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Linguistico1/The Great Mare
Gravure représentant une jument blanche portant un chevalier en armure.

The Great Mare


Other names: Grant Jument, Grand'jument

Type of Creature: Folklore, Horse

Details: Gigantic white mare

Relation: Bayard

Origines: Traditional French oral stories

Region: France

First Mention: The Grand and Priceless Chronicles of the Great and Enormous Giant Gargantua


The Great Mare (la Grand Mare, grant jument or grand'jument in French) is a gigantic mare that serves as a mount for giants in several Renaissance works. Stemming from medieval traditions inspired by Celtic mythology, she first appeared in The Grand and Priceless Chronicles of the Great and Enormous Giant Gargantua, written in 1532, in which Merlin creates her on top of a mountain from bones.

These Chronicles inspired Rabelais, of whom built on these stories and wrote the mare to be Gargantua's mount in The Very Horrific Life of the Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel, which was published five years later. Saddled up as a parody, the mare drowns her enemies with her urine and levels all of the trees of Beauce, transforming the region into a plain.

This animal originated from a primeval dragon modeler or from the mountain of Celtic Gods. According to Henri Dontenville and Claude Gaignebet, it shares the same original as Bayard's horse. There are also some toponymes dedicated to him, without direct connections to Renaissance writings.

Origin

[edit]
Gravure représentant des chevaliers en arme en attente de l'ennemi sur la colline face à eux; à leur côté, un génat en armure et sur sa droite une jument gigantesque.
Gargantua's Great Mare on the right of this engraving by Gustave Doré.

As seen in two major Renaissance literary works, the Great Mare likely arose from popular traditional stories and ancient oral folklore. Many theories exist regarding its origin, with the majority of them being put forth by Henri Dontenville.

According to him, the original Grand Mare has a white coat, of which is a direct reference to the ancient established presence of the white horse in French folklore[1]. She is ridden by a giant anguiped (a deity with a rooster's head and serpents for legs) in the oldest versions of her stories. The giant Gargantua is reminiscent of Gargan, a demiurge known by Celtic people. He was a builder and creator, of whom it is said marked out all of the pre-Christian pilgrimage routes and created chasms and mountains by stomping up and down on the earth. In addition to this, it is believed that he dug fords as he drank from streams and created rivers by urinating. According to Dontenville, the mare and its rider were mistakenly taken for a dragon, as is attested in the etymology of "G-R-G", a reference found in the names of the Giants of Rabelais (Grandgousier, Gargamelle and Gargantua)[2]. As a result of their similarities and histories, the Great Mare and Bayard's Mare share the same background story, that of a gigantic primitive dragon who transforms landscapes with its actions[3].

Another theory of its origin is that it was the mount of the Gallic psychopomp goddess Epona[4]. This Celtic origin was referenced by Henri Dontenville, who wrote that there are several gods accompanied by:

" ... a white horse or white mare..." who would gallop from the East to West, bringing to pass springtime each year and pulling the sun with them. This symbolic motif is also used by Jacques Duchaussoy[5] and classifies these creatures as a celestial creature.

Testimonials and Toponymes

[edit]
Grève et paysage de bord de mer.
The Atlantic coast near Sables-d'Olonne, where there are several rocks that bear the names of horses and mares of myth.

The legend of "The Great Mare" and other similar tales of white horses are present in french beliefs and toponymes related to the west coast sea. On the banks of the Loire in Tours[1], there exists a White Horse Inn on the wharf of the Grand'Jument. A 25 by 25 meter granite monolith named "The Great Mare", exists in Montgothier, and was mined from 1800 to 1803 by Ernest Poulnln, a quarryman who also destroyed another block of granite in order to pay hommage to local legends[6],[7].

It is written in Paul Sébillot's collections of popular traditions that in Poitou the sea is called "the Great White Mare". The same name is used by fishermen in Vendée[8]. In the 16th century, Noël du Fail described the sea as being "the great Margo mare, who is bridled by its tail"[9]. In addition to this, off the coast of Ouessant, there exists The Mare lighthouse built on the Ar Gazec reef (« the mare » in Breton).

Bernard M. Henry, of the Friends of Rabelais and La Devinière Association, noted the existence of several boulders that had been named "The Horses", "The Mare" and "The Great Mare", in Sables-d'Olonne. He wrote that he believed the existence of these toponymes and the city they belonged to inspired Rabelais to write the arrival of the Great Mare[10]. According to the French mythological society, this Great Mare made gigantic imprints that can still be seen in modern day, one within the Jura mountains, and the second in Normandie[11].

The Great Mare in The Great and Inestimable Chronicles of the Great and Enormous Giant Gargantua

[edit]
Gravure et texte en lettres gothiques présentant le géant Gargantua.
The Grand and Priceless Chronicles of the Great and Enormous Giant Gargantua 1532, frontispiece, unknown author.

