{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_5324/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_5324","id":"gutenberg_5324","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5324","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Werewolves"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n[Note: Greek text is in curly braces, i.e., {}.]\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF WERE-WOLVES\n\nBeing an Account of Terrible Superstition\n\nby SABINE BARING-GOULD\n\nSmith, Elder & Co., London\n1865\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nCHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY\n\nCHAPTER II. LYCANTHROPY AMONG THE ANCIENTS\n\nDefinition of Lycanthropy\u2014Marcellus\nSidetes\u2014Virgil\u2014Herodotus\u2014Ovid\u2014Pliny\u2014Agriopas\u2014Story from\nPetronius\u2014Arcadian Legends\u2014Explanation offered\n\nCHAPTER III. THE WERE-WOLF IN THE NORTH\n\nNorse Traditions\u2014Manner in which the Change was effected\u2014V\u0153lundar\nKv\u0153da\u2014Instances from the V\u00f6lsung Saga\u2014Hrolf\u2019s Saga\u2014Kraka\u2014Faro\u00ebse\nPoem\u2014Helga Kvida\u2014Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga\u2014Eyrbyggja Saga\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE ORIGIN OF THE SCANDINAVIAN WERE-WOLF\n\nAdvantage of the Study of Norse Literature\u2014Bear and Wolf-skin\nDresses\u2014The Berserkir\u2014Their Rage\u2014The Story of Thorir\u2014Passages from the\nAigla\u2014The Evening Wolf\u2014Skallagrim and his Son-Derivation of the Word\n\u201cHamr:\u201d of \u201cVargr\u201d\u2014Laws affecting Outlaws\u2014\u201cTo become a\nBoar\u201d\u2014Recapitulation\n\nCHAPTER V. THE WERE-WOLF IN THE MIDDLE AGES\n\nStories from Olaus Magnus of Livonian Were-wolves\u2014Story from Bishop\nMajolus\u2014Story of Albertus Pericofcius\u2014Similar occurrence at\nPrague\u2014Saint Patrick\u2014Strange incident related by John of\nN\u00fcremberg\u2014Bisclaveret\u2014Courland Were-wolves\u2014Pierre Vidal\u2014Pavian\nLycanthropist\u2014Bodin\u2019s Stories\u2014Forestus\u2019 Account of a\nLycanthropist\u2014Neapolitan Were-wolf\n\nCHAPTER VI. A CHAPTER OF HORRORS\n\nPierre Bourgot and Michel Verdung\u2014\u2019Me Hermit of S. Bonnot\u2014The Gandillon\nFamily\u2014Thievenne Paget\u2014The Tailor of Ch\u00e2lons\u2014Roulet\n\nChapter VII. JEAN GRENIER\n\nOn the Sand-dunes\u2014A Wolf attacks Marguerite Poirier\u2014Jean Grenier\nbrought to Trial\u2014His Confessions\u2014Charges of Cannibalism proved\u2014His\nSentence\u2014Behaviour in the Monastery\u2014Visit of Del\u2019ancre\n\nCHAPTER VIII. FOLK-LORE RELATING TO WERE-WOLVES\n\nBarrenness of English Folk-lore\u2014Devonshire Traditions\u2014Derivation of\nWere-wolf\u2014Cannibalism in Scotland\u2014The Angus Robber\u2014The Carle of\nPerth\u2014French Superstitions\u2014Norwegian Traditions\u2014Danish Tales of\nWere-wolves\u2014Holstein Stories\u2014The Werewolf in the Netherlands\u2014Among the\nGreeks; the Serbs; the White Russians; the Poles; the Russians\u2014A\nRussian Receipt for becoming a Were-wolf\u2014The Bohemian Vlkodlak\u2014Armenian\nStory\u2014Indian Tales\u2014Abyssinian Budas\u2014American Transformation Tales\u2014A\nSlovakian Household Tale\u2014Similar Greek, B\u00e9arnais, and Icelandic Tales\n\nCHAPTER IX. NATURAL CAUSES OF LYCANTHROPY\n\nInnate Cruelty\u2014Its Three Forms\u2014Dumollard\u2014Andreas Bichel\u2014A Dutch\nPriest\u2014Other instances of Inherent Cruelty\u2014Cruelty united to\nRefinement\u2014A Hungarian Bather in Blood\u2014Suddenness with which the\nPassion is developed\u2014Cannibalism; in pregnant Women; in\nManiacs\u2014Hallucination; how Produced\u2014Salves\u2014The Story of\nLucius\u2014Self-deception\n\nCHAPTER X. MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE WERE-WOLF MYTH\n\nMetempsychosis\u2014Sympathy between Men and Beasts\u2014Finnbog and the\nBear\u2014Osage and the Beaver\u2014The Connexion of Soul and Body\u2014Buddism\u2014Case\nof Mr. Holloway\u2014Popular ideas concerning the Body\u2014The derivation of the\nGerman Leichnam\u2014Feather Dresses\u2014Transmigration of Souls\u2014A Basque\nStory\u2014Story from the Pantschatantra\u2014Savage ideas regarding Natural\nPhenomena\u2014Thunder, Lightning, and Cloud\u2014The origin of the Dragon\u2014John\nof Bromton\u2019s Dragon a Waterspout\u2014The Legend of Typhoeus\u2014Allegorizing of\nthe Effects of a Hurricane\u2014Anthropomorphosis\u2014The Cirrus Cloud, a\nHeavenly Swan\u2014Urvaci\u2014The Storm-cloud a Daemon\u2014Vritra and\nRakschasas\u2014Story of a Brahmin and a Rakschasas\n\nCHAPTER XI. THE MAR\u00c9CHAL DE REZT I: THE INVESTIGATION OF CHARGES\n\nIntroduction\u2014History of Gilles de Laval\u2014The Castle of\nMachecoul\u2014Surrender of the Marshal\u2014Examination of Witnesses\u2014Letter of\nDe Retz\u2014The Duke of Brittany reluctant to move\u2014The Bishop of Nantes\n\nCHAPTER XII. THE MAR\u00c9CHAL DE REZT II: THE TRIAL\n\nThe Appearance of the Marshal\u2014Pierre de l\u2019Hospital\u2014The Requisition\u2014The\nTrial adjourned\u2014Meeting of the Marshal and his Servants\u2014The Confession\nof Henriet\u2014Pontou persuaded to confess all\u2014The adjourned Trial not\nhurried on\u2014The hesitation of the Duke of Brittany\n\nCHAPTER XIII. MAR\u00c9CHAL DE RETZ III: THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION\n\nThe adjourned Trial\u2014The Marshal Confesses\u2014The Case handed over to the\nEcclesiastical Tribunal\u2014Prompt steps taken by the Bishop\u2014The\nSentence\u2014Ratified by the Secular Court\u2014The Execution\n\nCHAPTER XIV. A GALICIAN WERE-WOLF\n\nThe Inhabitants of Austrian Galicia\u2014The Hamlet of Polomyja\u2014Summer\nEvening in the Forest\u2014The Beggar Swiatek\u2014A Girl disappears\u2014A School-boy\nvanishes\u2014A Servant-girl lost\u2014Another Boy carried of\u2014The Discovery made\nby the Publican of Polomyja\u2014Swiatek locked up\u2014Brought to Dabkow\u2014Commits\nsuicide\n\nChapter XV. ANOMALOUS CASE\u2014THE HUMAN HYENA\n\nGhouls\u2014Story from Fornari\u2014Quotation from Apuleius\u2014Incident mentioned by\nMarcassus\u2014Cemeteries of Paris violated\u2014Discovery of Violator\u2014Confession\nof M. Bertrand\n\nCHAPTER XVI. A SERMON ON WERE-WOLVES\n\nThe Discourses of Dr. Johann\u2014The Sermon\u2014Remarks\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF WERE-WOLVES.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\nINTRODUCTORY.\n\n\nI shall never forget the walk I took one night in Vienne, after having\naccomplished the examination of an unknown Druidical relic, the Pierre\nlabie, at La Rondelle, near Champigni. I had learned of the existence\nof this cromlech only on my arrival at Champigni in the afternoon, and\nI had started to visit the curiosity without calculating the time it\nwould take me to reach it and to return. Suffice it to say that I\ndiscovered the venerable pile of grey stones as the sun set, and that I\nexpended the last lights of evening in planning and sketching. I then\nturned my face homeward. My walk of about ten miles had wearied me,\ncoming at the end of a long day\u2019s posting, and I had lamed myself in\nscrambling over some stones to the Gaulish relic.\n\nA small hamlet was at no great distance, and I betook myself thither,\nin the hopes of hiring a trap to convey me to the posthouse, but I was\ndisappointed. Few in the place could speak French, and the priest, when\nI applied to him, assured me that he believed there was no better\nconveyance in the place than a common charrue with its solid wooden\nwheels; nor was a riding horse to be procured. The good man offered to\nhouse me for the night; but I was obliged to decline, as my family\nintended starting early on the following morning.\n\nOut spake then the mayor\u2014\u201cMonsieur can never go back to-night across\nthe flats, because of the\u2014the\u2014\u201d and his voice dropped; \u201cthe\nloups-garoux.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe says that he must return!\u201d replied the priest in patois. \u201cBut who\nwill go with him?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, ha,! M. le Cur\u00e9. It is all very well for one of us to accompany\nhim, but think of the coming back alone!\u201d\n\n\u201cThen two must go with him,\u201d said the priest, and you can take care of\neach other as you return.\u201d\n\n\u201cPicou tells me that he saw the were-wolf only this day se\u2019nnight,\u201d\nsaid a peasant; \u201che was down by the hedge of his buckwheat field, and\nthe sun had set, and he was thinking of coming home, when he heard a\nrustle on the far side of the hedge. He looked over, and there stood\nthe wolf as big as a calf against the horizon, its tongue out, and its\neyes glaring like marsh-fires. Mon Dieu! catch me going over the marais\nto-night. Why, what could two men do if they were attacked by that\nwolf-fiend?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is tempting Providence,\u201d said one of the elders of the village;\u201d no\nman must expect the help of God if he throws himself wilfully in the\nway of danger. Is it not so, M. le Cur\u00e9? I heard you say as much from\nthe pulpit on the first Sunday in Lent, preaching from the Gospel.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d observed several, shaking their heads.\n\n\u201cHis tongue hanging out, and his eyes glaring like marsh-fires!\u201d said\nthe confidant of Picou.\n\n\u201cMon Dieu! if I met the monster, I should run,\u201d quoth another.\n\n\u201cI quite believe you, Cortrez; I can answer for it that you would,\u201d\nsaid the mayor.\n\n\u201cAs big as a calf,\u201d threw in Picou\u2019s friend.\n\n\u201cIf the loup-garou were _only_ a natural wolf, why then, you see\u201d\u2014the\nmayor cleared his throat\u2014\u201cyou see we should think nothing of it; but,\nM. le Cur\u00e9, it is a fiend, a worse than fiend, a man-fiend,\u2014a worse\nthan man-fiend, a man-wolf-fiend.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what is the young monsieur to do?\u201d asked the priest, looking from\none to another.\n\n\u201cNever mind,\u201d said I, who had been quietly listening to their patois,\nwhich I understood. \u201cNever mind; I will walk back by myself, and if I\nmeet the loup-garou I will crop his ears and tail, and send them to M.\nle Maire with my compliments.\u201d\n\nA sigh of relief from the assembly, as they found themselves clear of\nthe difficulty.\n\n\u201cIl est Anglais,\u201d said the mayor, shaking his head, as though he meant\nthat an Englishman might face the devil with impunity.\n\nA melancholy flat was the marais, looking desolate enough by day, but\nnow, in the gloaming, tenfold as desolate. The sky was perfectly clear,\nand of a soft, blue-grey tinge; illumined by the new moon, a curve of\nlight approaching its western bed. To the horizon reached a fen,\nblacked with pools of stagnant water, from which the frogs kept up an\nincessant trill through the summer night. Heath and fern covered the\nground, but near the water grew dense masses of flag and bulrush,\namongst which the light wind sighed wearily. Here and there stood a\nsandy knoll, capped with firs, looking like black splashes against the\ngrey sky; not a sign of habitation anywhere; the only trace of men\nbeing the white, straight road extending for miles across the fen.\n\nThat this district harboured wolves is not improbable, and I confess\nthat I armed myself with a strong stick at the first clump of trees\nthrough which the road dived.\n\nThis was my first introduction to were-wolves, and the circumstance of\nfinding the superstition still so prevalent, first gave me the idea of\ninvestigating the history and the habits of these mythical creatures.\n\nI must acknowledge that I have been quite unsuccessful in obtaining a\nspecimen of the animal, but I have found its traces in all directions.\nAnd just as the pal\u00e6ontologist has constructed the labyrinthodon out of\nits foot-prints in marl, and one splinter of bone, so may this\nmonograph be complete and accurate, although I have no chained\nwere-wolf before me which I may sketch and describe from the life.\n\nThe traces left are indeed numerous enough, and though perhaps like the\ndodo or the dinormis, the werewolf may have become extinct in our age,\nyet he has left his stamp on classic antiquity, he has trodden deep in\nNorthern snows. has ridden rough-shod over the medi\u00e6vals, and has\nhowled amongst Oriental sepulchres. He belonged to a bad breed, and we\nare quite content to be freed from him and his kindred, the vampire and\nthe ghoul. Yet who knows! We may be a little too hasty in concluding\nthat he is extinct. He may still prowl in Abyssinian forests, range\nstill over Asiatic steppes, and be found howling dismally in some\npadded room of a Hanwell or a Bedlam.\n\nIn the following pages I design to investigate the notices of\nwere-wolves to be found in the ancient writers of classic antiquity,\nthose contained in the Northern Sagas, and, lastly, the numerous\ndetails afforded by the medi\u00e6val authors. In connection with this I\nshall give a sketch of modern folklore relating to Lycanthropy.\n\nIt will then be seen that under the veil of mythology lies a solid\nreality, that a floating superstition holds in solution a positive\ntruth.\n\nThis I shall show to be an innate craving for blood implanted in\ncertain natures, restrained under ordinary circumstances, but breaking\nforth occasionally, accompanied with hallucination, leading in most\ncases to cannibalism. I shall then give instances of persons thus\nafflicted, who were believed by others, and who believed themselves, to\nbe transformed into beasts, and who, in the paroxysms of their madness,\ncommitted numerous murders, and devoured their victims.\n\nI shall next give instances of persons suffering from the same passion\nfor blood, who murdered for the mere gratification of their natural\ncruelty, but who were not subject to hallucinations, nor were addicted\nto cannibalism.\n\nI shall also give instances of persons filled with the same\npropensities who murdered and ate their victims, but who were perfectly\nfree from hallucination.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\nLYCANTHROPY AMONG THE ANCIENTS.\n\n\nDefinition of Lycanthropy\u2014Marcellus\nSidetes\u2014Virgil\u2014Herodotus\u2014Ovid\u2014Pliny\u2014Agriopas\u2014Story from\nPetronius\u2014Arcadian Legends\u2014Explanation offered.\n\n\nWhat is Lycanthropy? The change of manor woman into the form of a wolf,\neither through magical means, so as to enable him or her to gratify the\ntaste for human flesh, or through judgment of the gods in punishment\nfor some great offence.\n\nThis is the popular definition. Truly it consists in a form of madness,\nsuch as may be found in most asylums.\n\nAmong the ancients this kind of insanity went by the names of\nLycanthropy, Kuanthropy, or Boanthropy, because those afflicted with it\nbelieved themselves to be turned into wolves, dogs, or cows. But in the\nNorth of Europe, as we shall see, the shape of a bear, and in\n\nAfrica that of a hy\u00e6na, were often selected in preference. A mere\nmatter of taste! According to Marcellus Sidetes, of whose poem {Greek\n_per\u00ec lukan\u00f0rw\u2019pou_} a fragment exists, men are attacked with this\nmadness chiefly in the beginning of the year, and become most furious\nin February; retiring for the night to lone cemeteries, and living\nprecisely in the manner of dogs and wolves.\n\nVirgil writes in his eighth Eclogue:\u2014\n\nHas herbas, atque h\u00e6c Ponto mihi lecta venena\nIpse dedit M\u0153ris; nascuntur plurima Ponto.\nHis ego s\u00e6pe lupum fieri et se conducere sylvis\nM\u0153rim, s\u00e6pe animas imis excire sepulchris,\nAtque satas alio, vidi traducere messes.\n\n\nAnd Herodotus:\u2014\u201cIt seems that the Neuri are sorcerers, if one is to\nbelieve the Scythians and the Greeks established in Scythia; for each\nNeurian changes himself, once in the year, into the form of a wolf, and\nhe continues in that form for several days, after which he resumes his\nformer shape.\u201d\u2014(Lib. iv. c. 105.)\n\nSee also Pomponius Mela (lib. ii. c. 1) \u201cThere is a fixed time for each\nNeurian, at which they change, if they like, into wolves, and back\nagain into their former condition.\u201d\n\nBut the most remarkable story among the ancients is that related by\nOvid in his \u201cMetamorphoses,\u201d of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, who,\nentertaining Jupiter one day, set before him a hash of human flesh, to\nprove his omniscience, whereupon the god transferred him into a\nwolf:\u2014[1]\n\n [1] OVID. Met. i. 237; PAUSANIAS, viii. 2, \u00a7 1; TZETZE _ad Lycoph._\n 481; ERATOSTH. _Catas._ i. 8.\n\n\nIn vain he attempted to speak; from that very instant\nHis jaws were bespluttered with foam, and only he thirsted\nFor blood, as he raged amongst flocks and panted for slaughter.\nHis vesture was changed into hair, his limbs became crooked;\nA wolf,\u2014he retains yet large trace of his ancient expression,\nHoary he is as afore, his countenance rabid,\nHis eyes glitter savagely still, the picture of fury.\n\n\nPliny relates from Evanthes, that on the festival of Jupiter Lyc\u00e6us,\none of the family of Ant\u00e6us was selected by lot, and conducted to the\nbrink of the Arcadian lake. He then hung his clothes on a tree and\nplunged into the water, whereupon he was transformed into a wolf. Nine\nyears after, if he had not tasted human flesh, he was at liberty to\nswim back and resume his former shape, which had in the meantime become\naged, as though he had worn it for nine years.\n\nAgriopas relates, that Dem\u00e6netus, having assisted at an Arcadian human\nsacrifice to Jupiter Lyc\u00e6us, ate of the flesh, and was at once\ntransformed into a wolf, in which shape he prowled about for ten years,\nafter which he recovered his human form, and took part in the Olympic\ngames.\n\nThe following story is from Petronius:\u2014\n\n\u201cMy master had gone to Capua to sell some old clothes. I seized the\nopportunity, and persuaded our guest to bear me company about five\nmiles out of town; for he was a soldier, and as bold as death. We set\nout about cockcrow, and the moon shone bright as day, when, coming\namong some monuments. my man began to converse with the stars, whilst I\njogged along singing and counting them. Presently I looked back after\nhim, and saw him strip and lay his clothes by the side of the road. My\nheart was in my mouth in an instant, I stood like a corpse; when, in a\ncrack, he was turned into a wolf. Don\u2019t think I\u2019m joking: I would not\ntell you a lie for the finest fortune in the world.\n\n\u201cBut to continue: after he was turned into a wolf, he set up a howl and\nmade straight for the woods. At first I did not know whether I was on\nmy head or my heels; but at last going to take up his clothes, I found\nthem turned into stone. The sweat streamed from me, and I never\nexpected to get over it. Melissa began to wonder why I walked so late.\n\u2018Had you come a little sooner,\u2019 she said, \u2018you might at least have lent\nus a hand; for a wolf broke into the farm and has butchered all our\ncattle; but though be got off, it was no laughing matter for him, for a\nservant of ours ran him through with a pike. Hearing this I could not\nclose an eye; but as soon as it was daylight, I ran home like a pedlar\nthat has been eased of his pack. Coming to the place where the clothes\nhad been turned into stone, I saw nothing but a pool of blood; and when\nI got home, I found my soldier lying in bed, like an ox in a stall, and\na surgeon dressing his neck. I saw at once that he was a fellow who\ncould change his skin (_versipellis_), and never after could I eat\nbread with him, no, not if you would have killed me. Those who would\nhave taken a different view of the case are welcome to their opinion;\nif I tell you a lie, may your genii confound me!\u201d\n\nAs every one knows, Jupiter changed himself into a bull; Hecuba became\na bitch; Act\u00e6on a stag; the comrades of Ulysses were transformed into\nswine; and the daughters of Pr\u0153tus fled through the fields believing\nthemselves to be cows, and would not allow any one to come near them,\nlest they should be caught and yoked.\n\nS. Augustine declared, in his _De Civitate Dei_, that he knew an old\nwoman who was said to turn men into asses by her enchantments.\n\nApuleius has left us his charming romance of the _Golden Ass_, in which\nthe hero, through injudicious use of a magical salve, is transformed\ninto that long-eared animal.\n\nIt is to be observed that the chief seat of Lycanthropy was Arcadia,\nand it has been very plausibly suggested that the cause might he traced\nto the following circumstance:\u2014The natives were a pastoral people, and\nwould consequently suffer very severely from the attacks and\ndepredations of wolves. They would naturally institute a sacrifice to\nobtain deliverance from this pest, and security for their flocks. This\nsacrifice consisted in the offering of a child, and it was instituted\nby Lycaon. From the circumstance of the sacrifice being human, and from\nthe peculiarity of the name of its originator, rose the myth.\n\nBut, on the other hand, the story is far too widely spread for us to\nattribute it to an accidental origin, or to trace it to a local source.\n\nHalf the world believes, or believed in, were-wolves, and they were\nsupposed to haunt the Norwegian forests by those who had never remotely\nbeen connected with Arcadia: and the superstition had probably struck\ndeep its roots into the Scandinavian and Teutonic minds, ages before\nLycaon existed; and we have only to glance at Oriental literature, to\nsee it as firmly engrafted in the imagination of the Easterns.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\nTHE WERE-WOLF IN THE NORTH.\n\n\nNorse Traditions - Manner in which the Change was effected - V\u0153lundar\nKv\u0153da - Instances from the V\u00f6lsung Saga - Hrolf\u2019s Saga - Kraka -\nFaro\u00ebse Poem - Helga Kvida - Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga - Eyrbyggja Saga\n\n\nIn Norway and Iceland certain men were said to be _eigi einhamir_, not\nof one skin, an idea which had its roots in paganism. The full form of\nthis strange superstition was, that men could take upon them other\nbodies, and the natures of those beings whose bodies they assumed. The\nsecond adopted shape was called by the same name as the original shape,\n_hamr_, and the expression made use of to designate the transition from\none body to another, was at _skipta h\u00f6mum_, or _at hamaz_; whilst the\nexpedition made in the second form, was the hamf\u00f6r. By this\ntransfiguration extraordinary powers were acquired; the natural\nstrength of the individual was doubled, or quadrupled; he acquired the\nstrength of the beast in whose body he travelled, in addition to his\nown, and a man thus invigorated was called _hamrammr_.\n\nThe manner in which the change was effected, varied. At times, a dress\nof skin was cast over the body, and at once the transformation was\ncomplete; at others, the human body was deserted, and the soul entered\nthe second form, leaving the first body in a cataleptic state, to all\nappearance dead. The second hamr was either borrowed or created for the\npurpose. There was yet a third manner of producing this effect-it was\nby incantation; but then the form of the individual remained unaltered,\nthough the eyes of all beholders were charmed so that they could only\nperceive him under the selected form.\n\nHaving assumed some bestial shape, the man who is _eigi einhammr_ is\nonly to be recognized by his eyes, which by no power can be changed. He\nthen pursues his course, follows the instincts of the beast whose body\nhe has taken, yet without quenching his own intelligence. He is able to\ndo what the body of the animal can do, and do what he, as man, can do\nas well. He may fly or swim, if be is in the shape of bird or fish; if\nhe has taken the form of a wolf, or if he goes on a _gandrei\u00f0_, or\nwolf\u2019s-ride, he is fall of the rage and malignity of the creatures\nwhose powers and passions he has assumed.\n\nI will give a few instances of each of the three methods of changing\nbodies mentioned above. Freyja and Frigg had their falcon dresses in\nwhich they visited different regions of the earth, and Loki is said to\nhave borrowed these, and to have then appeared so precisely like a\nfalcon, that he would have escaped detection, but for the malicious\ntwinkle of his eyes. In the V\u00e6lundar kvi\u00f0a is the following passage:\u2014\n\nI.                            I.\nMeyjar flugu sunnan  From the south flew the maidens\nMyrkvi\u00f0 ig\u00f6gnum      Athwart the gloom,\nAlvitr unga          Alvit the young,\nOrl\u00f6g dr\u00fdgja;        To fix destinies;\n\u00fe\u00e6r \u00e1 savarstr\u00f6nd    They on the sea-strand\nSettusk at hvilask,  Sat them to rest,\nDr\u00f3 sir su\u00f0r\u0153nar     These damsels of the south\nD\u00fdrt l\u00edn spunnu.     Fair linen spun.\n\nII.                           II.\nEin nam \u00feeirra       One of them took\nEgil at verja        Egil to press,\nF\u00f6gr m\u00e6r f\u00edra        Fair maid, in her\nFa\u00f0mi lj\u00f3sum;        Dazzling arms.\n\u00d6nnur var Svanhv\u00edt,  Another was Svanhwit,\nSvanfja\u00f0rar dr\u00f3      Who wore swan feathers;\nEn in \u00feri\u00f0ja         And the third,\n\u00feeirra systir        Their sister,\nVar i hv\u00edtan         Pressed the white\nH\u00e1ls V\u00f6lundar.       Neck of V\u0153lund.\n\nThe introduction of S\u0153mund tells us that these charming young ladies\nwere caught when they had laid their swan-skins beside them on the\nshore, and were consequently not in a condition to fly.\n\nIn like manner were wolves\u2019 dresses used. The following curious passage\nis from the wild Saga of the V\u00f6lsungs:\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is now to be told that Sigmund thought Sinfj\u00f6tli too young to help\nhim in his revenge, and he wished first to test his powers; so during\nthe summer they plunged deep into the wood and slew men for their\ngoods, and Sigmund saw that he was quite of the V\u00f6lsung stock. . . .\nNow it fell out that as they went through the forest, collecting\nmonies, that they lighted on a house in which were two men sleeping,\nwith great gold rings an them; they had dealings with witchcraft, for\nwolf-skins hung up in the house above them; it was the tenth day on\nwhich they might come out of their second state. They were kings\u2019 sons.\nSigmund and Sinfj\u00f6tli got into the habits, and could not get out of\nthem again, and the nature of the original beasts came over them, and\nthey howled as wolves\u2014they learned \u201cboth of them to howl. Now they went\ninto the forest, and each took his own course; they made the agreement\ntogether that they should try their strength against as many as seven\nmen, but not more, and. that he who was ware of strife should utter his\nwolf\u2019s howl.\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not fail in this,\u2019 said Sigmund, \u2018for you are young and daring,\nand men would be glad to chase you.\u2019 Now each went his own course; and\nafter that they had parted Sigmund found men, so he howled; and when\nSinfj\u00f6tli heard that, he ran up and slew them all-then they separated.\nAnd Sinfj\u00f6tli had not been long in the wood before he met with. eleven\nmen; he fell upon them and slew them every one. Then he was tired, so\nhe flung himself under an oak to rest. Up came Sigmund and said, \u2018Why\ndid you not call out?\u2019 Sinfj\u00f6tli replied, \u2018What was the need of asking\nyour help to kill eleven men?\u2019\n\n\u201cSigmund flew at him and rent him so that he fell, for he had bitten\nthrough his throat. That day they could not leave their wolf-forms.\nSigmund laid him on his back and bare him home to the hall, and sat\nbeside him, and said, \u2018Deuce take the wolf-forms!\u201d\u2019\u2014V\u00f6lsung Saga, c. 8.\n\nThere is another curious story of a were-wolf in the same Saga, which I\nmust relate.\n\n\u201cNow he did as she requested, and hewed down a great piece of timber,\nand cast it across the feet of those ten brothers seated in a row, in\nthe forest; and there they sat all that day and on till night. And at\nmidnight there came an old she-wolf out of the forest to them, as they\nsat in the stocks, and she was both huge and grimly. Now she fell upon\none of them, and bit him to death, and after she had eaten him all up,\nshe went away. And next morning Signy sent a trusty man to her\nbrothers, to know how it had fared with them. When he returned he told\nher of the death of one, and that grieved her much, for she feared it\nmight fare thus with them all, and she would be unable to assist them.\n\n\u201cIn short, nine nights following came the same she-wolf at midnight,\nand devoured them one after another till all were dead, except Sigmund,\nand he was left alone. So when the tenth night came, Signy sent her\ntrusty man to Sigmund, her brother, with honey in his hand, and said\nthat he was to smear it over the face of Sigmund, and to fill his mouth\nwith it. Now he went to Sigmund, and did as he was bid, after which he\nreturned home. And during the night came the same she-wolf, as was her\nwont, and reckoned to devour him, like his brothers.\n\n\u201cNow she snuffed at him, where the honey was smeared, and began to lick\nhis face with her tongue, and presently thrust her tongue into his\nmouth. He bore it ill, and bit into the tongue of the she-wolf; she\nsprang up and tried to break loose, setting her feet against the stock,\nso as to snap it asunder: but he held firm, and ripped the tongue out\nby the roots, so that it was the death of the wolf. It is the opinion\nof some men that this beast was the mother of King Siggeir, and that\nshe had taken this form upon her through devilry and witchcraft.\u201d\u2014(c.\n5.)\n\nThere is another story bearing on the subject in the Hrolfs Saga Kraka,\nwhich is pretty; it is as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cIn the north of Norway, in upland-dales, reigned a king called Hring;\nand he had a son named Bj\u00f6rn. Now it fell out that the queen died, much\nlamented by the king, and by all. The people advised him to marry\nagain, and so be sent men south to get him a wife. A gale and fierce\nstorm fell upon them, so that they had to turn the helm, and run before\nthe wind, and so they came north to Finnmark, where they spent the\nwinter. One day they went inland, and came to a house in which sat two\nbeautiful women, who greeted them well, and inquired whence they had\ncome. They replied by giving an account of their journey and their\nerrand, and then asked the women who they were, and why they were\nalone, and far from the haunts of men, although they were so comely and\nengaging. The elder replied\u2014that her name was Ingibjorg, and that her\ndaughter was called Hvit, and that she was the Finn king\u2019s sweetheart.\nThe messengers decided that they would return home, if Hvit would come\nwith them and marry King Hring. She agreed, and they took her with them\nand met the king who was pleased with her, and had his wedding feast\nmade, and said that he cared not though she was not rich. But the king\nwas very old, and that the queen soon found out.\n\n\u201cThere was a Carle who had a farm not far from the king\u2019s dwelling; he\nhad a wife, and a daughter, who was but a child, and her name was Bera;\nshe was very young and lovely. Bj\u00f6rn the king\u2019s son, and Bera the\nCarle\u2019s daughter, were wont, as children, to play together, and they\nloved each other well. The Carle was well to do, he had been out\nharrying in his young days, and he was a doughty champion. Bj\u00f6rn and\nBera loved each other more and more, and they were often together.\n\nTime passed, and nothing worth relating occurred; but Bj\u00f6rn, the king\u2019s\nson, waxed strong and tall; and he was well skilled in all manly\nexercises.\n\n\u201cKing Hring was often absent for long, harrying foreign shores, and\nHvit remained at home and governed the land. She was not liked of the\npeople. She was always very pleasant with Bj\u00f6rn, but he cared little\nfor her. It fell out once that the King Hring went abroad, and he spake\nwith his queen that Bj\u00f6rn should remain at home with her, to assist in\nthe government, for he thought it advisable, the queen being haughty\nand inflated with pride.\n\n\u201cThe king told his son Bj\u00f6rn that he was to remain at home, and rule\nthe land with the queen; Bj\u00f6rn replied that he disliked the plan, and\nthat he had no love for the queen; but the king was inflexible, and\nleft the land with a great following. Bj\u00f6rn walked home after his\nconversation with the king, and went up to his place, ill-pleased and\nred as blood. The queen came to speak with him, and to cheer him; and\nspake friendly with him, but he bade her be of. She obeyed him that\ntime. She often came to talk with him, and said how much pleasanter it\nwas for them to be together, than to have an old fellow like Hring in\nthe house.\n\n\u201cBj\u00f6rn resented this speech, and struck her a box in the ear, and bade\nher depart, and he spurned her from him. She replied that this was\nill-done to drive and thrust her away: and \u2018You think it better, Bj\u00f6rn,\nto sweetheart a Carle\u2019s daughter, than to have my love and favour, a\nfine piece of condescension and a disgrace it is to you! But, before\nlong, something will stand in the way of your fancy, and your folly.\u2019\nThen she struck at him with a wolf-skin glove, and said, that he should\nbecome a rabid and grim wild bear; and \u2018You shall eat nothing but your\nfather\u2019s sheep, which you shall slay for your food, and never shall you\nleave this state.\u2019\n\nAfter that, Bj\u00f6rn disappeared, and none knew what had become of him;\nand men sought but found him not, as was to be expected. We must now\nrelate how that the king\u2019s sheep were slaughtered, half a score at a\ntime, and it was all the work of a grey bear, both huge and grimly.\n\n\u201cOne evening it chanced that the Carle\u2019s daughter saw this savage bear\ncoming towards her, looking tenderly at her, and she fancied that she\nrecognized the eyes of Bj\u00f6rn, the king\u2019s son, so she made a slight\nattempt to escape; then the beast retreated, but she followed it, till\nshe came to a cave. Now when she entered the cave there stood before\nher a man, who greeted Bera, the Carle\u2019s daughter; and she recognized\nhim, for he was Bj\u00f6rn, Hring\u2019s son. Overjoyed were they to meet. So\nthey were together in the cave awhile, for she would not part from him\nwhen she had the chance of being with him; but he said that this was\nnot proper that she should be there by him, for by day he was a beast,\nand by night a man.\n\n\u201cHring returned from his harrying, and he was told the news, of what\nhad taken place during his absence; how that Bj\u00f6rn, his son, had\nvanished, and also, how that a monstrous beast was up the country, and\nwas destroying his flocks. The queen urged the king to have the beast\nslain, but he delayed awhile.\n\n\u201cOne night, as Bera and Bj\u00f6rn were together, he said to her:\u2014\u2018Methinks\nto-morrow will be the day of my death, for they will come out to hunt\nme down. But for myself I care not, for it is little pleasure to live\nwith this charm upon me, and my only comfort is that we are together;\nbut now our union must be broken. I will give you the ring which is\nunder my left hand. You will see the troop of hunters to-morrow coming\nto seek me; and when I am dead go to the king, and ask him to give you\nwhat is under the beast\u2019s left front leg. He will consent.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe spoke to her of many other things, till the bear\u2019s form stole over\nhim, and he went forth a bear. She followed him, and saw that a great\nbody of hunters had come over the mountain ridges, and had a number of\ndogs with them. The bear rushed away from the cavern, but the dogs and\nthe king\u2019s men came upon him, and there was a desperate struggle. He\nwearied many men before he was brought to bay, and had slain all the\ndogs. But now they made a ring about him, and he ranged around it., but\ncould see no means of escape, so he turned to where the king stood, and\nhe seized a man who stood next him, and rent him asunder; then was the\nbear so exhausted that he cast himself down flat, and, at once, the men\nrushed in upon him and slew him. The Carle\u2019s daughter saw this, and she\nwent up to the king, and said,\u2014\u2018Sire! wilt thou grant me that which is\nunder the bear\u2019s left fore-shoulder?\u2019 The king consented. By this time\nhis men had nearly flayed the bear; Bera went up and plucked away the\nring, and kept it, but none saw what she took, nor had they looked for\nanything. The king asked her who she was, and she gave a name, but not\nher true name.\n\n\u201cThe king now went home, and Bera was in his company. The queen was\nvery joyous, and treated her well, and asked who she was; but Bera\nanswered as before.\n\n\u201cThe queen now made a great feast, and had the bear\u2019s flesh cooked for\nthe banquet. The Carle\u2019s daughter was in the bower of the queen, and\ncould not escape, for the queen had a suspicion who she was. Then she\ncame to Bera with a dish, quite unexpectedly, and on it was bear\u2019s\nflesh, and she bade Bera eat it. She would not do so. \u2018Here is a\nmarvel!\u2019 said the queen; \u2018you reject the offer which a queen herself\ndeigns to make to you. Take it at once, or something worse will befall\nyou.\u2019 She bit before her, and she ate of that bite; the queen cut\nanother piece, and looked into her mouth; she saw that one little grain\nof the bite had gone down, but Bera spat out all the rest from her\nmouth, and said she would take no more, though she were tortured or\nkilled.\n\n\u201c\u2018Maybe you have had sufficient,\u2019 said the queen, and she\nlaughed.\u201d\u2014(Hrolfs Saga Kraka, c. 24-27, condensed.)\n\nIn the Faro\u00ebse song of Finnur hin fri\u00f0i, we have the following verse:\u2014\n\nHegar \u00ed\u00f0 Finnur hetta s\u00e6r,     When this peril Finn saw,\nMannspell var at meini,        That witchcraft did him harm,\nSkapti hann seg \u00ed vargl\u00edki:    Then he changed himself into a were-wolf:\nHann feldi allv\u00e6l fleiri.      He slew many thus.\n\nThe following is from the second Kvi\u00f0a of Helga Hundingsbana (stroph.\n31):\u2014\n\nMay the blade bite,\nWhich thou brandishest\nOnly on thyself,\nwhen it Chimes on thy head.\nThen avenged will be\nThe death of Helgi,\nWhen thou, as a wolf,\nWanderest in the woods,\nKnowing nor fortune\nNor any pleasure,\nHaying no meat,\nSave rivings of corpses.\n\n\nIn all these cases the change is of the form: we shall now come to\ninstances in which the person who is changed has a double shape, and\nthe soul animates one after the other.\n\nThe Ynglinga Saga (c. 7) says of Odin, that \u201che changed form; the\nbodies lay as though sleeping or dead, but he was a bird or a beast, a\nfish, or a woman, and went in a twinkling to far distant lands, doing\nhis own or other people\u2019s business.\u201d In like manner the Danish king\nHarold sent a warlock to Iceland in the form of a whale, whilst his\nbody lay stiff and stark at home. The already quoted Saga of Hrolf\nKrake gives us another example, where B\u00f6dvar Bjarki, in the shape of a\nhuge bear, fights desperately with the enemy, which has surrounded the\nhall of his king, whilst his human body lies drunkenly beside the\nembers within.\n\nIn the Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga, there is a curious account of three Finns, who\nwere shut up in a hut for three nights, and ordered by Ingimund, a\nNorwegian chief, to visit Iceland and inform him of the lie of the\ncountry, where he was to settle. Their bodies became rigid, and they\nsent their souls the errand, and, on their awaking at the end of three\ndays, gave an accurate description of the Vatnsdal, in which Ingimund\nwas eventually to establish himself. But the Saga does not relate\nwhether these Finns projected their souls into the bodies of birds or\nbeasts.\n\nThe third manner of transformation mentioned, was that in which the\nindividual was not changed himself, but the eyes of others were\nbewitched, so that they could not detect him, but saw him only under a\ncertain form. Of this there are several examples in the Sagas; as, for\ninstance, in the Hromundar Saga Greypsonar, and in the Fostbr\u00e6\u00f0ra Saga.\nBut I will translate the most curious, which is that of Odd, Katla\u2019s\nson, in the Eyrbyggja Saga.\u2014(c. 20.)\n\n\u201cGeirrid, housewife in Mafvahli\u00f0, sent word into Bolstad, that she was\nware of the fact that Odd, Katla\u2019s son, had hewn off Aud\u2019s hand.\n\n\u201cNow when Thorarinn and Arnkell heard that, they rode from home with\ntwelve men. They spent the night in Mafvahli\u00f0, and rode on next morning\nto Holt: and Odd was the only man in the house.