It slso known as The Shaggy Beast, or La Velue, a legendary dragon from La Ferté-Bernard that shot deadly quills from its back.
Appearance:
Peluda has a reptilian body, four rather short legs like a turtle, a dragon’s head, and a long neck like a snake’s neck. On its back was a row of feathers extremely thick and sharp like a porcupine, but much larger. Its tail is long and barbed like a scorpion’s tail. Peluda’s body is quite large, at least more than fifteen meters long.
The French sources tells that the beast was serpent-headed and serpent-tailed, ox-sized with an egg-shaped body covered in “long green fur”, and “from amidst the fur there emerged sharp spikes endowed with deadly sting”, and it had broad tortoise-like feet.
It can use its jaws full of sharp teeth and deadly poison to kill prey at close range. At longer ranges, it can spit poison or fire. The sharp feathers on Peluda’s back can launch like deadly arrows with high precision. Its tail can also deliver dangerous blows like a scorpion. Its breath stinks to the point of causing the trees to wilt. In addition, Peluda’s whole body is indestructible, can only be killed when it is cut off by its tail.
Personality: It is a ferocious and dangerous monster. It attacks and eats all creatures around.
Intelligence: This creature has low to medium intelligence. It cannot communicate with humans
Interactions:
This beast obviously belonged to the same family as the mythical beast Tarasque of Tarascon and Beaucaire, in the opinion of Cordonnier-Détrie. Other commentators have lumped together these two beasts into a class of dragons.
Legend:
Legend has it that Peluda lived an extremely long time. It was one of the animals that didn’t get on Noah’s Ark. However, it still survived the Great Flood by hiding in a mountain cave. It slept there for a long time, until the Middle Ages woke up. It extremely hates humans and creatures that are boarded, accompanied by a terrible hunger after thousands of years, it descends the mountain, slaughtering an entire region. I don’t know how many lives have been killed by it. But while attacking a village, it was surrounded by a group of brave peasant soldiers. While all the peasants were almost killed by Peluda’s blows, a “lucky” guy cut off Peluda’s tail, killing this monster.
Folklore
According to the lore, the beast was excluded from Noah’s Ark, yet survived the Deluge, i.e., the Biblical Flood.
Later it dwelled in the River Huisne, and rampage across the nearby countryside, and even into the streets of the old city of La Ferté-Bernard, which for all its fortifications was which was defenseless against it. Striking out with its serpent-like tail, it could kill both humans and animals. It would raid sheep-folds and devour all the livestock (the sheep) within. When chased, it retreated into the River Huisne and caused a flood, ruining the crops and bringing famine to the populace. Borges’s claims that the monster “shot out flames that withered crops” is echoed by the poet Claud Roy’s description that the velue “set crops on fire with its flame-throwing mouth”.
It would snatch also human victims to devour, especially children and young maidens. After it captured the most virtuous maiden named l’Agnelle (“Little Lamb”), it was finally defeated by her fiancé who took his sword and struck the tail, which was the only vulnerable point on the beast, causing immediate death. The spot where it died was at the bridge of Yvré-l’Évêque, according to popular tradition. The victory was long celebrated afterwards at La Ferté-Bernard and Connerré, and the people stuffed (or embalmed) the body of the beast, so it has been told.
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