Legendary creature in folklore
The
rougarou
(alternatively spelled as
roux-ga-roux
,
rugaroo
, or
rugaru
) is a legendary creature in French communities linked to traditional concepts of the
werewolf
.
Versions
[
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]
The stories of the creature known as a rougarou are as diverse as the spelling of its name, though they are all connected to
francophone
cultures through a common derived belief in the
loup-garou
(
French pronunciation:
[lu
?a??u]
,
).
Loup
is
French
for wolf, and
garou
(from
Frankish
warulf,
cognate with English werewolf) is a
man who transforms into an animal
.
American folklore
[
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]
A traditional Cajun
Courir de Mardi Gras
costume based on a Rougarou (figure on left)
Statue representation of the Rougarou at
Audubon Zoo
,
New Orleans, Louisiana
"Rougarou" represents a variant pronunciation and spelling of the original French
loup-garou
.
[1]
According to
Barry Jean Ancelet
, an academic expert on
Cajun
folklore
and professor at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
in America, the tale of the rougarou is a common legend across
French Louisiana
.
[2]
Both words are used interchangeably in southern
Louisiana
. Some people call the monster
rougarou
; others refer to it as the
loup-garou
.
The rougarou legend has been spread for many generations, either directly from French settlers to
Louisiana (New France)
or via the
French Canadian
immigrants centuries ago.
In the
Cajun
legends, the creature is said to prowl the swamps around
Acadiana
and
Greater New Orleans
, and the sugar cane fields and woodlands of the regions.
[
citation needed
]
The rougarou most often is described as a creature with a human body and the head of a wolf or dog, similar to the werewolf legend.
Often the story-telling has been used to inspire fear and obedience. One such example is stories that have been told by elders to persuade Cajun children to behave. According to another variation, the wolf-like beast will hunt down and kill
Catholics
who do not follow the rules of
Lent
.
[3]
This coincides with the French Catholic loup-garou stories, according to which the method for turning into a werewolf is to break Lent seven years in a row.
[
citation needed
]
A common
blood sucking
legend says that the rougarou is under the spell for 101 days. After that time, the curse is transferred from person to person when the rougarou draws another human's blood. During that day the creature returns to human form. Although acting sickly, the human refrains from telling others of the situation for fear of being killed.
[2]
Other stories range from the rougarou as a rabbit to the rougarou being derived from
witchcraft
. In the latter claim, only a witch can make a rougarou—either by turning into a wolf herself, or by cursing others with
lycanthropy
.
[4]
In popular culture
[
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]
The "rugaru" is mentioned as having come to
Dakota
consciousness from
Ojibwa
folktales, and figures both thematically and experientially in the narrative of Peter Mathiessen's
In The Spirit of Crazy Horse
(Viking, 1983).
Rougarou is what
Sam Winchester
and
Dean Winchester
have been hunting in
Supernatural (season 4)
episode
Metamorphosis
. It was depicted as a man slowly becoming bloodthirsty and completely losing control upon feasting on human flesh.
The
NBA
team formerly known as the
New Orleans Hornets
filed for several new name trademarks among which was the Rougarous.
[5]
Boxer
Regis Prograis
(of
Creole
descent) goes by the nickname Rougarou.
[6]
The rougarou is incorporated into the story of an episode of the American television show
NCIS: New Orleans
. In the episode a victim is killed while investigating a possible sighting of the rougarou, which occurs in the 20th episode of the
sixth season
.
[7]
The novel
Empire of Wild
(2019; Penguin Random House Canada) by
Cherie Dimaline
is "inspired by the traditional
Metis
story of the Rogarou?a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Metis communities."
[8]
The show
Shadow of the Rougarou
(2022, APTN lumi, AppleTV+), by
Metis
director Jordan Waunch, was created with the guidance of Elders and Knowledge Keepers in order to best represent the communal oral story.
[9]
See also
[
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]