"River Monsters in Metz," a public lecture by Dr. Ellen Arnold, University of Stavagner/Ohio State University. This talk will look at a series of stories and art works from medieval Metz that involve river monsters. I will showcase the story of St. Clement and the dragon, an elaborate medieval ceiling, and images of parades and folk festivals focused on the Graouilly. I will argue that these stories and images weave together to reveal the complex connections between real and imagined rivers and between and across centuries of storytelling. This is a part of a longer project on the cultural interpretation of rivers in the Early and High Middle Ages.  Professor Arnold is an environmental historian who specializes in medieval religious history, cultural history, and water history. Her work studies the past as a space where we can explore complex and complicated questions about human relationships—with each other and with the rest of the natural world. Stories about the past are places where we can find truly different ideas and ways of thinking, and at the same time discover deep connections and resonances with our own lives. This talk is drawn from her most recent book, Medieval Riverscapes: Environment and Memory in Northwest Europe, ca. 300–1100 (Cambridge University Press, 2024). It is sponsored by the Minor in Global Premodern Studies and CI’s Programs in Anthropology, Art, and History, with funds provided courtesy of CI’s Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) Committee