The Tarasque is a creature from French mythology. According to the Golden Legend, the beast had a lion-like head, a body protected by turtle-like carapace(s), six feet with bear-like claws, a serpent's tail, and could expel a poisonous breath.

Medieval iconography such as renditions in church sculpture did not necessarily conform to this description in the earlier Gothic period, and examples which seemed to were later assigned later, 14th century dates. The six-footed, turtle-shelled tarasque was the form depicted on the city seal of Tarascon around the 15th century, and this held to be the norm in 16th- and 17th-century paintings. As St. Martha purportedly encountered the beast in the act of swallowing a human victim, it has become a stock motif in art to portray the monster swallowing a human (e.g. head first, with the victim's legs still dangling).

According to tradition, in 1474, René of Anjou initiated the use of the tarasque in the Pentecostal festival, and later used also on the saint's feast day of July 29. Yearly celebration in the last weekend of June was added in the modern day. The effigy or float of the tarasque has been built over the years for parading through town for the occasion, carried by four to a dozen men concealed inside.

In Provence, France, the monster allegedly inhabited the forested banks of the Rhône between Arles and Avignon, around what is now the town Tarascon (then called Nerluc or 'black place'), but lurked in the river and attacked the men trying to cross it, sinking boats. The creature was described a dragon, half animal, half fish, thicker than an ox, longer than a horse, with "sword-like teeth".

The Tarasque was said to have come from Galatia, a cross-breed between the biblical Leviathan and the legendary Onachus (or onacho, or bonacho) of Galatia, this onachus being a creature that retaliated against pursuers by flinging its dung like an arrow, and causing burns. The people besought Saint Martha for help, and she found the creature in the act of devouring a man. Merely by sprinkling holy water and holding up the cross, she caused the creature to become submissive and obedient. She then tied her girdle (to its neck), leading the beast to the villagers who cast rocks and spears at it until it died.

All published appearances of Tarasque from before January 1, )-(95)}} are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

* Golden Legend (Around 1259 to 1266)
* Speculum Historiale (1483)
* Voyage dans les Départements du midi de la France, Volume 3 (1808)
* Monuments inédits sur l'apostolat de Sainte Marie-Madeleine en Provence (1818)
* Malerische Fußreise durch das südliche Frankreich und einen Theil von Ober-Italien (1818)
* Statistique du département des Bouches-du-Rhône: avec Atlas (1826)
* Monumens de l'église de Sainte-Marthe à Tarascon, département des Bouches-du-Rhône: avec un essai sur l'apostolat de Sainte-Marthe et des autres saints tutélaires de Provence (1835)
* Armana prouvencau. Adouba e publica de la man di Felibre (1862)
* Histoire de la vie et du culte de Sainte Marthe, hôtesse de Notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, patronne ... d'Avignon, etc (1868)
* Mirèio: poème provençal (1900)
* The Tarasque (1901)

* Tarascosaurus ("Tarasque lizard") is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from Late Cretaceous of France. It was a relatively small theropod measuring 2.5–3 metres (8.2–9.8 ft) long. It is named after the legendary Tarasque.

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque Wikipedia]
*[https://myths-in-media.fandom.com/wiki/Tarasque Myths in Media Wiki]
*[https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Tarasque Myth and Folklore Wiki]
*[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/tarrasque/4005-78073/issues-cover/ ComicVine]
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