Medieval France
The following magical and legendary creatures in French narratives of the Middle Ages have mythological roots. While many of the original myths were replaced by Christianity, these mythological creatures remained a part of the cultural folklore, legend, epics and fairy tales as part of deeply embedded spiritual allegories and mythological archetypes:
- European dragon - Dragons from Norse mythology, Germanic mythology and Greek Mythology were often woven into folklore and myths as the greatest opponents of the feudal knights and kings.
- Fee - Fairies and Elves (See etymology of "Fairy") - The word Fairy comes from the French name of the Fates in Greek mythology, but they had morphed into strange, fantastic, magical beings.
- Dames Blanches - were female spirits, who may come from the mythology of the Matres guardian goddesses.
Read more about this topic: Mythology In France
Famous quotes containing the words medieval and/or france:
“Nothing in medieval dress distinguished the child from the adult. In the seventeenth century, however, the child, or at least the child of quality, whether noble or middle-class, ceased to be dressed like the grown-up. This is the essential point: henceforth he had an outfit reserved for his age group, which set him apart from the adults. These can be seen from the first glance at any of the numerous child portraits painted at the beginning of the seventeenth century.”
—Philippe Ariés (20th century)
“In France a woman will not go to sleep until she has talked over affairs of state with her lover or her husband.”
—Jules Mazarin (1602–1661)