(Warning: Graphic description ahead)
"To the father and the son
Came the beast of Gevaudan
Terminator, a traitor, half wolf, and half machine
To the prior and the nun
Came the beast of Gevaudan
A redeemer, believer of fatal, mad, and mean
Beast of Gevaudan!"
-"Beast of Gevaudan", performed by Powerwolf, 2021.
Yeah, I know. I only found out about this beast from a Powerwolf song, talking about a wolf-like beast, subsequently known as la bête du Gevaudan (the beast of Gevaudan), that terrorized an ancient region of Gevaudan in France between 1764 and 1767, but aside from the song, the beast itself was known for its cruel method of killing, by ripping out their throats, and in some cases, also decapitated. There are many interpretations about the existence of this beast. One of which being about how the beast was sent as an act of God to punish sinners in the area.
There are many descriptions about this beast, many of them are exaggerated due to the mass hysteria caused by the killings. But general description of the beast was a wolf-like canine with a tall, lean frame capable of taking great strides. Other descriptions being it has the size of a horse, has elongated head with flattened snout, pointed ears, and a wide mouth sitting atop of a broad chest. Some even said that the beast had the capability to speak like humans do, but this is heavily disputed.
The first instance of the attack happened sometime on early summer of 1764, when it attacked a young woman named Marie Jeanne Valet whilst taking care of her cattle. The beast was about to attack her when her bulls charged forward, obstructing it. They then drove the beast off when it tried to attack again. Valet was lucky enough, but a 14-year-old shepherdess named Jeanne Boulet didn't share the same fate; she was the first recorded victim of the beast of Gevaudan. The attack occurred on 30th June 1764. During the remainder of the year, more attacks and killings are reported throughout the region, made worse by the fact that the beast often preyed on lone men, women and even children as they tended to their livestock in the forests. There are reports that stated that the beast targeted the neck and head area. The fact pretty much explained the state of the victims at the time of the discovery, with many of them have their throats destroyed, or even worse, decapitated. By the end of 1764, there are also speculation that there is more than one beast lurking around the area. This is due to the fact that there had been such high number of attacks in such short time span, and many attacks or reports that occurred happened almost simultaneously. On early 1765, The Kingdom of France was alerted of the attack after the beast attacked 10-year-old Jacques Portefaix and his seven friends, all aged between 8 to 12. They survived the attack, and subsequently caught the attention of King Louis XV, who then rewarded Portefaix and his friends for their bravery, and later promised that the state will help to eradicate the beast. By this point, the beast was known as la bête féroce (the ferocious beast).
The French crown then sent many hunters to kill the beast, who at that point, had a bounty of 6.000 French livre. The first was First captain Duhamel of the Clermont Price dragoons and his troops but was met with non-cooperative farmers and local herders. His strategy was awfully executed too. He organized a large hunting party to hunt for the wolf-like creature, but when chances presented itself, it was hindered by the incompetence of his guards. This prompted louis XV to send a father-son duo of Jean Charles Marc Antoine Vaumesle d'Enneval and Jean-François. Their tactics were radically different from the previous, by using stealth techniques to kill the beast. After the pair failed to capture the beast as the attacks continued, François Antoine was sent on Jun 1765 to continue the hunt. On the 21st of September, Antoine shot an unusually large wolf measuring 80 cm (31 in) high, 1.7 meter (5 ft 7 in) long, and weighing 60 kg (130 pounds). He hunted the rest of the pack, and returned to Paris a hero of France, receiving titles and large sums of money. They thought that the attacks were over, but on early December 1765, two boys were attacked, but survived the ordeal. This suggested that the wolf killed by Antoine months prior was not the beast of Gevaudan.
The terrors eventually stopped on the 19th of June 1767, when a local hunter named Jean Chastel shot the beast on the slopes of Mont Mouchet (now la Sogne d'Auvers) during a hunt organized by a local nobleman, the Marquis d'Apchier. The body then was transferred to the castle to be examined, and upon being opened, the beast's stomach contents revealing the remains of its last victim.
When you look at this story, from the first attacks all the way to the last, you might think that this could came out of a science-fiction movie, but the attacks by the beast of Gevaudan were horrific, to the point that even the king of France had to interfere. Usually, I'm quite a fan of historical stories and mythologies, but this one is actually scaring me, not because of the fact that the beast has killed people, but by the method of the killings themselves. And as I said in the beginning, the German metal band Powerwolf introduced me to this legend with the song Beast of Gevaudan, depicting this beast as a divine intervention and an act of God to punish all the sinners in the ancient region of Gevaudan. Seriously, if you look up the lyrics of this song, you will find that this song is actually about the wolf doing the act of cleansing the world of the sinners. Although the story behind the song and the lyrics are quite grim, I actually liked the song itself. In the end, the story of the beast of Gevaudan served as a lesson to always be vigilant to your surroundings. You would never know who or what is coming after you.
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