Why are Gargoyles on buildings always so demonic looking?
There seem to me to be three kinds of gargoyle, the original physically functional (well, the rain’s got to flow off the roof somehow, and shooting it out away from the walls keeps the walls less damp and erosion off the foundations); the spiritual influence of various possible kinds (many including: don’t mess with my church ye demon from hell we’re here to protect it; or as a warning to potential sinners; or as pagan symbols to encourage believers in the old ways to come to church; etc); and lastly, the purely ornate (which I’m not sure really count as gargoyles, strictly speaking they’re “grotesques”). Most are a mixture of these, and it’s sometimes a blurry line between them. Some places, like Woburn Church, have both scary (looking down from the roof parapets at the congregation) and scary-practical (shedding rain off the roof of the tower). Some, like Carcasonne have largely ornate and pretentious ones. Many gargoyles have some apparent symbolic meaning (like hairy hands), often
Gargoyles were slipped into the architectural plans of Cathedrals by medieval pranksters who were too busy designing and building churches to have much time to concentrate on what actually went on inside them. They are designed to provoke a reaction; distract, offend, frighten, amuse. They are an enjoyable and enlivening contrast to the saintity and reverence of worship, and a witty reminder of the duality of life.