The Great Mare makes one of its most notable appearances in The Great and Priceless Chronicles of the Great and Enormous Giant Gargantua, an anonymous text that was, in older accounts, written in 1532. This is surmised as it contains references to France and Bretagne Matters.The writings report that Merlin is to advise King Arthur to be on guard against his enemies, and as Merlin leaves the kings court he decides to go to the Mont d'Orient to make the giantsGrandgousier and Gallemelle from whale bones. After that, he creates the Great Mare from the bones of many mares[12],[13],[14],. According to Bernard Sergen this theme of creating beings from bones could reference a shamanic motif. Regardless, the Great Mare is undeniably a fae creature, because it was forged by Merlin, of whom had many connections to the fae[15].

The beast's purpose is to serve as a mount for giants[16]. She is a great Flemish mare, one so powerful that

elle les portait [Grandgousier et Gallemelle] aussi bien tous deux que le fait un cheval de 10 écus un simple homme

[17],[18].

The mare belongs to Gallemelle and Grandgousier, the parents of Gargantua. When the young giant reaches seven years old, his parents decide to present him to King Arthur. Upon their departure, Merlin tells them: [4]. The mare's tail then turns into a ax[19]. Gargantua then hangs the bells of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedaral[20] around her neck, and when the young giant enters King Arthur's service, the giant leaves the mare in the forest of Bruyères-le-Châtel[21].

There exists still the often disputed point of whether or not Rabelais is the author of this particular text[22].

The Great Mare in Rabelais's Works

[edit]
Gravure présentant le géant Gargantua, une femme et un petit homme à ses genoux.
Frontispiece to François Rabelais's work, Gargantua, illustration by Denis de Harsy, 1537.

François Rabelais was largely inspired by the Grand Mare that was present in the Chronicles, and those inspirations added to the popular traditions of his time[23] encouraged the creation of the Gargantua's giant mount in, The Very Horrific Life of the Great Gargantua, Father of Pantagruel and son of Grangousier (written in 1534[24]),[25] and its continuations. In these, he departs from the traditional fairy tales of that time, a genre that the Chronicles and the backstory of the mare's nature stem from[15]. The Great Gargantua is a coming-of-age story and a parody of medieval tales of chevalry. In addition, in this story the Great Mare is given to the young giant by Grandgousier, given to him so that he will be able to go to Paris to learn[26].

In Rabelais' text, Gargantua is trained from childhood in the equestrian arts by riding on artificial horses[27]. The mare is mentioned for the first time in chapter XVI,[23], in a scene which matches up almost verbatim to a passage from The Chronicles[28], of which also borrows from them the notion of the flight of the bells of Notre-Dame that the giant hangs around the neck of his mare[22] (however, under Rabelais' pen script the passage takes on a new dimension by approaching the themes of culture, politics, morals, religion and aesthetics[15]). The giant then leaves Paris on his mare to defend the country, and quickly encounters a troop of enemies. To defeat them, the mare drowns them in her urine[29].

In the aforementioned chapter XVI, the tone the mare is given in the fable marks a break in the ambience of the story[30] into a more popular and less academic bulesque[28]. It has a comedic function, and according to George Hoffman,

it opposes pedagogical or esoteric interpretation

. Rabelais sets aside supernatural elements, in a very distinct way than The Chronicles or The Four Aymon Sons makes does, so that in the background this chapter evokes the concerns of peasants and city dwellers, and therefore the relationship between man and nature is emphasized[31]. Claude Gaignebet, in contrast, compares the Grand Mare to Bayard horse of the Song of the Four Aymon Sons, saying that it is a magical creature that resulted from popular folklore, in connection with the alchemical et erudite tradition thanks to its creator, Merlin[32].

Other ancient theories saw the source of the Grand Mare's inspiration as possibly being Diane de Poitiers, nicknamed « The Great Seneschal » from Rabelais' time[33].

Description

[edit]

"Bigger and more monstrous than any mare we have ever seen", the Grand Mare was a gift from Africasent by "Fayoles, Tetrarch King of Numidie"[34]. She was used solely as a means of transport for the giants[27]. She herself was transported to Olone, in Thalmondoys, by four ships including three large Genoese sailing vessels, the "carracks". Her size was that of "six elephants"[35][36], she had the hanging ears of a Languedoc goat, with her "feet split into fingers like Jules César's horse[31] [...] and a small horn on the flank". Her coat was that of burnt chestnut dappled gray in some spots.

La Grand Jument does not escape the parodic and humorous description that Rabelais was particularly fond of, especially in regard to its gigantism. Gargantua goes to Paris in a few strides of the mare's gallop then instantly finds his father, but it is the urine of the mare that makes the story especially comical[37]. Indeed,

she proves her efficiency by the abundance of her urine

[38], but even though Gargantua created Rhône by relieving himself, the long-term effects of the mare's relief are not detailed either in The Chronicles or in Rabelais[20] :

Its 200 fathom-tall tail[28] is "like the Sainct Mars pile", a quadrangular tower located near Langeais. It drags behind the mare, and divides into multiple branches.

