He creeps, he crawls, he conquers
The rougarou -- a Louisiana folklore legend
Jaime Lugibihl
Issue date: 4/26/01 Section: Lagniappe
He wanders through the woods and hunts his prey at the darkest night hours. His blood shot eyes frantically flick. Right. Left. They search for his next victim. Hands flex with anticipation of the kill. Nothing keeps him away, and you can only pray that you are spared from his razor-sharp fangs. Haunting howls ring through the calm of the night, warning those who dare venture into his territory. He leaps over logs and bushes, alternately running on two legs or prowling on four.
When you think you are finally safe, he is right behind you. His bared fangs seek one thing - a taste of your blood.
A passionate thirst for blood gives him the power to easily rip apart cows and goats. Animals sense his presence and run. But humans should fear him more than animals. This wolf-man craves human blood. Any human. When he draws another human’s blood, his curse is over. The release of another person’s blood frees him from his limbo state of bondage - half man, half wolf. His freedom can only come from another’s misery. Until that day...searching...endless searching. For blood, so that he might once again have life.
Children squirm and adults carefully listen. They have heard this story before, but in the telling, it becomes a little more real. A creature lurks in the woods near their homes. Unexplained night noises are blamed on the monster. No one understands all the details of the story, but comprehension is not necessary for belief.
The legend of the rougarou has been spread for many generations, traveling the wide distance of the Atlantic Ocean, following French settlers to south Louisiana hundreds of years ago. The story, like most oral traditions, changes as the years pass and different people add their own variations. But one fact remains the same: the rougarou exists.
“In one way or another, everybody believes in it,” Barry J. Ancelet, professor of French and folklore at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, explains. “Whether they believe seriously that there is a character who roams the night or not is unimportant. They believe in the stories. And they believe in the ability to scare people through the stories. It becomes a way of connecting one generation to the next.”
When you think you are finally safe, he is right behind you. His bared fangs seek one thing - a taste of your blood.
A passionate thirst for blood gives him the power to easily rip apart cows and goats. Animals sense his presence and run. But humans should fear him more than animals. This wolf-man craves human blood. Any human. When he draws another human’s blood, his curse is over. The release of another person’s blood frees him from his limbo state of bondage - half man, half wolf. His freedom can only come from another’s misery. Until that day...searching...endless searching. For blood, so that he might once again have life.
Children squirm and adults carefully listen. They have heard this story before, but in the telling, it becomes a little more real. A creature lurks in the woods near their homes. Unexplained night noises are blamed on the monster. No one understands all the details of the story, but comprehension is not necessary for belief.
The legend of the rougarou has been spread for many generations, traveling the wide distance of the Atlantic Ocean, following French settlers to south Louisiana hundreds of years ago. The story, like most oral traditions, changes as the years pass and different people add their own variations. But one fact remains the same: the rougarou exists.
“In one way or another, everybody believes in it,” Barry J. Ancelet, professor of French and folklore at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, explains. “Whether they believe seriously that there is a character who roams the night or not is unimportant. They believe in the stories. And they believe in the ability to scare people through the stories. It becomes a way of connecting one generation to the next.”