\n\n\u201cKatla sat on the high seat spinning yarn, and she bade Odd sit beside\nher; also, she bade her women sit each in her place, and hold their\ntongues. \u2018For,\u2019 said she, \u2018I shall do all the talking.\u2019 Now when\nArnkell and his company arrived, they walked straight in, and when they\ncame into the chamber, Katla greeted Arnkell, and asked the news. He\nreplied that there was none, and he inquired after Odd. Katla said that\nhe had gone to Breidavik. \u2018We shall ransack the house though,\u2019 quoth\nArnkell. \u2018Be it so,\u2019 replied Katla, and she ordered a girl to carry a\nlight before them, and unlock the different parts of the house. All\nthey saw was Katla spinning yarn off her distaff. Now they search the\nhouse, but find no Odd, so they depart. But when they had gone a little\nway from the garth, Arnkell stood still and said: \u2018How know we but that\nKatla has hoodwinked us, and that the distaff in her hand was nothing\nmore than Odd.\u2019 \u2018Not impossible!\u2019 said Thorarinn; \u2018let us turn back.\u2019\nThey did so; and when those at Holt raw that they were returning, Katla\nsaid to her maids, \u2018Sit still in your places, Odd and I shall go out.\u2019\n\n\u201cNow as they approached the door, she went into the porch, and began to\ncomb and clip the hair of her son Odd. Arnkell came to the door and saw\nwhere Katla was, and she seemed to be stroking her goat, and\ndisentangling its mane and beard and smoothing its wool. So he and his\nmen went into the house, but found not Odd. Katla\u2019s distaff lay against\nthe bench, so they thought that it could not have been Odd, and they\nwent away. However, when they had come near the spot where they had\nturned before, Arnkell said, \u2018Think you not that Odd may have been in\nthe goat\u2019s form?\u2019 \u2018There is no saying,\u2019 replied Thorarinn; \u2018but if we\nturn back we will lay hands on Katla.\u2019 \u2018We can try our luck again,\u2019\nquoth Arnkell; \u2018and see what comes of it.\u2019 So they returned.\n\n\u201cNow when they were seen on their way back, Katla bade Odd follow her;\nand she lea him to the ash-heap, and told him to lie there and not to\nstir on any account. But when Arnkell, and his men came to the farm,\nthey rushed into the chamber, and saw Katla seated in her place,\nspinning. She greeted them and said that their visits followed with\nrapidity. Arnkell replied that what she said was true. His comrades\ntook the distaff and cut it in twain. \u2018Come now!\u2019 said Katla, \u2018you\ncannot say, when you get home, that you have done nothing, for you have\nchopped up my distaff.\u2019 Then Arnkell and the rest hunted high and low\nfor Odd, but could not find him; indeed they saw nothing living about\nthe place, beside a boar-pig which lay under the ash-heap, so they went\naway once more.\n\n\u201cWell, when they got half-way to Mafvahli\u00f0, came Geirrid to meet them,\nwith her workmen. \u2018They had not gone the right way to work in seeking\nOdd,\u2019 she said, \u2018but she would help them.\u2019 So they turned back again.\nGeirrid had a blue cloak on her. Now when the party was seen and\nreported to Katla, and it was said that they were thirteen in number,\nand one had on a coloured dress, Katla exclaimed, \u2018That troll Geirrid\nis come! I shall not be able to throw a glamour over their eyes any\nmore.\u2019 She started up from her place and lifted the cushion of the\nseat, and there was a hole and a cavity beneath: into this she thrust\nOdd, clapped the cushion over him, and sat down, saying she felt sick\nat heart.\n\n\u201cNow when they came into the room, there were small greetings. Geirrid\ncast of her the cloak and went up to Katla, and took the seal-skin bag\nwhich she had in her hand, and drew it over the head of Katla.[1] Then\nGeirrid bade them break up the seat. They did so, and found Odd. Him\nthey took and carried to Buland\u2019s head, where they hanged him. . . .\nBut Katla they stoned to death under the headland.\u201d\n\n [1] A precaution against the \u201cevil eye.\u201d Compare _Gisla Saga\n Surssonnar_, p. 34. _Laxd\u00e6la Saga_, cc. 37, 38.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE SCANDINAVIAN WERE-WOLF.\n\n\nAdvantage of the Study of Norse Literature\u2014Bear and Wolf-skin\nDresses\u2014The Berserkir\u2014Their Rage\u2014The Story of Thorir\u2014Passages from the\nAigla\u2014The Evening Wolf\u2014Skallagrim and his Son\u2014Derivation of the Words\nHamr and Vargr\u2014Laws affecting Outlaws\u2014\u201cTo become a\nBoar\u201d\u2014Recapitulation.\n\n\nOne Of the great advantages of the study of old Norse or Icelandic\nliterature is the insight given by it into the origin of world-wide\nsuperstitions. Norse tradition is transparent as glacier ice, and its\norigin is as unmistakable.\n\nMedi\u00e6val mythology, rich and gorgeous, is a compound like Corinthian\nbrass, into which many pure ores have been fused, or it is a full\nturbid river drawn from numerous feeders, which had their sources in\nremote climes. It is a blending of prim\u00e6val Keltic, Teutonic,\nScandinavian, Italic, and Arab traditions, each adding a beauty, each\nyielding a charm, bat each accretion rendering the analysis more\ndifficult.\n\nPacciuchelli says:\u2014\u201cThe Anio flows into the Tiber; pure as crystal it\nmeets the tawny stream, and is lost in it, so that there is no more\nAnio, but the united stream is all Tiber.\u201d So is it with each tributary\nto the tide of medi\u00e6val mythology. The moment it has blended its waters\nwith the great and onward rolling flood, it is impossible to detect it\nwith certainty; it has swollen the stream, but has lost its own\nidentity. If we would analyse a particular myth, we must not go at once\nto the body of medi\u00e6val superstition, but strike at one of the\ntributaries before its absorption. This we shall proceed to do, and in\nselecting Norse mythology, we come upon abundant material, pointing\nnaturally to the spot whence it has been derived, as glacial moraines\nindicate the direction which they have taken, and point to the\nmountains whence they have fallen. It will not be difficult for us to\narrive at the origin of the Northern belief in were-wolves, and the\ndata thus obtained will be useful in assisting us to elucidate much\nthat would otherwise prove obscure in medi\u00e6val tradition.\n\nAmong the old Norse, it was the custom for certain warriors to dress in\nthe skins of the beasts they had slain, and thus to give themselves an\nair of ferocity, calculated to strike terror into the hearts of their\nfoes.\n\nSuch dresses are mentioned in some Sagas, without there being any\nsupernatural qualities attached to them. For instance, in the Nj\u00e1la\nthere is mention of a man _i geithe\u00f0ni_, in goatskin dress. Much in the\nsame way do we hear of Harold Harfagr having in his company a band of\nberserkir, who were all dressed in wolf-skins, _ulfhe\u00f0nir_, and this\nexpression, wolf-skin coated, is met with as a man\u2019s name. Thus in the\nHolmverja Saga, there is mention of a Bj\u00f6rn, \u201cson of _Ulfhe\u00f0in_,\nwolfskin coat, son of _Ulfhamr_, wolf-shaped, son of _Ulf_, wolf, son\nof _Ulfhamr_, wolf-shaped, who could change forms.\u201d\n\nBut the most conclusive passage is in the Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga, and is as\nfollows:\u2014\u201cThose berserkir who were called _ulfhe\u00f0nir_, had got\nwolf-skins over their mail coats\u201d (c. xvi.) In like manner the word\n_berserkr_, used of a man possessed of superhuman powers, and subject.\nto accesses of diabolical fury, was originally applied to one of those\ndoughty champions who went about in bear-sarks, or habits made of\nbear-skin over their armour. I am well aware that Bj\u00f6rn Halldorson\u2019s\nderivation of berserkr, bare of sark, or destitute of clothing, has\nbeen hitherto generally received, but Sveibj\u00f6rn Egilsson, an\nindisputable authority, rejects this derivation as untenable, and\nsubstitutes for it that which I have adopted.\n\nIt may be well imagined that a wolf or a bear-skin would make a warm\nand comfortable great-coat to a man, whose manner of living required\nhim to defy all weathers, and that the dress would not only give him an\nappearance of grimness and ferocity, likely to produce an unpleasant\nemotion in the breast of a foe, but also that the thick fur might prove\neffectual in deadening the blows rained on him in conflict.\n\nThe berserkr was an object of aversion and terror to the peaceful\ninhabitants of the land, his avocation being to challenge quiet country\nfarmers to single combat. As the law of the land stood in Norway, a man\nwho declined to accept a challenge, forfeited all his possessions, even\nto the wife of his bosom, as a poltroon unworthy of the protection of\nthe law, and every item of his property passed into the hands of his\nchallenger. The berserkr accordingly had the unhappy man at his mercy.\nIf he slew him, the farmer\u2019s possessions became his, and if the poor\nfellow declined to fight, he lost all legal right to his inheritance. A\nberserkr would invite himself to any feast, and contribute his quota to\nthe hilarity of the entertainment, by snapping the backbone, or\ncleaving the skull, of some merrymaker who incurred his displeasure, or\nwhom he might single out to murder, for no other reason than a desire\nto keep his hand in practice.\n\nIt may well be imagined that popular superstition went along with the\npopular dread of these wolf-and-bear-skinned rovers, and that they were\nbelieved to be endued with the force, as they certainly were with the\nferocity, of the beasts whose skins they wore.\n\nNor would superstition stop there, but the imagination of the trembling\npeasants would speedily invest these unscrupulous disturbers of the\npublic peace with the attributes hitherto appropriated to trolls and\nj\u00f6tuns.\n\nThe incident mentioned in the V\u00f6lsung Saga, of the sleeping men being\nfound with their wolf-skins hanging to the wall above their heads, is\ndivested of its improbability, if we regard these skins as worn over\ntheir armour, and the marvellous in the whole story is reduced to a\nminimum, when we suppose that Sigmund and Sinfj\u00f6tli stole these for the\npurpose of disguising themselves, whilst they lived a life of violence\nand robbery.\n\nIn a similar manner the story of the northern \u201cBeauty and Beast,\u201d in\nHrolf\u2019s Saga Kraka, is rendered less improbable, on the supposition\nthat Bj\u00f6rn was living as an outlaw among the mountain fastnesses in a\nbearskin dress, which would effectually disguise him\u2014_all but his\neyes_\u2014which would gleam out of the sockets in his hideous visor,\nunmistakably human. His very name, Bj\u00f6rn, signifies a bear; and these\ntwo circumstances may well have invested a kernel of historic fact with\nall the romance of fable; and if divested of these supernatural\nembellishments, the story would resolve itself into the very simple\nfact of there having been a King Hring of the Updales, who was at\nvariance with his son, and whose son took to the woods, and lived a\nberserkr life, in company with his mistress, till he was captured and\nslain by his father.\n\nI think that the circumstance insisted on by the Saga-writers, of the\neyes of the person remaining unchanged, is very significant, and points\nto the fact that the skin was merely drawn over the body as a disguise.\n\nBut there was other ground for superstition to fasten on the berserkir,\nand invest them with supernatural attributes.\n\nNo fact in connection with the history of the Northmen is more firmly\nestablished, on reliable evidence, than that of the berserkr rage being\na species of diabolical possession. The berserkir were said to work\nthemselves up into a state of frenzy, in which a demoniacal power came\nover them, impelling them to acts from which in their sober senses they\nwould have recoiled. They acquired superhuman force, and were as\ninvulnerable and as insensible to pain as the Jansenist convulsionists\nof S. Medard. No sword would wound them, no fire would barn them, a\nclub alone could destroy them, by breaking their bones, or crushing in\ntheir skulls. Their eyes glared as though a flame burned in the\nsockets, they ground their teeth, and frothed at the mouth; they gnawed\nat their shield rims, and are said to have sometimes bitten them\nthrough, and as they rushed into conflict they yelped as dogs or howled\nas wolves.[1]\n\n [1] Hic (Syraldus) septem filios habebat, tanto veneficiorum usu\n callentes, ut s\u00e6pe subitis furoris viribus instincti solerent ore\n torvum infremere, scuta morsibus attrectare, torridas fauce prunas\n absumere, extructa qu\u00e6vis incendia penetrare, nec posset conceptis\n dementi\u00e6 motus alio remedii genere quam aut vinculorum injuriis aut\n c\u00e6dis human\u00e6 piaculo temperari. Tantam illis rabiem site s\u00e6vitia\n ingenii sive furiaram ferocitas inspirabat.\u2014_Saxo Gramm_. VII.\n\n\nAccording to the unanimous testimony of the old Norse historians, the\nberserkr rage was extinguished by baptism, and as Christianity\nadvanced, the number of these berserkir decreased.\n\nBut it must not be supposed that this madness or possession came only\non those persons who predisposed themselves to be attacked by it;\nothers were afflicted with it, who vainly struggled against its\ninfluence, and who deeply lamented their own liability to be seized\nwith these terrible accesses of frenzy. Such was Thorir Ingimund\u2019s son,\nof whom it is said, in the _Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga_, that \u201cat times there came\nover Thorir berserkr fits, and it was considered a sad misfortune to\nsuch a man, as they were quite beyond control.\u201d\n\nThe manner in which he was cured is remarkable; pointing as it does to\nthe craving in the heathen mind for a better and more merciful creed:\u2014\n\n\u201cThorgrim of Korns\u00e1 had a child by his concubine Vereydr, and, by order\nof his wife, the child was carried out to perish.\n\n\u201cThe brothers (Thorsteinn and Thorir) often met, and it was now the\nturn of Thorsteinn to visit Thorir, and Thorir accompanied him\nhomeward. On their way Thorsteinn asked Thorir which he thought was the\nfirst among the brethren; Thorir answered that the reply was easy, for\n\u2018you are above us all in discretion and talent; J\u00f6kull is the best in\nall perilous adventures, but I,\u2019 he added, \u2018I am the least worth of us\nbrothers, because the berserkr fits come over me, quite against my\nwill, and I wish that you, my brother, with your shrewdness, would\ndevise some help for me.\u2019\n\n\u201cThorsteinn said,\u2014\u2018I have heard that our kinsman, Thorgrim, has just\nsuffered his little babe to be carried out, at the instigation of his\nwife. That is ill done. I think also that it is a grievous matter for\nyou to be different in nature from other men.\u2019\n\n\u201cThorir asked how he could obtain release from his affliction . . . .\nThen said Thorsteinn, \u2018Now will I make a vow to Him who created the\nsun, for I ween that he is most able to take the ban of you, and I will\nundertake for His sake, in return, to rescue the babe and to bring it\nup for him, till He who created man shall take it to Himself-for this I\nreckon He will do!\u2019 After this they left their horses and sought the\nchild, and a thrall of Thorir had found it near the Marram river. They\nsaw that a kerchief had been spread over its face, but it had rumpled\nit up over its nose; the little thing was all but dead, but they took\nit up and flitted it home to Thorir\u2019s house, and he brought the lad up,\nand called him Thorkell Rumple; as for the berserkr fits, they came on\nhim no more.\u201d (c. 37)\n\nBut the most remarkable passages bearing on our subject will be found\nin the _Aigla_.\n\nThere was a man, Ulf (the wolf) by name, son of Bj\u00e1lfi and Hallbera.\nUlf was a man so tall and strong that the like of him was not to be\nseen in the land at that time. And when he was young he was out viking\nexpeditions and harrying . . . He was a great landed proprietor. It was\nhis wont to rise early, and to go about the men\u2019s work, or to the\nsmithies, and inspect all his goods and his acres; and sometimes he\ntalked with those men who wanted his advice; for he was a good adviser,\nhe was so clear-headed; however, every day, when it drew towards dusk,\nhe became so savage that few dared exchange a word with him, for he was\ngiven to dozing in the afternoon.\n\n\u201cPeople said that he was much given to changing form (_hamrammr_), so\nhe was called the evening-wolf, _kveld\u00falfr_.\u201d\u2014(c. 1.) In this and the\nfollowing passages, I do not consider _hamrammr_ to have its primary\nsignification of actual transformation, but simply to mean subject to\nfits of diabolical possession, under the influence of which the bodily\npowers were greatly exaggerated. I shall translate pretty freely from\nthis most interesting Saga, as I consider that the description given in\nit of Kveldulf in his fits greatly elucidates our subject.\n\n\u201cKveldulf and Skallagrim got news during summer of an expedition.\nSkallagrim. was the keenest-sighted of men, and he caught sight of the\nvessel of Hallvard and his brother, and recognized it at once. He\nfollowed their course and marked the haven into which they entered at\neven. Then he returned to his company, and told Kveldulf of what he had\nseen . . . . Then they busked them and got ready both their boats; in\neach they put twenty men, Kveldulf steering one and Skallagrim the\nother, and they rowed in quest of the ship. Now when they came to the\nplace where it was, they lay to. Hallvard and his men had spread an\nawning over the deck, and were asleep. Now when Kveldulf and his party\ncame upon them, the watchers who were seated at the end of the bridge\nsprang up and called to the people on board to wake up, for there was\ndanger in the wind. So Hallvard and his men sprang to arms. Then came\nKveldulf over the bridge and Skallagrim with him into the ship.\nKveldulf had in his hand a cleaver, and he bade his men go through the\nvessel and hack away the awning. But he pressed on to the quarter-deck.\nIt is said the were-wolf fit came over him and many of his companions.\nThey slow all the men who were before them. Skallagrim did the same as\nhe went round the vessel. He and his father paused not till they had\ncleared it. Now when Kveldulf came upon the quarter-deck he raised his\ncleaver, and smote Hallvard through helm and head, so that the haft was\nburied in the flesh; but he dragged it to him so violently that he\nwhisked Hallvard into the air., and flung him overboard. Skallagrim\ncleared the forecastle and slew Sigtrygg. Many men flung themselves\noverboard, but Skallagrim\u2019s men took to the boat and rowed about,\nkilling all they found. Thus perished Hallvard with fifty men.\nSkallagrim and his party took the ship and all the goods which had\nbelonged to Hallvard . . . and flitted it and the wares to their own\nvessel, and then exchanged ships, lading their capture, but quitting\ntheir own. After which they filled their old ship with stones, brake it\nup and sank it. A good breeze sprang up, and they stood out to sea.\n\nIt is said of these men in the engagement who were were-wolves, or\nthose on whom came the berserkr rage, that as long as the fit was on\nthem no one could oppose them, they were so strong; but when it had\npassed off they were feebler than usual. It was the same with Kveldulf\nwhen the were-wolf fit went off him\u2014he then felt the exhaustion\nconsequent on the fight, and he was so completely \u2018done up,\u2019 that he\nwas obliged to take to his bed.\u201d\n\nIn like manner Skallagrim had his fits of frenzy, taking after his\namiable father.\n\n\u201cThord and his companion were opposed to Skallagrim in the game, and\nthey were too much for him, he wearied, and the game went better with\nthem. But at dusk, after sunset, it went worse with Egill and Thord,\nfor Skallagrim became so strong that he caught up Thord and cast him\ndown, so that he broke his bones, and that was the death of him. Then\nhe caught at Egill. Thorgerd Br\u00e1k was the name of a servant of\nSkallagrim, who had been foster-mother to Egill. She was a woman of\ngreat stature, strong as a man and a bit of a witch. Br\u00e1k\nexclaimed,\u2014\u2018Skallagrim! are you now falling upon your son?\u2019 (hamaz \u00fe\u00fa\nat syni \u00fe\u00ednum). Then Skallagrim let go his hold of Egill and clutched\nat her. She started aside and fled. Skallagrim. followed. They ran out\nupon Digraness, and she sprang off the headland into the water.\nSkallagrim cast after her a huge stone which struck her between the\nshoulders, and she never rose after it. The place is now called Brak\u2019s\nSound.\u201d\u2014(c. 40.)\n\nLet it be observed that in these passages from the _Aigla_, the words\na\u00f0 hamaz, hamrammr, &c. are used without any intention of conveying the\nidea of a change of bodily shape, though the words taken literally\nassert it. For they are derived from _hamr_, a skin or habit; a word\nwhich has its representatives in other Aryan languages, and is\ntherefore a primitive word expressive of the skin of a beast.\n\nThe Sanskrit ### _carmma_; the Hindustanee ### _cam_, hide or skin; and\n### _camra_, leather; the Persian ### _game_, clothing, disguise; the\nGothic _ham_ or _hams_, skin; and even the Italian _camicia_, and the\nFrench _chemise_, are cognate words.[2]\n\n [2] I shall have more to say on this subject in the chapter on the\n Mythology of Lycanthropy.\n\n\nIt seems probable accordingly that the verb _a\u00f0 hamaz_ was first\napplied to those who wore the skins of savage animals, and went about\nthe country as freebooters; but that popular superstition soon invested\nthem with supernatural powers, and they were supposed to assume the\nforms of the beasts in whose skins they were disguised. The verb then\nacquired the significance \u201cto become a were-wolf, to change shape.\u201d It\ndid not stop there, but went through another change of meaning, and was\nfinally applied to those who were afflicted with paroxysms of madness\nor demoniacal possession.\n\nThis was not the only word connected with were-wolves which helped on\nthe superstition. The word _vargr_, a wolf, had a double significance,\nwhich would be the means of originating many a were-wolf story. _Vargr_\nis the same as _u-argr_, restless; _argr_ being the same as the\nAnglo-Saxon _earg_. _Vargr_ had its double signification in Norse. It\nsignified a wolf, and also a godless man. This _vargr_ is the English\n_were_, in the word were-wolf, and the _garou_ or _varou_ in French.\nThe Danish word for were-wolf is _var-ulf_, the Gothic _vaira-ulf_. In\nthe _Romans de Garin_, it is \u201cLeu warou, sanglante beste.\u201d In the _Vie\nde S. Hildefons_ by Gauthier de Coinsi,\u2014\n\nCil lou desve, cil lou garol,\nCe sunt deable, que saul\nNe puent estre de nos mordre.\n\n\nHere the loup-garou is a devil. The Anglo-Saxons regarded him as an\nevil man: _wearg_, a scoundrel; Gothic _varys_, a fiend. But very often\nthe word meant no more than an outlaw. Pluquet in his _Contes\nPopulaires_ tells us that the ancient Norman laws said of the criminals\ncondemned to outlawry for certain offences, _Wargus esto_: be an\noutlaw!\n\nIn like manner the Lex Ripuaria, tit. 87, \u201cWargus sit, hoe est\nexpulsus.\u201d In the laws of Canute, he is called verevulf. (_Leges\nCanuti_, Schmid, i. 148.) And the Salic Law (tit. 57) orders: \u201cSi quis\ncorpus jam sepultum effoderit, aut expoliaverit, _wargus_ sit.\u201d \u201cIf any\none shall have dug up or despoiled an already buried corpse, let him be\na varg.\u201d\n\nSidonius Apollinaris. says, \u201cUnam feminam quam forte _vargorum_, hoc\nenim nomine indigenas latrunculos nuncupant,\u201d[3] as though the common\nname by which those who lived a freebooter life were designated, was\nvarg.\n\n [3] SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS: Opera, lib. vi. ep. 4.\n\n\nIn like manner Palgrave assures us in his _Rise and Progress of the\nEnglish Commonwealth_, that among the Anglo, Saxons an _utlagh_, or\nout-law, was said to have the head of a wolf. If then the term _vargr_\nwas applied at one time to a wolf, at another to an outlaw who lived\nthe life of a wild beast, away from the haunts of men \u201che shall be\ndriven away as a wolf, and chased so far as men chase wolves farthest,\u201d\nwas the legal form of sentence\u2014it is certainly no matter of wonder that\nstories of out-laws should have become surrounded with mythical\naccounts of their transformation into wolves.\n\nBut the very idiom of the Norse was calculated to foster this\nsuperstition. The Icelanders had curious expressions which are\nsufficiently likely to have produced misconceptions.\n\nSnorri not only relates that Odin changed himself into another form,\nbut he adds that by his spells he turned his enemies into boars. In\nprecisely the same manner does a hag, Ljot, in the Vatnsd\u00e6la Saga, say\nthat she could have turned Thorsteinn and J\u00f6kull into boars to run\nabout with the wild beasts (c. xxvi.); and the expression _ver\u00f0a at\ngjalti_, or at _gj\u00f6ltum_, to become a boar, is frequently met with in\nthe Sagas.\n\n\u201cThereupon came Thorarinn and his men upon them, and Nagli led the way;\nbut when he saw weapons drawn he was frightened, and ran away up the\nmountain, and became a boar. . . . And Thorarinn and his men took to\nrun, so as to help Nagli, lest he should tumble off the cliffs into the\nsea\u201d (Eyrbyggja Saga, c. xviii.) A similar expression occurs in the\nGisla Saga Surssonar, p. 50. In the Hrolfs Saga Kraka, we meet with a\ntroll in boar\u2019s shape, to whom divine honours are paid; and in the\nKjalnessinga Saga, c. xv., men are likened to boars\u2014\u201cThen it began to\nfare with them as it fares with boars when they fight each other, for\nin the same manner dropped their foam.\u201d The true signification of\n_ver\u00f0a at gjalti_ is to be in such a state of fear as to lose the\nsenses; but it is sufficiently peculiar to have given rise to\nsuperstitious stories.\n\nI have dwelt at some length on the Northern myths relative to\nwere-wolves and animal transformations, because I have considered the\ninvestigation of these all-important towards the elucidation of the\ntruth which lies at the bottom of medi\u00e6val superstition, and which is\nnowhere so obtainable as through the Norse literature. As may be seen\nfrom the passages quoted above at length, and from an examination of\nthose merely referred to, the result arrived at is pretty conclusive,\nand may be summed up in very few words.\n\nThe whole superstructure of fable and romance relative to\ntransformation into wild beasts, reposes simply on this basis of\ntruth\u2014that among the Scandinavian nations there existed a form of\nmadness or possession, under the influence of which men acted as though\nthey were changed into wild and savage brutes, howling, foaming at the\nmouth, ravening for blood and slaughter, ready to commit any act of\natrocity, and as irresponsible for their actions as the wolves and\nbears, in whose skins they often equipped themselves.\n\nThe manner in which this fact became invested with supernatural\nadjuncts I have also pointed out, to wit, the change in the\nsignificance of the word designating the madness, the double meaning of\nthe word _vargr_, and above all, the habits and appearance of the\nmaniacs. We shall see instances of berserkr rage reappearing in the\nmiddle ages, and late down into our own times, not exclusively in the\nNorth, but throughout France, Germany, and England, and instead of\nrejecting the accounts given by chroniclers as fabulous, because there\nis much connected with them which seems to be fabulous, we shall be\nable to refer them to their true origin.\n\nIt may be accepted as an axiom, that no superstition of general\nacceptance is destitute of a foundation of truth; and if we discover\nthe myth of the were-wolf to be widely spread, not only throughout\nEurope, but through the whole world, we may rest assured that there is\na solid core of fact, round which popular superstition has\ncrystallized; and that fact is the existence of a species of madness,\nduring the accesses of which the person afflicted believes himself to\nbe a wild beast, and acts like a wild beast.\n\nIn some cases this madness amounts apparently to positive possession,\nand the diabolical acts into which the possessed is impelled are so\nhorrible, that the blood curdles in reading them, and it is impossible\nto recall them without a shudder.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\nTHE WERE-WOLF IN THE MIDDLE-AGES.\n\n\nStories from Olaus Magnus of Livonian Were-wolves\u2014Story from Bishop\nMajolus\u2014Story of Albertus Pericofcius\u2014Similar occurrence at\nPrague\u2014Saint Patrick\u2014Strange incident related by John of\nN\u00fcremberg\u2014Bisclaveret\u2014Courland Were-wolves\u2014Pierre Vidal\u2014Pavian\nLycanthropist\u2014Bodin\u2019s Stories\u2014Forestus\u2019 Account of a\nLycanthropist\u2014Neapolitan Were-wolf\n\n\nOlaus Magnus relates that\u2014\u201cIn Prussia, Livonia, and Lithuania, although\nthe inhabitants suffer considerably from the rapacity of wolves\nthroughout the year, in that these animals rend their cattle, which are\nscattered in great numbers through the woods, whenever they stray in\nthe very least, yet this is not regarded by them as such a serious\nmatter as what they endure from men turned into wolves.\n\n\u201cOn the feast of the Nativity of Christ, at night, such a multitude of\nwolves transformed from men gather together in a certain spot, arranged\namong themselves, and then spread to rage with wondrous ferocity\nagainst human beings, and those animals which are not wild, that the\nnatives of these regions suffer more detriment from these, than they do\nfrom true and natural wolves; for when a human habitation has been\ndetected by them isolated in the woods, they besiege it with atrocity,\nstriving to break in the doors, and in the event of their doing so,\nthey devour all the human beings, and every animal which is found\nwithin. They burst into the beer-cellars, and there they empty the tuns\nof beer or mead, and pile up the empty casks one above another in the\nmiddle of the cellar, thus showing their difference from natural and\ngenuine wolves. . . . Between Lithuania, Livonia, and Courland are the\nwalls of a certain old ruined castle. At this spot congregate\nthousands, on a fixed occasion, and try their agility in jumping. Those\nwho are unable to bound over the wall, as; is often the case with the\nfattest, are fallen upon with scourges by the captains and slain.\u201d[1]\nOlaus relates also in c. xlvii. the story of a certain nobleman who was\ntravelling through a large forest with some peasants in his retinue who\ndabbled in the black art. They found no house where they could lodge\nfor the night, and were well-nigh famished. Then one of the peasants\noffered, if all the rest would hold their tongues as to what he should\ndo, that he would bring them a lamb from a distant flock.\n\n [1] OLAUS MAGNUS: _Historia de Vent. Septent_. Basil. 15, lib. xviii.\n cap. 45.\n\n\nHe thereupon retired into the depths of the forest and changed his form\ninto that of a wolf, fell upon the flock, and brought a lamb to his\ncompanions in his mouth. They received it with gratitude. Then he\nretired once more into the thicket, and transformed himself back again\ninto his human shape.\n\nThe wife of a nobleman in Livonia expressed her doubts to one of her\nslaves whether it were possible for man or woman thus to change shape.\nThe servant at once volunteered to give her evidence of the\npossibility. He left the room, and in another moment a wolf was\nobserved running over the country. The dogs followed him, and\nnotwithstanding his resistance, tore out one of his eyes. Next day the\nslave appeared before his mistress blind of an eye.\n\nBp. Majolus[2] and Caspar Peucer[3] relate the following circumstances\nof the Livonians:\u2014\n\n [2] MAJOLI _Episc. Vulturoniensis Dier. Canicul._ Helenopolis, 1612,\n tom. ii. colloq. 3.\n\n\n [3] CASPAR PEUCER: _Comment. de Pr\u00e6cipuis Divin. Generibus_, 1591, p.\n 169.\n\n\nAt Christmas a boy lame of a leg goes round the country summoning the\ndevil\u2019s followers, who are countless, to a general conclave. Whoever\nremains behind, or goes reluctantly, is scourged by another with an\niron whip till the blood flows, and his traces are left in blood. The\nhuman form vanishes, and the whole multitude become wolves. Many\nthousands assemble. Foremost goes the leader armed with an iron whip,\nand the troop follow, \u201cfirmly convinced in their imaginations that they\nare transformed into wolves.\u201d They fall upon herds of cattle and flocks\nof sheep, but they have no power to slay men. When they come to a\nriver, the leader smites the water with his scourge, and it divides,\nleaving a dry path through the midst, by which the pack may go. The\ntransformation lasts during twelve days, at the expiration of which\nperiod the wolf-skin vanishes, and the human form reappears. This\nsuperstition was expressly forbidden by the church. \u201cCredidisti, quod\nquidam credere solent, ut ill\u00e6 qu\u00e6 a vulgo Parc\u00e6 vocantur, ips\u00e6, vel\nsint vel possint hoc facere quod creduntur, id est, dum aliquis homo\nnascitur, et tunc valeant illum designare ad hoc quod velint, ut\nquandocunque homo ille voluerit, in lupum transformari possit, quod\nvulgaris stultitia, _werwolf_ vocat, aut in aliam aliquam figuram?\u201d\u2014Ap.\nBurchard. (d. 1024). In like manner did S. Boniface preach against\nthose who believed superstitiously in it strigas et fictos lupos.\u201d\n(_Serm_. apud Mart. et Durand. ix. 217.)\n\nIn a dissertation by M\u00fcller[4] we learn, on the authority of Cluverius\nand Dannhaverus (_Acad. Homilet._ p. ii.), that a certain Albertus\nPericofcius in Muscovy was wont to tyrannize over and harass his\nsubjects in the most unscrupulous manner. One night when he was absent\nfrom home, his whole herd of cattle, acquired by extortion, perished.\nOn his return he was informed of his loss, and the wicked man broke out\ninto the most horrible blasphemies, exclaiming, \u201cLet him who has slain,\neat; if God chooses, let him devour me as well.\u201d\n\n [4] De {Greek _Lukan\u00f0rwp\u00eda_}. Lipsi\u00e6, 1736.\n\n\nAs he spoke, drops of blood fell to earth, and the nobleman,\ntransformed into a wild dog, rushed upon his dead cattle, tore and\nmangled the carcasses and began to devour them; possibly he may be\ndevouring them still (_ac forsan hodie que pascitur_). His wife, then\nnear her confinement, died of fear. Of these circumstances there were\nnot only ear but also eye witnesses. (_Non ab auritis tantum, sed et\nocidatis accepi, quod narro_). Similarly it is related of a nobleman in\nthe neighbourhood of Prague, that he robbed his subjects of their goods\nand reduced them to penury through his exactions. He took the last cow\nfrom a poor widow with five children, but as a judgment, all his own\ncattle died. He then broke into fearful oaths, and God transformed him\ninto a dog: his human head, however, remained.\n\nS. Patrick is said to have changed Vereticus, king of Wales, into a\nwolf, and S. Natalis, the abbot, to have pronounced anathema upon an\nillustrious family in Ireland; in consequence of which, every male and\nfemale take the form of wolves for seven years and live in the forests\nand career over the bogs, howling mournfully, and appeasing their\nhunger upon the sheep of the peasants.[5] A duke of Prussia, according\nto Majolus, had a countryman brought for sentence before him, because\nhe had devoured his neighbour\u2019s cattle. The fellow was an ill-favoured,\ndeformed man, with great wounds in his face, which he had received from\ndogs\u2019 bites whilst he had been in his wolf\u2019s form. It was believed that\nhe changed shape twice in the year, at Christmas and at Midsummer. He\nwas said to exhibit much uneasiness and discomfort when the wolf-hair\nbegan to break out and his bodily shape to change.\n\n [5] PHIL. HARTUNG: _Conciones Tergemin\u00e6_, pars ii. p. 367.\n\n\nHe was kept long in prison and closely watched, lest he should become a\nwere-wolf during his confinement and attempt to escape, but nothing\nremarkable took place. If this is the same individual as that mentioned\nby Olaus Magnus, as there seems to be a probability, the poor fellow\nwas burned alive.\n\nJohn of N\u00fcremberg relates the following curious story.[6] A priest was\nonce travelling in a strange country, and lost his way in a forest.\nSeeing a fire, he made towards it, and beheld a wolf seated over it.\nThe wolf addressed him in human-voice, and bade him not fear, as \u201che\nwas of the Ossyrian race, of which a man and a woman were doomed to\nspend a certain number of years in wolf\u2019s form. Only after seven years\nmight they return home and resume their former shapes, if they were\nstill alive.\u201d He begged the priest to visit and console his sick wife,\nand to give her the last sacraments. This the priest consented to do,\nafter some hesitation, and only when convinced of the beasts being\nhuman beings, by observing that the wolf used his front paws as hands,\nand when he saw the she-wolf peel off her wolf-skin from her head to\nher navel, exhibiting the features of an aged woman.\n\n [6] JOHN EUS. NIERENBERG _de Miracul. in Europa_, lib. ii. cap. 42.\n\n\nMarie de France says in the _Lais du Bisclaveret:_\u2014[7]\n\nBisclaveret ad nun en Bretan\nGarwall Papelent li Norman.\n*    *    *    *\nJadis le poet-hum oir\nEt souvent suleit avenir,\nHumes pluseirs Garwall deviendrent\nE es boscages meisun tindrent\n\n\n [7] An epitome of this curious were-wolf tale will be found in Ellis\u2019s\n _Early English Metrical Romances_.\n\n\nThere is an interesting paper by Rhan\u00e6us, on the Courland were-wolves,\nin the _Breslauer Sammlung_.[8] The author says,\u2014\u201cThere are too many\nexamples derived not merely from hearsay, but received on indisputable\nevidence, for us to dispute the fact, that Satan\u2014if we do not deny that\nsuch a being exists, and that he has his work in the children of\ndarkness\u2014holds the Lycanthropists in his net in three ways:\u2014\n\n [8] Supplement III. _Curieuser_ und nutzbarer Anmerkungen von Natur\n und Kunstgeschichten, gesammelt von Kanold. 1728.\n\n\n\u201c1. They execute as wolves certain acts, such as seizing a sheep, or\ndestroying cattle, &c., not changed into wolves, which no scientific\nman in Courland believes, but in their human frames, and with their\nhuman limbs, yet in such a state of phantasy and hallucination, that\nthey believe themselves transformed into wolves, and are regarded as\nsuch by others suffering under similar hallucination, and in this\nmanner run these people in packs as wolves, though not true wolves.\n\n\u201c2. They imagine, in deep sleep or dream, that they injure the cattle,\nand this without leaving their conch; but it is their master who does,\nin their stead, what their fancy points out, or suggests to him.\n\n\u201c3. The evil one drives natural wolves to do some act, and then\npictures it so well to the sleeper, immovable in his place, both in\ndreams and at awaking, that he believes the act to have been committed\nby himself.\u201d\n\nRhan\u00e6us, under these heads, relates three stories, which he believes be\nhas on good authority. The first is of a gentleman starting on a\njourney, who came upon a wolf engaged in the act of seizing a sheep in\nhis own flock; he fired at it, and wounded it, so that it fled howling\nto the thicket. When the gentleman returned from his expedition he\nfound the whole neighbourhood impressed with the belief that he had, on\na given day and hour, shot at one of his tenants, a publican, Mickel.\nOn inquiry, the man\u2019s Wife, called Lebba, related the following\ncircumstances, which were fully corroborated by numerous\nwitnesses:\u2014When her husband had sown his rye he had consulted with his\nwife how he was to get some meat, so as to have a good feast. The woman\nurged him on no account to steal from his landlord\u2019s flock, because it\nwas guarded by fierce dogs. He, however, rejected her advice, and\nMickel fell upon his landlord\u2019s sheep, but he had suffered and had come\nlimping home, and in his rage at the ill success of his attempt, had\nfallen upon his own horse and had bitten its throat completely through.\nThis took place in the year 1684.\n\nIn 1684, a man was about to fire upon a pack of wolves, when he heard\nfrom among the troop a voice exclaiming\u2014\u201cGossip! Gossip! don\u2019t fire. No\ngood will come of it.\u201d\n\nThe third story is as follows:\u2014A lycanthropist was brought before a\njudge and accused of witchcraft, but as nothing could be proved against\nhim, the judge ordered one of his peasants to visit the man in his\nprison, and to worm the truth out of him, and to persuade the prisoner\nto assist him in revenging himself upon another peasant who had injured\nhim; and this was to be effected by destroying one of the man\u2019s cows;\nbut the peasant was to urge the prisoner to do it secretly, and, if\npossible, in the disguise of a wolf. The fellow undertook the task, but\nhe had great difficulty in persuading the prisoner to fall in with his\nwishes: eventually, however, he succeeded. Next morning the cow was\nfound in its stall frightfully mangled, but the prisoner had not left\nhis cell: for the watch, who had been placed to observe him, declared\nthat he had spent the night in profound sleep, and that he had only at\none time made a slight motion with his head and hands and feet.