Liber Floridus, 1448
The word Guivre can refer to the following:
- An etymological cognate from Old French that refers to venomous snakes, of which English Wyvern is a descendant of.[1] Was an alternate term for French Vouivre.[2]
- A mythological hybrid with draconic and serpentine features (also known as a wivre) from French folklore and heraldry
Etymology[]
The word guivre is a direct descendant of Latin vipera ("viper"). [1] In addition to vouvire, guivre as a term was also used to refer to vipers in medieval bestiaries.[3]
The word guivre also had a derivative meaning that evolved around the same time as its primary meaning, its derivative wording referring to light javelins and spears (written as wigre). William Sayers speculates that once those weapons became obsolete due to advancement in weaponry, the two meanings would merge together. Noting the similarities between javelins, spears, and snakes in shape as well as these weapons being thrown and thus "taking flight", Sayers concludes this could've been reflected with serpents in medieval mythology developing avian features such as wings.[4]
Folklore[]
In folklore the guvire was an aquatic serpentine creature that lived pools of water or forested areas and of which was venomous. Unlike other dragonic creatures however, the guivre's venom was so potent it was capable of causing disease and plagues with the creature being feared by the French population. The only weakness the guivre had was upon seeing a naked person, it would flee the scene out of embarrassment. Appearance-wise, the guivre appeared similar to a dragon but lacking wings, an alternative description of the guivre being that of a wyrm with a dragon's head and horns.[5][6]
One account which describes a vouivre that was driven into a deep cavern by Saint Sulaic after the creature killed one of his monks led to the attested location and cavern where this happened becoming known as Trou de la Guivre, or "the Guivre's Hole".[2]
Heraldry[]
The guivre was a used motif in French heraldry and appeared similar to that of a wyvern with two legs and wings. When British heraldists start using the Red Dragon of Wales as the standard for what is to be considered a dragon, they came up with the word wyvern as a descriptor for the French guivre.[7]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Online Etymology Dictionary - Wyvern
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Book of Creatures - Vouivre
- ↑ The Medieval Bestiary -Viper
- ↑ William Sayers (2008) "The Wyvern" Neuphilologische Mitteilungen Vol. 109 No. 4 pp.457-465 https://www.jstor.org/stable/43344731
- ↑ Karl Shuker (1995) Dragons: A Natural History Simon & Schuster pp. 17-18
- ↑ The Circle of the Dragon - Guivre/Wivre
- ↑ Fantor - FAQs about my dragon meme
External Links[]
- Guivre on Wikipedia