The Rougarou of Southern Louisiana
One of our specialty drinks is the Rougarou. It’s a delicious blend of pumpkin spice syrup, caramel sauce, milk, and our exceptionally smooth espresso. Southern Louisiana is rich in folklore, but none is more endearing to us than the Rougarou. Though lycanthropy emanates from classic literature, the legend manifested a dark period in France, and was brought over to Louisiana.
The Rougarou statue in the Audubon Zoo. My daughter snapped this picture as she was getting a kick out of me challenging the Rougarou to a duel.
When you grow up in Southern Louisiana your elders use the folktale of the Rougarou as a disciplinary tactic. It’s not uncommon for your Mama to say, “You betta behave or da Rougarou’s gon’ getcha!” In New Orleans children are literally exposed to the Rougarou on school field trips and family outings. There’s a life size fabricated statue of the Rougarou in the Louisiana Swamp exhibit of the Audubon Zoo. Year after year teachers are given the perfect opportunity to dissuade students from going to detention. In many children’s minds its concluded that if the Rougarou is in the zoo it has to be real…especially when its used as an antic by teachers and parents.
In our culture the title Rougarou is the Kouri-Vini rendition of the French Loup-Garou which translates as Werewolf in English.
But where did the legend of the Rougarou originate? The mythology of the werewolf can be traced back to humanities earliest civilizations. In the Mesopotamian poem “The Epic of Gilgamesh” Ishtar turned one of her suitors into a wolf. The werewolf is also depicted in the “Legend of Lycaon” in Ancient Greek mythology. Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, tried to deceive Zeus into eating human flesh. The consequence of Lycaon’s trickery was that Zues turned him and his children into wolves.
The first appearance of the werewolf in French literature was in Marie de France’s 12th century poem “Bisclavret.” Bisclavret was a baron in Brittany who would disappear for three days out of the week. When his wife presses him to know his whereabouts he revealed to her that he would transform into a loup-garou.
THE WITCH HUNTS OF FRANCE
In ecclesiastical circles, the strixology that emerged from theologians and demonologists at the Council of Basel between 1431-1439 manifested into the witch trials of France. The French witch trials (1520-1700) caused the church to seek out and execute people who allegedly became werewolves as a result of their ties to witchcraft.
One of those people burned at the stake in 1521 was Michel Verdun. Verdun came under suspicion when a traveler passing through Besançon, France was attacked by a wolf. While defending himself, he was able to wound the animal, forcing it to retreat. Following the trail of blood from the injured creature, the traveler came upon a cabin where he found a local resident, Michel Verdun. He was under the care of his wife, who was washing a wound on his body. Believing Verdun’s injury to be the same wound that he inflicted on the wolf, the man notified the authorities.
Arrested and tortured, Verdun admitted that he was a shape-shifter. He also revealed the names of his two werewolf accomplices, Philibert Montot and Pierre Bourgot, as well as confessing to hideous crimes: diabolism, murder, and eating human flesh.
They reported that they stripped naked and anointed themselves with an ointment, after which they changed shape and became werewolves, hunting and attacking children. They provided a lurid testimony stating that these crimes were committed in wolf form, that they attended a witches’ Sabbath and were initiated into their wicked ways by a nefarious rider they met in the forest. These men became known as the werewolves of Poligny.
Jean Boin, Inquisitor of Besançon, tried the three men for having made a pact with the devil and for lycanthropy. They were burned at the stake.
Another case around the same time period was that of serial killer Gilles Garnier. This vicious and demented man lived in the same Franche-Comté Province of France and became known as the Werewolf of Dole. Garnier was said to have been a recluse that got married and had a difficult time providing for his new spouse. While hunting in the forest to provide for his wife, he claimed to have encountered a diabolical figure. Garnier claimed that the specter gave him a magic ointment that would transform him into a wolf like creature to aid him in providing for his spouse.
He confessed to hunting and murdering 4 children. After feeding on their raw bodies, it’s reported that Garnier would bring home the remaining human flesh for his wife to eat. He was also found guilty of lycanthropy and witchcraft and was burned at the stake in 1574 (Burning was thought to be one of the few ways to kill a werewolf.)
Then there’s the case of the Gandillon Family (Pierre, Georges, Antoinette, Perrenette) of St. Claude, yet again in the same region of France. After Perrenette, believing that she was a wolf, killed two children picking strawberries, the villagers of the area tore her body to pieces in anger.
Antoinette confessed to being a werewolf and sleeping with the devil (who had taken the form of a goat), attending a witches Sabbat, and practicing witchcraft. Her brother Pierre was accused of turning himself in to a wolf, and killing and eating people. Pierre’s son Georges also confessed to changing into a wolf by smearing himself with an ointment.
The three of them were all convicted as werewolves and burned at the stake in 1598. The presiding judge was Henri Boguet whose Discours des sorciers became a standard guide to witchcraft.
In his book The Witches of Lorraine, historian Robin Briggs reports that Lorraine has the richest surviving archive of witchcraft trials to be found not only in France but all of Europe. This is the very region that my French ancestors come from. The furthest I can trace my French heritage to is 1525, in Mandray, Lorraine, France.
