Rougarou

The rougarou (alternatively spelled as roux-ga-roux, rugaroo, or rugaru) is a legendary creature in Laurentian French communities linked to traditional concepts of the werewolf.

For the roller coaster at Cedar Point, see Rougarou (roller coaster)
For the musician, songwriter and producer see Vic Ruggiero

Versions

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 ɡaˈʁu], /ˈluː ɡəˈruː/). Loup is French for wolf, and garou (from Frankish garulf, cognate with English werewolf) is a man who transforms into an animal.

American folklore
A traditional Cajun Courir de Mardi Gras costume based on a Rougarou (figure on left)

"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. 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. 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.[2] 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.

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.[3]

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]

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).

The NBA team formerly known as the New Orleans Hornets filed for several new name trademarks among which was the Rougarous.[5]

The creature is featured in an episode of Cajun Justice, an AE Television show. A camp owner alerted authorities and video taped what he suspected to be a Rougarou in the weeds behind his camp.[6]

The legend of the rougarou plays a prominent role in the History Channel television series Cryptid: The Swamp Beast. An unknown creature has been mutilating and killing animals and perhaps humans in southern Louisiana; some locals attribute the attacks to a rougarou.[7] Similarly, in episode 6 of Swamp Mysteries, Troy Landry discusses the rougarou legend while hunting a creature killing pets at Voodoo Bayou.

The novel Hagridden by Samuel Snoek-Brown features heavy usage of the Cajun version of the rougarou.[8]

In late 2014, Cedar Point theme park in Sandusky, Ohio announced plans to renovate the existing Mantis roller coaster into "Rougarou" for the 2015 season.[9]

The 2015 short film Atchafalaya centers around a game warden searching in a Louisiana swamp for a missing person who is hinted to have been taken by a loup-garou. The creature is only vaguely seen in the film with a head resembling a bear.[10][11]

Boxer Regis Prograis (of Creole descent) goes by the nickname Rougarou.[12]

J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe includes wands that contain rougarou hair as their magical core.[13]

A “rugaru” is the monster of the week in Season 4, Episode 4 of Supernatural. [14]

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.[15]

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See also

Footnotes
  1. LSU Cajun-French Glossary Archived 2005-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "History of the Rougarou: Louisiana's Werewolf | Pelican State of Mind". pelicanstateofmind.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  3. The Nicholls Worth; interview with Barry Ancelet Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  4. New Orleans Gothic legend Archived 2005-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Chouinard, K L. "NBA Files For Trademark Names On Behalf Of The Hornets". Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  6. Cajun Justice, Season 1, Episode 5, "A Real Drag", 6 June 2012.
  7. Cryptid: The Swamp Beast, IMDB entry.
  8. Degani, Gay (21 August 2014). "Words in Place: Interview with Sam Snoek-Brown about his Historical Novel: "Hagridden"". Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  9. "Cedar Point to re-work Mantis roller coaster into new Rougarou ride". Crain's Cleveland Business. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  10. "Atchafalaya". 16 April 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via www.imdb.com.
  11. Films, Construct (7 May 2015). "Atchafalaya - Teaser Trailer". Retrieved 10 May 2018 – via Vimeo.
  12. "Eyeing world title shot, boxer Regis Prograis releases emotional video touting his ties to New Orleans". 22 February 2018.
  13. "History of Magic in North America - Pottermore". Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  14. Supernatural, Season 4, Episode 4, ”Metamorphosis”, IMDB entry.
  15. "NCIS: New Orleans's Necar Zadegan on Hannah's Risking Her Career for the Greater Good of Women". Parade. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
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