Rougarou is the name by which, within North American folklore, the same type of werewolf is called that, in the mythology of certain French communities, is known as "loup-garou", a name composed of loup, which means " wolf ”, and garou, a word that expresses the idea of a man transforming into an animal. "Rougarou" and "loup-garou" thus designate the same creature, however in North American folklore the myth acquired slight peculiarities, so it is better to speak of "rougarou" to avoid confusion, although in practice they continue to be used both names interchangeably. Regarding its appearance, the rougarou looks like a being with the body of a man and the head of a wolf. They say that it roams the woods and fields looking for its prey in the dark of night, that its eyes are red and bloodshot, that it can run on its feet although it tends to prowl stalking on all fours, stopping and sniffing left and right. in a predatory attitude; and above all, they say that he is thirsty for blood.
Native American Folklore[]
As the legends are passed on orally or told, with no written medium, the stories often contradict each other. Wendigo stories vary from tribe to tribe and region to region, but the most common cause of change is related to cannibalism. A modified example, not in the original wendigo legend, is that if a person sees a rugaru or rougarou, that person will become one of these. Thereafter, the unfortunate victim would be condemned to wander in the form of this monster. This rugaru story bears some resemblance to a Native American version of the wendigo legend told in a short story by Algernon Blackwood. In Blackwood's fictional adaptation of the legend, seeing a wendigo would cause one to become one. It is important to note that rugaru is not a native Ojibwa word, nor is it derived from the languages of the people neighboring the natives. However, this one bears a close similarity to the French word for werewolf, loup garou . Author Peter Matthiessen determined that rugaru is a separate legend from the giant cannibal wendigo. While the wendigo was feared, he noticed that the rugaru was seen as sacred and in tune with nature and mother earth, in the same way that Bigfoot is in today's legends. Although identified with Bigfoot, there is little evidence in indigenous folklore that they are a similar creature.
Louisiana Folklore[]
Rougarou represents a variant of the pronunciation and writing of the original French loup-garou. According to Barry Jean Ancelet, an expert scholar in Cajun folklore and professor at the University of Louisiana, in Lafayette, the story or tale of the rougarou is a common legend in Louisiana. Both words are used interchangeably in the southern part of this region. Some call the monster "rougarou"; others prefer to refer to him as "loup garou". The legend of the rougarou has been told and spread by many generations, both directly by French settled in Louisiana and by French-Canadian immigrants from centuries ago. In Cajun legend, the creature is said to prowl the swamps around Acadia and Greater New Orleans, and possibly the fields or forests of the regions. The rougarou is most often noticed as a creature with a human body and the head of a wolf or dog, similar to the werewolf legend. The story was often told to make fear. An example is the stories that leaders or heads told Cajun children to get them to behave. Another example relates that the wolf as a beast would hunt and kill Catholics who did not follow the rules of the loan. This coincides with the stories about the loup garou of the Catholic French, where the method of becoming a werewolf was to break these rules for seven years in a row. A common legend about bloodsucking (vampirism) speculates that the rougarou was under a spell for 101 days. After that time, the curse or spell was transferred from person to person in search of human blood. During the day the creature returned to human form. Acting sick, the human withdrew from telling others the situation for fear of being killed. Other stories start from the rougarou being a headless horseman to a derivative of witchcraft. In the last variant, only a witch could make a rougarou - either turning herself into a wolf or cursing others with lycanthropy.
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