Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history - les dragons, Niort

Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history

Les dragons, Niort, summer 2024

 

Les Dragons, Niort

 

Keeping on the theme of dragons, in a similar legend to La Grand’Goule in Poitiers, our local town of Niort also has dragon tale to tell, although the slaying of this beast was rather more gruesome than the crucifix waving of Saint Radegonde in Poitiers. 

 

Once upon a time, roughly at the end of the 17^th century, the marshlands of the Marais Poitevin and the Sèvres Niortais river were home to a gigantic, winged amphibious serpent who terrorised and carried off the Niortais people. Along came a young soldier, who had been condemned to death for desertion, but promised to kill the monster in return for a pardon. Safely protected by his suit of armour, that included a glass visor, and armed with a long spear and dagger, with a quick and agile movement, he fatally stabbed the beast in the throat. The soldier removed his visor in triumph, when the dragon, in its dying breath, spat venom and mortally poisoned him.

A smaller dragon, Niort

 

Since 1992, four bronze dragon sculptures by Jacques Hondelatte have marked the gateway to the town centre, reminding everyone who visits Niort of the beast that once lived here. They are iconic and we have countless photos of us taken over the last twenty years, posed alongside their fanged heads that rise magnificently from the pavement. 

Same cyclist, same Brompton, same dragon, different year (2019)

Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history - La Grand'Goule

La Grand'Goule, Poitiers

Poitou-Charentes myths, legends and history

 

La Grand’Goule

 

You can’t really have a series of blogs about myths and legends without talking about dragons and luckily for me, the Poitou-Charentes isn’t short of a dragon tail, or two.

 

When Ed moved to Poitiers for university in 2018, it gave us the opportunity to explore the city, that until then hadn’t been much more than an airport or station pick-up or drop-off zone for us. As he’s recently moved flats, we’ve been up and down a lot more than normal, and this has reignited my love for Poitiers and its rich history.

River Clain, Poitiers

 

Today’s tale is set in the watery depths of the Clain river that runs through Poitiers, and is the story of a fearsome dragon, La Grand’Goule and Sainte Radegonde, wife of Clotaire I, King of the Francs in the 6^th Century, and founder of a monastery that used to sit on the site of the current Sainte-Croix Museum. The dragon was said to have used the river and a network of underground tunnels to reach the caves of the monastery, primarily to feast on the nuns. In a perfect ‘good triumphs over evil’ story, it was Sainte Radegonde who freed Poitiers from the beast, saving her nuns, and in time would become the patron saint of the city. Where prayers alone had failed to stop La Grand’Goule, when it was confronted by Radegonde, her crucifix and holy water, the beast suffered a nasty end. 

La Grand'Goule depicted in Lusignan

 

La Grand’Goule was gone, but not forgotten. From the 15^th to 19^th Centuries, an effigy of the dragon was paraded through Poitiers during the three days leading up to Ascension Day. Children would throw small cakes at it and prayers for a good harvest would be said. If you visit the Sainte-Croix Museum you can see the wooden sculpture they used, that is over three hundred years old, or look up at the water tower in the Dolmen residential area where she is painted proudly on high. Stone carvings can also be found on a number of local churches.

 

Having cycled along the Clain river on a misty Christmas Day afternoon, looking over to the cliffs and caves, it was easy to imagine them home to a beast of a dragon with a penchant for snacking on nuns.

 

Here are a few other blogs about things to enjoy in Poitiers:

Loving being a tourist in Poitiers 

Poitiers summer fun 

Poitiers insolite