\n\nWierius and Forestus quote Gulielmus Brabantinus as an authority for\nthe fact, that a man of high position had been so possessed by the evil\none, that often during the year he fell into a condition in which he\nbelieved himself to be turned into a wolf, and at that time he roved in\nthe woods and tried to seize and devour little children, but that at\nlast, by God\u2019s mercy, he recovered his senses.\n\nCertainly the famous Pierre Vidal, the Don Quixote of Proven\u00e7al\ntroubadours, must have had a touch of this madness, when, after having\nfallen in love with a lady of Carcassone, named Loba, or the Wolfess,\nthe excess of his passion drove him over the country, howling like a\nwolf, and demeaning himself more like an irrational beast than a\nrational man.\n\nHe commemorates his lupine madness in the poem _A tal Donna_:\u2014[9]\n\n [9] BRUCE WHYTE: _Histoire des Langues Romaines_, tom. ii. p. 248.\n\n\nCrowned with immortal joys I mount\nThe proudest emperors above,\nFor I am honoured with the love\nOf the fair daughter of a count.\nA lace from Na Raymbauda\u2019s hand\nI value more than all the land\nOf Richard, with his Po\u00efctou,\nHis rich Touraine and famed Anjou.\n    When _loup-garou_ the rabble call me,\nWhen vagrant shepherds hoot,\nPursue, and buffet me to boot,\nIt doth not for a moment gall me;\nI seek not palaces or halls,\nOr refuge when the winter falls;\nExposed to winds and frosts at night,\nMy soul is ravished with delight.\n    Me claims my she-wolf (_Loba_) so divine:\nAnd justly she that claim prefers,\nFor, by my troth, my life is hers\nMore than another\u2019s, more than mine.\n\n\nJob Fincelius[10] relates the sad story of a farmer of Pavia, who, as a\nwolf, fell upon many men in the open country and tore them to pieces.\nAfter much trouble the maniac was caught, and he then assured his\ncaptors that the only difference which existed between himself and a\nnatural wolf, was that in a true wolf the hair grew outward, whilst in\nhim it struck inward. In order to put this assertion to the proof, the\nmagistrates, themselves most certainly cruel and bloodthirsty wolves,\ncut off his arms and legs; the poor wretch died of the mutilation. This\ntook place in 1541. The idea of the skin being reversed is a very\nancient one: _versipellis_ occurs as a name of reproach in Petronius,\nLucilius, and Plautus, and resembles the Norse _hamrammr_.\n\n [10] FINCELIUS _de Mirabilibus_, lib. xi.\n\n\nFincelius relates also that, in 1542, there was such a multitude of\nwere-wolves about Constantinople that the Emperor, accompanied by his\nguard, left the city to give them a severe correction, and slew one\nhundred and fifty of them.\n\nSpranger speaks of three young ladies who attacked a labourer, under\nthe form of cats, and were wounded by him. They were found bleeding in\ntheir beds next morning.\n\nMajolus relates that a man afflicted with lycanthropy was brought to\nPomponatius. The poor fellow had been found buried in hay, and when\npeople approached, he called to them to flee, as he was a were wolf,\nand would rend them. The country-folk wanted to flay him, to discover\nwhether the hair grew inwards, but Pomponatius rescued the man and\ncured him.\n\nBodin tells some were-wolf stories on good authority; it is a pity that\nthe good authorities of Bodin were such liars, but that, by the way. He\nsays that the Royal Procurator-General Bourdin had assured him that he\nhad shot a wolf, and that the arrow had stuck in the beast\u2019s thigh. A\nfew hours after, the arrow was found in the thigh of a man in bed. In\nVernon, about the year 1566, the witches and warlocks gathered in great\nmultitudes, under the shape of cats. Four or five men were attacked in\na lone place by a number of these beasts. The men stood their ground\nwith the utmost heroism, succeeded in slaying one puss, and in wounding\nmany others. Next day a number of wounded women were found in the town,\nand they gave the judge an accurate account of all the circumstances\nconnected with their wounding.\n\nBodin quotes Pierre Marner, the author of a treatise on sorcerers, as\nhaving witnessed in Savoy the transformation of men into wolves.\nNynauld[11] relates that in a village of Switzerland, near Lucerne, a\npeasant was attacked by a wolf, whilst he was hewing timber; he\ndefended himself, and smote off a fore-leg of the beast. The moment\nthat the blood began to flow the wolf\u2019s form changed, and he recognized\na woman without her arm. She was burnt alive.\n\n [11] NYNAULD, _De la Lycanthropie_. Paris, 1615, p. 52.\n\n\nAn evidence that beasts are transformed witches is to be found in their\nhaving no tails. When the devil takes human form, however, he keeps his\nclub-foot of the Satyr, as a token by which he may be recognized. So\nanimals deficient in caudal appendages are to be avoided, as they are\nwitches in disguise. The Thingwald should consider the case of the Manx\ncats in its next session.\n\nForestus, in his chapter on maladies of the brain, relates a\ncircumstance which came under his own observation, in the middle of the\nsixteenth century, at Alcmaar in the Netherlands. A peasant there was\nattacked every spring with a fit of insanity; under the influence of\nthis he rushed about the churchyard, ran into the church, jumped over\nthe benches, danced, was filled with fury, climbed up, descended, and\nnever remained quiet. He carried a long staff in his hand, with which\nhe drove away the dogs, which flew at him and wounded him, so that his\nthighs were covered with scars. His face was pale, his eyes deep sunk\nin their sockets. Forestus pronounces the man to be a lycanthropist,\nbut he does not say that the poor fellow believed himself to be\ntransformed into a wolf. In reference to this case, however, he\nmentions that of a Spanish nobleman who believed himself to be changed\ninto a bear, and who wandered filled with fury among the woods.\n\nDonatus of Altomare[12] affirms that he saw a man in the streets of\nNaples, surrounded by a ring of people, who in his were-wolf frenzy had\ndug up a corpse and was carrying off the leg upon his shoulders. This\nwas in the middle of the sixteenth century.\n\n [12] _De Medend. Human. Corp_. lib. i. cap. 9.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\nA CHAMBER OF HORRORS.\n\n\nPierre Bourgot and Michel Verdung\u2014\u2019Me Hermit of S. Bonnot\u2014The Gandillon\nFamily\u2014Thievenne Paget\u2014The Tailor of Ch\u00e2lons\u2014Roulet.\n\n\nIn December, 1521, the Inquisitor-General for the diocese of Besan\u00e7on,\nBoin by name, heard a case of a sufficiently terrible nature to produce\na profound sensation of alarm in the neighbourhood. Two men were under\naccusation of witchcraft and cannibalism. Their names were Pierre\nBourgot, or Peter the Great, as the people had nicknamed him from his\nstature, and Michel Verdung. Peter had not been long under trial,\nbefore he volunteered a full confession of his crimes. It amounted to\nthis:\u2014\n\nAbout nineteen years before, on the occasion of a New Year\u2019s market at\nPoligny, a terrible storm had broken over the country, and among other\nmischiefs done by it, was the scattering of Pierre\u2019s flock. \u201cIn vain,\u201d\nsaid the prisoner, \u201cdid I labour, in company with other peasants, to\nfind the sheep and bring them together. I went everywhere in search of\nthem.\n\n\u201cThen there rode up three black horsemen, and the last said to me:\n\u2018Whither away? you seem to be in trouble?\u2019\n\n\u201cI related to him my misfortune with my flock. He bade me pluck up my\nspirits, and promised that his master would henceforth take charge of\nand protect my flock., if I would only rely upon him. He told me, as\nwell, that I should find my strayed sheep very shortly, and he promised\nto provide me with money. We agreed to meet again in four or five days.\nMy flock I soon found collected together. At my second meeting I\nlearned of the stranger that he was a servant of the devil. I forswore\nGod and our Lady and all saints and dwellers in Paradise. I renounced\nChristianity, kissed his left hand, which was black and ice-cold as\nthat of a corpse. Then I fell on my knees and gave in my allegiance to\nSatan. I remained in the service of the devil for two years, and never\nentered a church before the end of mass, or at all events till the holy\nwater had been sprinkled, according to the desire of my master, whose\nname I afterwards learned was Moyset.\n\n\u201cAll anxiety about my flock was removed, for the devil had undertaken\nto protect it and to keep off the wolves.\n\n\u201cThis freedom from care, however, made me begin to tire of the devil\u2019s\nservice, and I recommenced my attendance at church, till I was brought\nback into obedience to the evil one by Michel Verdung, when I renewed\nmy compact on the understanding that I should be supplied with money.\n\n\u201cIn a wood near Chastel Charnon we met with many others whom I did not\nrecognize; we danced, and each had in his or her hand a green taper\nwith a blue flame. Still under the delusion that I should obtain money,\nMichel persuaded me to move with the greatest celerity, and in order to\ndo this, after I had stripped myself, he smeared me with a salve, and I\nbelieved myself then to be transformed into a wolf. I was at first\nsomewhat horrified at my four wolf\u2019s feet, and the fur with which I was\ncovered all at once, but I found that I could now travel with the speed\nof the wind. This could not have taken place without the help of our\npowerful master, who was present during our excursion, though I did not\nperceive him till I had recovered my human form. Michel did the same as\nmyself.\n\n\u201cWhen we had been one or two hours in this condition of metamorphosis,\nMichel smeared us again, and quick as thought we resumed our human\nforms. The salve was given us by our masters; to me it was given by\nMoyset, to Michel by his own master, Guillemin.\u201d\n\nPierre declared that he felt no exhaustion after his excursions, though\nthe judge inquired particularly whether he felt that prostration after\nhis unusual exertion, of which witches usually complained. Indeed the\nexhaustion consequent on a were-wolf raid was so great that the\nlycanthropist was often confined to his bed for days, and could hardly\nmove hand or foot, much in the same way as the berserkir and _ham\nrammir_ in the North were utterly prostrated after their fit had left\nthem.\n\nIn one of his were-wolf runs, Pierre fell upon a boy of six or seven\nyears old, with his teeth, intending to rend and devour him, but the\nlad screamed so loud that he was obliged to beat a retreat to his\nclothes, and smear himself again, in order to recover his form and\nescape detection. He and Michel, however, one day tore to pieces a\nwoman as she was gathering peas; and a M. de Chusn\u00e9e, who came to her\nrescue, was attacked by them and killed.\n\nOn another occasion they fell upon a little girl of four years old, and\nate her up, with the exception of one arm. Michel thought the flesh\nmost delicious.\n\nAnother girl was strangled by them, and her blood lapped up. Of a third\nthey ate merely a portion of the stomach. One evening at dusk, Pierre\nleaped over a garden wall, and came upon a little maiden of nine years\nold, engaged upon the weeding of the garden beds. She fell on her knees\nand entreated Pierre to spare her; but he snapped the neck, and left\nher a corpse, lying among her flowers. On this occasion he does not\nseem to have been in his wolf\u2019s shape. He fell upon a goat which he\nfound in the field of Pierre Lerugen, and bit it in the throat, but he\nkilled it with a knife.\n\nMichel was transformed in his clothes into a wolf, but Pierre was\nobliged to strip, and the metamorphosis could not take place with him\nunless he were stark naked.\n\nHe was unable to account for the manner in which the hair vanished when\nhe recovered his natural condition.\n\nThe statements of Pierre Bourgot were fully corroborated by Michel\nVerdung.\n\nTowards the close of the autumn of 1573, the peasants of the\nneighbourhood of D\u00f4le, in Franche Comt\u00e9, were authorized by the Court\nof Parliament at D\u00f4le, to hunt down the were-wolves which infested the\ncountry. The authorization was as follows:\u2014 \u201cAccording to the\nadvertisement made to the sovereign Court of Parliament at Dole, that,\nin the territories of Espagny, Salvange, Courchapon, and the\nneighbouring villages, has often been seen and met, for some time past,\na were-wolf, who, it is said, has already seized and carried off\nseveral little children, so that they have not been seen since, and\nsince he has attacked and done injury in the country to some horsemen,\nwho kept him of only with great difficulty and danger to their persons:\nthe said Court, desiring to prevent any greater danger, has permitted,\nand does permit, those who are abiding or dwelling in the said places\nand others, notwithstanding all edicts concerning the chase, to\nassemble with pikes, halberts, arquebuses, and sticks, to chase and to\npursue the said were-wolf in every place where they may find or seize\nhim; to tie and to kill, without incurring any pains or penalties. . .\n. Given at the meeting of the said Court, on the thirteenth day of the\nmonth September, 1573.\u201d It was some time, however, before the\nloup-garou was caught.\n\nIn a retired spot near Amanges, half shrouded in trees, stood a small\nhovel of the rudest construction; its roof was of turf, and its walls\nwere blotched with lichen. The garden to this cot was run to waste, and\nthe fence round it broken through. As the hovel was far from any road,\nand was only reached by a path over moorland and through forest, it was\nseldom visited, and the couple who lived in it were not such as would\nmake many friends. The man, Gilles Garnier, was a sombre, ill-looking\nfellow, who walked in a stooping attitude, and whose pale face, livid\ncomplexion, and deep-set eyes under a pair of coarse and bushy brows,\nwhich met across the forehead, were sufficient to repel any one from\nseeking his acquaintance. Gilles seldom spoke, and when he did it was\nin the broadest patois of his country. His long grey beard and retiring\nhabits procured for him the name of the Hermit of St. Bonnot, though no\none for a moment attributed to him any extraordinary amount of\nsanctity.\n\nThe hermit does not seem to have been suspected for some time, but one\nday, as some of the peasants of Chastenoy were returning home from\ntheir work, through the forest, the screams of a child and the deep\nbaying of a wolf, attracted their notice, and on running in the\ndirection whence the cries sounded, they found a little girl defending\nherself against a monstrous creature, which was attacking her tooth and\nnail, and had already wounded her severely in five places. As the\npeasants came up, the creature fled on all fours into the gloom of the\nthicket; it was so dark that it could not be identified with certainty,\nand whilst some affirmed that it was a wolf, others thought they had\nrecognized the features of the hermit. This took place on the 8th\nNovember.\n\nOn the 14th a little boy of ten years old was missing, who had been\nlast seen at a short distance from the gates of Dole.\n\nThe hermit of S. Bonnot was now seized and brought to trial at Dole,\nwhen the following evidence was extracted from him and his wife, and\nsubstantiated in many particulars by witnesses.\n\nOn the last day of Michaelmas, under the form of a wolf, at a mile from\nDole, in the farm of Gorge, a vineyard belonging to Chastenoy, near the\nwood of La Serre, Gilles Gamier had attacked a little maiden of ten or\ntwelve years old, and had slain her with his teeth and claws; he had\nthen drawn her into the wood, stripped her, gnawed the flesh from her\nlegs and arms, and had enjoyed his meal so much, that, inspired with\nconjugal affection, he had brought some of the flesh home for his wife\nApolline.\n\nEight days after the feast of All Saints, again in the form of a\nwere-wolf, he had seized another girl, near the meadow land of La\nPouppe, on the territory of Athume and Chastenoy, and was on the point\nof slaying and devouring her, when three persons came up, and he was\ncompelled to escape. On the fourteenth day after All Saints, also as a\nwolf, he had attacked a boy of ten years old, a mile from D\u00f4le, between\nGredisans and Menot\u00e9, and had strangled him. On that occasion he had\neaten all the flesh off his legs and arms, and had also devoured a\ngreat part of the belly; one of the legs he had rent completely from\nthe trunk with his fangs.\n\nOn the Friday before the last feast of S. Bartholomew, he had seized a\nboy of twelve or thirteen, under a large pear-trees near the wood of\nthe village Perrouze, and had drawn him into the thicket and killed\nhim, intending to eat him as he had eaten the other children, but the\napproach of men hindered him from fulfilling his intention. The boy\nwas, however, quite dead, and the men who came up declared that Gilles\nappeared as a man and not as a wolf. The hermit of S. Bonnot was\nsentenced to be dragged to the place of public execution, and there to\nbe burned alive, a sentence which was rigorously carried out.\n\nIn this instance the poor maniac fully believed that actual\ntransformation into a wolf took place; he was apparently perfectly\nreasonable on other points, and quite conscious of the acts he had\ncommitted.\n\nWe come now to a more remarkable circumstance, the affliction of a\nwhole family with the same form of insanity. Our information is derived\nfrom Boguet\u2019s _Discours de Sorciers_, 1603-1610.\n\nPernette Gandillon was a poor girl in the Jura, who in 1598 ran about\nthe country on all fours, in the belief that she was a wolf. One day as\nshe was ranging the country in a fit of lycanthropic madness, she came\nupon two children who were plucking wild strawberries. Filled with a\nsudden passion for blood, she flew at the little girl and would have\nbrought her down, had not her brother, a lad of four years old,\ndefended her lustily with a knife. Pernette, however, wrenched the\nweapon from his tiny hand, flung him down and gashed his throat, so\nthat he died of the wound. Pernette was tom to pieces by the people in\ntheir rage and horror.\n\nDirectly after, Pierre, the brother of Pernette Gandillon, was accused\nof witchcraft. He was charged with having led children to the sabbath,\nhaving made hail, and having run about the country in the form of a\nwolf. The transformation was effected by means of a salve which he had\nreceived from the devil. He had on one occasion assumed the form of a\nhare, but usually he appeared as a wolf, and his skin became covered\nwith shaggy grey hair. He readily acknowledged that the charges brought\nagainst him were well founded, and he allowed that he had, during the\nperiod of his transformation, fallen on, and devoured, both beasts and\nhuman beings. When he desired to recover his true form, he rolled\nhimself in the dewy grass. His son Georges asserted that he had also\nbeen anointed with the salve, and had gone to the sabbath in the shape\nof a wolf. According to his own testimony, he had fallen upon two goats\nin one of his expeditions.\n\nOne Maundy-Thursday night he had lain for three hours in his bed in a\ncataleptic state, and at the end of that time had sprung out of bed.\nDuring this period he had been in the form of a wolf to the witches\u2019\nsabbath.\n\nHis sister Antoinnette confessed that she had made hail, and that she\nhad sold herself to the devil, who had appeared to her in the shape of\na black he-goat. She had been to the sabbath on several occasions.\n\nPierre and Georges in prison behaved as maniacs, running on all fours\nabout their cells and howling dismally. Their faces, arms, and legs\nwere frightfully scarred with the wounds they had received from dogs\nwhen they had been on their raids. Boguet accounts for the\ntransformation not taking place, by the fact of their not having the\nnecessary salves by them.\n\nAll three, Pierre, Georges, and Antoinnette, were hung and burned.\n\nThievenne Paget, who was a witch of the most unmistakable character,\nwas also frequently changed into a she-wolf, according to her own\nconfession, in which state she had often accompanied the devil over\nhill and dale, slaying cattle, and falling on and devouring children.\nThe same thing may be said of Clauda Isan Prost, a lame woman, Clauda\nIsan Guillaume, and Isan Roquet, who owned to the murder of five\nchildren.\n\nOn the 14th of December, in the same year as the execution of the\nGandillon family (1598), a tailor of Ch\u00e2lons was sentenced to the\nflames by the Parliament of Paris for lycanthropy. This wretched man\nhad decoyed children into his shop, or attacked them in the gloaming\nwhen they strayed in the woods, had torn them with his teeth, and\nkilled them, after which he seems calmly to have dressed their flesh as\nordinary meat, and to have eaten it with great relish. The number of\nlittle innocents whom he destroyed is unknown. A whole cask full of\nbones was discovered in his house. The man was perfectly hardened, and\nthe details of his trial were so full of horrors and abominations of\nall kinds, that the judges ordered the documents to be burned.\n\nAgain in 1598, a year memorable in the annals of lycanthropy, a trial\ntook place in Angers, the details of which are very terrible.\n\nIn a wild and unfrequented spot near Caude, some countrymen came one\nday upon the corpse of a boy of fifteen, horribly mutilated and\nbespattered with blood. As the men approached, two wolves, which had\nbeen rending the body, bounded away into the thicket. The men gave\nchase immediately, following their bloody tracks till they lost them;\nwhen suddenly crouching among the bushes, his teeth chattering with\nfear, they found a man half naked, with long hair and beard, and with\nhis hands dyed in blood. His nails were long as claws, and were clotted\nwith fresh gore, and shreds of human flesh.\n\nThis is one of the most puzzling and peculiar cases which come under\nour notice.\n\nThe wretched man, whose name was Roulet, of his own accord stated that\nhe had fallen upon the lad and had killed him by smothering him, and\nthat he had been prevented from devouring the body completely by the\narrival of men on the spot.\n\nRoulet proved on investigation to be a beggar from house to house, in\nthe most abject state of poverty. His companions in mendicity were his\nbrother John and his cousin Julien. He had been given lodging out of\ncharity in a neighbouring village, but before his apprehension he had\nbeen absent for eight days.\n\nBefore the judges, Roulet acknowledged that he was able to transform\nhimself into a wolf by means of a salve which his parents had given\nhim. When questioned about the two wolves which had been seen leaving\nthe corpse, he said that he knew perfectly well who they were, for they\nwere his companions, Jean and Julian, who possessed the same secret as\nhimself. He was shown the clothes he had worn on the day of his\nseizure, and he recognized them immediately; he described the boy whom\nhe had murdered, gave the date correctly, indicated the precise spot\nwhere the deed had been done, and recognized the father of the boy as\nthe man who had first run up when the screams of the lad had been\nheard. In prison, Roulet behaved like an idiot. When seized, his belly\nwas distended and hard; in prison he drank one evening a whole pailful\nof water, and from that moment refused to eat or drink.\n\nHis parents, on inquiry, proved to be respectable and pious people, and\nthey proved that his brother John and his cousin Julien had been\nengaged at a distance on the day of Roulet\u2019s apprehension.\n\n\u201cWhat is your name, and what your estate?\u201d asked the judge, Pierre\nH\u00e9rault.\n\n\u201cMy name is Jacques Roulet, my age thirty-five; I am poor, and a\nmendicant.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you accused of having done?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf being a thief\u2014of having offended God. My parents gave me an\nointment; I do not know its composition.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen rubbed with this ointment do you become a wolf?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; but for all that, I killed and ate the child Cornier: I was a\nwolf.\u201d\n\n\u201cWere you dressed as a wolf?\u201d\n\n\u201cI was dressed as I am now. I had my hands and my face bloody, because\nI had been eating the flesh of the said child.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo your hands and feet become paws of a wolf?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, they do.\u201d\n\n\u201cDoes your head become like that of a wolf-your mouth become larger?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not know how my head was at the time; I used my teeth; my head\nwas as it is to-day. I have wounded and eaten many other little\nchildren; I have also been to the sabbath.\u201d\n\nThe _lieutenant criminel_ sentenced Roulet to death. He, however,\nappealed to the Parliament at Paris; and this decided that as there was\nmore folly in the poor idiot than malice and witchcraft, his sentence\nof death should be commuted to two years\u2019 imprisonment in a madhouse,\nthat he might be instructed in the knowledge of God, whom he had\nforgotten in his utter poverty.[1]\n\n [1] \u201cLa cour du Parliament, par arr\u00eat, mist l\u2019appellation et la\n sentence dont il avoit est\u00e9 appel au n\u00e9ant, et, n\u00e9anmoins, ordonna que\n le dit Roulet serait mis \u00e0 l\u2019hospital Saint Germain des Pr\u00e9s, o\u00f9 on a\n accoustum\u00e9 de mettre les folz, pour y demeurer l\u2019espace de deux ans,\n afin d\u2019y estre instruit et redress\u00e9 tant de son esprit, que ramen\u00e9 \u00e0\n la cognoissance de Dieu, que l\u2019extr\u00eame pauvret\u00e9 lui avoit fait\n mescognoistre.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\nJEAN GRENIER\n\n\nOn the Sand-dunes\u2014A Wolf attacks Marguerite Poirier\u2014Jean Grenier\nbrought to Trial\u2014His Confessions\u2014Charges of Cannibalism proved\u2014His\nSentence\u2014Behaviour in the Monastery\u2014Visit of Del\u2019ancre.\n\n\nOne fine afternoon in the spring, some village girls were tending their\nsheep on the sand-dunes which intervene between the vast forests of\npine covering the greater portion of the present department of _Landes_\nin the south of France, and the sea.\n\nThe brightness of the sky, the freshness of the air puffing up off the\nblue twinkling Bay of Biscay, the hum or song of the wind as it made\nrich music among the pines which stood like a green uplifted wave on\nthe East, the beauty of the sand-hills speckled with golden cistus, or\npatched with gentian-blue, by the low growing _Gremille couch\u00e9e_, the\ncharm of the forest-skirts, tinted variously with the foliage of\ncork-trees, pines, and acacia, the latter in full bloom, a pile of\nrose-coloured or snowy flowers,\u2014all conspired to fill the peasant\nmaidens with joy, and to make their voices rise in song and laughter,\nwhich rung merrily over the hills, and through the dark avenues of\nevergreen trees.\n\nNow a gorgeous butterfly attracted their attention, then a flight of\nquails skimming the surface.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed Jacquiline Auzun,\u201d ah, if I had my stilts and bats, I\nwould strike the little birds down, and we should have a fine supper.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, if they would fly ready cooked into one\u2019s mouth, as they do in\nforeign parts!\u201d said another girl.\n\n\u201cHave you got any new clothes for the S. Jean?\u201d asked a third; \u201cmy\nmother has laid by to purchase me a smart cap with gold lace.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will turn the head of Etienne altogether, Annette!\u201d said Jeanne\nGaboriant. \u201cBut what is the matter with the sheep?\u201d\n\nShe asked because the sheep which had been quietly browsing before her,\non reaching a small depression in the dune, had started away as though\nfrightened at something. At the same time one of the dogs began to\ngrowl and show his fangs.\n\nThe girls ran to the spot, and saw a little fall in the ground, in\nwhich, seated on a log of fir, was a boy of thirteen. The appearance of\nthe lad was peculiar. His hair was of a tawny red and thickly matted,\nfalling over his shoulders and completely covering his narrow brow. His\nsmall pale-grey eyes twinkled with an expression of horrible ferocity\nand cunning, from deep sunken hollows. The complexion was of a dark\nolive colour; the teeth were strong and white, and the canine teeth\nprotruded over the lower lip when the mouth was closed. The boy\u2019s hands\nwere large and powerful, the nails black and pointed like bird\u2019s\ntalons. He was ill clothed, and seemed to be in the most abject\npoverty. The few garments he had on him were in tatters, and through\nthe rents the emaciation of his limbs was plainly visible.\n\nThe girls stood round him, half frightened and much surprised, but the\nboy showed no symptoms of astonishment. His face relaxed into a ghastly\nleer, which showed the whole range of his glittering white fangs.\n\n\u201cWell, my maidens,\u201d said he in a harsh voice, \u201cwhich of you is the\nprettiest, I should like to know; can you decide among you?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want to know for?\u201d asked Jeanne Gaboriant, the eldest of\nthe girls, aged eighteen, who took upon herself to be spokesman for the\nrest.\n\n\u201cBecause I shall marry the prettiest,\u201d was the answer.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said Jeanne jokingly; \u201cthat is if she will have you, which is not\nvery likely, as we none of us know you, or anything about you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the son of a priest,\u201d replied the boy curtly.\n\n\u201cIs that why you look so dingy and black?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, I am dark-coloured, because I wear a wolf-skin sometimes.\u201d\n\n\u201cA wolf-skin!\u201d echoed the girl; \u201cand pray who gave it you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOne called Pierre Labourant.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere is no man of that name hereabouts. Where does he live?\u201d\n\nA scream of laughter mingled with howls, and breaking into strange\ngulping bursts of fiendlike merriment from the strange boy.\n\nThe little girls recoiled, and the youngest took refuge behind Jeanne.\n\n\u201cDo you want to know Pierre Labourant, lass? Hey, he is a man with an\niron chain about his neck, which he is ever engaged in gnawing. Do you\nwant to know where he lives, lass? Ha., in a place of gloom and fire,\nwhere there are many companions, some seated on iron chairs, burning,\nburning; others stretched on glowing beds, burning too. Some cast men\nupon blazing coals, others roast men before fierce flames, others again\nplunge them into caldrons of liquid fire.\u201d\n\nThe girls trembled and looked at each other with scared faces, and then\nagain at the hideous being which crouched before them.\n\n\u201cYou want to know about the wolf-skin cape?\u201d continued he. \u201cPierre\nLabourant gave me that; he wraps it round me, and every Monday, Friday,\nand Sunday, and for about an hour at dusk every other day, I am a wolf,\na were-wolf. I have killed dogs and drunk their blood; but little girls\ntaste better, their flesh is tender and sweet, their blood rich and\nwarm. I have eaten many a maiden, as I have been on my raids together\nwith my nine companions. I am a were-wolf! Ah, ha! if the sun were to\nset I would soon fall on one of you and make a meal of you!\u201d Again he\nburst into one of his frightful paroxysms of laughter, and the girls\nunable to endure it any longer, fled with precipitation.\n\nNear the village of S. Antoine de Pizon, a little girl of the name of\nMarguerite Poirier, thirteen years old, was in the habit of tending her\nsheep, in company with a lad of the same age, whose name was Jean\nGrenier. The same lad whom Jeanne Gaboriant had questioned.\n\nThe little girl often complained to her parents of the conduct of the\nboy: she said that he frightened her with his horrible stories; but her\nfather and mother thought little of her complaints, till one day she\nreturned home before her usual time so thoroughly alarmed that she had\ndeserted her flock. Her parents now took the matter up and investigated\nit. Her story was as follows:\u2014\n\nJean had often told her that he had sold himself to the devil, and that\nhe had acquired the power of ranging the country after dusk, and\nsometimes in broad day, in the form of a wolf. He had assured her that\nhe had killed and devoured many dogs, but that he found their flesh\nless palatable than the flesh of little girls, which he regarded as a\nsupreme delicacy. He had told her that this had been tasted by him not\nunfrequently, but he had specified only two instances: in one he had\neaten as much as he could, and had thrown the rest to a wolf, which had\ncome up during the repast. In the other instance he had bitten to death\nanother little girl, had lapped her blood, and, being in a famished\ncondition at the time, had devoured every portion of her, with the\nexception of the arms and shoulders.\n\nThe child told her parents, on the occasion of her return home in a fit\nof terror, that she had been guiding her sheep as usual, but Grenier\nhad not been present. Hearing a rustle in the bushes she had looked\nround, and a wild beast bad leaped upon her, and torn her clothes on\nher left side with its sharp fangs. She added that she had defended\nherself lustily with her shepherd\u2019s staff, and had beaten the creature\noff. It had then retreated a few paces, had seated itself on its hind\nlegs like a dog when it is begging, and had regarded her with such a\nlook of rage, that she had fled in terror. She described the animal as\nresembling a wolf, but as being shorter and stouter; its hair was red,\nits tail stumpy, and the head smaller than that of a genuine wolf.\n\nThe statement of the child produced general consternation in the\nparish. It was well known that several little girls had vanished in a\nmost mysterious way of late, and the parents of these little ones were\nthrown into an agony of terror lest their children had become the prey\nof the wretched boy accused by Marguerite Poirier. The case was now\ntaken up by the authorities and brought before the parliament of\nBordeaux.\n\nThe investigation which followed was as complete as could be desired.\n\nJean Grenier was the son of a poor labourer in the village of S.\nAntoine do Pizon, and not the son of a priest, as he had asserted.\nThree months before his seizure he had left home, and had been with\nseveral masters doing odd work, or wandering about the country begging.\nHe had been engaged several times to take charge of the flocks\nbelonging to farmers, and had as often been discharged for neglect of\nhis duties. The lad exhibited no reluctance to communicate all he knew\nabout himself, and his statements were tested one by one, and were\noften proved to be correct.\n\nThe story he related of himself before the court was as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cWhen I was ten or eleven years old, my neighbour, Duthillaire,\nintroduced me, in the depths of the forest, to a M. de la Forest, a\nblack man, who signed me with his nail, and then gave to me and\nDuthillaire a salve and a wolf-skin. From that time have I run about\nthe country as a wolf.\n\n\u201cThe charge of Marguerite Poirier is correct. My intention was to have\nkilled and devoured her, but she kept me off with a stick. I have only\nkilled one dog, a white one, and I did not drink its blood.\u201d\n\nWhen questioned touching the children, whom he said he had killed and\neaten as a wolf, he allowed that he had once entered an empty house on\nthe way between S. Coutras and S. Anlaye, in a small village, the name\nof which he did not remember, and had found a child asleep in its\ncradle; and as no one was within to hinder him, he dragged the baby out\nof its cradle, carried it into the garden, leaped the hedge, and\ndevoured as much of it as satisfied his hunger. What remained he had\ngiven to a wolf. In the parish of S. Antoine do Pizon he had attacked a\nlittle girl, as she was keeping sheep. She was dressed in a black\nfrock; he did not know her name. He tore her with his nails and teeth,\nand ate her. Six weeks before his capture he had fallen upon another\nchild, near the stone-bridge, in the same parish. In Eparon he had\nassaulted the hound of a certain M. Millon, and would have killed the\nbeast, had not the owner come out with his rapier in his hand.\n\nJean said that he had the wolf-skin in his possession, and that he went\nout hunting for children, at the command of his master, the Lord of the\nForest. Before transformation he smeared himself with the salve, which\nbe preserved in a small pot, and hid his clothes in the thicket.\n\nHe usually ran his courses from one to two hours in the day, when the\nmoon was at the wane, but very often he made his expeditions at night.\nOn one occasion he had accompanied Duthillaire, but they had killed no\none.\n\nHe accused his father of having assisted him, and of possessing a\nwolf-skin; he charged him also with having accompanied him on one\noccasion, when he attacked and ate a girl in the village of Grilland,\nwhom he had found tending a flock of geese. He said that his stepmother\nwas separated from his father. He believed the reason to be, because\nshe had seen him once vomit the paws of a dog and the fingers of a\nchild. He added that the Lord of the Forest had strictly forbidden him\nto bite the thumb-nail of his left hand, which nail was thicker and\nlonger than the others, and had warned him never to lose sight of it,\nas long as he was in his were-wolf disguise.\n\nDuthillaire was apprehended, and the father of Jean Grenier himself\nclaimed to be heard by examination.\n\nThe account given by the father and stepmother of Jean coincided in\nmany particulars with the statements made by their son.\n\nThe localities where Grenier declared he had fallen on children were\nidentified, the times when he said the deeds had been done accorded\nwith the dates given by the parents of the missing little ones, when\ntheir losses had occurred.\n\nThe wounds which Jean affirmed that he had made, and the manner in\nwhich he had dealt them, coincided with the descriptions given by the\nchildren he had assaulted.\n\nHe was confronted with Marguerite Poirier, and he singled her out from\namong five other girls, pointed to the still open gashes in her body,\nand stated that he had made them with his teeth, when he attacked her\nin wolf-form, and she had beaten him off with a stick. He described an\nattack he had made on a little boy whom he would have slain, had not a\nman come to the rescue, and exclaimed, \u201cI\u2019ll have you presently.\u201d\n\nThe man who saved the child was found, and proved to be the uncle of\nthe rescued lad, and he corroborated the statement of Grenier, that he\nhad used the words mentioned above.\n\nJean was then confronted with his father. He now began to falter in his\nstory, and to change his statements. The examination had lasted long,\nand it was seen that the feeble intellect of the boy was wearied out,\nso the case was adjourned. When next confronted with the elder Grenier,\nJean told his story as at first, without changing it in any important\nparticular.\n\nThe fact of Jean Grenier having killed and eaten several children, and\nof his having attacked and wounded others, with intent to take their\nlife, were fully established; but there was no proof whatever of the\nfather having had the least hand in any of the murders, so that he was\ndismissed the court without a shadow of guilt upon him.\n\nThe only witness who corroborated the assertion of Jean that he changed\nhis shape into that of a wolf was Marguerite Poirier.\n\nBefore the court gave judgment, the first president of assize, in an\neloquent speech, put on one side all questions of witchcraft and\ndiabolical compact, and bestial transformation, and boldly stated that\nthe court had only to consider the age and the imbecility of the child,\nwho was so dull and idiotic\u2014that children of seven or eight years old\nhave usually a larger amount of reason than he. The president went on\nto say that Lycanthropy and Kuanthropy were mere hallucinations, and\nthat the change of shape existed only in the disorganized brain of the\ninsane, consequently it was not a crime which could be punished. The\ntender age of the boy must be taken into consideration, and the utter\nneglect of his education and moral development. The court sentenced\nGrenier to perpetual imprisonment within the walls of a monastery at\nBordeaux, where he might be instructed in his Christian and moral\nobligations; but any attempt to escape would be punished with death.