French legendary creatures

man-eating animal(s) which terrorised Gévaudan (modern-day Lozère) in France in 1764–1767

thumb|upright=1.15|Giovanni Lanfranco: Norandino and Lucina Discovered by the Ogre, [[oil on canvas, c. 1624]] An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, humanoid being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world. They appear in many classic works of literature, and are most often associated in fairy tales and legend.

thumbnail|upright=1.3|Melusine's secret discovered, from Le Roman de Mélusine by Jean d'Arras, . Bibliothèque nationale de France.

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.

cycle of Old French fables

mythical figure common in western European legend

thumb|A depiction of the mythical dahu The dahu () is a legendary creature that resembles a mountain goat and is well known in France and francophone regions of Switzerland and Italy, including the Aosta Valley. The dahu, a quadrupedal mammal, may have been inspired by the chamois, a small, horned goat-antelope once plentiful in European mountainous regions, and also resembles the ibex.

thumb|La Velue, cover of a French pamphlet (1889) The Peluda in Spanish, or La Velue ('The Hairy One') originally in French, is a mythical beast that terrorized the environs of the River Huisne, France, during the Middle Ages. It is called "The Shaggy Beast (The Hairy Beast) of La Ferté-Bernard" in English translation.

character in Jean de l'Ours

thumb|A lutin. A '''''' () is a type of hobgoblin (an amusing goblin) in French folklore and fairy tales. Female lutins are called ().

200px|thumb|right|Vouivre. Liber Floridus, 1448.

three old washerwomen from Celtic mythology

In French folklore, Graoully (spelled as Graouli, Graouilly, Graouille or Graully) is a creature with the appearance of a dragon. According to legend, it lived in the arena of the Roman amphitheater in Metz, France. Legends state that Saint Clement of Metz fought against Graoully and vanquished the beast.

thumb|253x253px|Two modern imaginings of the Quinotaur

Mythical beast in French folklore

A Matagot is a spirit in French folklore that tends to take the form of a black cat. While many Matagots are evil in nature, some can be helpful to humans. If a "wealth-bringing" Matagot is allowed to eat and drink first at every meal, it will give its owner a solid gold coin each morning.

French fairy tale written by Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy and published in her book Fairy Tales (Les Contes des Fees) in 1697