The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City has been under construction now for over 100 years...and shows no signs of completion. It seems to be the sacred equivalent of San Jose's famous Winchester Mansion, fated to be ever under construction and never finished. If and when it is completed, it will be the world's largest church. The task is legendary. Hollywood even gave it a nod as the consuming passion of David Niven's beleaguered Bishop Brougham in The Bishop's Wife...some fifty years ago. However, its main challenge recently has been not so much for lack of financial support, rather due to the lack of skilled craftsmen...stone-cutters, to be precise.

     It is a grand design, perhaps a bit too grand. An imposing edifice, the Cathedral was meant to emulate the grandeur of the finest gothic and Romanesque architecture in Europe, with all the spires, niches and statuary you would expect to find in a historic cathedral, such as Notre Dame...right down to the gargoyles. With the advent of steel-and-glass towers which now seemingly spring up overnight in many cities, the need...and art of stonemasonry languished for many years. But fear not. Fashion has come to the rescue. Gargoyles, those intentionally unnatural and deformed figures which adorned so many castles and cathedrals over the past millennium or so, have begun to recapture the public's imagination and are enjoying a revival, of sorts, as decorative elements of interior design. The New York Cathedral may yet be finished. But the details may have to be ordered from a decorator's catalog.

     But where did gargoyles come from anyway? Surely, they are odd ornamentation to Christian architecture. Often, they are in the figure of dragons or other fantastic creatures. Sometimes they are human...sort of...but always grotesque. The stories of their origin are varied. Some traditions have them as demons, imprisoned in stone for a thousand years, to be released at the Great Tribulation or awaiting the Final Judgment (cf. Rev. 9:1-6 & 20:1-3), depending on the eschatology. Others view them as commemoration of the Church's victory over paganism. Or more often, as divine "scarecrows", if you will, sleepless stone sentinels to ward off the forces of darkness which might try to invade holy ground.

     If all this sounds a bit primitive and scripturally uninformed, it is. You must understand, however, gargoyles were incorporated into Western building designs during the Dark Ages, a time not known for literacy or enlightenment. It was a time when most people, even many priests were illiterate. Mass was learned by rote, in Latin. Sermons were often written (or at least illustrated) in stone, or stained glass, or in some other visual form which could be understood by the people...converts, noble and peasant with no foundation in Judeo/Christian theology or history. Especially in countries, such as far-off (from Rome) England, France and Ireland, where Druidic and other pagan influences continued to hold sway over the public conscience and tradition for many, many years, fantastic creatures from local mythology often crept into the details.

     That gargoyles often resemble dragons is no coincidence. The term comes from La Gargouille, a great dragon which supposedly lived in the Seine, ravaged the town of Rouen and was slain by St. Romanus, Bishop of Rouen in the 7th century. As far-fetched as that sounds, there may be some truth in it. Dragons were and are often associated with water, from Leviathan described in the Book of Job to the Loch Ness Monster. Dragons were often blamed for great floods or inundating rains. Anyone who could deliver a city from such a catastrophe might well be said to slay a dragon.

     Looking more closely, we find that gargoyles had a practical side. Typically, they served as waterspouts, draining water from the tops of buildings which would have otherwise collapsed under the weight of water from a heavy rain. Thus, another dragon bit the big one.

     Interestingly, "gargoyle" is an onomatopoeia. (Remember that word from 4th grade English?) Which is to say it is a word whose sound denotes it's meaning, like "meow", "buzz", or "cuckoo." You see, "gargoyle" or its older spellings "gargouille" or "gurgoyle" mean "waterspout". The name was derived from the gurgling sound made as water drained away. From that same Old French root, we get the word "gargle."

     As I write this, I have a gargoyle of my own, which peers at me from time to time. It was a gift from friends who know my taste and temperament. I call him, "Lavoris."

Acknowledgments: 3, 4, 17, 58, 59

© Russ Brown, 1998