Grande Goule

The or (Poitevin dialect: , or 'Big Maw') is a folklore dragon that continues to be celebrated in the Poitou region (city of Poitiers) in France.

General description The Grand'Goule is considered to be a local version of the tarasque. (cf. for other comparable local versions).

What has been claimed to be an early attestation to the Grande Goule is a charter dated 1466 noting that a "dragon" was among the banners and ensigns being promenaded through the streets of Poitiers for the Rogation days procession.

A sculpture by cabinetmaker Jean Gargot in 1677, commissioned by the Abbey of Sainte-Croix at Poitiers, has survived into the modern age, and now housed in the Musée Sainte-Croix, in Poitiers. The painted sculpture depicts a dragon with a gaping maw, sharp claws, outspread wings, and a torturously curled lower body, terminating in a three-pronged tail, as described by Bellin de La Liborlière (1846), though the tail appears only to be two-pronged like a tailfin of a fish (cf. image right).

A description of the Rogation days procession at Poitiers during pre-Revolutionary (pre-1789) period states that together with the piece of the True Cross and banners, the dragon figure propped on a long baton was paraded through the streets.

During the May Rogation procession, a special round cake called the () became an integral part of the festivities. The crowd pelted the parading dragon with these , filling the mouth of the Grand Goule effigy, while the golden pastries and cherries, some barely turning pink, delighted the children. The crowd, especially the women, would genuflect as the effigy passed by, press their palms together, or try to rub their rosaries on the dragon's scales, shouting ("good holy serpent").

Dragon-quelling legends According to legend, the monster haunted the cellars of the Abbey of Sainte-Croix at Poitiers, and used to devour the nuns who descended there, until St. Radegund expelled it. She harnessed the power of the piece of the True Cross held by the Abbey, and by making a sign of the cross, drove the monster out of the cellar into the river.

According to an alternate legends, the Grand Goule which lurked in the underground passages of the abbey and fed on nuns had been vanquished by a condemned criminal who won his reprieve in recognition of his dragon-slaying deed, and not by Radegund. However, this criminal may not have lived to enjoy his amnesty, for according to a more detailed telling of the legend, by the time the man finally landed a fatal blow on the dragon, there had ensued such a pitched battle, of almost hand-to-hand combat nature, that his glass mask shattered underneath his visor, exposing him to venomous fumes that was his undoing.

Parallels The Grand'Goule is considered to be a local version of the tarasque. Other parallels given are the aforementioned Grand Gueule of Lyon, the Gargouille of Rouen, and the (Graoully) of Metz (which also parades through Metz on Rogation days), as well as the Grand Dragon of Paris,these comparison having been made by Bellin de La Liborlière (1846) and later by Barbier de Montault (1882) and Clouzot (1897).

Other of religious events that have been compared to the Grand Goule are the of Troyes, the Doudou (Ducasse) of Mons, Belgium, and the dragon of Louvain (Leuven), and the dragons of Amiens.

Eponymy In Poitiers, a nightclub (discotheque) called Grand'Goule (est. 1965) had served food and drink to its clientele in a dungeon-like atmosphere, The club has announced its permanent closure effective 27 June 2026, after 61 years of operation.

A choir named after the dragon has a long history.

Grande Goule

Bron en licentie