I’m not sure who came before Claude Le Vieux Gabourel (1525-1592), but the search continues. Witch trial records report that he was associated with people accused of witchcraft. Could his father have been executed for lycanthropy? It’s a far cry, but it was an erratic time. Gabourel himself, who served as the mayor of Mandray, was executed for robbery.
In the time of the witch trails the temperament in Saint-Dié and its sounding villages was hostile. In a context of fear and fanaticism it would so happen that one of my forefathers Jacques Gabourel, would be accused and convicted for practicing witchcraft. The full moon gleamed on medieval towers, his eyes were drowned in blood, and his canines sharpened into daggers of despair.
The account of the Tailor of Châlons is also noteworthy. This account is so grotesque that the court allegedly burnt the documents of the case to stamp out the tailors memory from existence. Resultantly we don’t know what his actual name was. The tailor on the outskirts of Châlons, in the Champagne region of France, reportedly killed 50 children.
When the children started to go missing the towns people began to comb the forest in search of them. People claimed to have seen a werewolf in the process. Suspicion arose about the tailor who was said to have gone in the woods for hours overnight. The town people broke into his shop, found barrels of children’s bones and human flesh chopped up on the tables. When the tailor was arrested he denied being a loup-garou, though witnesses claimed to have seen him transform into a wolf in the woods. In resisting arrest he starting foaming at the mouth, exhibited super-human strength, and growled like a beast. The tailor was burned at the stake in 1598.
As stated above the Rougarou is my favorite folklore…and to me that’s all that it is. Looking at these accounts with a rational mind, I can only conclude that these folks were murderers that used the guise of the loup-garou as a justification for their dementedness. Maybe they were even forced to give false testimonies by religious zealots by way of torture. Could there have been some kind of ointment that had hallucinogenic properties? I’m honestly not sure, but maybe such a hallucinogen could have made people believe they became werewolves while having a bad trip.
Regardless, these accounts only aided our superstitious forefathers in 16th century France to propagate the mythology. In their minds the types of beastly murderers capable of committing such atrocities against children had to be werewolves.
THE LOUP-GAROU IN COLONIAL LOUISIANA
George Rodrigue’s famed Blue Dog series is partly inspired by the Loup-Garou
When our French ancestors colonized in the New World they brought these folklores with them. The legend of the loup-garou flourished in La Nouvelle France (Eastern Canada) and her later annexation La Louisiane (Central USA). The practices that resulted in lycanthropy would change however. In the Old World lycanthropy was the result of witchcraft and making backdoor deals with the Devil. In the New World it resulted from not being compliant with the Catholic Churches practices. Either way the emphasis of children being the loup-garou’s victims would persist.
In La Nouvelle France (Eastern Canada) there are accounts of people becoming a loup-garou because of a punishment from God. If one hadn’t gone to Mass (or confession) for 10 years that person was subject to becoming the loup-garou.
In Southern Louisiana the loup-garou, or rougarou as pronounced in Kréyòl Louisianais, would become tied to the tradition of Lent. Whereas the loup-garou in France roamed the forest looking for children, the rougarou of Southern Louisiana lurks about the Bayou looking for prey. For this reason the Rougarou has been dubbed the Swamp Monster by some.
The tradition taught to some children in Southern Louisiana is if they brake Lent, by eating red meat on Fridays for example, they could be subject to being prey to the rougarou. In other traditions the belief is that if one brakes Lent 7 years in a row the offender will be subject to lycanthropy and become the rougarou.
The good news is that there’s an omen of protection that will allow you to live the “sinful” life that you want to. If you put 13 objects in front of your dwelling this is a sure repellent for the rougarou. Why? The rougarou can only count to 12! If you put 13 objects in from of your dwelling the rougarou will be forced to recount the objects because it can’t comprehend 13. It will become so confused that it will leave your dwelling in frustration.
Today images of the rougarou can be seen around town in the form of a cute cuddly little blue dog. This is thanks to famed Louisiana artist George Rodrigue. Rodrigue’s Blue Dog series was inspired in part by his dog Tiffany and the legend of the Rougarou.
My daughter is a student at the CODOFIL sponsored school, Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans. Their mascot is the Loup-Garou…the mythological creature that hunts children. Now if only we can get them to believe it’s real.
The 2023 Rougarou Fest Poster. The parade this year is on October 21st. Mark your calendars and make plans on being part of the revelry!
If you find the rougarou legend to be fascinating plan your next trip to New Orleans in October. Houma, a bayou town south of the city, has an annual Rougarou Fest. Check out their webpage (www.rougaroufest.org) for information about the parade route and family friendly events. The proceeds from the festival also go to a good cause.
Hopefully the rougarou is nothing more than a folklore. Lent is always around the corner, and I am a habitual offender of the creed. I try to give up fried food and processed sugars for lent every year. I’ve been successful in this pursuit, but not so successful in other areas. Of well…If the rougarou is real the 13 oyster shells in my front yard have me covered!
- Eric Gabourel