64
Nyos in 1986, are the story-motiv of Belleforest’s descrip-
tion of Pavin (see Sect. 3.3.2 ).- The marvelous spurting waters associated with soft
breeze are the water fountains, taken for the water blown
by giant fi shes also present in the 1632 dragon story (see
Sect. 3.3.2 ). - The walls of the castle, with their incandescent cast-iron
and molten gold colours could be hydrothermal springs
rich in oxides and sulfur-rich vents, as found today in
some active acidic maar-lakes. [These could have been
interpreted by Del Rosso ( 2009b ) as lava fl ows, a hypoth-
esis strongly debated among volcanologists at the 2009
Besse meeting.] - A regular breeze or fog occurs in the morning and in the
evening. Such permanent fog, characteristic of active
degassing, is also described at Pavin by Godivel II in the
mid-XVIIth (see Sect. 2.3.4 ) and in the 1632 dragon story
(Sect. 3.3.2 ).- The fairy who rushes forward in the air, runs to meet,
under the lake, the misfortunate one, fascinates him , and
misleads him, also present in the previous legend and in
the 1632 dragon story, is interpreted as CO 2 overfl ow and
related loss of conscience of victims. - The powerful dragon slides from the mountain with a
cast-iron noise, destructing everything, and stops after a
rough roar, also featured in the 1632 dragon story, could
correspond to major water spillovers and/or mudfl ows
event observed by geologists and paleolimnologists
(Lavina and Del Rosso 2009 ; Chapron et al. 2012 ;
Chap. 23 ).
Fig. 3.4 The original and oldest Pavin legend, so far ignored: the
Fairies Garden legend (Soubrier 1893 ) (BCU library, Clermont-
Ferrand). It features a malefi cent and powerful lake dragon, worshipped
by pagan cult for centuries then defeated by the fi rst local evangelisa-
tor, i.e. around the Vth century. The legend details Pavin misbehavior,
i.e. various forms of degassing, during AntiquityM. Meybeck