In case you didn't know...

Many cultures throughout history have created sculptures of fantastic creatures. These gargoyles and grotesques stir our imaginations, as they stirred the imaginations of the sculptors and carvers who created them. We try to understand them, to explain them. The most common belief is that they are protectors, keeping evil away from the buildings and their occupants. Rarely is a gargoyle found in isolation. Rather, they are almost always arranged in rows or clusters, clinging to edges and ledges, illuminating rooflines, corners, and buttresses. Whatever their purpose, they adorn countless cathedrals in the world. France has over 100 cathedrals, most built in the Middle Ages, with Notre Dame being the most famous. They've inspired curiosity, awe, laughter, and occasionally fear.

The best known examples of gargoyles are from the medieval period, a time when most people were illiterate. The carvings served the role of books, telling stories and reporting on life. The only documentation of the reasoning behind them is in the carving itself. Any original legends have probably been lost or have changed so much over time that they don't tell us anything about the original intentions. What is known about gargoyles, is that the word is derived from an Old French word Gargouille, meaning throat. The English words gargle, gurgle and gargoyle are derived from the same word. Originally a gargoyle was a water sprout, mounted on the eve and directing water away from a building. Technically an architect calls a waterspout on a building a gargoyle. If a stone carving carries no water and has a face or resembles a creature, these are technically called a grotesque. A Carving, which combines several different animals, is called a chimera.

Gargoyles and grotesques have always given carvers and sculptors a chance to use their creativity, to explore the possibilities of stone and imagination. They free us from the limits imposed by most other types of carving, and this was especially true in the Middle Ages. Sculptors who carved grotesque gargoyles may have found visual inspiration in the costumes of monsters with fur, horns, claws, and tails worn in mystery plays, in holiday celebrations such as the Feast of Fools. Stone carvers love creating these pieces, and viewers love seeing them. This may be the real reason why they exist.

It's true that in the Middle ages, the populace, for the most part, couldn't read and write. A bestiary was a book with illustrations of imaginary animals, with an explanation of the powers and symbolism of each animal. Medieval sculptors may have looked at these books for ideas. Symbolism was more important than scientific accuracy in depicting these creatures. Churches used awesome visual images to spread the scriptures, such as gargoyles, stained glass, and sculpture. Some believe that gargoyles were inspired directly via a passage in the bible. Others believe that gargoyles and grotesques do not come from the bible, but are inspired by the skeletal remains of prehistoric beasts such as dinosaurs and giant reptiles. Others will argue that they are the expression of man's subconscious fears or, that they may be vestiges of paganism from an age when god would be heard in trees and river plains. Know, also, that the churches of Europe carried them further into time; maybe to remind the masses that "even if god is at hand, evil is never far away..." or "possibly to act as guardians of their church to keep the terrible spirits of evil away."

A legend has it that a fierce dragon named La Gargouille lived in a cave close to the River Seine near Paris. The fierce dragon devoured ships and men. The priest Romanus, proving the might of Christianity, subdued the dragon and saved the village. After the battle, the creature was burned at the stake. Its body was destroyed but its head and neck survived. These remnants were mounted on their newly constructed church. This practice spread and La Gargouille may have become the model for gargoyles for centuries to come. Gargoyles may have developed if the medieval society didn't feel that totally in control, gargoyles being an attempt to define or embody evils of the world into manageable elements.

Many gargoyles are similar to the legends and figure of the ancients Celts, such as the Green Man or Jack of the Green ... the god of tree worship. The Green Man has been linked to Robin Hood, Pan, the Oak King and the Holly King, and has been seen as a symbol of Life in Death and of Death in Life. Nobody knows the real significance of the Green man, yet everybody who sees him understands without knowing that he represents something very deep and very important. For such a blatantly Pagan image to have persisted in Christian churches all over Europe surely implies a tremendous power and significance. Artists who carved these were inspired by their culture.

Gargoyles can be dragons, men, cats, bats, frogs, serpents, and countless others. Some believe gargoyles represent deep rooted elements within human nature ... the love of the grotesque, possibly related to our desire to view horror movies, etc. They are still being carved today, many with a modern theme such as a whimsical figure eating a hamburger. Gargoyles have been with man for hundreds of years, and they still seem to catch and inspire the imagination of modern society.

Today you'll find gargoyles perched atop buildings throughout the entire world as sacred scarecrows to ward off evil from the hallowed places below. As well as in homes, offices, and gardens, or on key chains, necklaces, and tattoos as good-luck charms. Maybe they do, indeed, have a spirit of their own!

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