placed on top of the newly-built church as a symbol of this priest's power over La Gargouille. In Rouen till this very day, there is a cathedral there with a dragon gargoyle on it." [/b] -
Merry Meet again Neon Tetra,Originally posted by NeonTetra:yup...i saw that when i been to Paris. Cathedral of Notre Dame has gargoyles on its spires.
Yeah Gargoyles are quite common in the Land of the Whites, just like the Fu Gou or Stone Lion is a common sight in Asian countries!
Both type of mythical creatures has a similarity of task as a Protector of a place!!!
Blessed Be,
Oceanos -
Originally posted by OCEANOS:
hhmm....but i just take these creatures with a pinch of salt. don really believe in these. Gryphon/Griffins will be our next topic??
[b]Merry Meet again Neon Tetra,
Yeah Gargoyles are quite common in the Land of the Whites, just like the Fu Gou or Stone Lion is a common sight in Asian countries!
Both type of mythical creatures has a similarity of task as a Protector of a place!!!
Blessed Be,
Oceanos [/b] -
Well....alot of things in this World is unexplainable...every individual has their own cognition that why human are superior from other creatures....So perceptions also differs from people to people! I have no idea what my next Topic will be, however i do have a few requests to one on "Unicorn", lets see how it goes, thank you for your support to my haven.......Originally posted by NeonTetra:hhmm....but i just take these creatures with a pinch of salt. don really believe in these. Gryphon/Griffins will be our next topic??
Blessed Be,
Oceanos -
Gargoyle Statues in perspective of Art
Gargoyles and grotesques are still carved today by a select few craftsmen. Walter S. Arnold is one such sculptor who still makes these fantastic creatures. Some of Arnold's creations appear on the Washington National Cathedral, which is home to some of the most impressive gargoyles in the United States. Arnold commented on what inspires his creations. He said, "When I was working on the Washington Cathedral for five years, we had an old New Yorker cartoon up in the shop. It was a medieval carving shop, and some patron, a bishop or duke, was in there. The carver was working on a gargoyle, and he had empty flasks of wine lying around the floor. The patron was saying, 'Where do you get your inspiration?'
"Seriously, it comes from a wide range of things -- first of all, from looking at a lot of sculptural forms from all sorts of cultures and times, looking at people and animals. It has always been a form that's allowed for a lot of creativity and innovation. It's one of the things I like about them."
So is there something spiritual to gargoyles? Arnold said, "In a way, stone is alive. It's a pure, natural material; each piece is different and has its own character and variations in it. I've spent enough time visiting quarries to have a sense of how beautiful the quarries and the mountains are, and if I'm taking stone out of the mountain, I have kind of a responsibility to create something with it that justifies cutting it out of the mountain."
How about supernatural? "The artist takes it [the artwork] ninety to ninety-five percent of the way, and then every viewer comes to it with their own perspective. In a way, each viewer finishes it differently. So that part of it happens after it leaves my hands, and it will speak differently to each person. I certainly work to make them come alive and look alive, and some of that is technical, some of that is artistic, and some of it is just my feeling on the pieces."
Gargoyles are a compilation of many different animals, both real and mythical, the artists' inspiration, and our own imaginations. They can be funny, intimidating, and beautiful -- sometimes all in one piece. Gargoyles serve as a "living" reminder of our Pagan roots and our very supernatural world. -
Merry Meet to all,
With the above post, i put my introduction to Gargoyle to an end! Hope you all like it, I will post a new topic on another Mythical creature soon! All suggestions & requests are welcome coz i have not decided on the subject of my next topic! Hope to hear from all of you soon!
Blessed be,
Oceanos -
Merry Meet to All,
So far i only got 2 requests....Unicorn & Phoenix! If this Mythical Creatures thread response is not so good, it will be hard for me to continue with it!
So If there are people interested to know more of these Mythical creatures, please show more support! Hope to hear from you all soon!
Blessed be,
Oceanos