The mare gives gives the perspective of Africa at the time as being a "land of animality", and its powerful kicks do not refer, according to Guy Demerson, to a supernatural creature like seen in The Chronicles, but the animality of a simple monstrous creature[15]. On the other hand, according George Hoffmann, this description is akin to "natural wonder" and calls for animal comparisons to support the "generative power of nature"[31].

The Beauce Episode

[edit]
Photo d'un champ en herbe très vert, les nuages étant bas.
Typical landscape in Beauce : a cleared plain

As soon Gargantua receives the Grand Mare as a gift, he immediately decides to go to Paris. On his way, Gargantua passes through Beauce. At this point in the tale, Rabelais creates a new whimsical etymology for this region inspired by the mare. This passage corresponds to a "hero's phase of development", which is "close to his big horse as he would be close to a small dog"[29].

Beauce was covered in a vast forest during the time of this tale, measuring 35 leagues long and 17 leagues wide, infested with biting horse flies and hornets. As soon as she is on her way with her rider, the Grand Mare is stung by the pests and defends herself by whipping about her tail. She then bucks and kicks in every direction, leveling the entire forest to nothing. The desolation resulted in a vast countryside, of which Gargantua exclaimed  : "I find this beautiful". Hence it is said that is how Beauce got its name,[39],[16],[22].

Gargantua takes obvious joy from seeing the rampaging damage from his mount, but is careful not to expressly show the emotion, a reaction that is meant to give the reader the impression that he is an adolescent[29]. At the end of its rampage, the mare proceeds to clear out the rest of the forest in a manner similar to that of the countryfolk of that time. [40]. Even though this episode gives a perspective of the forest being a place of hostility and the cleared countryside being one of great beauty[41], Beauce is famous for being monotonous and flat without many landmarks[42]. In the tale and in real life, the topic of deforestation was at the center of tensions between the royal authority, the bourgeoisie and the countryfolk[43]. This episode could be a reflection of the of the fight against "illegal grazing" of cattle and horses in forested areas[44], specifically because Gargantua's mount is a clear representation of the aforementioned livestock that were prohibited from grazing in forests[45].

This episode is presented in theThe Chronicles with a few discrepencies, as the destruction of the forests of Champagne actually precedes that of Beauce[40].

