When the dragon lurched out of the river to feast on a nice juicy criminal, the courageous bishop subdued the menace by the Sign of the Cross. The bishop of Rouen at the time, Saint Romain, came and lured his reptilian prey out of the water by dangling in front of it a condemned prisoner who was promised freedom if he would serve as bait – such a deal! So the townsfolk, in turn, did the thing that all medieval societies did when they had a problem: they called in a saint. The word “gargoyle” comes from French folklore, which held that an evil dragon, called La Gargouille, once lived in the River Seine in Paris and caused havoc by setting things on fire, sinking ships, and eating all who opposed him – basically all the things mythical dragons do.
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