Originally published at: Celebrate "Louisiana's werewolf" at Rougarou Fest! | Boing Boing
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I always pictured it more of a bigfoot/swamp monster hybrid than a werewolf. You never see it clearly for some reason, though
also:
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It’s interesting that the Caribbean “loogaroo” is quite similar - a shape-changing witch who flies around (either as a bird and/or a fireball) and drinks blood (which is why it’s also known as a soucouyant). Except in that case, it doesn’t seem to be based on indigenous stories, but a combination of European vampire lore and African witch lore. And although it also clearly derived from the French “loup-garou,” there’s a different word for a werewolf there. Also, just to confuse things, Louisiana has its own version of the soucouyant (aka soucriant) legend as well.
It really shows how folklore can be so pliable - a name for a specific type of boogeyman seemingly gets turned into a more generic term and then adopted for a different, specific type of boogeyman. Similar things happen in culture at general - terms and ideas swapped around, willy-nilly, and we don’t even notice.
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Human fears of the dark are the same in all eras and cultures, and lead to elements of similarity in the monsters we invent to personify them.
I’d love to go to this festival. It sounds a dynamic blending of cultures.
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“Rougarou.”
“What’s that, Scoob?”
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