T is for Tarasque

Name: Tarasque 

Area of Origin: France

Said to be the offspring of the Onachus (a Scaly Bison-like beast) and the biblical Leviathan (a gargantuan sea-monster) the Tarasque was a monstrous chimeric beast that devastated much of Nerluc, in Provence, which resides in Southern France. The monster was depicted as a dragon with the head like that of a lion, six short bear-like legs, an ox-like body protected by a turtle shell and a scaly tail that ended in a scorpion’s stinger. The king of Nerluc had failed to vanquish the creature with tactics of warfare, using his warriors and weapons. It wasn’t until 48 AD that Saint Martha (the sister of the biblical Lazarus) tamed the creature with hymn and prayer that the citizens were able to attack and kill it, much to Martha’s dismay. Sorry for killing the newly docile monster, the townspeople renamed their town to Tarascon. It’s been theorized that the Tarasque story was one of the first ‘Beauty and the Beast’ stories, becoming the inspiration for countless fables for years to come.