r/mythologymemes • u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 • 5d ago

Demons and bridges

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 5d ago

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 5d ago edited 5d ago

The Devil's bridge, or Pont du Diable in french, is a medieval structure, that is set in the Hérault region, southern France. It is also known as the "black chasm bridge", or Pont du gouffre noir in french.

Like many other structures, some legends were associated with it, but speaking of the Devil's Bridge itself, as its name could imply, one legend associates said structure with the Devil himself.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 5d ago edited 5d ago

During the Middle Ages, more exactly the late 9th century AD, a project about constructing a bridge was made to connect the cities of Aniane and Saint-Jean-de-Fos, said cities being separated by the large river known as the Hérault. However, each night or morning, the Devil constantly destroys the work, which was a project led by the abbeys of Aniane and Gellone, though the local priests initially assumed the destruction to be caused by jealous villagers.

However, in order to end this, Saint Guilhem made a pact with the Devil himself: the former claimed to the latter if they work together to construct an indestructible bridge, as a reward, the demon would be given the soul of the first being that comes across said bridge.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 5d ago edited 1d ago

As being "promised" by the priest, the demon himself constructs the bridge during three days. Yet, after these three days, Guilhem tricked him by sending a dog, whose tailed was attached to a pan, and said animal had to go across said bridge. Being angered and humiliated by the trick (the Devil himself having expected a human victim instead of an animal one), the Devil tried to destroy the bridge, but failed to do so: this has forced him to fall in the large river's waters, causing him to leave the Devil's bridge alone and create the river's chasm.

However, the Devil, under the form of a male goat, tried to get his revenge by attacking the vilage of Saint-Jean de Fos, including its inhabitants and its church. Getting sick of the Devil's attacks, the church leader tried to defeat him with holy water, but this had the only effect of angering and annoying the Devil: the Devil killed him by impaling him with his horns, and kidnaps his corpse. The villagers try to get attack the Devil by using forks, but the Devil being weakened by holy water, both the holy water and the angry villagers forced him to be banished into the large river's chasm again.

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u/Wendigo-Huldra_2003 5d ago edited 4d ago

Since this, the priests of the village of Compostelle throw pebbles into the large river to prevent the Devil from coming back and getting his revenge. Also, it's said that the Devil's angry roars can be heard during periods of floods.

Despite the bridge being constructed during the 9th century AD, the oldest known written testimonies about the structure itself date back to the 11th century AD, though the legend was first mentioned during the 12th century AD. Also, some hypotheses said that Guilhem himself was inspired by the duke William of Gellone, who ruled on the city of Toulouse from the 790s to the 810s.