As you may know, behind Aeternum is a small business based in Brittany (in the south of Finistère to be precise). And it is well known that this region lives to the rhythm of legends, myths, and magical practices more or less known (Brocéliande, Merlin, the Fairy Viviane, the Alignments, and many others). Thus, to highlight our beautiful region, we will regularly publish lesser-known legends from Breton history.
This week, I invite you to discover the legend of Gargantua. This name resonates in several regions of France and the world, known for an appetite as large as his size. But the Breton legend paints a slightly different picture. So, I propose to tell you the story.
The epic of Gargantua begins at the request of King Arthur, who calls on Merlin to help him overcome his adversaries. The latter uses his talents as a necromancer (an act of magic and divination with the dead) by using the bones of two whales to bring to life Grantgosier and Gallemelle. These two colossi then give birth to Gargantua.
It is said that, at his birth, the cosmos seemed to suspend its course: the sun stopped for three hours, the moon for six hours, the winds remained silent for three days, and even the trees stayed still for three months.
He was baptized Gargantua in the presence of the fairy Morgane and the fairy Philocrate, appointed as his godmothers.
Of course, the legend emphasizes his gigantic stature, prodigious strength, and insatiable appetite. At only three years old, he already reached a height of 180 meters, surpassing the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.
To reach England at Merlin’s request, Gargantua, Grantgosier and Gallemelle undertook a journey across Europe, until they faced an obstacle not so insurmountable for giants several hundred meters tall: the English Channel.
They each dropped a stone to cross it, thus giving birth to Mont-Saint-Michel and the islet of Tombelaine.
However, a tragic fate awaited the two parents, as they succumbed to a fever they could not fight. Yes, microscopic germs overcame Gargantua’s parents, who continued on his path, his purpose coming from Merlin’s spell.
Gargantua’s adventures lead him to London where he saves King Arthur from an enemy invasion. He returned repeatedly to France, Merlin using him as a formidable weapon but sometimes for his own comfort, such as asking him to bring salt from Guérande, leaving no stock for the villagers, which created a growing feeling of anger.
Thus, during his travels between England and the continent, he once stopped at Saint-Malo.
To honor his reputation, he swallowed no less than... 790 oxen, which gave him indigestion, causing him to "vomit" the islands of Petit and Grand Bé. Similarly, never satisfied, he is said to have created the island of Agot near Saint-Briac. Thus was born the legend of Gargantua’s insatiable appetite. But the story does not end there.
Gargantua is also credited with the creation of the Anse de Vigneux, where a tooth was even found, in the form of the Menhir de Chablé, 5 meters high, a grim reminder.
Indeed, the legend tells that the giant, mysteriously becoming a father, tried to devour his own son! But witnesses intervened to save the child by quickly placing a rock in his place, causing Gargantua to lose a tooth when he swallowed it: the famous menhir. Furious, he accidentally killed his son with a punch.
Shaken by this tragedy, the witnesses tormented Gargantua until his death, a year later.
Thus ends the legend of Gargantua, a darker story than some versions described elsewhere. Remember the lesson well: don’t anger a giant!
Additional source: Les Secrets de Saint-Malo
[bloctwist]
