What a view Quasimodo, the character created by Victor Hugo, must have enjoyed as he strolled across the rooftops of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris! Watching the city at night from high above, contemplating the flow of the Seine River illuminated by torches, or breathing the Parisian breeze on autumn nights must have been a pleasure for the misunderstood being who lived in the cathedral’s bell towers. Unfortunately, in the novel, Quasimodo, one of the magical symbols of all of France, was rejected for his appearance.
Quasimodo’s solitude was filled not only by the extraordinary view of the city, the singing of the bells, or the murmur of the masses that reached his hiding place; a group of beings as strange in appearance as his own were his faithful daily companions: the gargoyles. These sorts of winged monsters, with grotesque gestures and pointed teeth, have adorned much of European Gothic architecture, especially in churches and cathedrals. When gargoyles began to proliferate in Gothic art, the artists who made them called them griffins.
In Germany, gargoyles are known as wasserspeier, “water spitter;” the term is related to the Dutch waterspuwer, which means the same. In a practical sense, gargoyles serve to decorate roof drains. Therefore, we can speak of an aesthetic purpose. Traveling to the most remote past, Greek and Egyptian temples already had beings similar to the Gothic gargoyles in their structures; they had the same purpose: to drain the roofs and facades. So perhaps the architects of the Middle Ages borrowed the idea from older cultures to solve these problems. Gargoyles protrude from roofs and facades to drain water away from those parts of buildings susceptible to erosion.
We must take into account that Gothic architecture was characterized by high ornaments and high walls that allowed water to drain easily through the pillars, walls, and facades. This caused damage in the short term, so the gargoyles came to solve and save the life of the structures of the imposing cathedrals. Due to the great extension of the canals that conducted the water, the architects had the opportunity to let their imagination fly over unimaginable terrain, creating beings of complex appearance.
However, popular beliefs and legends said that they also had the mission of driving away the devil and other evil spirits; that is, they served as guardians of the churches. The same set of stories points in the opposite direction: the gargoyles would serve as a reminder of the torments and aberrations that exist in hell. The gargoyle embodies the watchman of menacing appearance, the being that lurks at night with an aberrant look and cynical smile to put fear in the souls of those who pass by. It is disturbing that these beings are part of the iconography of cathedrals, places of holiness, meditation, and tranquility. But there is a reason for this: not all grotesque creatures are exclusively part of evil or paganism: the same angels and cherubs in the Bible are described in quite terrifying ways:
“And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the color of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.” (Ezekiel 1,6-8. King James Bible)
The oldest legend about these beings dates back to mid-600 A.D. A man named Romain, known as Saint Romanus, the first chancellor of King Clotarius II, tells of the appearance of a horrifying being in the lands of Rouen that he calls Gargouille or Goji. This being would respond to the appearance known today about gargoyles: bat or dragon wings, reptilian appearance, and fangs. Saint Romanus subdues the creature with his crucifix and buries it in the city of Rouen. However, the gargoyle’s head does not burn, so the man decides to place the creature’s head in the main church of the city. According to the legend, this gave rise to the fashion of gargoyles in architecture.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