\n\nA pleasant companion for the monks! a promising pupil for them to\ninstruct! No sooner was he admitted into the precincts of the religious\nhouse, than he ran frantically about the cloister and gardens upon all\nfours, and finding a heap of bloody and raw offal, fell upon it and\ndevoured it in an incredibly short space of time.\n\nDelancre visited him seven years after, and found him diminutive in\nstature, very shy, and unwilling to look any one in the face. His eyes\nwere deep set and restless; his teeth long and protruding; his nails\nblack, and in places worn away; his mind was completely barren; he\nseemed unable to comprehend the smallest things. He related his story\nto Delancre, and told him how he had run about formerly in the woods as\na wolf, and he said that he still felt a craving for raw flesh,\nespecially for that of little girls, which he said was delicious, and\nhe added that but for his confinement it would not be long before he\ntasted it again. He said that the Lord of the Forest had visited him\ntwice in the prison, but that he had driven him off with the sign of\nthe cross. The account be then gave of his murders coincided exactly\nwith what had come out in his trial; and beside this, his story of the\ncompact he had made with the Black One, and the manner in which his\ntransformation was effected, also coincided with his former statements.\n\nHe died at the age of twenty, after an imprisonment of seven years,\nshortly after Delancre\u2019s visit.[1]\n\n [1] DELANCRE: _Tableau de l\u2019Inconstance_, p 305.\n\n\nIn the two cases of Roulet and Grenier the courts referred the whole\nmatter of Lycanthropy, or animal transformation, to its true and\nlegitimate cause, an aberration of the brain. From this time medical\nmen seem to have regarded it as a form of mental malady to be brought\nunder their treatment, rather than as a crime to be punished by law.\nBut it is very fearful to contemplate that there may still exist\npersons in the world filled with a morbid craving for human blood,\nwhich is ready to impel them to commit the most horrible atrocities,\nshould they escape the vigilante of their guards, or break the bars of\nthe madhouse which restrains them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\nFOLK-LORE RELATING TO WERE-WOLVES.\n\n\nBarrenness of English Folk-lore\u2014Devonshire Traditions\u2014Derivation of\nWere-wolf\u2014Cannibalism in Scotland\u2014The Angus Robber\u2014The Carle of\nPerth\u2014French Superstitions\u2014Norwegian Traditions\u2014Danish Tales of\nWere-wolves\u2014Holstein Stories\u2014The Werewolf in the Netherlands\u2014Among the\nGreeks; the Serbs; the White Russians; the Poles; the Russians\u2014A\nRussian Receipt for becoming a Were-wolf\u2014The Bohemian Vlkodlak\u2014Armenian\nStory\u2014Indian Tales\u2014Abyssinian Budas\u2014American Transformation Tales\u2014A\nSlovakian Household Tale\u2014Similar Greek, B\u00e9arnais, and Icelandic Tales.\n\n\nEnglish folk-lore is singularly barren of were-wolf stories, the reason\nbeing that wolves had been extirpated from England under the\nAnglo-Saxon kings, and therefore ceased to be objects of dread to the\npeople. The traditional belief in were-wolfism must, however, have\nremained long in the popular mind, though at present it has\ndisappeared, for the word occurs in old ballads and romances. Thus in\nKempion\u2014\n\nO was it _war-wolf_ in the wood?\n    Or was it mermaid in the sea?\nOr was it man, or vile woman,\n    My ain true love, that mis-shaped thee?\n\n\nThere is also the romance of _William and the Were-wolf_ in\nHartshorn;[1] but this professes to be a translation from the French:\u2014\n\n [1] HARTSHORN: _Ancient Metrical Tales_, p. 256. See also \u201cThe Witch\n Cake,\u201d in CRUMEK\u2019S _Remains of Nithsdale Song_.\n\n\nFor he of Frenche this fayre tale ferst dede translate,\nIn ese of Englysch men in Englysch speche.\n\n\nIn the popular mind the cat or the hare have taken the place of the\nwolf for witches\u2019 transformation, and we hear often of the hags\nattending the devil\u2019s Sabbath in these forms.\n\nIn Devonshire they range the moors in the shape of black dogs, and I\nknow a story of two such creatures appearing in an inn and nightly\ndrinking the cider, till the publican shot a silver button over their\nheads, when they were instantly transformed into two ill-favoured old\nladies of his acquaintance. On Heathfield, near Tavistock, the wild\nhuntsman rides by full moon with his \u201cwush hounds;\u201d and a white hare\nwhich they pursued was once rescued by a goody returning from market,\nand discovered to be a transformed young lady.\n\nGervaise of Tilbury says in his _Otia Imperalia_\u2014\n\n\u201cVidimus frequenter in Anglia, per lunationes, homines in lupos mutari,\nquod hominum genus _gerulfos_ Galli vocant, Angli vero _wer-wlf,_\ndicunt: _wer_ enim Anglice virum sonat, _wlf_, lupum.\u201d Gervaise may be\nright in his derivation of the name, and were-wolf may mean man-wolf,\nthough I have elsewhere given a different derivation, and one which I\nsuspect is truer. But Gervaise has grounds for his assertion that _w\u00e9r_\nsignifies man; it is so in Anglo-Saxon, _vair_ in Gothic, _vir_ in\nLatin, _verr_, in Icelandic, _v\u00eera_, Zend, _wirs_, old Prussian,\n_wirs_, Lettish, _v\u00eera_, Sanskrit, _b\u00eer_, Bengalee.\n\nThere have been cases of cannibalism in Scotland, but no bestial\ntransformation is hinted at in connection with them.\n\nThus B\u0153thius, in his history of Scotland, tells us of a robber and his\ndaughter who devoured children, and Lindsay of Pitscottie gives a full\naccount.\n\n\u201cAbout this time (1460) there was ane brigand ta\u2019en with his haill\nfamily, who haunted a place in Angus. This mischievous man had ane\nexecrable fashion to take all young men and children he could steal\naway quietly, or tak\u2019 away without knowledge, and eat them, and the\nyounger they were, esteemed them the mair tender and delicious. For the\nwhilk cause and damnable abuse, he with his wife and bairns were all\nburnt, except ane young wench of a year old who was saved and brought\nto Dandee, where she was brought up and fostered; and when she came to\na woman\u2019s years, she was condemned and burnt quick for that crime. It\nis said that when she was coming to the place of execution, there\ngathered ane huge multitude of people, and specially of women, cursing\nher that she was so unhappy to commit so damnable deeds. To whom she\nturned about with an ireful countenance, saying:\u2014\u2018Wherefore chide ye\nwith me, as if I had committed ane unworthy act? Give me credence and\ntrow me, if ye had experience of eating men and women\u2019s flesh, ye wold\nthink it so delicious that ye wold never forbear it again.\u2019 So, but any\nsign of repentance, this unhappy traitor died in the sight of the\npeople.\u201d[2]\n\n [2] LINDSAY\u2019S _Chronicles of Scotland_, 1814, p. 163.\n\n\nWyntoun also has a passage in his metrical chronicle regarding a\ncannibal who lived shortly before his own time, and he may easily have\nheard about him from surviving contemporaries. It was about the year\n1340, when a large portion of Scotland had been devastated by the arms\nof Edward III.\n\nAbout Perth thare was the countrie\nSae waste, that wonder wes to see; For intill well-great space thereby,\nWes nother house left nor herb\u2019ry.\nOf deer thare wes then sic foison (profusion),\nThat they wold near come to the town,\nSae great default was near that stead,\nThat mony were in hunger dead.\nA carle they said was near thereby,\nThat wold act settis (traps) commonly,\nChildren and women for to slay,\nAnd swains that he might over-ta;\nAnd ate them all that he get might;\nChwsten Cleek till name behight.\nThat sa\u2019ry life continued he,\nWhile waste but folk was the countrie.[3]\n\n\n [3] WYNTOUN\u2019S _Chronicle_, ii. 236.\n\n\nWe have only to compare these two cases with those recorded in the last\ntwo chapters, and we see at once how the popular mind in Great Britain\nhad lost the idea of connecting change of form with cannibalism. A man\nguilty of the crimes committed by the Angus brigand, or the carle of\nPerth, would have been regarded as a were-wolf in France or Germany,\nand would have been tried for Lycanthropy.\n\nS. Jerome, by the way, brought a sweeping charge against the Scots. He\nvisited Gaul in his youth, about 880, and he writes:\u2014\u201cWhen I was a\nyoung man in Gaul, I may have seen the Attacotti, a British people who\nlive upon human flesh; and when they find herds of pigs, droves of\ncattle, or flocks of sheep in the woods, they cut off the haunches of\nthe men and the breasts of the women, and these they regard as great\ndainties;\u201d in other words they prefer the shepherd to his flock. Gibbon\nwho quotes this passage says on it: \u201cIf in the neighbourhood of the\ncommercial and literary town of Glasgow, a race of cannibals has really\nexisted, we may contemplate, in the period of the Scottish history, the\nopposite extremes of savage and civilized life. Such reflections tend\nto enlarge the circle of our ideas, and to encourage the pleasing hope\nthat New Zealand may produce in a future age, the Hume of the Southern\nhemisphere.\u201d\n\nIf traditions of were-wolves are scanty in England, it is quite the\nreverse if we cross the water.\n\nIn the south of France, it is still believed that fate has destined\ncertain men to be lycanthropists\u2014that they are transformed into wolves\nat full moon. The desire to run comes upon them at night. They leave\ntheir beds, jump out of a window, and plunge into a fountain. After the\nbath, they come out covered with dense fur, walking on all fours, and\ncommence a raid over fields and meadows, through woods and villages,\nbiting all beasts and human beings that come in their way. At the\napproach of dawn, they return to the spring, plunge into it, lose their\nfurry skins, and regain their deserted beds. Sometimes the loup-garou\nis said to appear under the form of a white dog, or to be loaded with\nchains; but there is probably a confusion of ideas between the\nwere-wolf and the church-dog, bar-ghest, pad-foit, wush-hound, or by\nwhatever name the animal supposed to haunt a churchyard is designated.\n\nIn the P\u00e9rigord, the were-wolf is called loul\u00e9erou. Certain men,\nespecially bastards, are obliged at each full moon to transform\nthemselves into these diabolic beasts.\n\nIt is always at night that the fit comes on. The lycanthropist dashes\nout of a window, springs into a well, and, after having struggled in\nthe water for a few moments, rises from it, dripping, and invested with\na goatskin which the devil has given him. In this condition, the\nloul\u00e9erous run upon four legs, pass the night in ranging over the\ncountry, and in biting and devouring all the dogs they meet. At break\nof day they lay aside their goatskins and return home. Often they are\nill in consequence of having eaten tough old hounds, and they vomit up\ntheir undigested paws. One great nuisance to them is the fact that they\nmay be wounded or killed in their loul\u00e9erou state. With the first\neffusion of blood their diabolic covering vanishes, and they are\nrecognized, to the disgrace of their families.\n\nA were-wolf may easily be detected, even when devoid of his skin; for\nhis hands are broad, and his fingers short, and there are always some\nhairs in the hollow of his hand.\n\nIn Normandy, those who are doomed to be loups-garoux, clothe themselves\nevery evening with a skin called their _h\u00e8re_ or _hure_, which is a\nloan from the devil. When they run in their transformed state, the evil\none accompanies them and scourges them at the foot of every cross they\npass. The only way in which a werewolf can be liberated from this cruel\nbondage, is by stabbing him three times in the forehead with a knife.\nHowever, some people less addicted to allopathic treatment, consider\nthat three drops of blood drawn by a needle, will be sufficient to\nprocure release.\n\nAccording to an opinion of the vulgar in the same province, the\nloup-garou is sometimes a metamorphosis forced upon the body of a\ndamned person, who, after having been tormented in his grave, has torn\nhis way out of it. The first stage in the process consists in his\ndevouring the cerecloth which enveloped his face; then his moans and\nmuffled howls ring from the tomb, through the gloom of night, the earth\nof the grave begins to heave, and at last, with a scream, surrounded by\na phosphorescent glare, and exhaling a f\u0153tid odour, he bursts away as a\nwolf.\n\nIn Le Bessin, they attribute to sorcerers the power of metamorphosing\ncertain men into beasts, but the form of a dog is that principally\naffected by them.\n\nIn Norway it is believed that there are persons who can assume the form\nof a wolf or a bear (Huse-bj\u00f6rn), and again resume their own; this\nproperty is either imparted to them by the Trollmen, or those\npossessing it are themselves Trolls.\n\nIn a hamlet in the midst of a forest, there dwelt a cottager named\nLasse, and his wife. One day he went out in the forest to fell a tree,\nbut had forgot to cross himself and say his paternoster, so that some\ntroll or wolf-witch (varga mor) obtained power over him and transformed\nhim into a wolf. His wife mourned him for many years, but, one\nChristmas-eve, there came a beggar-woman, very poor and ragged, to the\ndoor, and the good woman of the house took her in, fed her well, and\nentreated her kindly. At her departure the beggar-woman said that the\nwife would probably see her husband again, as he was not dead, but was\nwandering in the forest as a wolf. Towards night-fall the wife went to\nher pantry to place in it a piece of meat for the morrow, when, on\nturning to go out, she perceived a wolf standing before her, raising\nitself with its paws on the pantry steps, regarding her with sorrowful\nand hungry looks. Seeing this she exclaimed, \u201cIf I were sure that thou\nwert my own Lasse, I would give thee a bit of meat.\u201d At that instant\nthe wolf-skin fell off, and her husband stood before her in the clothes\nhe wore on the unlucky morning when she had last beheld him.\n\nFinns, Lapps, and Russians are held in particular aversion, because the\nSwedes believe that they have power to change people into wild beasts.\nDuring the last year of the war with Russia, when Calmar was overrun\nwith an unusual number of wolves, it was generally said that the\nRussians had transformed their Swedish prisoners into wolves, and sent\nthem home to invest the country.\n\nIn Denmark the following stories are told:\u2014\n\nA man, who from his childhood had been a were-wolf, when returning one\nnight with his wife from a merrymaking, observed that the hour was at\nhand when the evil usually came upon him; giving therefore the reins to\nhis wife, he descended from the vehicle, saying to her, \u201cIf anything\ncomes to thee, only strike at it with thine apron.\u201d He then withdrew,\nbut immediately after, the woman, as she was sitting in the vehicle,\nwas attached by a were-wolf. She did as the man had enjoined her, and\nstruck it with her apron, from which it rived a portion, and then ran\naway. After some time the man returned, holding in his mouth the rent\nportion of his wife\u2019s apron, on seeing which, she cried out in\nterror,\u2014\u201cGood Lord, man, why, thou art a were-wolf!\u201d \u201cThank thee,\nwife,\u201d said he, \u201cnow I am free.\u201d And from that time he was no more\nafflicted.\n\nIf a female at midnight stretches between four sticks the membrane\nwhich envelopes the foal when it is brought forth, and creeps through\nit, naked, she will bear children without pain; but all the boys will\nbe were-wolves, and all the girls maras. By day the were-wolf has the\nhuman form, though he may be known by the meeting of his eyebrows above\nthe nose. At a certain time of the night he has the form of a dog on\nthree legs. It is only when another person tells him that he is a\nwere-wolf, or reproaches him with being such, that a man can be freed\nfrom the ban.\n\nAccording to a Danish popular song, a hero transformed by his\nstep-mother into a bear, fights with a knight:\u2014\n\nFor \u2019tis she who hath bewitched me,\nA woman false and fell,\nBound an iron girdle round me,\nIf thou can\u2019st not break this belt,\nKnight, I\u2019ll thee destroy!\n*    *    *    *\nThe noble made the Christian sign,\nThe girdle snapped, the bear was changed,\nAnd see! he was a lusty knight,\nHis father\u2019s realm regained.\n\n\n_Kj\u00e6mpeviser_, p. 147.\n\n\nWhen an old bear in Ofodens Priestegjeld was killed, after it had\ncaused the death of six men und sixty horses, it was found to be girded\nwith a similar girdle.\n\nIn Schleswig and Holstein they say that if the were-wolf be thrice\naddressed by his baptismal name, he resumes his human form.\n\nOn a hot harvest day some reapers lay down in the field to take their\nnoontide sleep, when one who could not sleep observed that the fellow\nnext to him rose softly, and having girded himself with a strap, became\na were-wolf.\n\nA young man belonging to J\u00e4gerup returning late one night from Billund,\nwas attacked, when near J\u00e4gerup, by three were-wolves, and would\nprobably have been torn to pieces, had he not saved himself by leaping\ninto a rye-field, for there they had no more power over him.\n\nAt Caseburg, on the isle of Usedom, a man and his wife were busy in the\nfield making hay, when after some time the woman said to the man that\nshe had no more peace, she could stay no longer, and went away. But she\nhad previously desired her husband to promise, that if perchance a wild\nbeast should come that way, he would cast his hat at it and then run\naway, and it would do him no injury. She had been gone but a short\nwhile, when a wolf came swimming across the Swine, and ran directly\ntowards the haymakers. The man threw his hat at it, which the animal\ninstantly tore to rags. But in the meantime a boy had run up with a\npitchfork, and he dabbed the wolf from behind: in the same moment it\nbecame changed, and all saw that the boy had killed the man\u2019s wife.\n\nFormerly there were individuals in the neighbourhood of Steina, who, by\nputting on a certain girdle, could transform themselves into\nwere-wolves. A man of the neighbourhood, who had such a girdle, forgot\none day when going out to lock it up, as was his wont. During his\nabsence, his little son chanced to find it; he buckled it round him.,\nand was instantaneously turned into an animal, to all outward\nappearance like a bundle of peat-straw, and he rolled about like an\nunwieldy bear. When those who were in the room perceived this, they\nhastened in search of the father, who was found in time to come and\nunbuckle the belt, before the child had done any mischief. The boy\nafterwards said, that when he had put on the girdle, he was seized with\nsuch a raging hunger, that he was ready to tear in pieces and devour\nall that came in his way.\n\nThe girdle is supposed to be made of human skin, and to be three\nfinger-breadths wide.\n\nIn East Friesland, it is believed, when seven girls succeed each other\nin one family, that among them one is of necessity a were-wolf, so that\nyouths are slow in seeking one of seven sisters in marriage.\n\nAccording to a curious Lithuanian story related by Schleicher in his\n_Litauische M\u00e4rchen_, a person who is a were-wolf or bear has to remain\nkneeling in one spot for one hundred years before he can hope to obtain\nrelease from his bestial form.\n\nIn the Netherlands they relate the following tale:\u2014A man had once gone\nout with his bow to attend a shooting match at Rousse, but when about\nhalf way to the place, he saw on a sudden, a large wolf spring from a\nthicket, and rush towards a young girl, who was sitting in a meadow by\nthe roadside watching cows. The man did not long hesitate, but quickly\ndrawing forth an arrow, took aim, and luckily hit the wolf in the right\nside, so that the arrow remained sticking in the wound, and the animal\nfled howling to the wood.\n\nOn the following day he heard that a serving-man of the burgomaster\u2019s\nhousehold lay at the point of death, in consequence of having been shot\nin the right side, on the preceding day. This so excited the archer\u2019s\ncuriosity, that he went to the wounded man, and requested to see the\narrow. He recognized it immediately as one of his own. Then, having\ndesired all present to leave the room, he persuaded the man to confess\nthat he was a were-wolf and that he had devoured little children. On\nthe following day he died.\n\nAmong the Bulgarians and Sloyakians the were-wolf is called _vrkolak_,\na name resembling that given it by the modern Greeks {Greek\n_br\u00fakolakas_}. The Greek were-wolf is closely related to the vampire.\nThe lycanthropist falls into a cataleptic trance, during which his soul\nleaves his body, enters that of a wolf and ravens for blood. On the\nreturn of the soul, the body is exhausted and aches as though it had\nbeen put through violent exercise. After death lycanthropists become\nvampires. They are believed to frequent battlefields in wolf or hy\u00e6na\nshapes, and to suck the breath from dying soldiers, or to enter houses\nand steal the infants from their cradles. Modern Greeks call any\nsavage-looking man, with dark complexion, and with distorted, misshapen\nlimbs, a {Greek _br\u00fakolakas_}, and suppose him to be invested with\npower of running in wolf-form.\n\nThe Serbs connect the vampire and the were-wolf together, and call them\nby one name _vlkoslak_. These rage chiefly in the depths of winter:\nthey hold their annual gatherings, and at them divest themselves of\ntheir wolf-skins, which they hang on the trees around them. If any one\nsucceeds in obtaining the skin and burning it, the vlkoslak is\nthenceforth disenchanted.\n\nThe power to become a were-wolf is obtained by drinking the water which\nsettles in a foot-print left in clay by a wolf.\n\nAmong the White Russians the _wawkalak_ is a man who has incurred the\nwrath of the devil, and the evil one punishes him by transforming him\ninto a wolf and sending him among his relations, who recognize him and\nfeed him well. He is a most amiably disposed were-wolf, for he does no\nmischief, and testifies his affection for his kindred by licking their\nhands. He cannot, however, remain long in any place, but is driven from\nhouse to house, and from hamlet to hamlet, by an irresistible passion\nfor change of scene. This is an ugly superstition, for it sets a\npremium on standing well with the evil one.\n\nThe Sloyakians merrily term a drunkard a vlkodlak, because, forsooth,\nhe makes a beast of himself. A Slovakian household were-wolf tale\ncloses this chapter.\n\nThe Poles have their were-wolves, which rage twice in the year\u2014at\nChristmas and at midsummer.\n\nAccording to a Polish story, if a witch lays a girdle of human skin on\nthe threshold of a house in which a marriage is being celebrated, the\nbride and bridegroom, and bridesmaids and groomsmen, should they step\nacross it, are transformed into wolves. After three years, however, the\nwitch will cover them with skins with the hair. turned outward;\nimmediately they will recover their natural form. On one occasion, a\nwitch cast a skin of too scanty dimensions over the bridegroom, so that\nhis tail was left uncovered: he resumed his human form, but retained\nhis lupine caudal appendage {_i.e. tail\u2014jbh_}.\n\nThe Russians call the were-wolf _oborot_, which signifies \u201cone\ntransformed.\u201d The following receipt is given by them for becoming one.\n\n\u201cHe who desires to become an oborot, let him seek in the forest a\nhewn-down tree; let him stab it with a small copper knife, and walk\nround the tree, repeating the following incantation:\u2014\n\nOn the sea, on the ocean, on the island, on Bujan,\nOn the empty pasture gleams the moon, on an ashstock lying\nIn a green wood, in a gloomy vale.\nToward the stock wandereth a shaggy wolf.\nHorned cattle seeking for his sharp white fangs;\nBut the wolf enters not the forest,\nBut the wolf dives not into the shadowy vale,\nMoon, moon, gold-horned moon,\nCheek the flight of bullets, blunt the hunters\u2019 knives,\nBreak the shepherds\u2019 cudgels,\nCast wild fear upon all cattle,\nOn men, on all creeping things,\nThat they may not catch the grey wolf,\nThat they may not rend his warm skin\nMy word is binding, more binding than sleep,\nMore binding than the promise of a hero!\n\n\n\u201cThen he springs thrice over the tree and runs into the forest,\ntransformed into a wolf.\u201d[4]\n\n [4] SACHAROW: _Inland_, 1838, No. 17.\n\n\nIn the ancient Bohemian Lexicon of Vacerad (A. D. 1202) the were-wolf\nis called vilkodlak, and is explained as faunus. Safarik says under\nthat head,-\n\n\u201cIncubi sepe improbi existunt mulieribus, et earum peragunt concubitum,\nquos demones Galli _dusios_ nuncupant.\u201d And in another place:\n\u201cVilkodlaci, incubi, sive invidi, ab inviando passim cum animalibus,\nunde et incubi dicuntur ab incubando homines, i. e. stuprando, quos\nRomani faunos ficarios dicunt.\u201d\n\nThat the same belief in lycanthropy exists in Armenia is evident from\nthe following story told by Haxthausen, in his _Trans-Caucasia_\n(Leipzig, i. 322):\u2014\u201cA man once saw a wolf, which had carried off a\nchild, dash past him. He pursued it hastily, but was unable to overtake\nit. At last he came upon the hands and feet of a child, and a little\nfurther on he found a cave, in which lay a wolf-skin. This he cast into\na fire, and immediately a woman appeared, who howled and tried to\nrescue the skin from the flames. The man, however, resisted, and, as\nsoon as the hide was consumed, the woman had vanished in the smoke.\u201d\n\nIn India, on account of the prevalence of the doctrine of\nmetempsychosis, the belief in transformation is widely diffused. Traces\nof genuine lycanthropy are abundant in all regions whither Buddism has\nreached. In Ceylon, in Thibet, and in China, we find it still forming a\nportion of the national creed.\n\nIn the Pantschatantra is a story of an enchanted Brahmin\u2019s son, who by\nday was a serpent, by night a man.\n\nVikram\u00e2ditya\u2019s father, the son of Indra, was condemned to be an ass by\nday and a man by night.\n\nA modern Indian tale is to this effect:\u2014A prince marries a female ape,\nbut his brothers wed handsome princesses. At a feast given by the queen\nto her stepdaughters, there appears an exquisitely beautiful lady in\ngorgeous robes. This is none other than the she-ape, who has laid aside\nher skin for the occasion: the prince slips out of the room and burns\nthe skin, so that his wife is prevented from resuming her favourite\nappearance.\n\nNathaniel Pierce[5] gives an account of an Abyssinian superstition very\nsimilar to that prevalent in Europe.\n\n [5] _Life and Adventures of Nathaniel Pierce_, written by himself\n during a residence in Abyssinia from 1810-19. London, 1831.\n\n\nHe says that in Abyssinia the gold. and silversmiths are highly\nregarded, but that the ironworkers are looked upon with contempt, as an\ninferior grade of beings. Their kinsmen even ascribe to them the power\nof transforming themselves into hy\u00e6nas, or other savage beasts. All\nconvulsions and hysterical disorders are attributed to the effect of\ntheir evil eye. The Amhara call them _Buda_, the Tigr\u00e9, _Tebbib_. There\nare also Mahomedan and Jewish Budas. It is difficult to explain the\norigin of this strange superstition. These Budas are distinguished from\nother people by wearing gold ear-rings, and Coffin declares that he has\noften found hy\u00e6nas with these rings in their ears, even among the\nbeasts which he has shot or speared himself. But how the rings got into\ntheir ears is more than Coffin was able to ascertain.\n\nBeside their power to transform themselves into hy\u00e6nas or other wild\nbeasts, all sorts of other strange things are ascribed to them; and the\nAbyssinians are firmly persuaded that they rob the graves by midnight,\nand no one would venture to touch what is called _quanter_, or dried\nmeat in their houses, though they would not object to partake of fresh\nmeat, if they had seen the animal, from which it came, killed before\nthem. Coffin relates, as eye-witness of the fact, the following story:\u2014\n\nAmong his servants was a Buda, who, one evening, whilst it was still\nlight, came to his master and asked leave of absence till the following\nmorning. He obtained the required leave and departed; but scarcely had\nCoffin turned his head, when one of his men exclaimed,\u2014\u201cLook! there he\nis, changing himself into hy\u00e6na,\u201d pointing in the direction taken by\nthe Buda. Coffin turned to look, and although he did not witness the\nprocess of transformation, the young man had vanished from the spot on\nwhich he had been standing, not a hundred paces distant, and in his\nplace was a hy\u00e6na running away. The place was a plain without either\nbush or tree to impede the view. Next morning the young man returned,\nand was charged by his companions with the transformation: this he\nrather acknowledged than denied, for he excused himself on the plea\nthat it was the habit of his class. This statement of Pierce is\ncorroborated by a note contributed by Sir Gardner Wilkinson to\nRawlinson\u2019s _Herodotus_ (book iv. chap. 105). \u201cA class of people in\nAbyssinia are believed to change themselves into hy\u00e6nas when they like.\nOn my appearing to discredit it, I was told by one who lived for years\nthere, that no well-informed person doubted it, and that he was once\nwalking with one of them, when he happened to look away for a moment,\nand on turning again towards his companion, he saw him trotting off in\nthe shape of a hy\u00e6na. He met him afterwards in his old form. These\nworthies are blacksmiths.\u2014G. W.\u201d\n\nA precisely similar superstition seems to have existed in America, for\nJoseph Acosta (_Hist. Nat. des Indes_) relates that the ruler of a city\nin Mexico, who was sent for by the predecessor of Montezuma,\ntransformed himself, before the eyes of those who were sent to seize\nhim, into an eagle, a tiger, and an enormous serpent. He yielded at\nlast, and was condemned to death. No longer in his own house, he was\nunable to work miracles so as to save his life. The Bishop of Chiapa, a\nprovince of Guatemala, in a writing published in 1702, ascribes the\nsame power to the Naguals, or national priests, who laboured to bring\nback to the religion of their ancestors, the children brought up as\nChristians by the government. After various ceremonies, when the child\ninstructed advanced to embrace him, the Nagual suddenly assumed a\nfrightful aspect, and under the form of a lion or tiger, appeared\nchained to the young Christian convert.\u2014(_Recueil de Voyages_, tom. ii.\n187.)\n\nAmong the North American Indians, the belief in transformation is very\nprevalent. The following story closely resembles one very prevalent all\nover the world.\n\n\u201cOne Indian fixed his residence on the borders of the Great Bear lake,\ntaking with him only a dog big with young. In due time, this dog\nbrought forth eight pups. Whenever the Indian went out to fish, he tied\nup the pups, to prevent the straying of the litter. Several times, as\nhe approached his tent, he heard noises proceeding from it, which\nsounded like the talking, the laughing, the crying, the wail, and the\nmerriment of children; but, on entering it, he only perceived the pups\ntied up as usual. His curiosity being excited by the noises he had\nheard, he determined to watch and learn whence these sounds proceeded,\nand what they were. One day he pretended to go out to fish, but,\ninstead of doing so, he concealed himself in a convenient place. In a\nshort time he again heard -voices, and, rushing suddenly into the tent,\nbeheld some beautiful children sporting and laughing, with the\ndog-skins lying by their side. He threw the dog-skins into the fire,\nand the children, retaining their proper forms, grew up, and were the\nancestors of the dog-rib nation.\u201d\u2014(_Traditions of the North American\nIndians_, by T. A. Jones, 1830, Vol. ii. p. 18.)\n\nIn the same work is a curious story entitled _The Mother of the World_,\nwhich bears a close analogy to another world-wide myth: a woman marries\na dog, by night the dog lays aside its skin, and appears as a man. This\nmay be compared with the tale of Bj\u00f6rn and Bera already given.\n\nI shall close this chapter with a Slovakian household tale given by T.\nT. Hanush in the third volume of _Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Deutsche Mythologie_.\n\n_The Daughter of the Vlkolak._\n\n\n\u201cThere was once a father, who had nine daughters, and they were all\nmarriageable, but the youngest was the most beautiful. The father was a\nwere-wolf. One day it came into his head: \u2018What is the good of having\nto support so many girls?\u2019 so he determined to put them all out of the\nway.\n\n\u201cHe went accordingly into the forest to hew wood, and he ordered his\ndaughters to let one of them bring him his dinner. It was the eldest\nwho brought it.\n\n\u201c\u2018Why, how come you so early with the food?\u2019 asked the woodcutter.\n\n\u201c\u2018Truly, father, I wished to strengthen you, lest you should fall upon\nus, if famished!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018A good lass! Sit down whilst I eat.\u2019 He ate, and whilst he ate he\nthought of a scheme. He rose and said: I My girl, come, and I will show\nyou a pit I have been digging.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018And what is the pit for?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018That we may be buried in it when we die, for poor folk will not be\ncared for much after they are dead and gone.\u2019\n\n\u201cSo the girl went with him to the side of the deep pit. \u2018Now hear,\u2019\nsaid the were-wolf, \u2018you must die and be cast in there.\u2019\n\n\u201cShe begged for her life, but all in vain, so he laid hold of her and\ncast her into the grave. Then he took a great stone and flung it in\nupon her and crushed her head, so the poor thing breathed out her soul.\nWhen the were-wolf had done this he went back to his work, and as dusk\ncame on, the second daughter arrived, bringing him food. He told her of\nthe pit, and brought her to it, and cast her in, and killed her as the\nfirst. And so he dealt with all his girls up to the last. The youngest\nknew well that her father was a were-wolf, and she was grieved that her\nsisters did not return; she thought, \u2018Now where can they be? Has my\nfather kept them for companionship; or to help him in his work?\u2019 So she\nmade the food which she was to take him, and crept cautiously through\nthe wood. When she came near the place where her father worked, she\nheard his strokes felling timber, and smelt smoke. She saw presently a\nlarge fire and two human heads roasting at it. Turning from the fire,\nshe went in the direction of the axe-strokes, and found her father.\n\n\u201cSee,\u2019 said she, \u2018father, I have brought you food.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat is a good lass,\u2019 said he. \u2018Now stack the wood for me whilst I\neat.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018But where are my sisters?\u2019 she asked.\n\n\u201c\u2018Down in yon valley drawing wood,\u2019 he replied \u2018follow me, and I will\nbring you to them.\u2019\n\n\u201cThey came to the pit; then he told her that he had dug it for a grave.\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said he, \u2018you must die, and be cast into the pit with your\nsisters.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Turn aside, father,\u2019 she asked, \u2018whilst I strip of my clothes, and\nthen slay me if you will.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe turned aside as she requested, and then\u2014tchich! she gave him a\npush, and he tumbled headlong into the hole he had dug for her.\n\n\u201cShe fled for her life, for the were-wolf was not injured, and he soon\nwould scramble out of the pit.\n\n\u201cNow she hears his howls resounding through the gloomy alleys of the\nforest, and swift as the wind she runs. She hears the tramp of his\napproaching feet, and the snuffle of his breath. Then she casts behind\nher her handkerchief. The were-wolf seizes this with teeth and nails,\nand rends it till it is reduced to tiny ribands. In another moment he\nis again in pursuit foaming at the mouth, and howling dismally, whilst\nhis red eyes gleam like burning coals. As he gains on her, she casts\nbehind her her gown, and bids him tear that. He seizes the gown and\nrives it to shreds, then again he pursues. This time she casts behind\nher her apron, next her petticoat, then her shift, and at last rums\nmuch in the condition in which she was born. Again the were-wolf\napproaches; she bounds out of the forest into a hay-field, and hides\nherself in the smallest heap of hay. Her father enters the field, runs\nhowling about it in search of her, cannot find her, and begins to upset\nthe different haycocks, all the while growling and gnashing his\ngleaming white fangs in his rage at her having escaped him. The foam\nflakes drop at every step from his mouth, and his skin is reeking with\nsweat. Before he has reached the smallest bundle of hay his strength\nleaves him, he feels exhaustion begin to creep over him, and he retires\nto the forest.\n\n\u201cThe king goes out hunting every clay; one of his dogs carries food to\nthe hay-field, which has most unaccountably been neglected by the\nhay-makers for three days. The king, following the dog, discovers the\nfair damsel, not exactly \u2018in the straw,\u2019 but up to her neck in hay. She\nis carried, hay and all, to the palace, where she becomes his wife,\nmaking only one stipulation before becoming his bride, and that is,\nthat no beggar shall be permitted to enter the palace.\n\n\u201cAfter some years a beggar does get in, the beggar being, of course,\nnone other than her were-wolf father. He steals upstairs, enters the\nnursery, cuts the throats of the two children borne by the queen to her\nlord, and lays the knife under her pillow.\n\n\u201cIn the morning, the king, supposing his wife to be the murderess,\ndrives her from home, with the dead princes hung about her neck. A\nhermit comes to the rescue, and restores the babies to life. The king\nfinds out his mistake, is reunited to the lady out of the hay, and the\nwere-wolf is cast off a high cliff into the sea, and that is the end of\nhim. The king, the queen, and the princes live happily, and may be\nliving yet, for no notice of their death has appeared in the\nnewspaper.\u201d\n\nThis story bears some resemblance to one told by Von Hahn in his\n_Griechische und Albanesische M\u00e4rchen_; I remember having heard a very\nsimilar one in the Pyrenees; but the man who flies from the were-wolf\nis one who, after having stripped off all his clothes, rushes into a\ncottage and jumps into a bed. The were-wolf dares not, or cannot,\nfollow. The cause of his flight was also different. He was a freemason\nwho had divulged the secret, and the were-wolf was the master of his\nlodge in pursuit of him. In the Bearnais story, there is nothing\nsimilar to the last part of the Slovakian tale, and in the Greek one\nthe transformation and the pursuit are omitted, though the woman-eater\nis called \u201cdog\u2019s-head,\u201d much as an outlaw in the north of Europe was\nsaid to be wolf-headed.\n\nIt is worthy of notice in the tale of _The Daughter of the Ulkolak_,\nthat the were-wolf fit is followed by great exhaustion,[6] and that the\nwolf is given clothes to tear, much as in the Danish stories already\nrelated. There does not seem to be any indication of his Laving changed\nhis shape, at least no change is mentioned, his hands are spoken of,\nand he swears and curses his daughter in broad Slovakian. The fit very\nclosely resembles that to which Skallagrim, the Icelander, was subject.\nIt is a pity that the maid Br\u00e0k in the Icelandic tale did not fall upon\nher legs like the young lady in the hay.\n\n [6] Compare this with the exhaustion following a Berserkir fit, and\n that which succeeded the attacks to which M. Bertrand was subject.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\nNATURAL CAUSES OF LYCANTHROPY.\n\n\nInnate Cruelty\u2014Its Three Forms\u2014Dumollard\u2014Andreas Bichel\u2014A Dutch\nPriest\u2014Other instances of Inherent Cruelty\u2014Cruelty united to\nRefinement\u2014A Hungarian Bather in Blood\u2014Suddenness with which the\nPassion is developed\u2014Cannibalism; in pregnant Women; in\nManiacs\u2014Hallucination; how Produced\u2014Salves\u2014The Story of\nLucius\u2014Self-deception.