Vouivre
The Vouivre is a flying serpent of French folklore, especially in Franche-Comté and the Jura, that carries a glowing gem as its eye and sets it aside when it bathes, tempting thieves.
| Also known as | La Vouivre, Wivre, Guivre, Vuivre, Vivre |
|---|---|
| Type | wyvern |
| Tradition | Franc-Comtois (French) |
| Category | Folklore |
| Associated with | Franche-Comté and the Jura, France |
| Earliest source | Recorded by Désiré Monnier, Traditions populaires comparées, 1854 (folk belief recorded in the 19th century; the word is medieval) |
| Wings | Yes |
| Breathes fire | Not specified |
| Guards treasure | Not specified |
| Nature | Ambivalent |
The Story
In the villages of Franche-Comté, the Jura mountains, and neighboring Burgundy, people told of the vouivre, a winged serpent that crossed the night sky like a streak of fire. In place of eyes, or set in its forehead, it carried a single brilliant gem, a carbuncle or ruby, by whose light it saw.
The vouivre had one weakness. When it went down to a river, spring, or lake to drink or bathe, it took off its jewel and laid it on the bank. Anyone bold enough to snatch it would be rich for life, because the stone was worth a kingdom. But the blinded serpent would hunt the thief furiously, and most stories end badly for the greedy.
Appearance and Powers
Descriptions vary from village to village. It is usually a large flying serpent, sometimes with wings like a bat's, glowing as it flies. In some later tales the vouivre is a woman, or a woman with a serpent's body, which ties it to Melusine and other serpent-fairies. It is not consistently evil; it is dangerous mainly to those who try to rob it.
Origins and Sources
The name comes from Latin vipera, "viper," through Old French wivre or guivre, which also appears in heraldry. The same Old French word is the source of the English "wyvern." The folk beliefs were written down by 19th-century collectors such as Désiré Monnier, who published Jura traditions in 1854, and later surveyed by Paul Sébillot. The jewel-eye recalls the old belief, repeated in medieval lapidaries, that serpents and dragons carry precious stones in their heads. Claims that the vouivre appears in texts of the 12th century have not been confirmed.
Legacy
Marcel Aymé's novel La Vouivre (1943) turned the creature into a mysterious young woman who wanders the Jura with a ruby and a crowd of snakes. The novel was later filmed. The vouivre also gave its name to the wyvern of heraldry; see wyverns.
Related
- Melusine: Melusine is a fairy of medieval French legend who becomes a serpent from the waist down every Saturday, founds the house of Lusignan, and flies away in the form of a great serpent when her husband betrays her secret.
- Drac of Beaucaire: The Drac of Beaucaire is a shape-shifting water dragon of Provençal legend that lived beneath the Rhône, lured people with floating treasures, and kidnapped a woman of Beaucaire to nurse its child.
- Cuélebre: The cuélebre is a giant winged serpent of Asturian folklore in northern Spain that lives in caves, guards treasure and enchanted xanas, and grows weak only on Saint John's Eve.
- Basilisk: The basilisk is a legendary "king of serpents" from Roman natural history and medieval bestiaries, a small crowned snake so venomous that its glance, breath, or touch could kill.
- Wyverns
- Western Dragons
Sources and Further Reading
- Désiré Monnier, Traditions populaires comparées (Paris, 1854)
- Paul Sébillot, Le Folk-lore de France, 4 vols. (Paris, 1904-1907)
- Marcel Aymé, La Vouivre (Gallimard, 1943)
Cite this entry: “Vouivre,” Draconika Encyclopedia of Dragons, https://www.draconika.com/dragons/vouivre.