French Folklore - Monsters, Beasts and Creatures of the French Regions

By kevin tembouret

Discover French folklore through almost sixty supernatural beings, mystical creatures and diabolical monsters. Thanks to the numerous beasts (Beast of Gévaudan, Beast of Angles, Beast of the Vosges, ...), werewolves (Ganipote, Leberou, ...) and various fantastic creatures that populate or used to populate our beautiful regions of France, take a leap into the fantastic past of our ancestors.

Rich in monsters of an educational nature or answering "an existential question", the French oral tradition allows to maintain a cultural identity supported by a mystical or legendary past. Even today, the hunting of the Bitard and the hunting of the Dahu continue thanks to the maintenance of our ancestral traditions.  What would Tarascon be without the Tarasque? Brittany without its Korrigans? France without the Beast of Gévaudan? Our French folklore adds a pinch of the supernatural to our long medieval history.

This illustrated book is a real invitation to travel to the very heart of our beautiful country, with mysticism as strong as its Camembert and legends as sparkling as its champagne.

• Language: English
• Publisher: kevin tembouret
• Release date: Oct 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201645373

Book preview

Preface

Oral culture has never stopped enriching the folklore and our vision of the world. In France, thanks to our ancestors and to some writings, we continue today to hunt the Dahu, to run the galipote, and we were all afraid of the Père Fouettard when we were children. Yes, thanks to our myths and legends, our creatures and magical beings live on through time.

I invite you to discover, page after page, our French folklore usually scattered in the 4 corners of our beautiful country. Of course, the list is not exhaustive! For countless monsters and beasts that appear in France come from many other cultures and countries. Let's concentrate on the ones from our country, those that have marked the identity of cities, regions and our culture of the supernatural.

Whether we are talking about the White Lady, Jean de l’Ours, the Croquemitaine or the Basilisk, we will stick to a definition that is limited to the characteristics and elements found in France. The French Basilisk, for example, is closer to the chicken than to the snake! Each creature is accompanied by an illustration which takes up the description of the text, which comes directly from my imagination or which is intended to be as close as possible to existing representations.

Now, it only remains for me to wish you a good reading and to hope that we will never meet most of the creatures which populate this work.

Kévin TEMBOURET

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

The Ankou

The Babau

The Barbegazi

The Basajaun

The Basandere

The Basilisk

The Berane

The Beast of Angles

The Beast of Gévaudan

The Beast of the Vosges

Bigorne and Chicheface

The Birette

The Bitard

The Bugul-noz

The Camarde

The Came-Cruse

The Carcolh

The Money Cat

The Mallet Horse

The Golden Goat

The Cocatrix

The Coulobre

The Croquemitaine

The Dahu

The White Ladies

The She-Devil

The Dorlis

The Drac

The Feux Follets

The Ganipote

The Garache

The Gargoyle

The Grand'Goule

Grandma Kal and Grandiabe

The Graoully

The Groac'h

Jean de l’Ours

The Korrigans

The Laundress of the Night

The Leberou

The Lorelei

The Lou Drapé

Marie Grauette

Melusine

The Mèrengueule

The Faramine Beast Bird

The Père Fouettard

The Roumèque

Sarramauca

The Soucougnan

The Tac

The Tarasque

The Velue

The Voirloup

The Vouivre

The Warabouc

The last word

The Ankou

Brittany

The Ankou is a mythical and ghostly being from Breton folklore, who represents anguish and death.

Sometimes depicted as a skeleton with eye sockets as deep as the darkness, the Ankou is noticeable by his scythe with its edge turned outwards and by the shroud that covers his body.

At other times, the Ankou appears as a tall, stooped old man covered with a black cape. He never separates from his mallet, which he uses to violently strike those who are suffering while waiting for death.

The Ankou is not the personification of Death, he is its herald and servant. It is said that he travels with a noisy cart, recalling the anguished cries of the souls he brings to Death.

One day, you too may be the Ankou! Because every year, the last deceased human being replaces the Ankou in his functions. Some years, the Ankou takes more dead people with him: some Ankou are more vile than others.

The Babau

Pyrénées-Orientales

A long time ago, a creature with fiery eyes invited itself into the town of Rivesaltes. This monster, straight from the banks of the Agly, was looking for easy prey to devour throughout the town.

As it passed a gaping hole in the wall leading to the exit of the parish oven, it rushed in and horrific screams rang out... The