\n\n\nWhat I have related from the chronicles of antiquity, or from the\ntraditional lore of the people, is veiled under the form of myth or\nlegend; and it is only from Scandinavian descriptions of those\nafflicted with the wolf-madness, and from the trials of those charged\nwith the crime of lycanthropy in the later Middle Ages, that we can\narrive at the truth respecting that form of madness which was invested\nby the superstitious with so much mystery.\n\nIt was not till the close of the Middle Ages that lycanthropy was\nrecognized as a disease; but it is one which has so much that is\nghastly and revolting in its form, and it is so remote from all our\nordinary experience, that it is not surprising that the casual observer\nshould leave the consideration of it, as a subject isolated and\nperplexing, and be disposed to regard as a myth that which the feared\ninvestigation might prove a reality.\n\nIn this chapter I purpose briefly examining the conditions under which\nmen have been regarded as werewolves.\n\nStartling though the assertion may be, it is a matter of fact, that\nman, naturally, in common with other carnivora, is actuated by an\nimpulse to kill, and by a love of destroying life.\n\nIt is positively true that there are many to whom the sight of\nsuffering causes genuine pleasure, and in whom the passion to kill or\ntorture is as strong as any other passion. Witness the number of boys\nwho assemble around a sheep or pig when it is about to be killed, and\nwho watch the struggle of the dying brute with hearts beating fast with\npleasure, and eyes sparkling with delight. Often have I seen an eager\ncrowd of children assembled around the slaughterhouses of French towns,\nabsorbed in the expiring agonies of the sheep and cattle, and hushed\ninto silence as they watched the flow of blood.\n\nThe propensity, however, exists in different degrees. In some it is\nmanifest simply as indifference to suffering, in others it appears as\nsimple pleasure in seeing killed, and in others again it is dominant as\nan irresistible desire to torture and destroy.\n\nThis propensity is widely diffused; it exists in children and adults,\nin the gross-minded and the refined., in the well-educated and the\nignorant, in those who have never had the opportunity of gratifying it,\nand those who gratify it habitually, in spite of morality, religion,\nlaws, so that it can only depend on constitutional causes.\n\nThe sportsman and the fisherman follow a natural instinct to destroy,\nwhen they make wax on bird, beast, and fish: the pretence that the\nspoil is sought for the table cannot be made with justice, as the\nsportsman cares little for the game he has obtained, when once it is\nconsigned to his pouch. The motive for his eager pursuit of bird or\nbeast must be sought elsewhere; it will be found in the natural craving\nto extinguish life, which exists in his soul. Why does a child\nimpulsively strike at a butterfly as it flits past him? He cares\nnothing for the insect when once it is beaten down at his feet, unless\nit be quivering in its agony, when he will watch it with interest. The\nchild strikes at the fluttering creature because it has _life_ in it,\nand he has an instinct within him impelling him to destroy life\nwherever he finds it.\n\nParents and nurses know well that children by nature are cruel, and\nthat humanity has to be acquired by education. A child will gloat over\nthe sufferings of a wounded animal till his mother bids him \u201cput it out\nof its misery.\u201d An unsophisticated child would not dream of terminating\nthe poor creature\u2019s agonies abruptly, any more than he would swallow\nwhole a bon-bon till he had well sucked it. Inherent cruelty may be\nobscured by after impressions, or may be kept under moral restraint;\nthe person who is constitutionally a Nero, may scarcely know his own\nnature, till by some accident the master passion becomes dominant, and\nsweeps all before it. A relaxation of the moral check, a shock to the\ncontrolling intellect, an abnormal condition of body, are sufficient to\nallow the passion to assert itself.\n\nAs I have already observed, this passion exists in different persons in\ndifferent degrees.\n\nIn some it is exhibited in simple want of feeling for other people\u2019s\nsufferings. This temperament may lead to crime, for the individual who\nis regardless of pain in another, will be ready to destroy that other,\nif it suit his own purposes. Such an one was the pauper Dumollard, who\nwas the murderer of at least six poor girls, and who attempted to kill\nseveral others. He seems not to have felt much gratification in\nmurdering them, but to have been so utterly indifferent to their\nsufferings, that he killed them solely for the sake of their clothes,\nwhich were of the poorest description. He was sentenced to the\nguillotine, and executed in 1862.[1]\n\n [1] A full account of this man\u2019s trial is given by one who was\n present, in _All the Year Round_, No. 162.\n\n\nIn others, the passion for blood is developed alongside with\nindifference to suffering.\n\nThus Andreas Bichel enticed young women into his house, under the\npretence that he was possessed of a magic mirror, in which he would\nshow them their future husbands; when he had them in his power he bound\ntheir hands behind their backs, and stunned them with a blow. He then\nstabbed them and despoiled them of their clothes, for the sake of which\nhe committed the murders; but as he killed the young women the passion\nof cruelty took possession of him, and he hacked the poor girls to\npieces whilst they were still alive, in his anxiety to examine their\ninsides. Catherine Seidel he opened with a hammer and a wedge, from her\nbreast downwards, whilst still breathing. \u201cI may say,\u201d he remarked at\nhis trial, \u201cthat during the operation I was so eager, that I trembled\nall over, and I longed to rive off a piece and eat it.\u201d\n\nAndreas Bichel was executed in 1809.[2]\n\n [2] The case of Andreas Bichel is given in Lady Duff Gordon\u2019s\n _Remarkable Criminal Trials_.\n\n\nAgain, a third class of persons are cruel and bloodthirsty, because in\nthem bloodthirstiness is a raging insatiable passion. In a civilized\ncountry those possessed by this passion are forced to control it\nthrough fear of the consequences, or to gratify it upon the brute\ncreation. But in earlier days, when feudal lords were supreme in their\ndomains, there have been frightful instances of their excesses, and the\nextent to which some of the Roman emperors indulged their passion for\nblood is matter of history.\n\nGall gives several authentic instances of bloodthirstiness.[3] A Dutch\npriest had such a desire to kill and to see killed, that he became\nchaplain to a regiment that he might have the satisfaction of seeing\ndeaths occurring wholesale in engagements. The same man kept a large\ncollection of various kinds of domestic animals, that he might be able\nto torture their young. He killed the animals for his kitchen, and was\nacquainted with all the hangmen in the country, who sent him notice of\nexecutions, and he would walk for days that he might have the\ngratification of seeing a man executed.\n\n [3] GALL: _Sur les Fonctions du Cerveau_, tom. iv.\n\n\nIn the field of battle the passion is variously developed; some feel\npositive delight in slaying, others are indifferent. An old soldier,\nwho had been in Waterloo, informed me that to his mind there was no\npleasure equal to running a man through the body, and that he could lie\nawake at night musing on the pleasurable sensations afforded him by\nthat act.\n\nHighwaymen are frequently not content with robbery, but manifest a\nbloody inclination to torment and kill. John Rosbeck, for instance, is\nwell known to have invented and exercised the most atrocious cruelties,\nmerely that he might witness the sufferings of his victims, who were\nespecially women and children. Neither fear nor torture could break him\nof the dreadful passion till he was executed.\n\nGall tells of a violin-player, who, being arrested, confessed to\nthirty-four murders, all of which he had committed, not from enmity or\nintent to rob, but solely because it afforded him an intense pleasure\nto kill.\n\nSpurzheim[4] tells of a priest at Strasbourg, who, though rich, and\nuninfluenced by envy or revenge, from exactly the same motive, killed\nthree persons.\n\n [4] _Doctrine of the Mind_, p. 158.\n\n\nGall relates the case of a brother of the Duke of Bourbon, Cond\u00e9, Count\nof Charlois, who, from infancy, had an inveterate pleasure in torturing\nanimals: growing older, he lived to shed the blood of human beings, and\nto exercise various kinds of cruelty. He also murdered many from no\nother motive, and shot at slaters for the pleasure of seeing them fall\nfrom the roofs of houses.\n\nLouis XI. of France caused the death of 4,000 people during his reign;\nhe used to watch their executions from a neighbouring lattice. He had\ngibbets placed outside his own palace, and himself conducted the\nexecutions.\n\nIt must not be supposed that cruelty exists merely in the coarse and\nrude; it is quite as frequently observed in the refined and educated.\nAmong the former it is manifest chiefly in insensibility to the\nsufferings of others; in the latter it appears as a passion, the\nindulgence of which causes intense pleasure.\n\nThose bloody tyrants, Nero and Caligula, Alexander Borgia, and\nRobespierre, whose highest enjoyment consisted in witnessing the\nagonies of their fellow-men, were full of delicate sensibilities and\ngreat refinement of taste and manner.\n\nI have seen an accomplished young woman of considerable refinement and\nof a highly strung nervous temperament, string flies with her needle on\na piece of thread, and watch complacently their flutterings. Cruelty\nmay remain latent till, by some accident. it is aroused, and then it\nwill break forth in a devouring flame. It is the same with the passion\nfor blood as with the passions of love and hate; we have no conception\nof the violence with which they can rage till circumstances occur which\ncall them into action. Love or hate will be dominant in a breast which\nhas been in serenity, till suddenly the spark falls, passion blazes\nforth, and the serenity of the quiet breast is shattered for ever. A\nword, a glance, a touch, are sufficient to fire the magazine of passion\nin the heart, and to desolate for ever an existence. It is the same\nwith bloodthirstiness. It may lurk in the deeps of some heart very dear\nto us. It may smoulder in the bosom which is most cherished by us, and\nwe may be perfectly unconscious of its existence there. Perhaps\ncircumstances will not cause its development; perhaps moral principle\nmay have bound it down with fetters it can never break.\n\nMichael Wagener[5] relates a horrible story which occurred in Hungary,\nsuppressing the name of the person, as it was that of a still powerful\nfamily in the country. It illustrates what I have been saying, and\nshows how trifling a matter may develope the passion in its most\nhideous proportions.\n\n [5] _Beitrage zur philosophischen Anthropologie_, Wien, 1796.\n\n\n\u201cElizabeth \u2014\u2014\u2014 was wont to dress well in order to please her husband,\nand she spent half the day over her toilet. On one occasion, a\nlady\u2019s-maid saw something wrong in her head-dress, and as a recompence\nfor observing it, received such a severe box on the ears that the blood\ngushed from her nose, and spirted on to her mistress\u2019s face. When the\nblood drops were washed off her face, her skin appeared much more\nbeautiful\u2014whiter and more transparent on the spots where the blood had\nbeen.\n\n\u201cElizabeth formed the resolution to bathe her face and her whole body\nin human blood so as to enhance her beauty. Two old women and a certain\nFitzko assisted her in her undertaking. This monster used to kill the\nluckless victim, and the old women caught the blood, in which Elizabeth\nwas wont to bathe at the hour of four in the morning. After the bath\nshe appeared more beautiful than before.\n\n\u201cShe continued this habit after the death of her husband (1604) in the\nhopes of gaining new suitors. The unhappy girls who were allured to the\ncastle, under the plea that they were to be taken into service there,\nwere locked up in a cellar. Here they were beaten till their bodies\nwere swollen. Elizabeth not unfrequently tortured the victims herself;\noften she changed their clothes which dripped with blood, and then\nrenewed her cruelties. The swollen bodies were then cut up with razors.\n\n\u201cOccasionally she had the girls burned, and then cut up, but the great\nmajority were beaten to death.\n\n\u201cAt last her cruelty became so great, that she would stick needles into\nthose who sat with her in a carriage, especially if they were of her\nown sex. One of her servant-girls she stripped naked, smeared her with\nhoney, and so drove her out of the house.\n\n\u201cWhen she was ill, and could not indulge her cruelty, she bit a person\nwho came near her sick bed as though she were a wild beast.\n\n\u201cShe caused, in all, the death of 650 girls, some in Tscheita, on the\nneutral ground, where she had a cellar constructed for the purpose;\nothers in different localities; for murder and bloodshed became with\nher a necessity.\n\n\u201cWhen at last the parents of the lost children could no longer be\ncajoled, the castle was seized, and the traces of the murders were\ndiscovered. Her accomplices were executed, and she was imprisoned for\nlife.\u201d\n\nAn equally remarkable example will be found in the account of the\nMareschal de Retz given at some length in the sequel. He vas an\naccomplished man, a scholar, an able general, and a courtier; but\nsuddenly the impulse to murder and destroy came upon him whilst sitting\nin the library reading Suetonius; he yielded to the impulse, and became\none of the greatest monsters of cruelty the world has produced.\n\nThe case of Sviatek, the Gallician cannibal, is also to the purpose.\nThis man was a harmless pauper, till one day accident brought him to\nthe scene of a conflagration. Hunger impelled him to taste of the roast\nfragments of a human being who had perished in the fire, and from that\nmoment he ravened for man\u2019s flesh.\n\nM. Bertrand was a French gentleman of taste and education. He one day\nlounged over the churchyard wall in a quiet country village and watched\na funeral. Instantly an overwhelming desire to dig up and rend the\ncorpse which he had seen committed to the ground came upon him, and for\nyears he lived as a human hy\u00e6na, preying upon the dead. His story is\ngiven in detail in the fifteenth chapter.\n\nAn abnormal condition of body sometimes produces this desire for blood.\nIt is manifest in certain cases of pregnancy, when the constitution\nloses its balance, and the appetite becomes diseased. Schenk[6] gives\ninstances.\n\n [6] _Observationes Medic_. lib. iv. De Gravidis.\n\n\nA pregnant woman saw a baker carrying loaves on his bare shoulder. She\nwas at once filled with such a craving for his flesh that she refused\nto taste any food till her husband persuaded the baker, by the offer of\na large sum, to allow his wife to bite him. The man yielded, and the\nwoman fleshed her teeth in his shoulder twice; but he held out no\nlonger. The wife bore twins on three occasions, twice living, the third\ntime dead.\n\nA woman in an interesting condition, near Andernach on the Rhine,\nmurdered her husband, to whom she was warmly attached, ate half his\nbody, and salted the rest. When the passion left her she became\nconscious of the horrible nature of her act, and she gave herself up to\njustice.\n\nIn 1553, a wife cut her husband\u2019s throat, and gnawed the nose and the\nleft arm, whilst the body was yet warm. She then gutted the corpse, and\nsalted it for future consumption. Shortly after, she gave birth to\nthree children, and she only became conscious of what she had done when\nher neighbours asked after the father, that they might announce to him\nthe arrival of the little ones.\n\nIn the summer of 1845, the Greek papers contained an account of a\npregnant woman murdering her husband for the purpose of roasting and\neating his liver.\n\nThat the passion to destroy is prevalent in certain maniacs is well\nknown; this is sometimes accompanied by cannibalism.\n\nGruner[7] gives an account of a shepherd who was evidently deranged,\nwho killed and ate two men. Marc[8] relates that a woman of Unterelsas,\nduring the absence of her husband, a poor labourer, murdered her son, a\nlad fifteen months old. She chopped of his legs and stewed them with\ncabbage. She ate a portion, and offered the rest to her husband. It is\ntrue that the family were very poor, but there was food in the house at\nthe time. In prison the woman gave evident signs of derangement.\n\n [7] _De Anthropophago Bucano_. Jen. 1792.\n\n\n [8] _Die Geistes Krankheiten_. Berlin, 1844.\n\n\nThe cases in which bloodthirstiness and cannibalism are united with\ninsanity are those which properly fall under the head of Lycanthropy.\nThe instances recorded in the preceding chapter point unmistakably to\nhallucination accompanying the lust for blood. Jean Grenier, Roulet,\nand others, were firmly convinced that they had undergone\ntransformation. A disordered condition of mind or body may produce\nhallucination in a form depending on the character and instincts of the\nindividual. Thus, an ambitious man labouring under monomania will\nimagine himself to be a king; a covetous man will be plunged in\ndespair, believing himself to be penniless, or exult at the vastness of\nthe treasure which he imagines that he has discovered.\n\nThe old man suffering from rheumatism or gout conceives himself to be\nformed of china or glass, and the foxhunter tallyhos! at each new moon,\nas though he were following a pack. In like manner, the naturally cruel\nman, if the least affected in his brain, will suppose himself to be\ntransformed into the most cruel and bloodthirsty animal with which he\nis acquainted.\n\nThe hallucinations under which lycanthropists suffered may have arisen\nfrom various causes. The older writers, as Forestus and Burton, regard\nthe were-wolf mania as a species of melancholy madness, and some do not\ndeem it necessary for the patient to believe in his transformation for\nthem to regard him as a lycanthropist.\n\nIn the present state of medical knowledge, we know that very different\nconditions may give rise to hallucinations.\n\nIn fever cases the sensibility is so disturbed that the patient is\noften deceived as to the space occupied by his limbs, and he supposes\nthem to be preternaturally distended or contracted. In the case of\ntyphus, it is not uncommon for the sick person, with deranged nervous\nsystem, to believe himself to be double in the bed, or to be severed in\nhalf, or to have lost his limbs. He may regard his members as composed\nof foreign and often fragile materials, as glass, or he may so lose his\npersonality as to suppose himself to have become a woman.\n\nA monomaniac who believes himself to be some one else, seeks to enter\ninto the feelings, thoughts, and habits of the assumed personality, and\nfrom the facility with which this is effected, he draws an argument,\nconclusive to himself, of the reality of the change. He thenceforth\nspeaks of himself under the assumed character, and experiences all its\nneeds, wishes, passions, and the like. The closer the identification\nbecomes, the more confirmed is the monomaniac in his madness, the\ncharacter of which varies with the temperament of the individual. If\nthe person\u2019s mind be weak, or rude and uncultivated, the tenacity with\nwhich he clings to his metamorphosis is feebler, and it becomes more\ndifficult to draw the line between his lucid and insane utterances.\nThus Jean Grenier, who laboured under this form of mania, said in his\ntrial much that was true, but it was mixed with the ramblings of\ninsanity.\n\nHallucination may also be produced by artificial means, and there are\nevidences afforded by the confessions of those tried for lycanthropy,\nthat these artificial means were employed by them. I refer to the salve\nso frequently mentioned in witch and were-wolf trials. The following\npassage is from the charming _Golden Ass of Apuleius_; it proves that\nsalves were extensively used by witches for the purpose of\ntransformation, even in his day:\u2014\n\n\u201cFotis showed me a crack in the door, and bade me look through it, upon\nwhich I looked and saw Pamphile first divest herself of all her\ngarments, and then, having unlocked a chest, take from it several\nlittle boxes, and open one of the latter, which contained a certain\nointment. Rubbing this ointment a good while previously between the\npalms of her hands, she anointed her whole body, from the very nails of\nher toes to the hair on the crown of her head, and when she was\nanointed all over, she whispered many magic words to a lamp, as if she\nwere talking to it. Then she began to move her arms, first with\ntremulous jerks, and afterwards by a gentle undulating motion, till a\nglittering, downy surface by degrees overspread her body, feathers and\nstrong quills burst forth suddenly, her nose became a hard crooked\nbeak, her toes changed to curved talons, and Pamphile was no longer\nPamphile, but it was an owl I saw before me. And now, uttering a harsh,\nquerulous scream, leaping from the ground by little and little, in\norder to try her powers, and presently poising herself aloft on her\npinions, she stretched forth her wings on either Side to their full\nextent, and flew straight away.\n\n\u201cHaving now been actually a witness of the performance of the magical\nart, and of the metamorphosis of Pamphile, I remained for some time in\na stupefied state of astonishment. . . . At last, after I had rubbed my\neyes some time, had recovered a little from the amazement and\nabstraction of mind, and begun to feel a consciousness of the reality\nof things about me, I took hold of the hand of Fotis and said,\u2014\u2018Sweet\ndamsel, bring me, I beseech thee, a portion of the ointment with which\nthy mistress hath just now anointed, and when thou hast made me a bird,\nI will be thy slave, and even wait upon thee like a winged Cupid.\u2019\nAccordingly she crept gently into the apartment, quickly returned with\nthe box of ointment, hastily placed it in my hands, and then\nimmediately departed.\n\n\u201cElated to an extraordinary degree at the sight of the precious\ntreasure, I kissed the box several times successively; and uttering\nrepeated aspirations in hopes of a prosperous flight, I stripped off my\nclothes as quick as possible, dipped my fingers greedily into the box,\nand having thence extracted a good large lump of ointment, rubbed it\nall over my body and limbs. When I was thoroughly anointed, I swung my\narms up and down, in imitation of the movement of a bird\u2019s pinions, and\ncontinued to do so a little while, when instead of any perceptible\ntoken of feathers or wings making their appearance, my own thin skin,\nalas! grew into a hard leathern hide, covered with bristly hair, my\nfingers and toes disappeared, the palms of my hands and the soles of my\nfeet became four solid hoofs, and from the end of my spine a long tail\nprojected. My face was enormous, my mouth wide, my nostrils gaping, my\nlips pendulous, and I had a pair of immoderately long, rough, hairy\nears. In short, when I came to contemplate my transformation to its\nfull extent, I found that, instead of a bird, I had become\u2014an ASS.\u201d[9]\n\n [9] APULEIUS, Sir George Head\u2019s translation, bk. iii.\n\n\nOf what these magical salves were composed we know. They were composed\nof narcotics, to wit, _Solanum somniferum_, aconite, hyoscyamus,\nbelladonna, opium, _acorus vulgaris_, _sium_. These were boiled down\nwith oil, or the fat of little children who were murdered for the\npurpose. The blood of a bat was added, but its effects could have been\n_nil_. To these may have been added other foreign narcotics, the names\nof which have not transpired.\n\nWhatever may have been the cause of the hallucination, it is not\nsurprising that the lycanthropist should have imagined himself\ntransformed into a beast. The cases I have instanced are those of\nshepherds, who were by nature of their employment, brought into\ncollision with wolves; and it is not surprising that these persons, in\na condition liable to hallucinations, should imagine themselves to be\ntransformed into wild beasts, and that their minds reverting to the\ninjuries sustained from these animals, they should, in their state of\ntemporary insanity, accuse themselves of the acts of rapacity committed\nby the beasts into which they believed themselves to be transformed. It\nis a well-known fact that men, whose minds are unhinged, will deliver\nthemselves up to justice, accusing themselves of having committed\ncrimes which have actually taken place, and it is only on investigation\nthat their self-accusation proves to be false; and yet they will\ndescribe the circumstances with the greatest minuteness, and be\nthoroughly convinced of their own criminality. I need give but a single\ninstance.\n\nIn the war of the French Revolution, the _Hermione_ frigate was\ncommanded by Capt. Pigot, a harsh man and a severe commander. His crew\nmutinied, and carried the ship into an enemy\u2019s port, having murdered\nthe captain and several of the officers, under circumstances of extreme\nbarbarity. One midshipman escaped, by whom many of the criminals, who\nwere afterwards taken and delivered over to justice, one by one, were\nidentified. Mr. Finlayson, the Government actuary, who at that time\nheld an official situation in the Admiralty, states:\u2014\u201cIn my own\nexperience I have known, on separate occasions, _more than six sailors_\nwho voluntarily confessed to having struck the first blow at Capt.\nPigot. These men detailed all the horrid circumstances of the mutiny\nwith extreme minuteness and perfect accuracy; nevertheless, not one of\nthem had ever been in the ship, nor had so much as seen Capt. Pigot in\ntheir lives. They had obtained by tradition, from their messmates, the\nparticulars of the story. When long on a foreign station, hungering and\nthirsting for home, their minds became enfeebled; at length they\nactually believed themselves guilty of the crime over which they had so\nlong brooded, and submitted with a gloomy pleasure to being sent to\nEngland in irons, for judgment. At the Admiralty we were always able to\ndetect and establish their innocence, in defiance of their own solemn\nasseverations.\u201d\u2014(_London Judicial Gazette_, January, 1803.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\nMYTHOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE WERE-WOLF MYTH.\n\n\nMetempsychosis\u2014Sympathy between Men and Beasts\u2014Finnbog and the\nBear\u2014Osage and the Beaver\u2014The Connexion of Soul and Body\u2014Buddism\u2014Case\nof Mr. Holloway\u2014Popular ideas concerning the Body\u2014The derivation of the\nGerman Leichnam\u2014Feather Dresses\u2014Transmigration of Souls\u2014A Basque\nStory\u2014Story from the Pantschatantra\u2014Savage ideas regarding Natural\nPhenomena\u2014Thunder, Lightning, and Cloud\u2014The origin of the Dragon\u2014John\nof Bromton\u2019s Dragon a Waterspout\u2014The Legend of Typhoeus\u2014Allegorizing of\nthe Effects of a Hurricane\u2014Anthropomorphosis\u2014The Cirrus Cloud, a\nHeavenly Swan\u2014Urvaci\u2014The Storm-cloud a Daemon\u2014Vritra and\nRakschasas\u2014Story of a Brahmin and a Rakschasas\n\n\nTransformation into beasts forms an integral portion of all\nmythological systems. The gods of Greece were wont to change themselves\ninto animals in order to carry out their designs with greater speed,\nsecurity, and secrecy, than in human forms. In Scandinavian mythology,\nOdin changed himself into the shape of an eagle, Loki into that of a\nsalmon. Eastern religions abound in stories of transformation.\n\nThe line of demarcation between this and the translation of a beast\u2019s\nsoul into man, or a man\u2019s soul into a beast\u2019s (metempsychosis) is very\nnarrow.\n\nThe doctrine of metempsychosis is founded on the consciousness of\ngradation between beasts and men. The belief in a soul-endowed animal\nworld was present among the ancients, and the laws of intelligence and\ninstinct were misconstrued, or were regarded as a puzzle, which no man\nmight solve.\n\nThe human soul with its consciousness seemed to be something already\nperfected in a pre-existing state, and, in the myth of metempsychosis,\nwe trace the yearnings and gropings of the soul after the source whence\nits own consciousness was derived, counting its dreams and\nhallucinations as gleams of memory, recording acts which had taken\nplace in a former state of existence.\n\nModern philosophy has resumed the same thread of conjecture, and thinks\nto see in man the perfected development of lower organisms.\n\nAfter death the translation of the soul was supposed to continue. It\nbecame either absorbed into the _nous_, into Brahma, into the deity, or\nit sank in the scale of creation, and was degraded to animate a brute.\nThus the doctrine of metempsychosis was emphatically one of rewards and\npunishments, for the condition of the soul after death depended on its\ntraining during life. A savage and bloodthirsty man was exiled, as in\nthe case of Lycaon, into the body of a wild beast: the soul of a\ntimorous man entered a hare, and drunkards or gluttons became swine.\n\nThe intelligence which was manifest in the beasts bore such a close\nresemblance to that of man, in the childhood and youth of the world,\nthat it is not to be wondered at, if our forefathers failed to detect\nthe line of demarcation drawn between instinct and reason. And failing\nto distinguish this, they naturally fell into the belief in\nmetempsychosis.\n\nIt was not merely a fancied external resemblance between the beast and\nman, but it was the perception of skill, pursuits, desires, sufferings,\nand griefs like his own, in the animal creation, which led man to\ndetect within the beast something analogous to the soul within himself;\nand this, notwithstanding the points of contrast existing between them,\nelicited in his mind so strong a sympathy that, without a great stretch\nof imagination, he invested the beast with his own attributes, and with\nthe full powers of his own understanding. He regarded it as actuated by\nthe same motives, as subject to the same laws of honour, as moved by\nthe same prejudices, and the higher the beast was in the scale, the\nmore he regarded it as an equal. A singular illustration of this will\nbe found in the Finnboga Saga, c. xi.\n\n\u201cNow we must relate about Finnbog. Afterward in the evening, when men\nslept, he rose, took his weapons, and went forth, following the tracks\nwhich led to the dairy farm. As was his wont, he stepped out briskly\nalong the spoor till he came to the dairy. There he found the bear\nlying down, and he had slain the sheep, and he was lying on them\nlapping their blood. Then said Finnbog: \u2018Stand up, Brain! make ready\nagainst me; that becomes you more than crouching over those sheep\u2019s\ncarcases.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe bear sat up, looked at him, and lay down again. Finnbog said, \u2018If\nyou think that I am too fully armed to match with you, I will do this,\u2019\nand he took of his helmet and laid aside his shield. Then he said,\nStand up now, if you dare!\u2019\n\n\u201cThe bear sat up, shook his head, and then cast himself down again.\n\u201cFinnbog exclaimed, \u2018I see, you want us both to be _boune_ alike!\u2019 so\nhe flung aside his sword and said, \u2018Be it as you will; now stand up if\nyou have the heart that I believe you have, rather than one such as was\npossessed by these rent sheep.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen Bruin stood up and prepared to fight.\u201d\n\nThe following story taken from the mouth of an Osage Indian by J. A.\nJones, and published in his _Traditions of the North American Indians_,\nshows how thoroughly the savage mind misses the line of demarcation\nbetween instinct and reason, and how the man of the woods looks upon\nbeasts as standing on an equality with himself.\n\nAn Osage warrior is in search of a wife: he admires the tidy and shrewd\nhabits of the beaver. He accordingly goes to a beaver-hut to obtain one\nof that race for a bride. \u201cIn one corner of the room sat a beaver-woman\ncombing the heads of some little beavers, whose ears she boxed very\nsoundly when they would not lie still. The warrior, _i. e._ the\nbeaver-chief, whispered the Osage that she was his second wife, and was\nvery apt to be cross when there was work to be done, which prevented\nher from going to see her neighbours. Those whose heads she was combing\nwere her children, he said, and she who had made them rub their noses\nagainst each other and be friends, was his eldest daughter. Then\ncalling aloud, \u2018Wife,\u2019 said he, \u2018what have you to eat? The stranger is\nundoubtedly hungry; see, he is pale, his eye has no fire, and his step\nis like that of a moose.\u2019\n\n\u201cWithout replying to him, for it was a sulky day with her, she called\naloud, and a dirty-looking beaver entered. \u2018Go,\u2019 said she, \u2018and fetch\nthe stranger something to eat.\u2019 With that the beaver girl passed\nthrough a small door into another room, from which she soon returned,\nbringing some large pieces of willow-bark, which she laid at the feet\nof the warrior and his guest. While the warrior-beaver was chewing the\nwillow, and the Osage was pretending to do so, they fell to talking\nover many matters, particularly the wars of the beavers with the\notters, and their frequent victories over them. He told our father by\nwhat means the beavers felled large trees, and moved them to the places\nwhere they wished to make dams; how they raised to an erect position\nthe poles for their lodges, and how they plastered them so as to keep\nout rain. Then he spoke of their employments when they had buried the\nhatchet; of the peace and happiness and tranquillity they enjoyed when\ngathered into companies, they rested from their labours, and passed\ntheir time in talking and feasting, and bathing, and playing the game\nof bones, and making love. All the while the young beaver-maiden sat\nwith her eyes fixed upon the Osage, at every pause moving a little\nnearer, till at length she was at his side with her forepaw upon his\narm; a minute more and she had placed it around his neck, and was\nrubbing her soft furry cheek against his. Our ancestor, on his part,\nbetrayed no disinclination to receive her caresses, but returned them\nwith equal ardour. The old beaver seeing what was going on, turned his\nback upon them, and suffered them to be as kind to each other as they\npleased. At last, turning quickly round, while the maiden, suspecting\nwhat was coming, and pretending to be abashed, ran behind her mother,\nhe said, \u2018To end this foolery, what say you to marrying my daughter?\nShe is well brought up, and is the most industrious girl in the\nvillage. She will flap more wall with her tail in a day than any maiden\nin the nation; she will gnaw down a larger tree betwixt the rising of\nthe sun and the coming of the shadows than many a smart beaver of the\nother sex. As for her wit, try her at the game of the dish, and see who\ngets up master; and for cleanliness, look at her petticoat?\u2019 Our father\nanswered that he did not doubt that she was industrious and cleanly,\nable to gnaw down a very large tree, and to use her tail to very good\npurpose; that he loved her much, and wished to make her the mother of\nhis children. And thereupon the bargain was concluded.\u201d\n\nThese two stories, the one taken from Icelandic saga, the other from\nAmerican Indian tradition, shew clearly the oneness which the\nuncultivated mind believes to exist between the soul of man and the\nsoul of beast. The same sentiments actuate both man and brute, and if\ntheir actions are unlike, it is because of the difference in their\nformation. The soul within is identical, but the external accidents of\nbody are unlike.\n\nAmong many rude as well as cultivated people, the body is regarded as a\nmere garment wrapped around the soul. The Buddist looks upon identity\nas existing in the soul alone, and the body as no more constituting\nidentity, than the clothes he puts on or takes off. He exists as a\nspirit; for convenience he vests himself in a body; sometimes that body\nis human, sometimes it is bestial. As his soul rises in the spiritual\nscale, the nobler is the animal form which it tenants. Budda himself\npassed through various stages of existence; in one he was a hare, and\nhis soul being noble, led him to immolate himself, in order that he\nmight offer hospitality to Indra, who, in the form of an old man,\ncraved of him food and shelter. The Buddist regards animals with\nreverence; an ancestor may be tenanting the body of the ox he is\ndriving, or a descendant may be running at his side barking, and\nwagging his tail. When he falls into an ecstasy, his soul is leaving\nhis body for a little while, it is laying aside its raiment of flesh\nand blood and bone, to return to it once more when the trance is over.\nBut this idea is not confined to Buddists, it is common everywhere. The\nspirit or soul is supposed to be imprisoned in the body, the body is\nbut the lantern through which the spirit shines, \u201cthe corruptible body\u201d\nis believed to \u201cpress down the soul,\u201d and the soul is unable to attain\nto perfect happiness till it has shuffled off this earthy coil. Butler\nregards the members of the body as so many instruments used by the soul\nfor the purpose of seeing, hearing, feeling, &c., just as we use\ntelescopes or crutches, and which may be rejected without injury to our\nindividuality.\n\nThe late Mr. J. Holloway, of the Bank of England, brother to the\nengraver of that name, related of himself that, being one night in bed,\nand unable to sleep, he had fixed his eyes and thoughts with uncommon\nintensity on a beautiful star that was shining in at the window, when\nhe suddenly found his spirit released from his body and soaring into\nspace. But instantly seized with anxiety for the anguish of his wife,\nif she discovered his body apparently dead beside her, he returned, and\nre-entered it with difficulty. He described that returning as a\nreturning from light into darkness, and that whilst the spirit was\nfree, he was alternately in the light or the dark, accordingly as his\nthoughts were with his wife or with the star. Popular mythology in most\nlands regards the soul as oppressed by the body, and its liberation is\nconsidered a deliverance from the \u201cburden\u201d of the flesh. Whether the\nsoul is at all able to act or express itself without a body, any more\nthan a fire is able to make cloth without the apparatus of boiler and\nmachinery, is a question which has not commended itself to the popular\nmind. But it may be remarked that the Christian religion alone is that\nwhich raises the body to a dignity equal to that of the soul, and gives\nit a hope of ennoblement and resurrection never dreamed of in any\nmythological system.\n\nBut the popular creed, in spite of the most emphatic testimony of\nScripture, is that the soul is in bondage so long as it is united to a\nbody, a creed entirely in accordance with that of Buddism.\n\nIf the body be but the cage, as a poet[1] of our own has been pleased\nto call it, in which dwells the imprisoned soul, it is quite possible\nfor the soul to change its cage. If the body be but a vesture clothing\nthe soul, as the Buddist asserts, it is not improbable that it may\noccasionally change its vesture.\n\n [1] VAUGHN, _Sitex Scintillans_.\n\n\nThis is self-evident, and thus have arisen the countless tales of\ntransformation and transmigration which are found all over the world.\nThat the same view of the body as a mere clothing of the soul was taken\nby our Teutonic and Scandinavian ancestors, is evident even from the\netymology of the words _leichnam_, _l\u00eekhama_, used to express the\nsoulless body.\n\nI have already spoken of the Norse word _hamr_, I wish now to make some\nfurther remarks upon it. _Hamr_ is represented in Anglo-Saxon by\n_hama_, _homa_, in Saxon by _hamo_, in old High German by _hamo_, in\nold French by _homa_, _hama_, to which are related the Gothic\n_gahamon_, _ufar-hamon_, _ana-hamon_, {Greek _e?nd\u00faes\u00f0ai_}, {Greek\n_e?pend\u00faes\u00f0ai_}; _and-hamon_, _af-hamon_, {Greek _a?pekd\u00faein_} {Greek\n_e?kd\u00faes\u00f0ai?_} thence also the old High German _hemidi_, and the modern\n_Hemde_, garment. In composition we find this word, as _l\u00eek-hagnr_, in\nold Norse; in old High German _l\u00eek-hamo_, Anglo-Saxon _l\u00eek-hama_, and\n_fl\u00e6sc-hama_, Old Saxon, _l\u00eek-hamo_, modern German _Leich-nam_, a body,\n_i. e._ a garment of flesh, precisely as the bodies of birds are called\nin old Norse _fja\u00f0r-hamr_, in Anglo-Saxon _fe\u00f0erhoma_, in Old Saxon\n_fetherhamo_, or feather-dresses and the bodies of wolves are called in\nold Norse _\u00fblfshamr_, and seals\u2019 bodies in Faro\u00ebse _k\u00f4pahamr_. The\nsignificance of the old verb _a\u00f0 hamaz_ is now evident; it is to\nmigrate from one body to another, and _hama-skipti_ is a transmigration\nof the soul. The method of this transmigration consisted in simply\ninvesting the body with the skin of the animal into which the soul was\nto migrate. When Loki, the Northern god of evil, went in quest of the\nstolen Idunn, he borrowed of Freyja her falcon dress, and at once\nbecame, to all intents and purposes, a falcon. Thiassi pursued him as\nhe left Thrymheimr, having first taken upon him an eagle\u2019s dress, and\nthereby become an eagle.