THE BEAST OF GEVAUDAN

Werewolf legends have been part of European folklore for many centuries, and probably originate in Celtic times, when both wolves and dogs were often associated with evil and disaster.One Welsh legend tells of Gwylligi, the Dog of Darkness, a huge animal that stalked the land, paralysing humans with its fearful howl and then destroying them with one glance from its luminous eyes. Norse mythology also tells of a blood splattered creature called Garmr, which guards the House of the Dead and will do battle with the Gods when The Wolves of Hell devour the sun and the moon.

The Beast Of Gevaudan

The word spread like wildfire. Throughout the whole of the Haute Loire region of Southern France, people walked in fear and barred their doors against the sinister evil that stalked the land during the hours of darkness. The body of a young girl had been found on the edge of the Mercoire Forest, a few miles Southwest of the town of Langogne. She had been literally torn to pieces. The wolf had struck again.It was said that the creature responsible was a devil, that it was not of this earth. It was as big as a bull, with great steel like claws and pointed ears that resembled Satan's horns. It was reddish in colour, with a black stripe down its spine-or so people said. Of course, no one had actually seen the creature and lived to talk about it.

The wolf's first victim was a 14 year old girl, whose throat was torn out by the creature. A week later , a second girl was killed. In August, the creature completely devoured a fifteen year old boy and in September , its victims included two girls, a woman and another boy. The killings all took place in a heavily wooded area known as Le Gevaudan-and in each case, the victim's heart was eaten.By the end of September, the inhabitants of Le Gevaudan were in a grip of terror. They had never know anything like it. In response to a frantic plea by the mayor, 40 dragoons arrived in town. For several days they combed the woods without sighting the wolf. People began to breath easily, maybe the creature had been driven out of the area.

Then on the first day of October, a 12 year old girl was attacked and savagely mutilated near her home in the neighbouring region. On the 7th, two more girls were killed, followed by a 20 year old woman a week later.During the several weeks that followed, soldiers and armed peasants killed several wolves-but the beast was not among them. The despairing people were becoming more and more convinced that the creature was supernatural and therefore unstoppable.(to be continued)