Note

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Fonctions de la couleur en Eurasie. Eurasie (in French). Vol. 9. Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan. 2000. p. 85. ISBN 2-7384-9437-4. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  2. ^ Dontenville 1950
  3. ^ Gaignebet, Claude; Politica Hermetica (1991). Maçonnerie et antimaçonnisme (in French). Vol. 4 de Politica Hermetica. p. 17. ISBN 2-8251-0146-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |pages totales= (help); Unknown parameter |collection= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |isbn2= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |sous-titre= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b Lombard-Jourdan, Anne (2005). Aux origines de carnaval : un dieu gaulois ancêtre des rois de France. Histoire (in French). Paris: Odile Jacob. p. 36. ISBN 2-7381-1637-X. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  5. ^ Duchaussoy 1973
  6. ^ Association française pour l'avancement des sciences (1907). Compte Rendu (in French). Vol. 35.
  7. ^ Association française pour l'avancement des sciences (1907). Rapport du Comité consultatif (in French). International Financial Conference et League of Nations: Imprimé pour la Société des nations, Harrison & sons. p. 763-765. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |ignore-isbn-error= ignored (|isbn= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1972). Les sources indigènes de l'étymologie française (in French). Vol. 1 à 2. Slatkine Reprints. p. 262.
  9. ^ Sébillot, Paul (1997). Le folklore de la mer (in French). Saint-Malo: Ancre de Marine Editions. p. 10. ISBN 2-84141-115-X. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  10. ^ Henry 1962
  11. ^ Gabet, Philippe (1987). "Les Saints équestres". Bulletin de la société de mythologie française (in French) (144): 59. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Sergent, Bernard (1992). "Gargantua, Jean de l'Ours et Amirani". Bulletin de la société de Mythologie française (in French). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Rochefort-Guillouet 2003 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFRochefort-Guillouet2003 (help)
  14. ^ Vadé, Yves (2008). Pour un tombeau de Merlin (in French). Paris: José Corti. p. 61. ISBN 978-2-7143-0966-2. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |ignore-isbn-error= ignored (|isbn= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ a b c d Demerson 2005
  16. ^ a b Markale 2008
  17. ^ Baudry, Robert (2007). Le mythe de Merlin (in French). Rennes: Terre de Brume. p. 282. ISBN 978-2-84362-356-1. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |ignore-isbn-error= ignored (|isbn= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Nisard, Charles (1968). Histoire des livres populaires : ou de la littérature du colportage depuis l'origine de l'imprimerie jusqu'à l'établissement de la commission d'examen des livres du colportage (in French). Vol. édition 2. G.-P. Maissonneuve. p. 463-464.
  19. ^ Antonioli 1988
  20. ^ a b Antonioli 1988
  21. ^ Demerson 2005
  22. ^ a b c Sun, Chaoying (2000). Rabelais. Sociologie du quotidien, Desclée de Brouwer (in French). p. 81. ISBN 2-220-04775-X. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |ignore-isbn-error= ignored (|isbn= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ a b Hoffmann 1992
  24. ^ Françon 1955
  25. ^ Glon, Thierry (1996). "Pantagruel et l'invention de la fiction". Bulletin de l'Association d'étude sur l'humanisme, la réforme et la renaissance (in French) (42): 29-48.
  26. ^ Demerson 2005
  27. ^ a b Hoffmann 1992
  28. ^ a b c Hoffmann 1992
  29. ^ a b c Demerson 2005
  30. ^ Hoffmann 1992
  31. ^ a b c Hoffmann 1992
  32. ^ Gaignebet, Claude (1986). A plus hault sens. L'Esotérisme spirituel et charnel de Rabelais (in French). Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose. p. 298. ISBN 2-7068-0923-X. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  33. ^ Duprat, Benj. (1869). L'intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux (in French). Vol. 5. Libraire de l'Institut. p. 547.
  34. ^ Laroque, François; Lessay, Franck (2002). Innovation et tradition de la renaissance aux lumières (in French). Paris: Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle. p. 92. ISBN 2-87854-245-2. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  35. ^ Santerre, Jean-Paul (2003). Gargantua de Rabelais. Major (in French). Paris: Presses universitaires de France. p. 8. ISBN 2-13-053785-5. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |ignore-isbn-error= ignored (|isbn= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Rochefort-Guillouet 2003 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFRochefort-Guillouet2003 (help)
  37. ^ Bernolle, Marie-Anne (2006). Gargantua et la poétique de Rabelais (in French). Lycée Saint-Exupéry de Mantes-la-Jolie. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  38. ^ Rochefort-Guillouet, Sophie (2003). Analyses et réflexions sur Rabelais, Gargantua (in French). Paris: Ellipses. p. 81. ISBN 2-7298-1519-8. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  39. ^ Augereau, Pierre-Louis (2004). Les secrets des noms de communes et lieux-dits du Maine-et-Loire (in French). Éditions Cheminements. p. 28. ISBN 2-84478-338-4. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  40. ^ a b Demerson 2005
  41. ^ Demerson 2005
  42. ^ Demerson 2005
  43. ^ Demerson 2005
  44. ^ Demerson 2005
  45. ^ Demerson 2005
  • Dontenville, Henri (1950). Les dits et récits de mythologie française. Bibliothèque historique. Payot.
  • Françon, Marcel (1955). "Des chroniques gargantuines à Pantagruel". Modern Philology. 53 (2). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  • Bernard M. Henry, « Sur la jument de Gargantua », dans Bulletin, vol. 2, Les Amis des Rabelais et de La Devinière, 1962, 82 p.
  • Jacques Duchaussoy, « Le cheval blanc », dans Le bestiaire divin: ou, La symbolique des animaux, Le Courrier du livre, 1973, 2e éd., 219 p.
  • Roland Antonioli, « La matière de Bretagne dans le Pantagruel », dans Études rabelaisiennes, Librairie Droz, 1988 (ISBN 2600031367 et 9782600031363)
  • Hoffmann, George (1992). "Rabelais à la limite de la fable : le rôle de la culture populaire dans le programme humaniste". Bulletin de l'Association d'étude sur l'humanisme, la Réforme et la Renaissance (34). Université de Saint-Etienne: 27-39. ISSN 0181-6799.
  • Rochefort-Guillouet, Sophie (2003). Rabelais, Gargantua : Analyses et réflexions sur (in French). Paris: Ellipses. p. 160. ISBN 2-7298-1519-8.
  • Demerson, Guy (2005). "« Je trouve beau ce » (Gargantua, ch. 16) Rabelais paysagiste, ou Gargantua dans ses campagnes ?". Bulletin de l'Association d'étude sur l'humanisme, la réforme et la renaissance (60): 31-49. doi:10.3406. Retrieved 9 December 2011. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); no-break space character in |title= at position 2 (help)
  • Markale, Jean (2008). Prodiges et secrets du Moyen Âge (in French). Paris: Lattès. p. 345. ISBN 978-2-7096-2821-1.
  • :N'est pas considéré comme un auteur fiable.

[[Category:Rabelais characters]]

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