\n\nIn order to seek Thor\u2019s lost hammer, Loki borrowed again of Freyja her\nfeather dress, and as be flew away in it, the feathers sounded as they\nwinnowed the breeze (_fja\u00f0rhamr dun\u00f0i_).\n\nIn like manner C\u00e6dmon speaks of an evil spirit flying away in\nfeather-dress: \u201c\u00fe\u00e4t he mid fe\u00f0erhomon fle\u00f4gan meahte, windan on wolkne\u201d\n(Gen. ed. Gr. 417), and of an angel, \u201c\u00feuo \u00fear suogan quam engil \u00fees\nalowaldon obhana fun radure faran an fe\u00f0erhamon\u201d (H\u00ealj. 171, 23), the\nvery expression made use of when speaking of a bird: \u201cfarad an\nfe\u00f0arhamun\u201d (H\u00ealj. 50,11).\n\nThe soul, in certain cases, is able to free itself from the body and to\nenter that of beast or man\u2014in this form stood the myth in various\ntheological systems.\n\nAmong the Finns and Lapps it is not uncommon for a magician to fall\ninto a cataleptic condition, and during the period his soul is believed\nto travel very frequently in bodily form, having assumed that of any\nanimal most suitable for its purpose. I have given instances in a\nformer chapter. The same doctrine is evident in most cases of\nlycanthropy. The patient is in a state of trance, his body is watched,\nand it remains motionless, but his soul has migrated into the carcase\nof a wolf, which it vivifies, and in which it runs its course. A\ncurious Basque story shows that among this strange Turanian people, cut\noff by such a flood of Aryan nations from any other members of its\nfamily, the same superstition remains. A huntsman was once engaged in\nthe chase of it bear among the Pyreneean peaks, when Bruin turned\nsuddenly on him and hugged him to death, but not before he had dealt\nthe brute its mortal wound. As the huntsman expired, he breathed his\nsoul into the body of the bear, and thenceforward ranged the mountains\nas a beast.\n\nOne of the tales of the Sanskrit book of fables, the _Pantschatantra_,\naffords such a remarkable testimony to the Indian belief in\nmetempsychosis, that I am tempted to give it in abstract.\n\nA king was one day passing through the marketplace of his city, when he\nobserved a hunchbacked merryandrew, whose contortions and jokes kept\nthe bystanders in a roar of laughter. Amused with the fellow, the king\nbrought him to his palace. Shortly after, in the hearing of the clown,\na necromancer taught the monarch the art of sending his soul into a\nbody not his own.\n\nSome little while after this, the monarch, anxious to put in practice\nhis newly acquired knowledge, rode into the forest accompanied by his\nfool, who, he believed, had not heard, or, at all events comprehended,\nthe lesson. They came upon the corpse of a Brahmin lying in the depth\nof the jungle, where he had died of thirst. The king, leaving his\nhorse, performed the requisite ceremony, and instantly his soul had\nmigrated into the body of the, Brahmin, and his own lay as dead upon\nthe ground. At the same moment, however, the hunchback deserted his\nbody, and possessed himself of that which had been the king\u2019s, and\nshouting farewell to the dismayed monarch, he rode back to the palace,\nwhere he was received with royal honours. But it was not long before\nthe queen and one of the ministers discovered that a screw was\nsomewhere loose, and when the quondam king, but now Brahmin, arrived\nand told his tale, a plot was laid for the recovery of his body. The\nqueen asked her false husband whether it were possible to make her\nparrot talk, and he in a moment of uxorious weakness promised to make\nit speak. He laid his body aside, and sent his soul into the parrot.\nImmediately the true king jumped out of his Brahmin body and resumed\nthat which was legitimately his own, and then proceeded, with the\nqueen, to wring the neck of the parrot.\n\nBut besides the doctrine of metempsychosis, which proved such a fertile\nmother of fable, there was another article of popular mythology which\ngave rise to stories of transformation. Among the abundant\nsuperstitions existing relative to transformation, three shapes seem to\nhave been pre-eminently affected\u2014that of the swan, that of the wolf,\nand that of the serpent. In many of the stories of those transformed,\nit is evident that the individual who changes shape is regarded with\nsuperstitious reverence, as a being of a higher order\u2014of a divine\nnature. In Christian countries, everything relating to heathen\nmythology was regarded with a suspicious eye by the clergy, and any\nmiraculous powers not sanctioned by the church were attributed to the\nevil one. The heathen gods became devils, and the marvels related of\nthem were supposed to be effected by diabolic agency. A case of\ntransformation which had shown the power of an ancient god, was in\nChristian times considered as an instance of witchcraft. Thus stories\nof transformation fell into bad odour, and those who changed shapes\nwere no longer regarded as heavenly beings, commanding reverence, but\nas miserable witches deserving the stake.\n\nIn the infancy of the world, when natural phenomena were\nill-understood, expressions which to us are poetical were of a real\nsignificance. When we speak of thunder rolling, we use an expression\nwhich conveys no further idea than a certain likeness observed between\nthe detonations and the roll of a vehicle; but to the uninstructed mind\nit was more. The prim\u00e6val savage knew not what caused thunder, and\ntracing the resemblance between it and the sound of wheels, he at once\nconcluded that the chariot of the gods was going abroad, or that the\ncelestial spirits were enjoying a game of bowls.\n\nWe speak of fleecy clouds, because they appear to us soft and light as\nwool, but the first men tracing the same resemblance, believed the\nlight vapours to be flocks of heavenly sheep. Or we say that the clouds\nare flying: the savage used the same expression, as he looked up at the\nmackerel sky, and saw in it flights of swans coursing over the heavenly\nlake. Once more, we creep nearer to the winter fire, shivering at the\nwind, which we remark is howling around the house, and yet we do not\nsuppose that the wind has a voice. The wild prim\u00e6val men thought that\nit had, and because dogs and wolves howl, and the wind howled, and\nbecause they had seen dogs and wolves, they concluded that the\nstorm-wind was a night-hound, or a monstrous wolf, racing over the\ncountry in the darkness of the winter night, ravening for prey.\n\nAlong with the rise of this system of explaining the operations of\nnature by analogies in the bestial world, another conclusion forced\nitself on the untaught mind. The flocks which strayed in heaven were no\nearthly sheep, but were the property of spiritual beings, and were\nthemselves perhaps spiritual; the swans which flew aloft, far above the\ntopmost peak of the Himalaya, were no ordinary swans, but were divine\nand heavenly. The wolf which howled so wildly in the long winter night,\nthe hounds, whose bay sounded so. dismally through the shaking black\nforest, were no mundane wolves and hounds, but issued from the home of\na divine hunter, and were themselves wondrous, supernatural beings of\ngodlike race.\n\nAnd so, the clouds having become swans, the swan-clouds were next\nbelieved to be divine beings, valkyries, apsaras, and the like, seen by\nmortals in their feather-dresses, but appearing among the gods as\ndamsels. The storm-wind having been supposed to be a wolf, next was\ntaken to be a tempestuous god, who delighted to hunt on earth in lupine\nform.\n\nI have mentioned also the serpent shape, as being one very favourite in\nmythology. The ancient people saw the forked and writhing lightning,\nand supposed it to be a heavenly fiery serpent, a serpent which had\ngodlike powers, which was in fact a divine being, manifesting himself\nto mortals under that form. Among the North American Indians, the\nlightning is still regarded as the great serpent, and the thunder is\nsupposed to be his hissing.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed a Magdeburg peasant to a German professor, during a\nthunder-storm, as a vivid forked gleam shot to earth, \u201cwhat a glorious\nsnake was that!\u201d And this resemblance did not escape the Greeks.\n\n{Greek _\u00e9!likes d? e?kl\u00e1mpousi steroph~s ks\u00e1puroi_}.\n\n\n_\u00c6sch. Prom._ 1064.\n\n\n{Greek _dr\u00e1konta purs\u00f3nwton, \u00f3!s \u00e1?platon a?mfelikt\u00f2s\n\u00e9!lik? e?fro\u00farei, ktanw\u2019n_}.\n\n\n_Eurip. Herc. F._ 395.\n\n\nAnd according to Aristotle, {Greek _e!lik\u00edai_} are the lightnings,\n{Greek _grammoeidw~s fer\u00f3menoi_}.\n\nIt is so difficult for us to unlearn all we know of the nature of\nmeteorological phenomena, so hard for us to look upon atmospheric\nchanges as though we knew nothing of the laws that govern them, that we\nare disposed to treat such explanations of popular myths as I have\ngiven above, as fantastic and improbable.\n\nBut among the ancients all solutions of natural problems were\ntentative, and it is only after the failure of every attempt made to\nexplain these phenomena on supernatural grounds that we have been\ndriven to the discovery of the true interpretation. Yet among the\nvulgar a vast amount of mythology remains, and is used still to explain\natmospheric mysteries. The other day a Yorkshire girl, when asked why\nshe was not afraid of thunder, replied because it was only her Father\u2019s\nvoice; what knew she of the rushing together of air to fill the vacuum\ncaused by the transit of the electric fluid? to her the thunder-clap\nwas the utterance of the Almighty. Still in North Germany does the\npeasant say of thunder, that the angels are playing skittles aloft, and\nof the snow, that they are shaking up the feather-beds in heaven.\n\nThe myth of the dragon is one which admits, perhaps more than any\nother, of identification with a meteorological phenomenon, and presents\nto us as well the phase of transition from theriomorphosis to\nanthropomorphosis.\n\nThe dragon of popular mythology is nothing else than the thunderstorm,\nrising at the horizon, rushing with expanded, winnowing, black pennons\nacross the sky, darting out its forked fiery tongue, and belching fire.\nIn a Slovakian legend, the dragon sleeps in a mountain cave through the\nwinter months, but, at the equinox, bursts forth\u2014\u201cIn a moment the\nheaven was darkened and became black as pitch, only illumined by the\nfire which flashed from dragon\u2019s jaws and eyes. The earth shuddered,\nthe stones rattled down the mountain sides into the glens. Right and\nleft, left and right, did the dragon lash his tail, overthrowing pines\nand beeches, snapping them as rods. He evacuated such floods of water\nthat the mountain torrents were full. But after a while his power was\nexhausted, he lashed no more with his tail, ejected no more water, and\nspat no more fire.\u201d\n\nI think it is impossible not to see in this description, a spring-tide\nthunderstorm. But to make it more evident that the untaught mind did\nregard such a storm as a dragon, I think the following quotation from\n_John of Brompton\u2019s Chronicle_ will convince the most sceptical:\n\u201cAnother remarkable thing is this, that took place during a certain\nmonth in the Gulf of Satalia (on the coast of Pamphylia). There\nappeared a great and black dragon which came in clouds, and let down\nhis head into the water, whilst his tail seemed turned to the sky; and\nthe dragon drew the water to him by drinking, with such avidity, that,\nif any ship, even though laden with men or any other heavy articles,\nhad been near him when drinking, it would nevertheless have been sucked\nup and carried on high. In order however to avoid this danger, it is\nnecessary, when people see it, at once to make a great uproar, and to\nshout and hammer tables, so that the dragon, hearing the noise, and the\nvoices of those shouting, may withdraw himself far off. Some people,\nhowever, assert that this is not a dragon, but the sun drawing up the\nwaters of the sea; which seems more probable.\u201d[2] Such is John of\nBrompton\u2019s account of a waterspout. In Greek mythology the dragon of\nthe storm has begun to undergo anthropomorphosis. Typh\u0153us is the son of\nTartarus and Terra; the storm rising from the horizon may well be\nsupposed to issue from the earth\u2019s womb, and its characteristics are\nsufficient to decide its paternity. Typh\u0153us, the whirlwind or typhoon,\nhas a hundred dragon or serpent heads, the long writhing strive of\nvapour which run before the hurricane cloud. He belches fire, that is,\nlightnings issue from the clouds, and his roaring is like the howling\nof wild dogs. Typh\u0153us ascends to heaven to make war on the gods, who\nfly from him in various fantastic shapes; who cannot see in this ascent\nthe hurricane climbing up the vault of sky, and in the flying gods, the\nmany fleeting fragments of white cloud which are seen drifting across\nthe heavens before the gale!\n\n [2] Apud TWYSDEN, Hist. Anglic\u00e6 Script. x. 1652. p. 1216.\n\n\nTyph\u0153us, according to Hesiod, is the father of all bad winds, which\ndestroy with rain and tempest, all in fact which went among the Greeks\nby the name of {Greek _la\u00edlaps_}, bringing injury to the agriculturist\nand peril to the voyager.\n\n{Greek_?Ek d\u00e8 Tufw\u00e9os \u00e9?st? a?n\u00e9mwn m\u00e9nos u!gr\u00f2n \u00e1?eptwn,\nn\u00f3sfi N\u00f3tou Bor\u00e9w te, ka\u00ec a?rg\u00e9stew Zef\u00farou te.\no\u00ed! ge m\u00e8n e?n \u00f0e\u00f3fin geneh`, \u00f0nhto\u00efs m\u00e9g? \u00f3?neiar.\nai! d? \u00e1?llai mapsau~rai e?pipne\u00edousi \u00f0alassan.\nai! d? h?\u2019toi p\u00edptousai e?s heroeide\u00e1 p\u00f3nton,\nph~ma m\u00e9ga \u00f0nhtoi~si, kakh~j \u00f0\u00faousin a?\u00e9llhj.\n\u00e1?llote d? \u00e1?llai a?e\u00edsi, diaskidna~si te nh~as,\nna\u00fatas te f\u00f0e\u00edrousi. kakou~ d? ou? g\u00edgnetai a?lkh`\na?ndr\u00e1sin, o\u00ed! ke\u00ednhjsi sin\u00e1ntwntai kat\u00e0 p\u00f3nton.\nai! d? a\u00fb? ka\u00ec kat\u00e0 gai~an a?pe\u00edriton, a?n\u00f0em\u00f3essan\n\u00e9?rg? e?rat\u00e0 f\u00f0e\u00edrousi xamaigen\u00e9wn a?n\u00f0rw\u2019pwn,\npimpleu~sai k\u00f3ni\u00f3s te ka\u00ec a?rgal\u00e9ou kolosurtou~_}\n\n\n_Hesiod. Theog._ 870, _seq._\n\n\nIn both modern Greek and Lithuanian household mythology the dragon or\ndrake has become an ogre, a gigantic man with few of the dracontine\nattributes remaining. Von Hahn, in his _Griechische und Albanesische\nM\u00e4rchen_, tells many tales of drakes, and in all, the old\ncharacteristics have been lost, and the drake is simply a gigantic man\nwith magical and superhuman powers.\n\nIt is the same among the Lithuanian peasantry. A dragon walks on two\nlegs, talks, flirts with a lady, and marries her. He retains his evil\ndisposition, but has sloughed off his scales and wings.\n\nSuch is the change which has taken place in the popular conception of\nthe dragon, which is an impersonification of the thunderstorm. A\nsimilar change has taken place in the swan-maiden and were-wolf myths.\n\nIn ancient Indian Vedaic mythology the apsaras were heavenly damsels\nwho dwelt in the tether, between earth and sun. Their name, which\nsignifies \u201cthe shapeless,\u201d or \u201cthose who go in the water \u201c\u2014it is\nuncertain which. is the correct derivation\u2014is expressive of the white\ncirrus, constantly changing form, and apparently floating swan-like on\nthe blue heaven-sea. These apsaras, according to the Vedaic creed, were\nfond of changing their shapes, appearing generally as ducks or swans,\noccasionally as human beings. The souls of heroes were given to them\nfor lovers and husbands. One of the most graceful of the early Indian\nmyths is the story of the apsaras, Urva\u00e7\u00ee. Urva\u00e7\u00ee loved Puravaras and\nbecame his \u2019wife, on the condition that she was n-ever to behold him in\na state of nudity. They remained together for years, till the heavenly\ncompanions of Urva\u00e7\u00ee determined to secure her return to them. They\naccordingly beguiled Puravaras into leaving his bed in the darkness of\nnight, and then with a lightning flash they disclosed him, in his\nnudity, to his wife, who was thereupon constrained to leave him. He\npursued her, full of sorrow at his loss, and found her at length\nswimming in a large lotus pond, in swan\u2019s shape.\n\nThat this story is not a mere invention, but rests on some mythological\nexplanation of natural phenomena, I think more than probable, as it is\nfound all over the world with few variations. As every Aryan branch\nretains the story, or traces of it, there can be no doubt that the\nbelief in swan-maidens, who swam in the heavenly sea, and who sometimes\nbecame the wives of those fortunate men who managed to steal from them\ntheir feather dresses, formed an integral portion of the old\nmythological system of the Aryan family, before it was broken up into\nIndian, Persian, Greek, Latin, Russian, Scandinavian, Teutonic, and\nother races. But more, as the same myth is found. in tribes not Aryan,\nand far removed from contact with European or Indian superstition,\u2014as,\nfor instance, among Samoyeds and American Indians,\u2014it is even possible\nthat this story may be a tradition of the first prim\u00e6val stock of men.\n\nBut it is time for me to leave the summer cirrus and turn to the\ntempest-born rain-cloud. It is represented in ancient Indian mythology\nby the Vritra or R\u00e2kshasas. At first the form of these d\u00e6mons was\nuncertain and obscure. Vritra is often used as an appellative for a\ncloud, and kabhanda, an old name for a rain-cloud, in later times\nbecame the name of a devil. Of Vritra, who envelopes the mountains with\nvapour, it is said, \u201cThe darkness stood retaining the water, the\nmountains lay in the belly of Vritra.\u201d By degrees Vritra stood out more\nprominently as a d\u00e6mon, and he is described as a \u201cdevourer\u201d of gigantic\nproportions. In the same way R\u00e2kshasas obtained corporeal form and\nindividuality. He is a misshapen giant \u201clike to a cloud,\u201d with a red\nbeard and red hair, with pointed protruding teeth, ready to lacerate\nand devour human flesh. His body is covered with coarse bristling hair,\nhis huge mouth is open, he looks from side to side as he walks, lusting\nafter the flesh and blood of men, to satisfy his raging hunger, and\nquench his consuming thirst. Towards nightfall his strength increases\nmanifold. He can change his shape at will. He haunts the woods, and\nroams howling through the jungle; in short, he is to the Hindoo what\nthe were-wolf is to the European.\n\nA certain wood was haunted by a R\u00e2kschasa; he one day came across a\nBrahmin, and with a bound reached his shoulders, and clung to them,\nexclaiming, \u201cHeh! go on with you!\u201d And the Brahmin, quaking with fear,\nadvanced with him. But when he observed that the feet of the R\u00e2kschasa\nwere as delicate as the stamens of the lotus, he asked him, How is it\nthat you have such weak and slender feet? The R\u00e2kschasa replied, \u201cI\nnever walk nor touch the earth with my feet. I have made a vow not to\ndo so.\u201d Presently they came to a large pond. Then the R\u00e2kschasa bade\nthe Brahmin wait at the edge whilst he bathed and prayed to the gods.\nBut the Brahmin thought: \u201cAs soon as these prayers and ablutions are\nover, he will tear me to pieces with his fangs and eat me. He has vowed\nnot to walk; I will be off post haste!\u201d so he ran away, and the\nR\u00e2kschasa dared not follow him for fear of breaking his VOW.\n(_Pantschatantra_, v. 13.) There is a similar story in the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata,\nxiii., and in the Kath\u00e2 Sarit S\u00e2gara, v. 49-53.\n\nI have said sufficient to show that natural phenomena gave rise to\nmythological stories, and that these stories have gradually\ndeteriorated, and have been degraded into vulgar superstitions. And I\nhave shown that both the doctrine of metempsychosis and the\nmythological explanations of meteorological changes have given rise to\nabundant fable, and among others to the popular and wide-spread\nsuperstition of lycanthropy. I shall now pass from myth to history, and\nshall give instances of bloodthirstiness, cruelty, and cannibalism.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\nTHE MAR\u00c9CHAL DE RETZ.\u2014I. THE INVESTIGATION OF CHARGES.\n\n\nIntroduction\u2014History of Gilles de Laval\u2014The Castle of\nMachecoul\u2014Surrender of the Marshal\u2014Examination of Witnesses\u2014Letter of\nDe Retz\u2014The Duke of Brittany reluctant to move\u2014The Bishop of Nantes\n\n\nThe history of the man whose name heads this chapter I purpose giving\nin detail, as the circumstances I shall narrate have, I believe, never\nbefore been given with accuracy to the English public. The name of\nGilles de Laval may be well known, as sketches of his bloody career\nhave appeared in many biographies, but these sketches have been very\nincomplete, as the material from which they were composed was meagre.\nM. Michelet alone ventured to give the public an idea of the crimes\nwhich brought a marshal of France to the gallows, and his revelations\nwere such that, in the words of M. Henri\n\nMartin, \u201cthis iron age, which seemed unable to feel surprise at any\namount of evil, was struck with dismay.\u201d\n\nM. Michelet derived his information from the abstract of the papers\nrelating, to the case, made by order of Ann of Brittany, in the\nImperial Library. The original documents were in the library at Nantes,\nand a great portion of them were destroyed in the Revolution of 1789.\nBut a careful analysis had been made of them, and this valuable\nabridgment, which was inaccessible to M. Michelet, came into the hands\nof M. Lacroix, the eminent French antiquarian, who published a memoir\nof the marshal from the information he had thus obtained, and it is his\nwork, by far the most complete and circumstantial which has appeared,\nthat I condense into the following chapters.\n\n\u201cThe most monstrously depraved imagination,\u201d says M. Henri Martin,\n\u201cnever could have conceived what the trial reveals.\u201d M. Lacroix has\nbeen obliged to draw a veil over much that transpired, and I must draw\nit closer still. I have, however, said enough to show that this\nmemorable trial presents horrors probably unsurpassed in the whole\nvolume of the world\u2019s history.\n\nDuring the year 1440, a terrible rumour spread through Brittany, and\nespecially through the ancient _pays de Retz_, which extends along the\nsouth of the Loire from Nantes to Paimb\u0153uf, to the effect that one of\nthe most famous and powerful noblemen in Brittany, Gilles de Laval,\nMar\u00e9chal de Retz, was guilty of crimes of the most diabolical nature.\n\nGilles de Laval, eldest son of Gay de Laval, second of his name, Sire\nde Retz, had raised the junior branch of the illustrious house of Laval\nabove the elder branch, which was related to the reigning family of\nBrittany. He lost his father when he was aged twenty, and remained\nmaster of a vast territorial inheritance, which was increased by his\nmarriage with Catharine de Thouars in 1420. He employed a portion of\ntheir fortune in the cause of Charles VII., and in strengthening the\nFrench crown. During seven consecutive years, from 1426 to 1433, he was\nengaged in military enterprises against the English; his name is always\ncited along with those of Dunois, Xaintrailles, Florent d\u2019Illiers,\nGaucourt, Richemont, and the most faithful servants of the king. His\nservices were speedily acknowledged by the king creating him Marshal of\nFrance. In 1427, he assaulted the Castle of Lude, and carried it by\nstorm; he killed with his own hand the commander of the place; next\nyear he captured from the English the fortress of Rennefort, and the\nCastle of Malicorne; in 1429, he took an active part in the expedition\nof Joan of Arc for the deliverance of Orleans, and the occupation of\nJargeau, and he was with her in the moat, when she was wounded by an\narrow under the walls of Paris.\n\nThe marshal, councillor, and chamberlain of the king participated in\nthe direction of public affairs, and soon obtained the entire\nconfidence of his master. He accompanied Charles to Rheims on the\noccasion of his coronation, and had the honour of bearing the\noriflamme, brought for the occasion from the abbey of S. Remi. His\nintrepidity on the field of battle was as remarkable as his sagacity in\ncouncil, and he proved himself to be both an excellent warrior and a\nshrewd politician.\n\nSuddenly, to the surprise of every one, he quitted the service of\nCharles VII., and sheathed for ever his sword, in the retirement of the\ncountry. The death of his maternal grandfather, Jean de Craon, in 1432,\nmade him so enormously wealthy, that his revenues were estimated at\n800,000 livres; nevertheless, in two years, by his excessive\nprodigality, he managed to lose a considerable portion of his\ninheritance. Maul\u00e9on, S. Etienne de Malemort, Loroux-Botereau, Pornic,\nand Chantol\u00e9, he sold to John V., Duke of Brittany, his kinsman, and\nother lands and seigneurial rights he ceded to the Bishop of Nantes,\nand to the chapter of the cathedral in that city.\n\nThe rumour soon spread that these extensive cessions of territory were\nsops thrown to the duke and to the bishop, to restrain the one from\nconfiscating his goods, and the other from pronouncing excommunication,\nfor the crimes of which the people whisperingly accused him; but these\nrumours were probably without foundation, for eventually it was found\nhard to persuade the duke of the guilt of his kinsman, and the bishop\nwas the most determined instigator of the trial.\n\nThe marshal seldom visited the ducal court, but he often appeared in\nthe city of Nantes, where he inhabited the H\u00f4tel de la Suze, with a\nprincely retinue. He had, always accompanying him, a guard of two\nhundred men at arms, and a numerous suit of pages, esquires, chaplains,\nsingers, astrologers, &c., all of whom he paid handsomely.\n\nWhenever he left the town, or moved to one of his other seats, the\ncries of the poor, which had been restrained during the time of his\npresence, broke forth. Tears flowed, curses were uttered, a\nlong-continued wail rose to heaven, the moment that the last of the\nmarshal\u2019s party had left the neighbourhood. Mothers had lost their\nchildren, babes had been snatched from the cradle, infants had been\nspirited away almost from the maternal arms, and it was known by sad\nexperience that the vanished little ones would never be seen again.\n\nBut on no part of the country did the shadow of this great fear fall so\ndeeply as on the villages in the neighbourhood of the Castle of\nMachecoul, a gloomy ch\u00e2teau, composed of huge towers, and surrounded by\ndeep moats, a residence much frequented by Do Retz, notwithstanding its\nsombre and repulsive appearance. This fortress was always in a\ncondition to resist a siege: the drawbridge was raised, the portcullis\ndown, the gates closed, the men under arms, the culverins on the\nbastion always loaded. No one, except the servants, had penetrated into\nthis mysterious asylum and had come forth alive. In the surrounding\ncountry strange tales of horror and devilry circulated in whispers, and\nyet it was observed that the chapel of the castle was gorgeously decked\nwith tapestries of silk and cloth of gold, that the sacred vessels were\nencrusted with gems, and that the vestments of the priests were of the\nmost sumptuous character. The excessive devotion of the marshal was\nalso noticed; he was said to hear mass thrice daily, and to be\npassionately fond of ecclesiastical music. He was said to have asked\npermission of the pope, that a crucifer should precede him in\nprocessions. But when dusk settled down over the forest, and one by one\nthe windows of the castle became illumined, peasants would point to one\ncasement high up in an isolated tower, from which a clear light\nstreamed through the gloom of night; they spoke of a fierce red glare\nwhich irradiated the chamber at times, and of sharp cries ringing out\nof it, through the hushed woods, to be answered only by the howl of the\nwolf as it rose from its lair to begin its nocturnal rambles.\n\nOn certain days, at fixed hours, the drawbridge sank, and the servants\nof De Retz stood in the gateway distributing clothes, money, and food\nto the mendicants who crowded round them soliciting alms. It often\nhappened that children were among the beggars: as often one of the\nservants would promise them some dainty if they would go to the kitchen\nfor it. Those children who accepted the offer were never seen again.\n\nIn 1440 the long-pent-up exasperation of the people broke all bounds,\nand with one voice they charged the marshal with the murder of their\nchildren, whom they said he had sacrificed to the devil.\n\nThis charge came to the ears of the Duke of Brittany, but he\npooh-poohed it, and would have taken no steps to investigate the truth,\nhad not one of his nobles insisted on his doing so. At the same time\nJean do Ch\u00e2teaugiron, bishop of Nantes, and the noble and sage Pierre\nde l\u2019Hospital, grand-seneschal of Brittany, wrote to the duke,\nexpressing very decidedly their views, that the charge demanded\nthorough investigation.\n\nJohn V., reluctant to move against a relation, a man who had served his\ncountry so well, and was in such a high position, at last yielded to\ntheir request, and authorized them to seize the persons of the Sire de\nRetz and his accomplices. A _serjent d\u2019armes_, Jean Labb\u00e9, was charged\nwith this difficult commission. He picked a band of resolute fellows,\ntwenty in all, and in the middle of September they presented themselves\nat the gate of the castle, and summoned the Sire do Retz to surrender.\nAs soon as Gilles heard that a troop in the livery of Brittany was at\nthe gate, he inquired who was their leader? On receiving the answer\n\u201cLabb\u00e9,\u201d he started, turned pale, crossed himself, and prepared to\nsurrender, observing that it was impossible to resist fate.\n\nYears before, one of his astrologers had assured him that he would one\nday pass into the hands of an Abb\u00e9, and, till this moment, De Retz had\nsupposed that the prophecy signified that he should eventually become a\nmonk.\n\nGilles de Sill\u00e9, Roger de Briqueville, and other of the accomplices of\nthe marshal, took to flight, but Henriet and Pontou remained with him.\n\nThe drawbridge was lowered and the marshal offered his sword to Jean\nLabb\u00e9. The gallant serjeant approached, knelt to the marshal, and\nunrolled before him a parchment sealed with the seal of Brittany.\n\n\u201cTell me the tenor of this parchment?\u201d said Gilles de Retz with\ndignity.\n\n\u201cOur good Sire of Brittany enjoins you, my lord, by these presents, to\nfollow me to the good town of Nantes, there to clear yourself of\ncertain criminal charges brought against you.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will follow immediately, my friend, glad to obey the will of my lord\nof Brittany: but, that it may not be said that the Seigneur de Retz has\nreceived a message without largess, I order my treasurer, Henriet, to\nhand over to you and your followers twenty gold crowns.\u201d\n\n\u201cGrand-merci, monseigneur! I pray God that he may give you good and\nlong life.\u201d\n\n\u201cPray God only to have mercy upon me, and to pardon my sins.\u201d\n\nThe marshal had his horses saddled, and left Machecoul with Pontou and\nHenriet, who had thrown in their lot with him.\n\nIt was with lively emotion that the people in the villages traversed by\nthe little troop, saw the redoubted Gilles de Laval ride through their\nstreets, surrounded by soldiers in the livery of the Duke of Brittany,\nand unaccompanied by a single soldier of his own. The roads and streets\nwere thronged, peasants left the fields, women their kitchens,\nlabourers deserted their cattle at the plough, to throng the road to\nNantes. The cavalcade proceeded in silence. The very crowd which had\ngathered to see it, was hushed. Presently a shrill woman\u2019s voice was\nraised:\u2014\n\n\u201cMy child! restore my child!\u201d\n\nThen a wild, wrathful howl broke from the lips of the throng, rang\nalong the Nantes road, and only died away, as the great gates of the\nChateau de Bouffay closed on the prisoner.\n\nThe whole population of Nantes was in commotion, and it was said that\nthe investigation would be fictitious, that the duke would screen his\nkinsman, and that the object of general execration would escape with\nthe surrender of some of his lands.\n\nAnd such would probably have been the event of the trial, had not the\nBishop of Nantes and the grand-seneschal taken a very decided course in\nthe matter. They gave the duke no peace till he had yielded to their\ndemand for a thorough investigation and a public trial.\n\nJohn V. nominated Jean de Toucheronde to collect information, and to\ntake down the charges brought against the marshal. At the same time he\nwas given to understand that the matter was not to be pressed, and that\nthe charges upon which the marshal was to be tried were to be softened\ndown as much as possible.\n\nThe commissioner, Jean de Toucheronde, opened the investigation on the\n18th September, assisted only by his clerk, Jean Thomas. The witnesses\nwere introduced either singly, or in groups, if they were relations. On\nentering, the witness knelt before the commissioner, kissed the\ncrucifix, and swore with his hand on the Gospels that he would speak\nthe truth, and nothing but the truth: after this he related all the\nfacts referring to the charge, which came under his cognizance, without\nbeing interrupted or interrogated.\n\nThe first to present herself was Perrine Loessard, living at la\nRoche-Bernard.\n\nShe related, with tears in her eyes, that two years ago, in the month\nof September, the Sire de Retz had passed with all his retinue through\nla Roche-Bernard, on his way from Vannes, and had lodged with Jean\nCollin. She lived opposite the house in which the nobleman was staying.\n\nHer child, the finest in the village, a lad aged ten, had attracted the\nnotice of Pontou, and perhaps of the marshal himself, who stood at a\nwindow, leaning on his squire\u2019s shoulder.\n\nPontou spoke to the child, and asked him whether he would like to be a\nchorister; the boy replied that his ambition was to be a soldier.\n\n\u201cWell, then,\u201d said the squire, \u201cI will equip you.\u201d\n\nThe lad then laid hold of Pontou\u2019s dagger, and expressed his desire to\nhave such a weapon in his belt. Thereupon the mother had ran up and had\nmade him leave hold of the dagger, saying that the boy was doing very\nwell at school, and was getting on with his letters, for he was one day\nto be a monk. Pontou had dissuaded her from this project, and had\nproposed to take the child with him to Machecoul, and to educate him to\nbe a soldier. Thereupon he had paid her clown a hundred sols to buy the\nlad a dress, and had obtained permission to carry him off.\n\nNext day her son had been mounted on a horse purchased for him from\nJean Collin, and had left the village in the retinue of the Sire de\nRetz. The poor mother at parting had gone in tears to the marshal, and\nhad entreated him to be kind to her child. From that time she had been\nable to obtain no information regarding her son. She had watched the\nSire de Retz whenever he had passed through La Roche Bernard, but had\nnever observed her child among his pages. She had questioned several of\nthe marshal\u2019s people, but they had laughed at her; the only answer she\nhad obtained was: \u201cBe not afraid. He is either at Machecoul, or else at\nTiffauges, or else at Pornic, or somewhere.\u201d Perrine\u2019s story was\ncorroborated by Jean Collin, his wife, and his mother-in-law.\n\nJean Lemegren and his wife, Alain Dulix, Perrot Duponest, Guillaume\nGuillon, Guillaume Portayer, Etienne de Monclades, and Jean Lefebure,\nall inhabitants of S. Etienne de Montluc, deposed that a little child,\nson of Guillaume Brice of the said parish, having lost his father at\nthe age of nine, lived on alms, and went round the country begging.\n\nThis child, named Jamet, had vanished suddenly at midsummer, and\nnothing was known of what had become of him; but strong suspicions were\nentertained of his having been carried off by an aged hag who had\nappeared shortly before in the neighbourhood, and who had vanished\nalong with the child.\n\nOn the 27th September, Jean de Toucheronde, assisted by Nicolas\nChateau, notary of the court at Nantes, received the depositions of\nseveral inhabitants of Pont-de-Launay, near Bouvron: to wit, Guillaume\nFourage and wife; Jeanne, wife of Jean Leflou; and Richarde, wife of\nJean Gandeau.\n\nThese depositions, though very vague, afforded sufficient cause for\nsuspicion to rest on the marshal. Two years before, a child of twelve,\nson of Jean Bernard, and another child of the same age, son of M\u00e9n\u00e9gu\u00e9,\nhad gone to Machecoul. The son of M\u00e9n\u00e9gu\u00e9 had returned alone in the\nevening, relating that his companion had asked him to wait for him on\nthe road whilst he begged at the gates of the Sire de Retz. The son of\nM\u00e9n\u00e9gu\u00e9 said that he had waited three hours, but his companion had not\nreturned. The wife of Guillaume Fourage deposed that she had seen the\nlad at this time with an old hag, who was leading him by the hand\ntowards Machecoul. That same evening this hag passed over the bridge of\nLaunay, and the wife of Fourage asked her what had become of little\nBernard. The old woman neither stopped nor answered further than by\nsaying he was well provided for. The boy had not been seen since. On\nthe 28th September, the Duke of Brittany joined another commissioner,\nJean Couppegorge, and a second notary, Michel Estallure, to Toucheronde\nand Chateau.\n\nThe inhabitants of Machecoul, a little town over which the Sire de Retz\nexercised supreme power, appeared now to depose against their lord.\nAndr\u00e9 Barbier, shoemaker, declared that last Easter, a child, son of\nhis neighbour Georges Lebarbier, had disappeared. He was last seen\ngathering plums behind the hotel Rondeau. This disappearance surprised\nnone in Machecoul, and no one ventured to comment on it. Andr\u00e9 and his\nwife were in daily terror of losing their own child. They had been a\npilgrimage to S. Jean d\u2019Angely, and had been asked there whether it was\nthe custom at Machecoul to eat children. On their return they had heard\nof two children having vanished\u2014the son of Jean Gendron, and that of\nAlexandre Ch\u00e2tellier. Andr\u00e9 Barbier had made some inquiries about the\ncircumstances of their disappearance, and had been advised to hold his\ntongue, and to shut his ears and eyes, unless he were prepared to be\nthrown into a dungeon by the lord of Machecoul.\n\n\u201cBut, bless me!\u201d he had said, \u201cam I to believe that a fairy spirits off\nand eats our little ones?\u201d\n\n\u201cBelieve what you like,\u201d was the advice given to him; \u201cbut ask no\nquestions.\u201d As this conversation had taken place, one of the marshal\u2019s\nmen at arms had passed, when all those who had been speaking took to\ntheir heels. Andr\u00e9, who had run with the rest, without knowing exactly\nwhy he fled, came upon a man near the church of the Holy Trinity, who\nwas weeping bitterly, and crying out,\u2014\u201cO my God, wilt Thou not restore\nto me my little one?\u201d This man had also been robbed of his child.\n\nLicette, wife of Guillaume Sergent, living at La Boneardi\u00e8re, in the\nparish of S. Croix de Machecoul, had lost her son two years before, and\nhad not seen him since; she besought the commissioners, with tears in\nher eyes, to restore him to her.\n\n\u201cI left him,\u201d said she, \u201cat home whilst I went into the field with my\nhusband to sow flax. He was a bonny little lad, and he was as good as\nhe was bonny. He had to look after his tiny sister, who was a year and\na half old. On my return home, the little girl was found, but she could\nnot tell me what had become of him. Afterwards we found in the marsh a\nsmall red woollen cap which had belonged to my poor darling; but it was\nin vain that we dragged the marsh, nothing was found more, except good\nevidence that he had not been drowned. A hawker who sold needles and\nthread passed through Machecoul at the time, and told me that an old\nwoman in grey, with a black hood on her head, had bought of him some\nchildren\u2019s toys, and had a few moments after passed him, leading a\nlittle boy by the hand.