A True French Legend About Two Men Seen as Werewolves on the Night of the Full Moon

(Few animals equal or surpass the wolf in the richness of folk lore, especially in mountainous and forested regions. Much European wolf lore is a fearsome awe, but in some legends the beast was thought to be created by an evil spirit, as they were able by black magic to turn into werewolves, half men, half beast.)

As centuries passed there came a time when stories of fanciful tales of werewolves emerged from the fanciful minds of the people. One of these occurences was the trial of two French peasants in the year 1521 for the act of black magic. The incident of their trial at that time received widespread notoriety through the gossip of tongues; the accused, an ignorant shepherd and his young son, were tried for being werewolves. Their alledged murderous forays on the innocent, as recorded, were on the night of the full moon. The accused were damned with the epithet, 'flesh eaters'.

When, in rustic grounds, the last glimmering of daylight faded away from the ends of roadways; and the trees lining the pasture, were sullen and black. When, in thickly wooded forests, the trunks of trees and beds of fallen leaves were lost to view to the impenetrable shadows of the coming night hours. When the misty vapours arose from the swamps and rivers to fill the valley with its fog. When the full moon brushed aside the passing clouds to cast its wan light on the fertile earth.

Through the gloomy aura the sound of throaty howls and the soft padded tread of clawed feet could be heard through the Clairvaux Valley. For over many a year an epidemic of attacks by so-called werewolves occured throughout the valley during the reign of the Bourbon regency. And the landsmen feared the night of the full moon.

When the full of the moon cast it misty light, the shadows seen brought into the minds of the residents of the valley definite images were seen through the murky night. When the sound arose with the shadows, and in a blend of terror, came together out of their lurking places, fright crept in the very souls of the good people.