- Because who doesn’t love an adorable (slightly terrifying) man-eating beast?
Mythical animals and fantastical monsters have captivated us with their stories for hundreds of years. Books, movies, and television shows are just a few of the various venues through which tales about fantastic beasts and otherworldly monsters continue to travel the globe. Folk stories about adorable mythological animals are often based on human nature or may have been devised to discipline rebellious youngsters, but often they serve no other purpose except to provide insight into the fears, wants, or ideals of a specific community.
Although monsters in children’s bedtime tales are just make-believe, there are rare instances where the line between fiction and reality becomes blurred. France is renowned for many things, such as French cuisine, French online casinos, the Louvre Museum, and the Versailles Palace, but not for its myths and legends about monsters. However, the Beast of Gévaudan affair is a haunting chapter in French history. This beast terrorized the region for three years, claiming the lives of over a hundred people before it was eventually vanquished.
What Was the Beast of Gévaudan?
We should start by making it clear that Gévaudan as it was at the time of these events does not exist anymore. Our story takes place in an area that was formerly a part of the southern region of France but is now a part of the modern-day region of Lozère. It was a rural, wooded area in the middle of the 1700s.
Jeanne Boulet, a 14-year-old girl, was tending to her sheep when she became the monster’s first victim. Others, mostly women, and children, soon followed her demise. During 1764, France was on edge due to the savage assaults. Several victims had their necks ripped out or their skulls eaten away. The horrifying violence was reported even to the royal palace in Versailles from the countryside. Who or what was this Gévaudan beast, and how could it be stopped?
Several of the survivors spoke about a huge red wolf-like creature. The creature was spotted and had a black stripe running down its spine. Its tail was tasseled. Very powerful and brutal, its assaults left few witnesses. Those who did survive, mention it could also leap around 30 feet, possessed sharp claws, and a terrible cry.
What Makes The Beast of Gevaudan Different from BigFoot?
You might be curious about why the legend of the Beast of Gevaudan, a wolf-like creature that allegedly killed and devoured the skulls of more than 100 individuals over 250 years ago, is considered historical, while Bigfoot is not. Both creatures are said to possess supernatural abilities, although their descriptions are vague due to unreliable accounts from purported eyewitnesses.
So why do some people believe that the Beast of Gevaudan was responsible for the gruesome acts, rather than a pack of exceptionally aggressive wolves? One theory is that even Louis XV, the King of France during that time, believed in its existence and allocated considerable resources and funds to protect the frightened and vulnerable inhabitants of Gévaudan.
The Beast of Gévaudan’s reign of terror was not only a horrifying event in French history but also an early example of a news story that spread worldwide. The story was first reported in the Courrier, a newspaper from nearby Avignon, France, before making its way to the front pages of Paris and eventually across the globe. The Beast even made an appearance in a German newspaper, although its description was heavily altered in transmission. What adds further credibility to the tale is that the Beast was eventually caught and killed, unlike other legendary creatures such as Big Foot, the Chupacabra, and the Jersey Devil.
Who Killed the Beast?
In August of 1765, a young lady named Marie-Jeanne Valet was making her way from her house to a neighboring farm when she saw the legendary Beast of Gevaudan. The girl claims that she saw the wolf-like beast while she was walking through a tiny, forested area between two forks of a river when she turned around and saw it following her. The young lady stabbed it in the chest with a makeshift spear as it rose up to strike. The animal, clearly hurt but alive, cried out loudly as it placed a paw on its wound and slid off into the river. Marie-Jeanne’s courage is credited for weakening the beast enough for the hundreds of hunters that converged on the area to finally be able to kill it. An inspiring monument of Marie-Jeanne, honoring her bravery, has been installed in Auvers, France.
A member of the king’s hunting party named François Antoine tracked down and killed a massive wolf and her pups in September 1765; he then had the carcass and the cubs preserved and displayed them at Versailles as the “Beast of Gevaudan.” He received high accolades and compensation for his efforts, and the public quickly forgot about the incident. The king then considered the situation to be handled. However, two months later the murders restarted, resulting in the deaths of another 30 people over the period of a year and a half.
In June 1767, local farmer Jean Chastel killed a large wolf, and the attacks suddenly stopped, leading many to believe that this was indeed the infamous beast. However, around the same time, approximately one hundred wolves had already been shot in the region, making wolves the most plausible culprits, although some still doubt this explanation.
The End of a Story of Fact and Myth
There have been various theories proposed to explain the identity of the creature known as The Beast of Gévaudan. Some have suggested it might have been a hyena, while others have speculated it was a lion, as some specialists have noted similarities in the survivors’ descriptions to a juvenile male lion. This possibility was also explored in the movie “The Brotherhood of the Wolf,” which received critical acclaim. It is possible that the witnesses did not recognize it as a lion, as such exotic animals were kept in the manor residences of French aristocrats at the time, but rarely encountered by common people.
However, there are also those who believe that The Beast was a supernatural creature, like a werewolf, as portrayed in popular culture, such as the Teen Wolf TV series. Despite the unlikelihood of this explanation, it is understandable why people may entertain such ideas, as the accounts of the beast depict it as a highly formidable and dangerous creature.
It is difficult to determine which explanation is the most plausible. While the theory of a young lion seems to have some supporting evidence, it is also possible that other factors, such as mass hysteria or overactive imaginations, contributed to the legend of The Beast. Ultimately, the mystery remains unsolved.
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