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A matagot or mandagot is, in the oral traditions of French folklore, a spirit in the form of an animal, frequently a black cat, though rat, fox, dog, or cow types are also said to exist.

Matagots are generally evil, but some may prove helpful, like the "magician cat" said to bring wealth into a home if it is well fed. Traditionally, a wealth-bringing matagot must be lured with a fresh, plump chicken, then carried home by its new owner without the human once looking back. If the cat is given the first mouthful of food and drink at every meal, it will repay its owner with a solid gold coin each morning. In Gascony traditions, you must not keep the matagot all your life: if the owner is dying, he/she will suffer a long agony, as long as he/she doesn't free the matagot.^[1]^[2]

References[edit]

^ Bladé, Jean-François (1886). Contes populaires de la Gascogne [Folktales from Gascony] (in French). Paris: Maisonneuve.
^ Masse, Etienne Michel (1842). Memoire historique et statistique sur le canton de La Ciotat [Historical and statistical report on the canton of La Ciotat] (in French).

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[1] Bladé, Jean-François (1886). Contes populaires de la Gascogne [Folktales from Gascony] (in French). Paris: Maisonneuve.

[2] Masse, Etienne Michel (1842). Memoire historique et statistique sur le canton de La Ciotat [Historical and statistical report on the canton of La Ciotat] (in French).

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+{{Short description|Mythical creature from southern French oral tradition}}
-A '''matagot''' or '''mandagot''' is, according to some oral traditions of southern [[France]], a spirit under the form of an animal, mostly undetermined, frequently a black cat, but rat, fox, dog or cow types are said to exist too. Matagots are generally evil, but some may prove helpful, like the "magician cat" said to bring wealth into a home if it is well fed. Traditionally, a wealth-bringing matagot must be lured with a fresh, plump chicken, then carried home by its new owner without the human once looking back. If the cat is given the first mouthful of food and drink at every meal, it will repay its owner with a solid gold coin each morning. In Gascony traditions, you must not keep the matagot all your lifelong: if the owner is dying, he will suffer a long agony, as long as he doesn't free the matagot.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contes de Gascogne |last=Bladé |first=Jean-François |year=1886 |publisher=Maisonneuve |location=Paris }}</ref>
+A '''matagot''' or '''mandagot''' is, in the oral traditions of [[French folklore]], a spirit in the form of an animal, frequently a black cat, though rat, fox, dog, or cow types are also said to exist.
+Matagots are generally evil, but some may prove helpful, like the "magician cat" said to bring wealth into a home if it is well fed. Traditionally, a wealth-bringing matagot must be lured with a fresh, plump chicken, then carried home by its new owner without the human once looking back. If the cat is given the first mouthful of food and drink at every meal, it will repay its owner with a solid gold coin each morning. In Gascony traditions, you must not keep the matagot all your life: if the owner is dying, he/she will suffer a long agony, as long as he/she doesn't free the matagot.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contes populaires de la Gascogne |trans-title=Folktales from Gascony |language=French |last=Bladé |first=Jean-François |year=1886 |publisher=Maisonneuve |location=Paris |url=https://archive.org/details/contespopulaires03blad/page/386/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Masse |first=Etienne Michel |date=1842 |title= Memoire historique et statistique sur le canton de La Ciotat |trans-title=Historical and statistical report on the canton of La Ciotat |language=French |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o9QnAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>
-==Etymology==
-The word matagot is derived from the Spanish ''mata-gothos'', from ''matar'' (to kill) and ''gothos'' ([[Goths]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=Mémoire sur le canton de [[La Ciotat]] |last=Masse |first=Michel  |year=1842 |location=Paris}}</ref> The Germanic Goth tribes settled in Spain, Southern France and Italy and eventually converted to Christianity, so ''Goth'' means "Christian" in opposition with ''Moro'' which means "Muslim". Hence a matagot would be an evil spirit who kills Christians.
+==References==
-Another form is ''magot'', and this word designs a bunch of money, a treasure, so the people who became rich were supposed to have a "magot" in their home.
-== In popular culture ==
-In [[Kelley Armstrong]]'s [[Kelley Armstrong#Cainsville series|Cainsville series]]  novel ''Omens'', the protagonist Olivia is adopted by an unusually intelligent black stray she dubs "The Cat" or "T.C." for short; he is addressed respectfully person-to-cat as ''"matagot"'' by village elder Veronica in private, and at points demonstrates supernatural powers such as the ability to project an image of himself across town when he needs somebody to come to his aid.   In ''The Screams of Dragons,'' a short story prequel to ''Omens'', an endangered newborn black kitten is dubbed "Matagot" by his young rescuers, psychic Rose & animal communicator Hannah, as they feel he's "a spirit that's taken the form of a black cat." Later in the story, an adult Matagot risks his life to lure a homicidal young man into exposing his twisted nature to the village elders before further harm can be done to others.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kelley Armstrong|author-link=Kelley Armstrong|title=The Screams of Dragons|url=http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/spring_2014/the_screams_of_dragons_by_kelley_armstrong|website=Subterranean Press Magazine|publisher=Subterranean Press|access-date=9 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140805031324/http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/spring_2014/the_screams_of_dragons_by_kelley_armstrong|archive-date=5 August 2014|date=Spring 2014|quote="He’s different…That’s why they won’t let him eat very much. I think he’s a matagot.…Magician’s cat," Rose said, as matter-of-factly as if she’d said the cat was a Siamese. "It’s a spirit that’s taken the form of a black cat."}}</ref>
-In the 2018 fantasy film ''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]'', matagots are portrayed as enormous black cat-like creatures that guard the French Ministry of Magic and can multiply if attacked.
-== References ==
 {{reflist}}
 [[Category:French folklore]]
+[[Category:Folklore creatures]]
 [[Category:French legendary creatures]]
-[[Category:Mythological felines]]
+[[Category:Cat folklore]]
 {{Legendary-creature-stub}}
-{{France-stub}}
+{{France-culture-stub}}