\u201d\n\nGeorges Lebarbier, living near the gate of the ch\u00e2telet de Machecoul,\ngave an account of the manner in which his son had evanesced. The boy\nwas apprenticed to Jean Pelletier, tailor to Mme. de Retz and to the\nhousehold of the castle. He seemed to be getting on in his profession,\nwhen last year, about S. Barnabas\u2019 day, he went to play at ball on the\ncastle green. He never returned from the game.\n\nThis youth and his master, Jean Pelletier, had been in the habit of\neating and drinking at the castle, and bad always laughed at the\nominous stories told by the people.\n\nGuillaume Hilaire and his wife confirmed the statements of Lebarbier.\nThey also said that they knew of the loss of the sons of Jean Gendron,\nJeanne Rouen, and Alexandre Ch\u00e2tellier. The son of Jean Gendron, aged\ntwelve, lived with the said Hilaire and learned of him the trade of\nskinner. He had been working in the shop for seven or eight years, and\nwas a steady, hardworking lad. One day Messieurs Gilles de Sill\u00e9 and\nRoger de Briqueville entered the shop to purchase a pair of hunting\ngloves. They asked if little Gendron might take a message for them to\nthe castle. Hilaire readily consented, and the boy received beforehand\nthe payment for going\u2014a gold angelus, and he started, promising to be\nback directly. But he had never returned. That evening Hiliare and his\nwife, observing Gilles de Sill\u00e9 and Roger de Briqueville returning to\nthe castle, ran to them and asked what had become of the apprentice.\nThey replied that they had no notion of where he was, as they had been\nabsent hunting, but that it was possible he might have been sent to\nTiffauges, another castle of De Retz.\n\nGuillaume Hilaire, whose depositions were more grave and explicit than\nthe others, positively asserted that Jean Dujardin, valet to Roger de\nBriqueville had told him he knew of a cask secreted in the castle, full\nof children\u2019s corpses. He said that he had often heard people say that\nchildren were enticed to the ch\u00e2teau and then murdered, but had treated\nit as an idle tale. He said, moreover, that the marshal was not accused\nof having any hand in the murders, but that his servants were supposed\nto be guilty.\n\nJean Gendron himself deposed to the loss of his son, and he added that\nhis was not the only child which had vanished mysteriously at\nMachecoul. He knew of thirty that had disappeared.\n\nJean Chipholon, elder and junior, Jean Aubin, and Clement Dor\u00e9, all\ninhabitants of the parish of Thomage, deposed that they had known a\npoor man of the same parish, named Mathelin Thomas, who had lost his\nson, aged twelve, and that he had died of grief in consequence.\n\nJeanne Rouen, of Machecoul, who for nine years had been in a state of\nuncertainty whether her son were alive or dead, deposed that the child\nhad been carried off whilst keeping sheep. She had thought that he had\nbeen devoured of wolves, but two women of Machecoul, now deceased, had\nseen Gilles de Sill\u00e9 approach the little shepherd, speak to him, and\npoint to the castle. Shortly after the lad had walked off in that\ndirection. The husband of Jeanne Rouen went to the ch\u00e2teau to inquire\nafter his son, but could obtain no information. When next Gilles de\nSill\u00e9 appeared in the town, the disconsolate mother entreated him to\nrestore her child to her. Gilles replied that he knew nothing about\nhim, as he had been to the king at Amboise.\n\nJeanne, widow of Aymery Hedelin, living at Machecoul, had also lost,\neight years before, a little child as he had pursued some butterflies\ninto the wood. At the same time four other children had been carried\noff, those of Gendron, Rouen, and Mac\u00e9 Sorin. She said that the story\ncirculated through the country was, that Gilles de Sill\u00e9 stole children\nto make them over to the English, in order to obtain the ransom of his\nbrother who was a captive. But she added that this report was traced to\nthe servants of Sill\u00e9, and that it was propagated by them.\n\nOne of the last children to disappear was that of No\u00ebl Aise, living in\nthe parish of S. Croix.\n\nA man from Tiffauges had said to her (Jeanne Hedelin) that for one\nchild stolen at Machecoul, there were seven carried away at Tiffauges.\n\nMac\u00e9 Sorin confirmed the deposition of the widow Hedelin., and repeated\nthe circumstances connected with the loss of the children of\nCh\u00e2tellier, Rouen, Gendron, and Lebarbier.\n\nPerrine Rondeau had entered the castle with the company of Jean Labb\u00e9.\nShe had entered a stable, and had found a heap of ashes and powder,\nwhich had a sickly and peculiar smell. At the bottom of a trough she\nhad found a child\u2019s shirt covered with blood.\n\nSeveral inhabitants of the bourg of Fresnay, to wit, Perrot,\nParqueteau, Jean Soreau, Catherine Degr\u00e9pie, Gilles Garnier, Perrine\nViellard, Marguerite Rediern, Marie Carfin, Jeanne Laudais, said that\nthey had heard Guillaume Hamelin, last Easter, lamenting the loss of\ntwo children.\n\nIsabeau, wife of Guillaume Hamelin, confirmed these depositions, saving\nthat she had lost them seven years before. She had at that time four\nchildren; the eldest aged fifteen, the youngest aged seven, went\ntogether to Machecoul to buy some bread, but they did not return. She\nsat up for them all night and next morning. She heard that another\nchild had been lost, the son of Michaut Bonnel of S. Cir\u00e9 de Retz.\n\nGuillemette, wife of Michaut Bonnel, said that her son had been carried\noff whilst guarding cows.\n\nGuillaume Rodigo and his wife, living at Bourg-neuf-en-Retz, deposed\nthat on the eve of last S. Bartholomew\u2019s day, the Sire do Retz lodged\nwith Guillaume Plumet in his village.\n\nPontou, who accompanied the marshal, saw a lad of fifteen, named\nBernard Lecanino, servant to Rodigo, standing at the door of his house.\nThe lad could not speak much French, but only bas-Breton. Pontou\nbeckoned to him and spoke to him in a low tone. That evening, at ten\no\u2019clock, Bernard left his master\u2019s house, Rodigo and his wife being\nabsent. The servant maid, who saw him go out, called to him that the\nsupper table was not yet cleared, but he paid no attention to what she\nsaid. Rodigo, annoyed at the loss of his servant, asked some of the\nmarshal\u2019s men what had become of him. They replied mockingly that they\nknew nothing of the little Breton, but that he had probably been sent\nto Tiffauges to be trained as page to their lord.\n\nMarguerite Sorain, the chambermaid alluded to above, confirmed the\nstatement of Rodigo, adding that Pontou had entered the house and\nspoken with Bernard. Guillaume Plumet and wife confirmed what Rodigo\nand Sorain had said.\n\nThomas Ays\u00e9e and wife deposed to the loss of their son, aged ten, who\nhad gone to beg at the gate of the castle of Machecoul; and a little\ngirl had seen him drawn by an offer of meat into the ch\u00e2teau.\n\nJamette, wife of Eustache Drouet of S. L\u00e9ger, had sent two sons, one\naged ten, the other seven, to the castle to obtain alms. They had not\nbeen seen since.\n\nOn the 2nd October the commissioners sat again, and the charges became\ngraver, and the servants of the marshal became more and more\nimplicated.\n\nThe disappearance of thirteen other children was substantiated under\ncircumstances throwing strong suspicion on the inmates of the castle. I\nwill not give the details, for they much resemble those of the former\ndepositions. Suffice it to say that before the commissioners closed the\ninquiry, a herald of the Duke of Brittany in tabard blew three calls on\nthe trumpet, from the steps of the tower of Bouffay, summoning all who\nhad additional charges to bring against the Sire de Retz, to present\nthemselves without delay. As no fresh witnesses arrived, the case was\nconsidered to be made out, and the commissioners visited the duke, with\nthe information they had collected, in their hands.\n\nThe duke hesitated long as to the steps he should take. Should he judge\nand sentence a kinsman, the most powerful of his vassals, the bravest\nof his captains, a councillor of the king, a marshal of France?\n\nWhilst still unsettled in his mind as to the course he should pursue,\nhe received a letter from Gilles de Retz, which produced quite a\ndifferent effect from that which it had been intended to produce.\n\n\u201cMONSIEUR MY COUSIN AND HONOURED SIRE,\u2014\n\n\u201cIt is quite true that I am perhaps the most detestable of all sinners,\nhaving sinned horribly again and again, yet have I never failed in my\nreligious duties. I have heard many masses, vespers, &c., have fasted\nin Lent and on vigils, have confessed my sins, deploring them heartily,\nand have received the blood of our Lord at least once in the year.\n\nSince I have been languishing in prison, awaiting your honoured\njustice, I have been overwhelmed with incomparable repentance for my\ncrimes, which I am ready to acknowledge and to expiate as is suitable.\n\n\u201cWherefore I supplicate you, M. my cousin, to give me licence to retire\ninto a monastery, and there to lead a good and exemplary life. I care\nnot into what monastery I am sent, but I intend that all my goods, &c.,\nshould be distributed among the poor, who are the members of Jesus\nChrist on earth . . . . Awaiting your glorious clemency, on which I\nrely, I pray God our Lord to protect you and your kingdom.\n\nHe who addresses you is in all earthly humility,\u201d\n\n\n\u201cFRIAR GILLES,\nCarmelite in intention.\u201d\n\n\nThe duke read this letter to Pierre de l\u2019Hospital, president of\nBrittany, and to the Bishop of Nantes, who were those most resolute in\npressing on the trial. They were horrified at the tone of this dreadful\ncommunication, and assured the duke that the case was so clear, and the\nsteps taken had been so decided, that it was impossible for him to\nallow De Retz to escape trial by such an impious device as he\nsuggested. In the meantime, the bishop and the grand-seneschal had set\non foot an investigation at the castle of Machecoul, and had found\nnumerous traces of human remains. But a complete examination could not\nbe made, as the duke was anxious to screen his kinsman as much as\npossible, and refused to authorize one.\n\nThe duke now summoned his principal officers and held a council with\nthem. They unanimously sided with the bishop and de l\u2019Hospital, and\nwhen John still hesitated, the Bishop of Nantes rose and said:\n\u201cMonseigneur, this case is one for the church as much as for your court\nto take up. Consequently, if your President of Brittany does not bring\nthe case into secular court, by the Judge of heaven and earth! I will\ncite the author of these execrable crimes to appear before our\necclesiastical tribunal.\u201d\n\nThe resolution of the bishop compelled the duke to yield, and it was\ndecided that the trial should take its course without let or hindrance.\n\nIn the meantime, the unhappy wife of Gilles de Retz, who had been\nseparated from him for some while, and who loathed his crimes, though\nshe still felt for him as her husband, hurried to the duke with her\ndaughter to entreat pardon for the wretched man. But the duke refused\nto hear her. Thereupon she went to Amboise to intercede with the king\nfor him who bad once been his close friend and adviser.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\nTHE MAR\u00c9CHAL DE RETZ.\u2014II. THE TRIAL.\n\n\nThe Appearance of the Marshal\u2014Pierre de l\u2019Hospital\u2014The Requisition\u2014The\nTrial adjourned\u2014Meeting of the Marshal and his Servants\u2014The Confession\nof Henriet\u2014Pontou persuaded to confess all\u2014The adjourned Trial not\nhurried on\u2014The hesitation of the Duke of Brittany.\n\n\nOn the 10th October, Nicolas Chateau, notary of the duke, went to the\nCh\u00e2teau of Bouffay, to read to the prisoner the summons to appear in\nperson on the morrow before Messire de l\u2019Hospital, President of\nBrittany, Seneschal of Rennes, and Chief Justice of the Duchy of\nBrittany.\n\nThe Sire de Retz, who believed himself already a novice in the\nCarmelite order, had dressed in white, and was engaged in singing\nlitanies. When the summons had been read, he ordered a page to give the\nnotary wine and cake, and then he returned to his prayers with every\nappearance of compunction and piety.\n\nOn the morrow Jean Labb\u00e9 and four soldiers conducted him to the hall of\njustice. He asked for Pontou and Henriet to accompany him, but this was\nnot permitted.\n\nHe was adorned with all his military insignia, as though to impose on\nhis judges; he had around his neck massive chains of gold, and several\ncollars of knightly orders. His costume, with the exception of his\npurpoint, was white, in token of his repentance. His purpoint was of\npearl-grey silk, studded with gold stars, and girded around his waist\nby a scarlet belt, from which dangled a poignard in scarlet velvet\nsheath. His collar, cufs, and the edging of his purpoint were of white\nermine, his little round cap or _chapel_ was white, surrounded with a\nbelt of ermine\u2014a fur which only the great feudal lords of Brittany had\na right to wear. All the rest of his dress, to the shoes which were\nlong and pointed, was white.\n\nNo one at a first glance would have thought the Sire do Retz to be by\nnature so cruel and vicious as he was supposed to be. On the contrary,\nhis physiognomy was calm and phlegmatic, somewhat pale, and expressive\nof melancholy. His hair and moustache were light brown, and his beard\nwas clipped to a point. This beard, which resembled no other beard, was\nblack, but under certain lights it assumed a blue hue, and it was this\npeculiarity which obtained for the Sire do Retz the surname of\nBlue-beard, a name which has attached to him in popular romance, at the\nsame time that his story has undergone strange metamorphoses.\n\nBut on closer examination of the countenance of Gilles de Retz,\ncontraction in the muscles of the face, nervous quivering of the mouth,\nspasmodic twitchings of the brows, and above all, the sinister\nexpression of the eyes, showed that there was something strange and\nfrightful in the man. At intervals he ground his teeth like a wild\nbeast preparing to dash upon his prey, and then his lips became so\ncontracted, as they were drawn in and glued, as it were, to his teeth,\nthat their very colour was indiscernible.\n\nAt times also his eyes became fixed, and the pupils dilated to such an\nextent, with a sombre fire quivering in them, that the iris seemed to\nfill the whole orbit, which became circular, and sank back into the\nhead. At these moments his complexion became livid and cadaverous; his\nbrow, especially just over the nose, was covered with deep wrinkles,\nand his beard appeared to bristle, and to assume its bluish hues. But,\nafter a few moments, his features became again serene, with a sweet\nsmile reposing upon them, and his expression relaxed into a vague and\ntender melancholy.\n\n\u201cMessires,\u201d said he, saluting his judges, \u201cI pray you to expedite my\nmatter, and despatch as speedily as possible my unfortunate case; for I\nam peculiarly anxious to consecrate myself to the service of God, who\nhas pardoned my great sins. I shall not fail, I assure you, to endow\nseveral of the churches in Nantes, and I shall distribute the greater\nportion of my goods among the poor, to secure the salvation of my\nsoul.\u201d\n\n\u201cMonseigneur,\u201d replied gravely Pierre de l\u2019Hospital: \u201cIt is always well\nto think of the salvation of one\u2019s soul; but, if you please, think now\nthat we are concerned with the salvation of your body.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have confessed to the father superior of the Carmelites,\u201d replied\nthe marshal, with tranquillity; \u201cand through his absolution I have been\nable to communicate: I am, therefore, guiltless and purified.\u201d\n\n\u201cMen\u2019s justice is not in common with that of God, monseigneur, and I\ncannot tell you what will be your sentence. Be ready to make your\ndefence, and listen to the charges brought against you, which M. le\nlieutenant du Procureur de Nantes will read.\u201d\n\nThe officer rose, and read the following paper of charges, which I\nshall condense:\u2014\n\n\u201cHaving heard the bitter complaints of several of the inhabitants of\nthe diocese of Nantes, whose names follow hereinafter (here follow the\nnames of the parents of the lost children), we, Philippe do Livron,\nlieutenant assesseur of Messire le Procureur de Nantes, have invited,\nand do invite, the very noble and very wise Messire Pierre de\nl\u2019Hospital, President of Brittany, &c., to bring to trial the very high\nand very powerful lord, Gilles de Laval, Sire de Retz, Machecoul,\nIngrande and other places, Councillor of his Majesty the King, and\nMarshal of France:\n\n\u201cForasmuch as the said Sire de Retz has seized and caused to be seized\nseveral little children, not only ten or twenty, but thirty, forty,\nfifty, sixty, one hundred, two hundred, and more, and has murdered and\nslain them inhumanly, and then burned their bodies to convert them to\nashes:\n\n\u201cForasmuch as persevering in evil, the said Sire, notwithstanding that\nthe powers that be are ordained of God, and that every one should be an\nobedient subject to his prince, . . . has assaulted Jean Leferon,\nsubject of the Duke of Brittany, the said Jean Leferon being guardian\nof the fortress of Malemort, in the name of Geoffrey Leferon, his\nbrother, to whom the said lord had made over the possession of the said\nplace:\n\n\u201cForasmuch as the said Sire forced Jean Leferon to give up to him the\nsaid place, and moreover retook the lordship of Malemort in despite of\nthe order of the duke and of justice:\n\n\u201cForasmuch as the said Sire arrested Master Jean Rousseau, sergeant of\nthe duke, who was sent to him with injunctions from the said duke, and\nbeat his men with their own staves, although their persons were under\nthe protection of his grace:\n\n\u201cWe conclude that the said Sire de Retz, homicide in fact and in intent\naccording to the first count, rebel and felon according to the second,\nshould be condemned to suffer corporal punishment, and to pay a fine of\nhis possessions in lands and goods held in fief to the said nobleman,\nand that these should be confiscated and remitted to the crown of\nBrittany.\u201d\n\nThis requisition was evidently drawn up with the view of saving the\nlife of the Sire de Retz; for the crime of homicide was presented\nwithout aggravating circumstances, in such a manner that it could be\ndenied or shelved, whilst the crimes of felony and rebellion against\nthe Duke of Brittany were brought into exaggerated prominence.\n\nGilles de Retz had undoubtedly been forewarned of the course which was\nto be pursued, and he was prepared to deny totally the charges made in\nthe first count.\n\n\u201cMonseigneur,\u201d said Pierre de l\u2019Hospital, whom the form of the\nrequisition had visibly astonished: \u201cWhat justification have you to\nmake? Take an oath on the Gospels to declare the truth.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, messire!\u201d answered the marshal. \u201cThe witnesses are bound to\ndeclare what they know upon oath, but the accused is never put on his\noath.\u201d\n\n\u201cQuite so,\u201d replied the judge. \u201cBecause the accused may be put on the\nrack and constrained to speak the truth, an\u2019 please you.\u201d\n\nGilles de Retz turned pale, bit his lips, and cast a glance of\nmalignant hate at Pierre de l\u2019Hospital; then, composing his\ncountenance, he spoke with an appearance of calm:\u2014\n\n\u201cMessires, I shall not deny that I behaved wrongfully in the case of\nJean Rousseau; but, in excuse, let me say that the said Rousseau was\nfull of wine, and he behaved with such indecorum towards me in the\npresence of my servants, that it was quite intolerable. Nor will I deny\nmy revenge on the brothers Leferon: Jean had declared that the said\nGrace of Brittany had confiscated my fortress of Malemort, which I had\nsold to him, and for which I have not yet received payment; and\nGeoffrey Leferon had announced far and wide that I was about to be\nexpelled Brittany as a traitor and a rebel. To punish them I re-entered\nmy fortress of Malemort.\u2014As for the other charges, I shall say nothing\nabout them, they are simply false and calumnious.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed exclaimed Pierre de l\u2019Hospital, whose blood boiled with\nindignation against the wretch who stood before him with such\neffrontery. \u201cAll these witnesses who complain of having lost their\nchildren, lied under oath!\u201d\n\n\u201cUndoubtedly, if they accuse me of having anything to do with their\nloss. What am I to know about them, am I their keeper?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe answer of Cain!\u201d exclaimed Pierre de l\u2019Hospital, rising from his\nseat in the vehemence of his emotion. \u201cHowever, as you solemnly deny\nthese charges, we must question Henriet and Pontou.\u201d\n\n\u201cHenriet, Pontou!\u201d cried the marshal, trembling; \u201cthey accuse me of\nnothing, surely!\u201d\n\n\u201cNot as yet, they have not been questioned, but they are about to be\nbrought into court, and I do not expect that they will lie in the face\nof justice.\u201d\n\n\u201cI demand that my servants be not brought forward as witnesses against\ntheir master,\u201d said the marshal, his eyes dilating, his brow wrinkling,\nand his beard bristling blue upon his chin: \u201ca master is above the\ngossiping tales and charges of his servants.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you think then, messire, that your servants will accuse you?\u201d\n\n\u201cI demand that I, a marshal of France, a baron of the duchy, should be\nsheltered from the slanders of small folk, whom I disown as my servants\nif they are untrue to their master.\u201d\n\n\u201cMessire, I see we must put you on the rack, or nothing will be got\nfrom you.\u201d\n\n\u201cHola! I appeal to his grace the Duke of Brittany, and ask an\nadjournment, that I may take advice on the charges brought against me,\nwhich I have denied, and which I deny still.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, I shall adjourn the case till the 25th of this month, that you\nmay be well prepared to meet the accusations.\u201d\n\nOn his way back to prison, the marshal passed Henriet and Pontou as\nthey were being conducted to the court. Henriet pretended not to see\nhis master, but Pontou burst into tears on meeting him. The marshal\nheld out his hand, and Pontou kissed it affectionately.\n\n\u201cRemember what I have done for you, and be faithful servants,\u201d said\nGilles de Retz. Henriet recoiled from him with a shudder, and the\nmarshal passed on.\n\n\u201cI shall speak,\u201d whispered Henriet; \u201cfor we have another master beside\nour poor master of Retz, and we shall soon be with the heavenly one.\u201d\n\nThe president ordered the clerk to read again the requisition of the\nlieutenant, that the two presumed accomplices of Gilles de Retz might\nbe informed of the charges brought against their master. Henriet burst\ninto tears, trembled violently, and cried out that he would tell all.\nPontou, alarmed, tried to hinder his companion, and said that Henriet\nwas touched in his head, and that what he was about to say would be the\nravings of insanity.\n\nSilence was imposed upon him.\n\n\u201cI will speak out,\u201d continued Henriet and yet I dare not speak of the\nhorrors which I know have taken place, before that image of my Lord\nChrist; \u201cand he pointed tremblingly to a large crucifix above the seat\nof the judge.\n\n\u201cHenriet.\u201d moaned Pontou, squeezing his hand, \u201cyou will destroy\nyourself as well as your master.\u201d\n\nPierre de l\u2019Hospital rose, and the figure of our Redeemer was solemnly\nveiled.\n\nHenriet, who had great difficulty in overcoming his agitation, than\nbegan his revelations.\n\nThe following is the substance of them:\u2014\n\nOn leaving the university of Angers, he had taken the situation of\nreader in the house of Gilles de Retz. The marshal took a liking to\nhim, and made him his chamberlain and confidant.\n\nOn the occasion of the Sire de la Suze, brother of the Sire de Retz,\ntaking possession of the castle of Chantonc\u00e9, Charles de Soenne, who\nhad arrived at Chantonc\u00e9, assured Henriet that he had found in the\noubliettes of a tower a number of dead children, some headless, others\nfrightfully mutilated. Henriet then thought that this was but a calumny\ninvented by the Sire de la Suze.\n\nBut when, some while after, the Sire de Retz retook the castle of\nChantonc\u00e9 and had ceded it to the Duke of Brittany, he one evening\nsummoned Henriet, Pontou, and a certain Petit Robin to his room; the\ntwo latter were already deep in the secrets of their master. But before\nconfiding anything to Henriet, De Retz made him take a solemn oath\nnever to reveal what he was about to tell him. The oath taken, the Sire\nde Retz, addressing the three, said that on the morrow an officer of\nthe duke would take possession of the castle in the name of the duke,\nand that it was necessary, before this took place, that a certain well\nshould be emptied of children\u2019s corpses, and that their bodies should\nbe put into boxes and transported to Machecoul.\n\nHenriet, Pontou, and Petit Robin went together, furnished with ropes\nand hooks, to the tower where were the corpses. They toiled all night\nin removing the half-decayed bodies, and with them they filled three\nlarge cases, which they sent by a boat down the Loire to Machecoul,\nwhere they were reduced to ashes.\n\nHenriet counted thirty-six children\u2019s heads, but there were more bodies\nthan heads. This night\u2019s work, he said, bad produced a profound\nimpression on his imagination, and he was constantly haunted with a\nvision of these heads rolling as in a game of skittles, and clashing\nwith a mournful wail. Henriet soon began to collect children for his\nmaster, and was present whilst he massacred them. They were murdered\ninvariably in one room at Machecoul. The marshal used to bathe in their\nblood; he was fond of making Gilles do Sill\u00e9, Pontou, or Henriet\ntorture them, and he experienced intense pleasure in seeing them in\ntheir agonies. But his great passion was to welter in their blood. His\nservants would stab a child in the jugular vein, and let the blood\nsquirt over him. The room was often steeped in blood. When the horrible\ndeed was done, and the child was dead, the marshal would be filled with\ngrief for what he had done, and would toss weeping and praying on a\nbed, or recite fervent prayers and litanies on his knees, whilst his\nservants washed the floor, and burned in the huge fireplace the bodies\nof the murdered children. With the bodies were burned the clothes and\neverything that had belonged to the little victims.\n\nAn insupportable odour filled the room, but the Mar\u00e9chal do Retz\ninhaled it with delight.\n\nHenriet acknowledged that he had seen forty children put to death in\nthis manner, and he was able to give an account of several, so that it\nwas possible to identify them with the children reported to be lost.\n\n\u201cIt is quite impossible,\u201d said the lieutenant, who had been given the\ncue to do all that was possible to save the marshal\u2014\u201cIt is impossible\nthat bodies could be burned in a chamber fireplace.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt was done, for all that, messire,\u201d replied Henriet. \u201cThe fireplace\nwas very large, both at the hotel Suze, and also at Machecoul; we piled\nup great faggots and logs, and laid the dead children among them. In a\nfew hours the operation was complete, and we flung the ashes out of the\nwindow into the moat.\u201d\n\nHenriet remembered the case of the two sons of Hamelin; he said that,\nwhilst the one child was being tortured, the other was on its knees\nsobbing and praying to God, till its own turn came.\n\n\u201cWhat you have said concerning the excesses of Messire de Retz,\u201d\nexclaimed the lieutenant du procureur, \u201cseems to be pure invention, and\ndestitute of all probability. The greatest monsters of iniquity never\ncommitted such crimes, except perhaps some C\u00e6sars of old Rome.\u201d\n\n\u201cMessire, it was the acts of these C\u00e6sars that my Lord of Retz desired\nto imitate. I used to read to him the chronicles of Suetonius, and\nTacitus, in which their cruelties are recorded. He used to delight in\nhearing of them, and he said that it gave him greater pleasure to hack\noff a child\u2019s head than to assist at a banquet. Sometimes he would seat\nhimself on the breast of a little one, and with a knife sever the head\nfrom the body at a single blow; sometimes he cut the throat half\nthrough very gently, that the child might languish, and he would wash\nhis hands and his beard in its blood. Sometimes he had all the limbs\nchopped off at once from the trunk; at other times he ordered us to\nhang the infants till they were nearly dead, and then take them down\nand cut their throats. I remember having brought to him three little\ngirls who were asking charity at the castle gates. He bade me cut their\nthroats whilst he looked on. Andr\u00e9 Bricket found another little girl\ncrying on the steps of the house at Vannes because she had lost her\nmother. He brought the little thing\u2014it was but a babe\u2014in his arms to my\nlord, and it was killed before him. Pontou and I had to make away with\nthe body. We threw it down a privy in one of the towers, but the corpse\ncaught on a nail in the outer wall, so that it would be visible to all\nwho passed. Pontou was let down by a rope, and he disengaged it with\ngreat difficulty.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow many children do you estimate that the Sire de Retz and his\nservants have killed?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe reckoning is long. I, for my part, confess to having killed twelve\nwith my own hand, by my master\u2019s orders, and I have brought him about\nsixty. I knew that things of the kind went on before I was admitted to\nthe secret; for the castle of Machecoul had been occupied a short while\nby the Sire do la Sage. My lord recovered it speedily, for he knew that\nthere were many children\u2019s corpses hidden in a hayloft. There were\nforty there quite dry and black as coal, because they had been charred.\nOne of the women of Madame de Retz came by chance into the loft and saw\nthe corpses. Roger de Briqueville wanted to kill her, but the mar\u00e9chal\nwould not let him.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you nothing more to declare?\n\n\u201cNothing. I ask Pontou, my friend, to corroborate what I have said.\u201d\n\nThis deposition, so circumstantial and detailed, produced on the judges\na profound impression of horror. Human imagination at this time had not\npenetrated such mysteries of refined cruelty. Several times, as Henriet\nspake, the president had shown his astonishment and indignation by\nsigning himself with the cross. Several times his face had become\nscarlet, and his eyes had fallen; he had pressed his hand to his brow,\nto assure himself that he was not labouring under a hideous dream, and\na quiver of horror had run through his whole frame.\n\nPontou had taken no part in the revelation of Henriet; but when the\nlatter appealed to him he raised his head, looked sadly round the\ncourt, and sighed.\n\n\u201cEtienne Cornillant, alias Pontou, I command you in the name of God and\nof justice, to declare what you know.\u201d\n\nThis injunction of Pierre do l\u2019Hospital remained unresponded to, and\nPontou seemed to strengthen himself in his resolution not to accuse his\nmaster.\n\nBut Henriet, flinging himself into the arms of his accomplice, implored\nhim, as he valued his soul, no longer to harden his heart to the calls\nof God; but to bring to light the crimes he had committed along with\nthe Sire do Retz.\n\nThe lieutenant du procureur, who hitherto had endeavoured to extenuate\nor discredit the charges brought against Gilles do Retz, tried a last\nexpedient to counterbalance the damaging confessions of Henriet, and to\nwithhold Pontou from giving way.\n\n\u201cYou have heard, monseigneur,\u201d said he to the president, \u201cthe\natrocities which have been acknowledged by Henriet, and you, as I do,\nconsider them to be pure inventions of the aforesaid, made out of\nbitter hatred and envy with the purpose of ruining his master. I\ntherefore demand that Henriet should be put on the rack, that he may be\nbrought to give the lie to his former statements.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou forget,\u201d replied de l\u2019Hospital, \u201cthat the rack is for those who do\n_not_ confess, and not for those who freely acknowledge their crimes.\nTherefore I order the second accused, Etienne Cornillant, alias Pontou,\nto be placed on the rack if he continues silent. Pontou! will you speak\nor will you not?\u201d\n\n\u201cMonseigneur, he will speak!\u201d exclaimed Henriet. Oh, Pontou, dear\nfriend, resist not God any more.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell then, messeigneurs,\u201d said Pontou, with emotion; \u201cI will satisfy\nyou; I cannot defend my poor lord against the allegations of Henriet,\nwho has confessed all through dread of eternal damnation.\u201d\n\nHe then fully substantiated all the statements of the other, adding\nother facts of the same character, known only to himself.\n\nNotwithstanding the avowal of Pontou and Henriet, the adjourned trial\nwas not hurried on. It would have been easy to have captured some of\nthe accomplices of the wretched man; but the duke, who was informed of\nthe whole of the proceedings, did not wish to augment the scandal by\nincreasing the number of the accused. He even forbade researches to be\nmade in the castles and mansions of the Sire de Retz, fearing lest\nproofs of fresh crimes, more mysterious and more horrible than those\nalready divulged, should come to light.\n\nThe dismay spread through the country by the revelations already made,\ndemanded that religion and morality, which had been so grossly\noutraged, should be speedily avenged. People wondered at the delay in\npronouncing sentence, and it was loudly proclaimed in Nantes that the\nSire de Retz was rich enough to purchase his life. It is true that\nMadame de Retz solicited the king and the duke again to give pardon to\nher husband; but the duke, counselled by the bishop, refused to extend\nhis authority to interfere with the course of justice; and the king,\nafter having sent one of his councillors to Nantes to investigate the\ncase, determined not to stir in it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\nMAR\u00c9CHAL DE RETZ.\u2014III. THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION.\n\n\nThe adjourned Trial\u2014The Marshal Confesses\u2014The Case handed over to the\nEcclesiastical Tribunal\u2014Prompt steps taken by the Bishop\u2014The\nSentence\u2014Ratified by the Secular Court\u2014The Execution.\n\n\nOn the 24th October the trial of the Mar\u00e9chal de Retz was resumed. The\nprisoner entered in a Carmelite habit, knelt and prayed in silence\nbefore the examination began. Then he ran his eye over the court, and\nthe sight of the rack, windlass, and cords made a slight shudder run\nthrough him.\n\n\u201cMessire Gilles de Laval,\u201d began the president; \u201cyou appear before me\nnow for the second time to answer to a certain requisition read by M.\nle Lieutenant du Procureur de Nantes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI shall answer frankly, monseigneur,\u201d said the prisoner calmly; \u201cbut I\nreserve the right of appeal to the benign intervention of the very\nvenerated majesty of the King of France, of whom I am, or have been,\nchamberlain and marshal, as may be proved by my letters patent duly\nenregistered in the parliament at Paris\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is no affair of the King of France,\u201d interrupted Pierre de\nl\u2019Hospital; \u201cif you were chamberlain and marshal of his Majesty, you\nare also vassal of his grace the Duke of Brittany.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do not deny it; but, on the contrary, I trust to his Grace of\nBrittany to allow me to retire to a convent of Carmelites, there to\nrepent me of my sins.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is as may be; will you confess, or must I send you to the rack?\u201d\n\n\u201cTorture me not!\u201d exclaimed Gilles de Retz \u201cI will confess all. Tell me\nfirst, what have Henriet and Pontou said?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey have confessed. M. le Lieutenant du Procureur shall read you\ntheir allegations.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d said the lieutenant, who continued to show favour to the\naccused; \u201cI pronounce them false, unless Messire de Retz confirms them\nby oath, which God forbid!\u201d\n\nPierre de l\u2019Hospital made a motion of anger to check this scandalous\npleading in favour of the accused, and then nodded to the clerk to read\nthe evidence.\n\nThe Sire do Retz, on hearing that his servants had made such explicit\navowals of their acts, remained motionless, as though thunderstruck. He\nsaw that it was in vain for him to equivocate, and that he would have\nto confess all.\n\n\u201cWhat have you to say?\u201d asked the president, when the confessions of\nHenriet and Pontou had been read.\n\n\u201cSay what befits you, my lord,\u201d interrupted the lieutenant du\nprocureur, as though to indicate to the accused the line he was to\ntake: \u201care not these abominable lies and calumnies trumped up to ruin\nyou?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas, no!\u201d replied the Sire do Retz; and his face was pale as death:\n\u201cHenriet and Pontou have spoken the truth. God has loosened their\ntongues.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord! relieve yourself of the burden of your crimes by\nacknowledging them at once,\u201d said M. do l\u2019Hospital earnestly.\n\n\u201cMessires!\u201d said the prisoner, after a moment\u2019s silence: \u201cit is quite\ntrue that I have robbed mothers of their little ones; and that I have\nkilled their children, or caused them to be killed, either by cutting\ntheir throats with daggers or knives, or by chopping off their heads\nwith cleavers; or else I have had their skulls broken by hammers or\nsticks; sometimes I had their limbs hewn off one after another; at\nother times I have ripped them open, that I might examine their\nentrails and hearts; I have occasionally strangled them or put them to\na slow death; and when the children were dead I had their bodies burned\nand reduced to ashes.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen did you begin your execrable practices?\u201d asked Pierre de\nl\u2019Hospital, staggered by the frankness of these horrible avowals: \u201cthe\nevil one must have possessed you.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt came to me from myself,\u2014no doubt at the instigation of the devil:\nbut still these acts of cruelty afforded me incomparable delight. The\ndesire to commit these atrocities came upon me eight years ago. I left\ncourt to go to Chantonc\u00e9, that I might claim the property of my\ngrandfather, deceased. In the library of the castle I found a Latin\nbook\u2014_Suetonius_, I believe\u2014full of accounts of the cruelties of the\nRoman Emperors. I read the charming history of Tiberius, Caracalla, and\nother C\u00e6sars, and the pleasure they took in watching the agonies of\ntortured children. Thereupon I resolved to imitate and surpass these\nsame C\u00e6sars, and that very night I began to do so. For some while I\nconfided my secret to no one, but afterwards I communicated it to my\ncousin, Gilles de Sill\u00e9, then to Master Roger de Briqueville, next in\nsuccession to Henriet, Pontou, Rossignol, and Robin.\u201d He then confirmed\nall the accounts given by his two servants. He confessed to about one\nhundred and twenty murders in a single year.\n\n\u201cAn average of eight hundred in less than seven years!\u201d exclaimed\nPierre de l\u2019Hospital, with a cry of pain: \u201cAh! messire, you were\npossessed! \u201c\n\nHis confession was too explicit and circumstantial for the Lieutenant\ndu Procureur to say another word in his defence; but he pleaded that\nthe case should be made over to the ecclesiastical court, as there were\nconfessions of invocations of the devil and of witchcraft mixed up with\nthose of murder. Pierre de l\u2019Hospital saw that the object of the\nlieutenant was to gain time for Mme. de Retz to make a fresh attempt to\nobtain a pardon; however he was unable to resist, so he consented that\nthe case should be transferred to the bishop\u2019s court.\n\nBut the bishop was not a man to let the matter slip, and there and then\na sergeant of the bishop summoned Gilles de Laval, Sire do Retz, to\nappear forthwith before the ecclesiastical tribunal. The marshal was\nstaggered by this unexpected citation, and he did not think of\nappealing against it to the president; he merely signed his readiness\nto follow, and he was at once conducted into the ecclesiastical court\nassembled hurriedly to try him.