The Tarasque is an amphibious dragon from Provençal legend that ravaged the banks of the Rhône near Tarascon. According to Christian tradition, it was tamed by Saint Martha with the sign of the cross and holy water, before being put to death by the townspeople.
Tarasque
20-mm-Tarasque
8 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- A legendary creature associated with the town of Tarascon, in Provence, on the banks of the Rhône.
- Described as a hybrid monster, half animal and half dragon, with a turtle's shell and a serpent's tail.
- Tamed by Saint Martha according to Jacobus de Voragine's The Golden Legend (around 1260).
- King René of Anjou established the Tarasque festivals in Tarascon in 1474.
- The Tarasque of Tarascon was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2005 (processional giants and dragons).
Works & Achievements
The most famous and widely circulated version of the tale, which anchors the Tarasque in European culture and fixes the image of the monster tamed by Saint Martha.
An earlier Latin hagiographic text, the main source for Voragine, which recounts the evangelization of Provence and the battle against the dragon.
A festival established by King René of Anjou, the origin of the processional tradition still alive in Tarascon today.
A monumental dummy paraded through the town, which became the material icon of the legend and the centerpiece of the festival.
A humorous novel that made Tarascon famous throughout France and contributed, indirectly, to the renown of the city of the Tarasque.
International recognition of the Tarasque as a processional dragon, ensuring the safeguarding of the tradition.
Anecdotes
In The Golden Legend (around 1260), Jacobus de Voragine describes the Tarasque as a monster “half animal, half fish, bigger than an ox and longer than a horse,” hidden in a wood between Arles and Avignon. He even claims it was descended from the biblical Leviathan and from a beast of Galatia, the Onachus, which hurled its burning excrement at its pursuers.
According to legend, the town was not called Tarascon but Nerluc, the “black lake.” After Saint Martha tamed the beast, the inhabitants are said to have renamed their town after the vanquished monster — a way of turning fear into pride. The Tarasque thus became the eternal emblem of the city.
In 1474, King René of Anjou, Count of Provence, officially organized the Games of the Tarasque and founded the Order of the Knights of the Tarasque. Ever since, a large effigy of the creature made of wood and canvas has been paraded through the streets: at Pentecost it is “wild” and jostles the crowd, while on Saint Martha's Day (July 29) it parades “tamed.”
The procession is set to a traditional cry in Provençal: “Lagadigadèu, la Tarasco!”, which the poet Frédéric Mistral, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, collected and celebrated in the 19th century. This refrain still accompanies the monster's appearance in the streets of Tarascon today.
In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed the “processional giants and dragons” of Belgium and France — including the Tarasque of Tarascon — masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. A creature born of a medieval legend thus became a cultural treasure protected on a global scale.
Primary Sources
“There was at that time, on the banks of the Rhône, in a wood between Arles and Avignon, a dragon, half animal, half fish, larger than an ox and longer than a horse, with teeth sharp as swords and armed with horns on both sides. Martha, at the people's entreaty, went to find it; after sprinkling it with holy water and showing it the cross, she tamed it at once.”
“Martha bound the dragon with her girdle and led it, gentle as a lamb, to the townspeople, who put it to death with stones and lances.”
“To keep alive the memory of the miracle performed by Madame Saint Martha, the Games of the Tarasque shall be held every year, and knights shall be chosen to lead the monster through the town.”
“Lagadigadèu, la Tarasco, lagadigadèu, de casteu!” (a Provençal refrain chanted as the monster comes out).
Key Places
A Provençal town on the banks of the Rhône that is said to take its name from the Tarasque. The heart of the legend and the festival, it celebrates each year the monster tamed by Saint Martha.
The river in whose marshes the Tarasque hid, surging out to devour travelers and livestock and to capsize boats. It is the natural setting of the legendary tale.
A church raised over the supposed tomb of Saint Martha, consecrated in 1197. Its crypt houses the sarcophagus and the cult of the saint who tamed the Tarasque.
A medieval fortress on the banks of the Rhône, completed in the 15th century under King René of Anjou, who established the games of the Tarasque. It overlooks the town bound to the legend.
According to Provençal tradition, this is where Saint Martha and her companions are said to have landed after fleeing Judea, before Martha traveled up the Rhône toward Tarascon.
Typical Objects
Saint Martha's spiritual weapon: by sprinkling the Tarasque with holy water, she is said to have neutralized its ferocity. The aspergillum and the holy water font remain essential liturgical objects of Provençal processions.
By making the sign of the cross before the monster, Saint Martha affirms the victory of Christianity over the forces of evil. The raised cross is the central gesture of the miracle recounted in The Golden Legend.
According to tradition, Martha slipped her belt (or her ribbon) around the neck of the tamed beast to lead it, gentle as a lamb, to the townspeople. This makeshift leash symbolizes the mastery of holiness over wild nature.
A large figure of wood and painted canvas representing the monster, carried and maneuvered by men hidden inside. Paraded through Tarascon since the time of King René, it is the ritual object at the heart of the festival listed by UNESCO.
A shrine kept in the crypt of the Collegiate Church of Saint Martha, holding the bones attributed to the saint. An object of veneration and pilgrimage, it gives material form to the link between the legend and the religious cult of Tarascon.
The beast is described as covered with a spiky turtle shell, with a scorpion's tail, a lion's head, and six bear's legs. This composite body, blending several animals, expresses the monstrous and demonic nature of the creature.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Tags
Daily Life
Morning
In the legend, the Tarasque lurks by day in the muddy waters and reeds of the Rhône, motionless like a scaly rock. At sunrise, the fishermen and boatmen of Nerluc avoided this bend in the river, dreading the sight of the monster rising up.
Afternoon
Whenever a boat ventured onto the river or a traveler walked along the bank, the beast burst out of the water. With a lash of its scorpion tail and its six clawed legs, it overturned the vessels and dragged its prey down into the depths.
Evening
As night fell, the monster returned to its lair in the marshy woodland between Arles and Avignon. The inhabitants barricaded their homes, convinced that no weapon — neither sword nor spear — could pierce its shell.
Food
The Tarasque devoured cattle, fish, and any reckless people who came near the Rhône, all without distinction. It was precisely this voracity that made it a scourge and justified, within the tale, the miraculous intervention of Saint Martha.
Clothing
The creature wears no clothing but has a composite, terrifying body: a lion's head, a turtle shell bristling with spikes, six bear's legs, and the tail of a serpent or scorpion. This animal mosaic signaled its demonic nature to medieval believers.
Housing
Its lair is the wooded marsh on the banks of the Rhône, between Arles and Avignon, a wild and unsettling place in the eyes of people of the Middle Ages. The murky waters and flooded forests symbolize the chaos that Christian holiness must bring to order.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Récit de la Tarasque dans La Légende dorée (Jacques de Voragine)
vers 1260
Vita beatae Marthae (Vie de sainte Marthe)
XIIe siècle
Jeux et ordre des chevaliers de la Tarasque
1474
Effigie processionnelle de la Tarasque
depuis le XVe siècle
Tartarin de Tarascon (Alphonse Daudet)
1872
Inscription au patrimoine immatériel de l'UNESCO
2005 / 2008
