The Rugby Player and the Gargoyle

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) movie still -- Charles Laughton as Quasimodo

Some cathedrals have gargoyles. End of story. Well, of course, there is more to them than this. Gargoyles are fantastic, grotesque figures which began to appear on European churches around 1200 as downspouts for water running off the roofs of these buildings. Those atop Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris may be the most famous. Disney's animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame had three characters who are gargoyles named Victor, Hugo, and Laverne

It's a challenge to get a clear picture of why they exist although there is a general notion that gargoyles and other mythical creatures represented and illustrated evil in the medieval Catholic Church. Apparently Bernard of Clairvaux didn't like 'em, and wrote:

What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters before the eyes of the brothers as they read? What is the meaning of these unclean monkeys, these strange savage lions, and monsters? To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half beast, half man, or these spotted tigers? We see several bodies with one head and several heads with one body. Here is a quadruped with a serpent's head, there a fish with a quadruped's head, then again an animal half horse, half goat... Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities, we should at least regret what we have spent on them.

North American gargoyles are few and far between because our church buildings just aren't that old, nor are they as magnificent and ornate, for the most part. The National Cathedral in Washington DC has a Darth Vader groteque, which is very cool.



Washington Cathedral Darth Vader

Enter six new gargoyles installed as part of a restoration program for Gloucester Cathedral in Britain. They are clever and very modern additions reflecting the time, although the notion of fending off evil seems to be in the background. The one below is of a rugby player and and It has been lifted into position on the roof overlooking Gloucester Rugby Club's Kingsholm ground. Is it intended to ward off marauding teams from other cities? 




Gloucester Cathedral Rugby Player

There are probably lots of people decrying the expenditure required to install these gargoyles, but I love them. They are creative, playful, and manage to be both ancient and modern. When so many places of contemporary worship spaces look like big box stores and older churches are crumbling or repurposed we need imagination and a celebration of beauty -- even when it's ugly!

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Victor, Hugo, and Laverne