\n\nThis new trial lasted only a few hours.\n\nThe marshal, now thoroughly cowed, made no attempt to defend himself,\nbut he endeavoured to bribe the bishop into leniency, by promises of\nthe surrender of all his lands and goods to the Church, and begged to\nbe allowed to retire into the Carmelite monastery at Nantes.\n\nHis request was peremptorily refused, and sentence of death was\npronounced against him.\n\nOn the 25th October, the ecclesiastical court having pronounced\njudgment, the sentence was transmitted to the secular court, which had\nnow no pretext upon which to withhold ratification.\n\nThere was some hesitation as to the kind of death the marshal was to\nsuffer. The members of the secular tribunal were not unanimous on this\npoint. The president put it to the vote, and collected the votes\nhimself; then he reseated himself, covered his head, and said in a\nsolemn voice:\u2014\n\n\u201cThe court, notwithstanding the quality, dignity, and nobility of the\naccused, condemns him to be hung and burned. Wherefore I admonish you\nwho are condemned, to ask pardon of God, and grace to die well, in\ngreat contrition for having committed the said crimes. And the said\nsentence shall be carried into execution to-morrow morning between\neleven and twelve o\u2019clock.\u201d A similar sentence was pronounced upon\nHenriet and Pontou.\n\nOn the morrow, October 26th, at nine o\u2019clock in the morning, a general\nprocession composed of half the people of Nantes, the clergy and the\nbishop bearing the blessed Sacrament, left the cathedral and went round\nthe city visiting each of the principal churches, where masses were\nsaid for the three under sentence.\n\nAt eleven the prisoners were conducted to the place of execution, which\nwas in the meadow of Biesse, on the further side of the Loire.\n\nThree gibbets had been erected, one higher than the others, and beneath\neach was a pile of faggots, tar, and brushwood.\n\nIt was a glorious, breezy day, not a cloud was to be seen in the blue\nheavens; the Loire rolled silently towards the sea its mighty volumes\nof turbid water, seeming bright and blue as it reflected the brilliancy\nand colour of the sky. The poplars shivered and whitened in the fresh\nair with a pleasant rustle, and the willows flickered and wavered above\nthe stream.\n\nA vast crowd had assembled round the gallows; it was with difficulty\nthat a way was made for the condemned, who came on chanting the _De\nprofundis_. The spectators of all ages took up the psalm and chanted it\nwith them, so that the surge of the old Gregorian tone might have been\nheard by the duke and the bishop, who had shut themselves up in the\nch\u00e2teau of Nantes during the hour of execution.\n\nAfter the close of the psalm, which was terminated by the _Requiem\n\u00e6ternam_ instead of the _Gloria_, the Sire de Retz thanked those who\nhad conducted him, and then embraced Pontou and Henriet, before\ndelivering himself of the following address, or rather sermon:\u2014\n\n\u201cMy very dear friends and servants, be strong and courageous against\nthe assaults of the devil, and feel great displeasure and contrition\nfor your ill deeds, without despairing of God\u2019s mercy. Believe with me,\nthat there is no sin, however great, in the world, which God, in his\ngrace and loving kindness, will not pardon, when one asks it of Him\nwith contrition of heart. Remember that the Lord God is always more\nready to receive the sinner than is the sinner to ask of Him pardon.\nMoreover, let us very humbly thank Him for his great love to us in\nletting us die in full possession of our faculties, and not cutting us\noff suddenly in the midst of our misdeeds. Let us conceive such a love\nof God, and such repentance, that we shall not fear death, which is\nonly a little pang, without which we could not see God in his glory.\nBesides we must desire to be freed from this world, in which is only\nmisery, that we may go to everlasting glory. Let us rejoice rather, for\nalthough we have sinned grievously here below, yet we shall be united\nin Paradise, our souls being parted from our bodies, and we shall be\ntogether for ever and ever, if only we endure in our pious and\nhonourable contrition to our last sigh.\u201d[1] Then the marshal, who was\nto be executed first, left his companions and placed himself in the\nhands of his executioners. He took off his cap, knelt, kissed a\ncrucifix, and made a pious oration to the crowd much in the style of\nhis address to his friends Pontou and Henriet.\n\n [1] The case of the Sire de Retz is one to make us see the great\n danger there is in trusting to feelings in matters of religion. \u201cIf\n thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,\u201d said our Lord. How\n many hope to go to heaven because they have pious emotions!\n\n\nThen he commenced reciting the prayers of the dying; the executioner\npassed the cord round his neck, and adjusted the knot. He mounted a\ntall stool, erected at the foot of the gallows as a last honour paid to\nthe nobility of the criminal. The pile of firewood was lighted before\nthe executioners had left him.\n\nPontou and Henriet, who were still on their knees, raised their eyes to\ntheir master and cried to him, extending their arms,\u2014\n\n\u201cAt this last hour, monseigneur, be a good and valiant soldier of God,\nand remember the passion of Jesus Christ which wrought our redemption.\nFarewell, we hope soon to meet in Paradise!\n\nThe stool was cast down, and the Sire de Retz dropped. The fire roared\nup, the flames leaped about him, and enveloped him as be swung.\n\nSuddenly, mingling with the deep booming of the cathedral bell, swelled\nup the wild unearthly wail of the _Dies ir\u00e6_.\n\nNo sound among the crowd, only the growl of the fire, and the solemn\nstrain of the hymn\n\nLo, the Book, exactly worded,\nWherein all hath been recorded;\nThence shall judgment be awarded.\n\nWhen the Judge his seat attaineth,\nAnd each hidden deed arraigneth,\nNothing unavenged remaineth.\n\nWhat shall I, frail man, be pleading?\nWho for me be interceding?\nWhen the just are mercy needing.\n\nKing of Majesty tremendous,\nWho dost free salvation send us,\nFount of pity! then befriend us.\n\n*    *    *    *\n\nLow I kneel, with heart-submission;\nSee, like ashes, my contrition\u2014\nHelp me in my last condition!\n\nAh I that day of tears and mourning!\nFrom the dust of earth returning,\nMan for judgment must prepare him!\nSpare, O, God, in mercy spare him!\nLord, who didst our souls redeem,\nGrant a blessed requiem!\n\nAMEN.\n\n\nSix women, veiled, and robed in white, and six Carmelites advanced.\nbearing a coffin.\n\nIt was whispered that one of the veiled women was Madame de Retz, and\nthat the others were members of the most illustrious houses of\nBrittany.\n\nThe cord by which the marshal was hung was cut, and he fell into a\ncradle of iron prepared to receive the corpse. The body was removed\nbefore the fire had gained any mastery over it. It was placed in the\ncoffin., and the monks and the women transported it to the Carmelite\nmonastery of Nantes, according to the wishes of the deceased.\n\nIn the meantime, the sentence had been executed upon Pontou and\nHenriet; they were hung and burned to dust. Their ashes were cast to\nthe winds; whilst in the Carmelite church of Our Lady were celebrated\nwith pomp the obsequies of the very high, very powerful, very\nillustrious Seigneur Gilles de Laval, Sire de Retz, late Chamberlain of\nKing Charles VII., and Marshal of France!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\nA GALICIAN WERE-WOLF.\n\n\nThe Inhabitants of Austrian Galicia\u2014The Hamlet of Polomyja\u2014Summer\nEvening in the Forest\u2014The Beggar Swiatek\u2014A Girl disappears\u2014A School-boy\nvanishes\u2014A Servant-girl lost\u2014Another Boy carried of\u2014The Discovery made\nby the Publican of Polomyja\u2014Swiatek locked up\u2014Brought to Dabkow\u2014Commits\nsuicide.\n\n\nThe inhabitants of Austrian Galicia are quiet, inoffensive people, take\nthem as a whole. The Jews, who number a twelfth of the population, are\nthe most intelligent, energetic, and certainly the most money-making\nindividuals in the province, though the Poles proper, or Mazurs, are\nnot devoid of natural parts.\n\nPerhaps as remarkable a phenomenon as any other in that kingdom\u2014for\nkingdom of Waldimir it was\u2014is the enormous numerical preponderance of\nthe nobility over the untitled. In 1837 the proportions stood thus:\n32,190 nobles to 2,076 tradesmen.\n\nThe average of execution for crime is nine a year, out of a population\nof four and a half millions,\u2014by no means a high figure, considering the\nperemptory way in which justice is dealt forth in that province. Yet,\nin the most quiet and well-disposed neighbourhoods, occasionally the\nmost startling atrocities are committed, occurring when least expected,\nand sometimes perpetrated by the very person who is least suspected.\n\nJust sixteen years ago there happened in the circle of Tornow, in\nWestern Galicia-the province is divided into nine circles-a\ncircumstance which will probably furnish the grandames with a story for\ntheir firesides, during their bitter Galician winters, for many a long\nyear.\n\nIn the circle of Tornow, in the lordship of Parkost, is a little hamlet\ncalled Polomyja, consisting of eight hovels and a Jewish tavern. The\ninhabitants are mostly woodcutters, hewing down the firs of the dense\nforest in which their village is situated, and conveying them to the\nnearest water, down which they are floated to the Vistula. Each tenant\npays no rent for his cottage and pitch of field, but is bound to work a\nfixed number of days for his landlord: a practice universal in Galicia,\nand often productive of much discontent and injustice, as the\nproprietor exacts labour from his tenant on those days when the harvest\nhas to be got in, or the land is m best condition for tillage, and just\nwhen the peasant would gladly be engaged upon his own small plot. Money\nis scarce in the province, and this is accordingly the only way in\nwhich the landlord can be sure of his dues.\n\nMost of the villagers of Polomyja are miserably poor; but by\ncultivating a little maize, and keeping a few fowls or a pig, they\nscrape together sufficient to sustain life. During the summer the men\ncollect resin from the pines, from each of which, once in twelve Years,\nthey strip a slip of bark, leaving the resin to exude and trickle into\na small earthenware jar at its roots; and, during the winter, as\nalready stated, they fell the trees and roll them down to the river.\n\nPolomyja is not a cheerful spot\u2014nested among dense masses of pine,\nwhich shed a gloom over the little hamlet; yet, on a fine day, it is\npleasant enough for the old women to sit at their cottage doors,\nscenting that matchless pine fragrance, sweeter than the balm of the\nSpice Islands, for there is nothing cloying in that exquisite and\nexhilarating odour; listening to the harp-like thrill of the breeze in\nthe old grey tree-tops, and knitting quietly at long stockings, whilst\ntheir little grandchildren romp in the heather and tufted fern.\n\nTowards evening, too, there is something indescribably beautiful in the\nfirwood. The sun dives among the trees, and paints their boles with\npatches of luminous saffron, or falling over a level clearing,\nglorifies it with its orange dye, so visibly contrasting with the\nblue-purple shadow on the western rim of unreclaimed forest, deep and\nluscious as the bloom on a plum. The birds then are hastening to their\nnests, a ger-falcon, high overhead, is kindled with sunlight; capering\nand gambolling among the branches, the merry squirrel skips home for\nthe night.\n\nThe sun goes down, but the sky is still shining with twilight. The wild\ncat begins to hiss and squall in the forest, the heron to flap hastily\nby, the stork on the top of the tavern chimney to poise itself on one\nleg for sleep. To-whoo! an owl begins to wake up. Hark! the woodcutters\nare coming home with a song.\n\nSuch is Polomyja in summer time, and much resembling it are the hamlets\nscattered about the forest, at intervals of a few miles; in each, the\npublic-house being the most commodious and best-built edifice, the\nchurch, whenever there is one, not remarkable for anything but its\nbulbous steeple.\n\nYou would hardly believe that amidst all this poverty a beggar could\nhave picked up any subsistence, and yet, a few years ago, Sunday after\nSunday, there sat a white-bearded venerable man at the church door,\nasking alms.\n\nPoor people are proverbially compassionate and liberal, so that the old\nman generally got a few coppers, and often some good woman bade him\ncome into her cottage, and let him have some food.\n\nOccasionally Swiatek\u2014that was the beggar\u2019s name, went his rounds\nselling small pinchbeck ornaments and beads; generally, however, only\nappealing to charity.\n\nOne Sunday, after church, a Mazur and his wife invited the old man into\ntheir hut and gave him a crust of pie and some meat. There were several\nchildren about, but a little girl, of nine or ten, attracted the old\nman\u2019s attention by her artless tricks.\n\nSwiatek felt in his pocket and produced a ring, enclosing a piece of\ncoloured glass set over foil. This he presented to the child, who ran\noff delighted to show her acquisition to her companions.\n\n\u201cIs that little maid your daughter?\u201d asked the beggar.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered the house-wife, \u201cshe is an orphan; there was a widow in\nthis place who died, leaving the child, and I have taken charge of her;\none mouth more will not matter much, and the good God will bless us.\u201d\n\n\u201cAy, ay! to be sure He will; the orphans and fatherless are under His\nown peculiar care.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s a good little thing, and gives no trouble,\u201d observed the woman.\n\u201cYou go back to Polomyja tonight, I reckon.\u201d\n\n\u201cI do\u2014ah!\u201d exclaimed Swiatek, as the little girl ran up to him. You\nlike the ring, is it not beautiful? I found it under a big fir to the\nleft of the churchyard,there may be dozens there. You must turn round\nthree times, bow to the moon, and say, \u2018Zabo\u00ef!\u2019 then look among the\ntree-roots till you find one.\u201d\n\n\u201cCome along!\u201d screamed the child to its comrades; \u201cwe will go and look\nfor rings.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must seek separately,\u201d said Swiatek.\n\nThe children scampered off into the wood.\n\n\u201cI have done one good thing for you,\u201d laughed the beggar, \u201cin ridding\nyou, for a time, of the noise of those children.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am glad of a little quiet now and then,\u201d said the woman; \u201cthe\nchildren will not let the baby sleep at times with their clatter. Are\nyou going?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; I must reach Polomyja to-night. I am old and very feeble, and\npoor\u201d\u2014he began to fall into his customary whine\u2014 very poor, but I thank\nand pray to God for you.\u201d\n\nSwiatek left the cottage.\n\n_That little orphan was never seen again._\n\nThe Austrian Government has, of late years, been vigorously advancing\neducation among the lower orders, and establishing schools throughout\nthe province.\n\nThe children were returning from class one day, and were scattered\namong the trees, some pursuing a field-mouse, others collecting\njuniper-berries, and some sauntering with their hands in their pockets,\nwhistling.\n\n\u201cWhere\u2019s Peter?\u201d asked one little boy of another who was beside him.\n\u201cWe three go home the same way, let us go together.\u201d\n\n\u201cPeter!\u201d shouted the lad.\n\n\u201cHere I am!\u201d was the answer from among the trees; \u201cI\u2019ll be with you\ndirectly.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I see him!\u201d said the elder boy. \u201cThere is some one talking to\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d\n\n\u201cYonder, among the pines. Ah! they have gone further into the shadow,\nand I cannot see them any more. I wonder who was with him; a man, I\nthink.\u201d\n\nThe boys waited till they were tired, and then they sauntered home,\ndetermined to thrash Peter for having kept them waiting. _But Peter was\nnever seen again._\n\nSome time after this a servant-girl, belonging to a small store kept by\na Russian, disappeared from a village five miles from Polomyja. She had\nbeen sent with a parcel of grocery to a cottage at no very great\ndistance, but lying apart from the main cluster of hovels, and\nsurrounded by trees.\n\nThe day closed in, and her master waited her return anxiously, but as\nseveral hours elapsed without any sign of her, he\u2014assisted by the\nneighbours\u2014went in search of her.\n\nA slight powdering of snow covered the ground, and her footsteps could\nbe traced at intervals where she had diverged from the beaten track. In\nthat part of the road where the trees were thickest, there were marks\nof two pair of feet leaving the path; but owing to the density of the\ntrees at that spot and to the slightness of the fall of snow, which did\nnot reach the soil, where shaded by the pines, the footprints were\nimmediately lost. By the following morning a heavy fall had obliterated\nany further traces which day-light might have discovered.\n\n_The servant-girl also was never seen again._\n\nDuring the winter of 1849 the wolves were supposed to have been\nparticularly ravenous, for thus alone did people account for the\nmysterious disappearances of children.\n\nA little boy had been sent to a fountain to fetch water; the pitcher\nwas found standing by the well, but _the boy had vanished_. The\nvillagers turned out, and those wolves which could be found were\ndespatched.\n\nWe have already introduced our readers to Polomyja, although the\noccurrences above related did not take place among those eight hovels,\nbut in neighbouring villages. The reason for our having given a more\ndetailed account of this cluster of houses\u2014rude cabins they were\u2014will\nnow become apparent.\n\nIn May, 1849, the innkeeper of Polomyja missed a couple of ducks, and\nhis suspicions fell upon the beggar who lived there, and whom he held\nin no esteem, as he himself was a hard-working industrious man, whilst\nSwiatek maintained himself, his wife, and children by mendicity,\nalthough possessed of sufficient arable land to yield an excellent crop\nof maize, and produce vegetables, if tilled with ordinary care.\n\nAs the publican approached the cottage a fragrant whiff of roast\ngreeted his nostrils.\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll catch the fellow in the act,\u201d said the innkeeper to himself,\nstealing up to the door, and taking good care not to be observed.\n\nAs he threw open the door, he saw the mendicant hurriedly shuffle\nsomething under his feet, and conceal it beneath his long clothes. The\npublican was on him in an instant, had him by the throat, charged him\nwith theft, and dragged him from his seat. Judge of his sickening\nhorror when from beneath the pauper\u2019s clothes rolled forth the head of\na girl about the age of fourteen or fifteen years, carefully separated\nfrom the trunk.\n\nIn a short while the neighbours came up. The venerable Swiatek was\nlocked up, along with his wife, his daughter\u2014a girl of sixteen\u2014and a\nson, aged five.\n\nThe hut was thoroughly examined, and the mutilated remains of the poor\ngirl discovered. In a vat were found the legs and thighs, partly raw,\npartly stewed or roasted. In a chest were the heart, liver, and\nentrails, all prepared and cleaned, as neatly as though done by a\nskilful butcher; and, finally, under the oven was a bowl full of fresh\nblood. On his way to the magistrate of the district. the wretched man\nflung himself repeatedly on the ground, struggled with his guards, and\nendeavoured to suffocate himself by gulping clown clods of earth and\nstones, but was prevented by his conductors.\n\nWhen taken before the Protokoll at Dabkow, he stated that he had\nalready killed and\u2014assisted by his family\u2014eaten six persons: his\nchildren, however, asserted most positively that the number was much\ngreater than he had represented, and their testimony is borne out by\nthe fact, that the remains of _fourteen_ different caps and suits of\nclothes, male as well as female, were found in his house.\n\nThe origin of this horrible and depraved taste was as follows,\naccording to Swiatek\u2019s own confession:\u2014\n\nIn 1846, three years previous, a Jewish tavern in the neighbourhood had\nbeen burned down, and the host had himself perished in the flames.\nSwiatek, whilst examining the ruins, had found the half-roasted corpse\nof the publican among the charred rafters of the house. At that time\nthe old man was craving with hunger, having been destitute of food for\nsome time. The scent and the sight of the roasted flesh inspired him\nwith an uncontrollable desire to taste of it. He tore off a portion of\nthe carcase and satiated his hunger upon it, and at the same time he\nconceived such a liking for it, that he could feel no rest till he had\ntasted again. His second victim was the orphan above alluded to; since\nthen\u2014that is, during the period of no less than three years\u2014he had\nfrequently subsisted in the same manner, and had actually grown sleek\nand fat upon his frightful meals.\n\nThe excitement roused by the discovery of these atrocities was intense;\nseveral poor mothers who had bewailed the loss of their little ones,\nfelt their wounds reopened agonisingly. Popular indignation rose to the\nhighest pitch: there was some fear lest the criminal should be torn in\npieces himself by the enraged people, as soon as he was brought to\ntrial: but he saved the necessity of precautions being taken to ensure\nhis safety, for, on the first night of his confinement, he hanged\nhimself from the bars of the prison-window.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\nANOMALOUS CASE.\u2014THE HUMAN HY\u00c6NA.\n\n\nGhouls\u2014Story from Fornari\u2014Quotation from Apuleius\u2014Incident mentioned by\nMarcassus\u2014Cemeteries of Paris violated\u2014Discovery of Violator\u2014Confession\nof M. Bertrand.\n\n\nIt is well known that Oriental romance is full of stories of violators\nof graves. Eastern superstition attributes to certain individuals a\npassion for unearthing corpses and mangling them. Of a moonlight night\nweird forms are seen stealing among the tombs, and burrowing into them\nwith their long nails, desiring to reach the bodies of the dead ere the\nfirst streak of dawn compels them to retire. These ghouls, as they are\ncalled, are supposed generally to require the flesh of the dead for\nincantations or magical compositions, but very often they are actuated\nby the sole desire of rending the sleeping corpse, and disturbing its\nrepose. There is every probability that these ghouls were no mere\ncreations of the imagination, but were actual resurrectionists. Human\nfat and the hair of a corpse which has grown in the grave, form\ningredients in many a necromantic receipt, and the witches who\ncompounded these diabolical mixtures, would unearth corpses in order to\nobtain the requisite ingredients. It was the same in the middle ages,\nand to such an extent did the fear of ghouls extend, that it was common\nin Brittany for churchyards to be provided with lamps, kept burning\nduring the night, that witches might be deterred from venturing under\ncover of darkness to open the graves.\n\nFornari gives the following story of a ghoul in his _History of\nSorcerers_:\u2014\n\nIn the beginning of the 15th century, there lived at Bagdad an aged\nmerchant who had grown wealthy in his business, and who had an only son\nto whom he was tenderly attached. He resolved to marry him to the\ndaughter of another merchant, a girl of considerable fortune, but\nwithout any personal attractions. Abul-Hassan, the merchant\u2019s son, on\nbeing shown the portrait of the lady, requested his father to delay the\nmarriage till he could reconcile his mind to it. Instead, however, of\ndoing this, he fell in love with another girl, the daughter of a sage,\nand he gave his father no peace till he consented to the marriage with\nthe object of his affections. The old man stood out as long as he\ncould, but finding that his son was bent on acquiring the hand of the\nfair Nadilla, and was equally resolute not to accept the rich and ugly\nlady, he did what most fathers, under such circumstances, are\nconstrained to do, he acquiesced.\n\nThe wedding took place with great pomp and ceremony, and a happy\nhoneymoon ensued, which might have been happier but for one little\ncircumstance which led to very serious consequences.\n\nAbul-Hassan noticed that his bride quitted the nuptial couch as soon as\nshe thought her husband was asleep, and did not return to it, till an\nboar before dawn.\n\nFilled with curiosity, Hassan one night feigned sleep, and saw his wife\nrise and leave the room as usual. He followed cautiously, and saw her\nenter a cemetery. By the straggling moonbeams he beheld her go into a\ntomb; he stepped in after her.\n\nThe scene within was horrible. A party of ghouls were assembled with\nthe spoils of the graves they had violated., and were feasting on the\nflesh of the long-buried corpses. His own wife, who, by the way, never\ntouched supper at home, played no inconsiderable part in the hideous\nbanquet.\n\nAs soon as he could safely escape, Abul-Hassan stole back to his bed.\n\nHe said nothing to his bride till next evening when supper was laid,\nand she declined to eat; then he insisted on her partaking, and when\nshe positively refused, he exclaimed wrathfully,\u2014\u201cYes, you keep your\nappetite for your feast with the ghouls!\u201d Nadilla was silent; she\nturned pale and trembled, and without a word sought her bed. At\nmidnight she rose, fell on her husband with her nails and teeth, tore\nhis throat, and having opened a vein, attempted to suck his blood; but\nAbul-Hassan springing to his feet threw her down, and with a blow\nkilled her. She was buried next day.\n\nThree days after, at midnight, she re-appeared, attacked her husband\nagain, and again attempted to suck his blood. He fled from her, and on\nthe morrow opened her tomb, burned her to ashes, and cast them into the\nTigris.\n\nThis story connects the ghoul with the vampire. As will be seen by a\nformer chapter, the were-wolf and the vampire are closely related.\n\nThat the ancients held the same belief that the witches violate\ncorpses, is evident from the third episode in the _Golden Ass_ of\nApuleius. I will only quote the words of the crier:\u2014\n\n\u201cI pray thee, tell me,\u201d replied I, \u201cof what kind are the duties\nattached to this funeral guardianship?\u201d \u201cDuties!\u201d quoth the crier;\n\u201cwhy, keep wide awake all night, with thine eyes fixed steadily upon\nthe corpse, neither winking nor blinking, nor looking to the right nor\nlooking to the left, either to one side or the other, be it even\nlittle; for the witches, infamous wretches that they are! can slip out\nof their skins in an instant and change themselves into the form of any\nanimal they have a mind; and then they crawl along so slyly, that the\neyes of justice, nay, the eyes of the sun himself, are not keen enough\nto perceive them. At all events, their wicked devices are infinite in\nnumber and variety; and whether it be in the shape of a bird, or a dog,\nor a mouse, or even of a common house-fly, that they exercise their\ndire incantations, if thou art not vigilant in the extreme, they will\ndeceive thee one way or other, and overwhelm thee with sleep;\nnevertheless, as regards the reward, \u2019twill be from four to six aurei;\nnor, although \u2019tis a perilous service, wilt thou receive more. Nay,\nhold! I had almost forgotten to give thee a necessary caution. Clearly\nunderstand, that it the corpse be not restored to the relatives entire,\nthe deficient pieces of flesh torn off by the teeth of the witches must\nbe replaced from the face of the sleepy guardian.\u201d\n\nHere we have the rending of corpses connected with change of form.\n\nMarcassus relates that after a long war in Syria, during the night,\ntroops of lamias, female evil spirits, appeared upon the field of\nbattle, unearthing the hastily buried bodies of the soldiers, and\ndevouring the flesh off their bones. They were pursued and fired upon,\nand some young men succeeded in killing a considerable number; but\nduring the day they had all of them the forms of wolves or hy\u00e6nas. That\nthere is a foundation of truth in these horrible stories, and that it\nis quite possible for a human being to be possessed of a depraved\nappetite for rending corpses, is proved by an extraordinary case\nbrought before a court-martial in Paris, so late as July 10th, 1849.\n\nThe details are given with fulness in the _Annales\nMedico-psychologiques_ for that month and year. They are too revolting\nfor reproduction. I will, however, give an outline of this remarkable\ncase.\n\nIn the autumn of 1848, several of the cemeteries in the neighbourhood\nof Paris were found to have been entered during the night, and graves\nto have been rifled. The deeds were not those of medical students, for\nthe bodies had not been carried of, but were found lying about the\ntombs in fragments. It was at first supposed that the perpetration of\nthese outrages must have been a wild beast, but footprints in the soft\nearth left no doubt that it was a man. Close watch was kept at P\u00e8re la\nChaise; but after a few corpses had been mangled there, the outrages\nceased.\n\nIn the winter, another cemetery was ravaged, and it was not till March\nin 1849, that a spring gun which had been set in the cemetery of S.\nParnasse, went off during the night, and warned the guardians of the\nplace that the mysterious visitor had fallen into their trap. They\nrushed to the spot, only to see a dark figure in a military mantle leap\nthe wall, and disappear in the gloom. Marks of blood, however, gave\nevidence that he had been hit by the gun when it had discharged. At the\nsame time, a fragment of blue cloth, torn from the mantle, was\nobtained, and afforded a clue towards the identification of the\nravisher of the tombs.\n\nOn the following day, the police went from barrack to barrack,\ninquiring whether officer or man were suffering from a gun-shot wound.\nBy this means they discovered the person. He was a junior officer in\nthe 1st Infantry regiment, of the name of Bertrand.\n\nHe was taken to the hospital to be cured of his wound, and on his\nrecovery, he was tried by court-martial.\n\nHis history was this.\n\nHe had been educated in the theological seminary of Langres, till, at\nthe age of twenty, he entered the army. He was a young man of retiring\nhabits, frank and cheerful to his comrades, so as to be greatly beloved\nby them, of feminine delicacy and refinement, and subject to fits of\ndepression and melancholy. In February, 1847, as he was walking with a\nfriend in the country, he came to a churchyard, the gate of which stood\nopen. The day before a woman had been buried, but the sexton had not\ncompleted filling in the grave, and he had been engaged upon it on the\npresent occasion, when a storm of rain had driven him to shelter.\nBertrand noticed the spade and pick lying beside the grave, and\u2014to use\nhis own words:\u2014\u201cA cette vue des id\u00e9es noires me vinrent, j\u2019eus comme un\nviolent mal de t\u00eate, mon c\u0153ur battait avec force, je no me poss\u00e9dais\nplus.\u201d He managed by some excuse to get rid of his companion, and then\nreturning to the churchyard, he caught up a spade and began to dig into\nthe grave. \u201cSoon I dragged the corpse out of the earth, and I began to\nhash it with the spade, without well knowing what I was about. A\nlabourer saw me, and I laid myself flat on the ground till he was out\nof sight, and then I cast the body back into the grave. I then went\naway, bathed in a cold sweat, to a little grove, where I reposed for\nseveral hours, notwithstanding the cold rain which fell, in a condition\nof complete exhaustion. When I rose, my limbs were as if broken, and my\nhead weak. The same prostration and sensation followed each attack.\n\nTwo days after, I returned to the cemetery, and opened the grave with\nmy hands. My hands bled, but I did not feel the pain; I tore the corpse\nto shreds, and flung it back into the pit.\u201d\n\nHe had no further attack for four months, till his regiment came to\nParis. As he was one day walking in the gloomy, shadowy, alleys of P\u00e8re\nla Chaise, the same feeling came over him like a flood. In the night he\nclimbed the wall, and dug up a little girl of seven years old. He tore\nher in half. A few days later, he opened the grave of a woman who had\ndied in childbirth, and had lain in the grave for thirteen days. On the\n16th November, he dug up an old woman of fifty, and, ripping her to\npieces, rolled among the fragments. He did the same to another corpse\non the 12th December. These are only a few of the numerous cases of\nviolation of tombs to which he owned. It was on the night of the 15th\nMarch that the spring-gun shot him.\n\nBertrand declared at his trial, that whilst he was in the hospital he\nhad not felt any desire to renew his attempts, and that he considered\nhimself cured of his horrible propensities, for he had seen men dying\nin the beds around him, and now: \u201cJe suis gu\u00e9ri, car aujourd\u2019hui j\u2019ai\npeur d\u2019un mort.\u201d\n\nThe fits of exhaustion which followed his accesses are very remarkable,\nas they precisely resemble those which followed the berserkir rages of\nthe Northmen, and the expeditions of the Lycanthropists.\n\nThe case of M. Bertrand is indubitably most singular and anomalous; it\nscarcely bears the character of insanity, but seems to point rather to\na species of diabolical possession. At first the accesses chiefly\nfollowed upon his drinking wine, but after a while they came upon him\nwithout exciting cause. The manner in which he mutilated the dead was\ndifferent. Some he chopped with the spade, others he tore and ripped\nwith his teeth and nails. Sometimes he tore the mouth open and rent the\nface back to the ears, he opened the stomachs, and pulled off the\nlimbs. Although he dug up the bodies of several men he felt no\ninclination to mutilate them, whereas he delighted in rending female\ncorpses. He was sentenced to a year\u2019s imprisonment.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\nA SERMON ON WERE -WOLVES.\n\n\nThe discourses of Dr. Johann Geiler\u2014The Sermon\u2014Remarks.\n\n\nThe following curious specimen of a late medi\u00e6val sermon is taken from\nthe old German edition of the discourses of Dr. Johann Geiler von\nKeysersperg, a famous preacher in Strasbourg. The volume is entitled:\n\u201c_Die Emeis_. Dis ist das B\u00fcch von der Omeissen, und durch Herr der\nK\u00fcnnig ich diente gern. Und sagt von Eigenschafft der Omeissen, und\ngibt underweisung von der Unholden oder Hexen, und von Gespenst, der\nGeist, und von dem W\u00fctenden Heer Wunderbarlich.\u201d\n\nThis strange series of sermons was preached at Strasbourg in the year\n1508, and was taken down and written out by a barefooted friar, Johann\nPauli, and by him published in 1517. The doctor died on Mid-Lent\nSunday, 1510. There is a Latin edition of his sermons, but whether of\nthe same series or not I cannot tell, as I have been unable to obtain a\nsight of the volume. The German edition is illustrated with bold and\nclever woodcuts. Among other, there are representations of the Witches\u2019\nSabbath, the Wild Huntsman, and a Werewolf attacking a Man.\n\nThe sermon was preached on the third Sunday in Lent. No text is given,\nbut there is a general reference to the gospel for the day. This is the\ndiscourse:\u2014[1]\n\n [1] Headed thus:\u2014\u201cAm dritt\u00eb sontag \u00e0 fast\u00ea, occuli, predigt d\u00e9 doctor\n v\u00f4 d\u00ea Werw\u00f6lffenn.\u201d\n\n\n\u201cWhat shall we say about were-wolves? for there are were-wolves which\nrun about the villages devouring men and children. As men say about\nthem, they run about full gallop, injuring men, and are called\nber-w\u00f6lff, or wer-w\u00f6lff. Do you ask me if I know aught about them? I\nanswer, Yes. They are apparently wolves which cat men and children, and\nthat happens on seven accounts:\u2014\n\n    1. Esuriem        Hunger.\n    2. Rabiem         Savageness.\n    3. Senectutem     Old age.\n    4. Experientiam   Experience.\n    5. Insaniem       Madness.\n    6. Diabolum       The Devil.\n    7. Deum           God.\n\nThe first happens through hunger; when the wolves find nothing to eat\nin the woods, they must come to people and eat men when hunger drives\nthem to it. You see well, when it is very cold, that the stags come in\nsearch of food up to the villages, and the birds actually into the\ndining-room in search of victuals.\n\n\u201cUnder the second head, wolves eat children through their innate\nsavageness, because they are savage, and that is (propter locum coitum\nferum). Their savageness arises first from their condition. Wolves\nwhich live in cold places are smaller on that account, and more savage\nthan other wolves. Secondly, their savageness depends on the season;\nthey are more savage about Candlemas than at any other time of the\nyear, and men must be more on their guard against them then than at\nother times. It is a proverb, \u2018He who seeks a wolf at Candlemas, a\npeasant on Shrove Tuesday, and a parson in Lent, is a man of pluck.\u2019 .\n. . Thirdly, their savageness depends on their having young. When the\nwolves have young, they are more savage than when they have not. You\nsee it so in all beasts. A wild duck, when it has young poults, you see\nwhat an uproar it makes. A cat fights for its young kittens; the wolves\ndo ditto.\n\n\u201cUnder the third head, the wolves do injury on account of their age.\nWhen a wolf is old, it is weak and feeble in its leas, so it can\u2019t ran\nfast enough to catch stags, and therefore it rends a man, whom it can\ncatch easier than a wild animal. It also tears children and men easier\nthan wild animals, because of its teeth, for its teeth break off when\nit is very old; you see it well in old women: how the last teeth\nwobble, and they have scarcely a tooth left in their heads, and they\nopen their mouths for men to feed them with mash and stewed substances.\n\n\u201cUnder the fourth head, the injury the were-wolves do arises from\nexperience. It is said that human flesh is far sweeter than other\nflesh; so when a wolf has once tasted human flesh, he desires to taste\nit again. So he acts like old topers, who, when they know the best\nwine, will not be put off with inferior quality.\n\n\u201cUnder the fifth head, the injury arises from ignorance. A dog when it\nis mad is also inconsiderate, and it bites any man; it does not\nrecognize its own lord: and what is a wolf but a wild dog which is mad\nand inconsiderate, so that it regards no man.\n\n\u201cUnder the sixth head, the injury comes of the Devil, who transforms\nhimself, and takes on him the form of a wolf So writes Vincentius in\nhis _Speculum Historiale_. And he has taken it from Valerius Maximus in\nthe Punic war. When the Romans fought against the men of Africa, when\nthe captain lay asleep, there came a wolf and drew his sword, and\ncarried it off. That was the Devil in a, wolf\u2019s form. The like writes\nWilliam of Paris,\u2014that a wolf will kill and devour children, and do the\ngreatest mischief. There was a man who had the phantasy that he himself\nwas a wolf. And afterwards he was found lying in the wood, and he was\ndead out of sheer hunger.\n\n\u201cUnder the seventh head, the injury comes of God\u2019s ordinance. For God\nwill sometimes punish certain lands and villages with wolves. So we\nread of Elisha,\u2014that when Elisha wanted to go up a mountain out of\nJericho, some naughty boys made a mock of him and said, \u2018O bald head,\nstep up! O glossy pate, step up!\u2019 What happened? He cursed them. Then\ncame two bears out of the desert and tore about forty-two of the\nchildren. That was God\u2019s ordinance. The like we read of a prophet who\nwould set at naught the commands he had received of God, for he was\npersuaded to eat bread at the house of another. As he went home he rode\nupon his ass. Then came a lion which slew him and left the ass alone.\nThat was God\u2019s ordinance. Therefore must man turn to God when He brings\nwild beasts to do him a mischief: which same brutes may He not bring\nnow or evermore. Amen.\u201d\n\nIt will be seen from this extraordinary sermon that Dr. Johann Geiler\nvon Keysersperg did not regard werewolves in any other light than\nnatural wolves filled with a lust for human flesh; and he puts aside\naltogether the view that they are men in a state of metamorphosis.\nHowever, he alludes to this superstition in his sermon on wild-men of\nthe woods, but translates his lycanthropists to Spain.\n\nTHE END.","title":"The Book of Were-Wolves","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":55035}