Gargoyle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In architecture, gargoyles are the carved terminations to spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings. The term originates from the French gargouille, originally the throat or gullet, cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from root gar, to swallow, the word representing the gurgling sound of water; Ital. doccione; Ger. Ausguss, Wasserspeier.
Gargoyles are mostly eerie figures. Statues representing gargoyle-like creatures are popular sales items, particularly in goth and New Age retail stores.
A chimera, or a grotesque figure, is a similar type of sculpture that does not work as a waterspout and serves only an ornamental or artistic function. These are also popularly referred to as gargoyles.
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[edit] History
The term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages some means of throwing the water off roofs, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted. In Egypt, gargoyles ejected the water used in the washing of the sacred vessels which seems to have been done on the flat roofs of the temples. In Greek temples, the water from roofs passed through the mouths of lions whose heads were carved or modelled in the marble or terra cotta cymatium of the cornice. At Pompeii, many terra cotta gargoyles were found that are modelled in the shape of animals.
A local legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus ("Romain") (631 – 641 A.D.), the former chancellor of the Merovingian king Clotaire II who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille, having had the creature captured by a homosexual prisoner, sent to jail for touching a young boy. The gargoyle's grotesque form was said to scare off evil spirits so they were used for protection. In commemoration of St. Romain the Archbishops of Rouen were granted the right to set a prisoner free on the day that the reliquary of the saint was carried in procession (see details at Rouen).
Although most have grotesque features, the term gargoyle has come to include all types of images. Some gargoyles were depicted as monks, combinations of real animals and people, many of which were humorous. Unusual animal mixtures, or chimeras, did not act as rainspouts and are more properly called grotesques. They serve more as ornamentation, but are now synonymous with gargoyles.
[edit] 19th and 20th centuries
Gargoyles, or more precisely chimerae, were used as decoration on 19th and early 20th century buildings in cities such as New York (where the Chrysler Building's stainless steel gargoyles are celebrated), and Chicago. Gargoyles can be found on many churches and buildings.
One impressive collection of modern gargoyles can be found at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The cathedral begun in 1908 is encrusted with the limestone demons. This collection also includes Darth Vader, a crooked politician, robots and many other modern spins on the ancient tradition. The 20th Century collegiate form of the Gothic Revival produced many modern gargoyles, notably at Princeton University, Duke University and the University of Chicago.
[edit] Gargoyles in fiction
In contemporary fiction, gargoyles are typically depicted as a (generally) winged humanoid race with demonic features (generally horns, a tail, talons, and may or may not have a beak). Gargoyles can generally use their wings to fly or glide, and are often depicted as having a rocky hide, or being capable of turning into stone in one way or another, a reference to their structural roots.
Gargoyles as a distinct race have featured in several works of fantasy fiction, such as Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (Discworld gargoyles) and the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D gargoyles) and Rifts role-playing games. One of the Gargoyles that lives on the Discworld has taken up a position in the Ankh-Morpork City Watch where he is known as Constable Downspout. They were also prominently featured in a Disney animated series, Gargoyles, and played a role in that company's adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Actress Adrienne Barbeau played a violent gargoyle in the TV series Monsters. Actress Rae Dawn Chong played a gargoyle in human form in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. A gargoyle named Firebrand is featured in the Ghosts 'n Goblins series, whose infamy as a difficult foe to defeat cast him as a hero in his own Gargoyle's Quest series. In White Wolf's now discontinued role playing series Vampire: The Masquerade Gargoyles were not a separate race but rather an obscure bloodline, (minor clan), of vampires created by the blood mages of Clan Tremere to serve as guards and servants, they were the result of experiments with captured members of other Clans. Many of these creatures escaped their bondage and struck out on their own. The World of Darkness Gargoyle was released as a playable bloodline alongside Caitiff and Lasombra antitribu, they could fly and also possessed strange abilities that were linked to stone.
[edit] In popular culture
- Two separate characters in the Marvel Comics universe used the name "Gargoyle". The first was a foe of The Incredible Hulk, the second a member of hero team The Defenders, a human/demon composite.
- Gargoyle is listed as Monster in My Pocket #72.
- The gargoyle is a species of pygmy domesticated dragon in the Spiderwick Chronicles.
- Tambourine, a character from the Dragon Ball series, closely resembles a gargoyle with a humanoid dragon-like physique.
- A gargoyle is a monster used in Heroes of Might and Magic series.
- Gargoyles are a catagory of spell-casting monsters in the Guild Wars game series. They resemble typical french-gothic designs of a demon-like winged body and devilish face.
- In a place that was once called Kakariko Village in the "Dark World" of the game Zelda: A Link to the Past, there is a winged gargoyle statue in the center of the village area. In the game, it is rumored that a female can be heard calling for help from underneath the statue. Turns out to be a monster.
- Two otherwise-unrelated made-for-TV movies which feature the creatures as villains are Gargoyles (1972, starring Cornel Wilde and Bernie Casey, no relation to the Disney TV series) and Gargoyle: Wings Of Darkness (2004).
- Characters in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash use the term "gargoyle" to refer to people who wear a large amount of information-gathering gear on their persons.
- Gargoyles is the name of an acclaimed American animated series created by Greg Weisman, produced by Greg Weisman and Frank Paur and aired from October 24, 1994 to February 15, 1997. It was at the time hailed as one of the more ambitious Disney animated series in history, targeting an older demographic and taking a darker edge.
- In Spider-Man: The Animated Series and in the Spider-Man comics, Peter Parker has a favorite gargoyle statue, who he named "Bruce", which he sometimes talks to when in contemplation.
- A gargoyle named Scree was a playable main character in the Playstation 2 game Primal.
- The X-Files season 3 episode "Grotesque" deals with a serial killer named Mostow who appears to be obsessed with gargoyles. Mostow claims an evil gargoyle-like spirit takes possession of him and forces him to commit his crimes. Although the serial killer is arrested similar murders continue. When agents Skully and Mulder visit his apartment, they find hundreds of Mostow's gargoyle artwork. In one scene, Mulder discovers the corpse of a victim encased in clay that’s shaped in the form of a gargoyle.
- In a Charmed season 4 episode "Charmed Again," the character of Cole Turner explains that gargolyes are only statutes in their resting state, but they come alive to ward off evil. Later in the episode, gargoyles come alive and prevent the Source of all evil from entering a church.
- In the fantsy tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 Gargoyles are bat like tyranid creatures.
- Three games were made starring a gargoyle named Firebrand (Red Arremer in Japan) for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Gameboy. The first was Gargoyle's Quest for the Gameboy in 1990. The second was Gargoyle's Quest II for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. The third was Demon's Crest for the Super Nintendo Entertain System in 1994.
- Ultima VI, the computer game has significant dealings with gargoyles in its plot.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Gargoyles
- Randall's Lost New York City
- Story of Gargouille
- Gargoyle:Wings Of Darkness at the Internet Movie Database
- Gargoyles at the Internet Movie Database
- Gargoyle Gothica Gargoyles and Gothic cathedrals
- gargoyle sculptor, Jay Hall Carpenter [1]
[edit] Photo gallery
 View of a gargoyle on the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France. |
 A gargoyle on the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Paris, France, showing the water channel. |
 A Japanese gargoyle adorning Himeji Castle. |
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 Gargoyle at Fontevraud's Abbey, Fontevraud, France. |
