HORROR books online

Reading books horror If you are looking for a good book horror, you should visit our website. Electronic library is gaining popularity. Influenced by modern technology and the advent of new gadgets, people are increasingly turning to electronic libraries because it allows them to read online everywhere . Every reader thanks to his smartphone, laptop or computer, can visit our website at any time. Reading ebooks help people to make good use of free time. Our elibrary has a huge selection of genres for every taste and request.


Today we want to introduce you horror genre. Horrors are very popular among people who like to tickle their nerves. Main characters in the horror genre are demons, evil spirits, monsters,vampires and ghouls. But it’s very often, when book based on true events, for example psychological thrillers.
In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, horrors were told to each other like myths, that carry the story of the death and afterlife. Ancient people believe that reincarnation exists. Modern horror novels are include new fantastical creatures, like ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and witches.



Nowadays it’s very hard to force a person to believe in the truth of history, but modern reader just expects to be frightened and shocked. Horror books on our website are elicit a sense of dread in the reader through frightening images, themes, and situations.
The atmosphere of the book provokes our imagination. If the book will in your mind long time after reading , so the horror writer did his job well. After horror genre books you can even get insomnia or very bad and scary dreams.But that shouldn't stop you from reading horror ebooks. So our electronic library invite you to be a part of the mystery world of free ebooks without registration.




Take a look at the Thriller or Mystery,Crime section where you can find your favorite books

Read books online » Horror » The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould (free ebook novel .TXT) 📖

Book online «The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould (free ebook novel .TXT) đŸ“–Â». Author Sabine Baring-Gould



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 30
Go to page:

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of WereWolves, by Sabine Baring-Gould

 

Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the

copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing

this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.

 

This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project

Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the

header without written permission.

 

Please read the “legal small print,” and other information about the

eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is

important information about your specific rights and restrictions in

how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a

donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.

 

**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**

 

**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**

 

*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****

 

Title: The Book of WereWolves

 

Author: Sabine Baring-Gould

 

Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5324]

[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]

[This file was first posted on July 1, 2002]

 

Edition: 10

 

Language: English

 

Character set encoding: ASCII

 

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE BOOK OF WEREWOLVES ***

 

Scanned and proofread by John B. Hare for sacred-texts.com

January 2002

 

Orignal HTML version at

http://www.sacred-texts.com/goth/bow/index.htm

 

Prepared for Project Gutenberg by Curtis Weyant

June 2002

 

[Note: Greek text is in curly braces, i.e., {}.]

 

[Note: Italics have been indicated by an underscore character before and

after the italicized text. For example, this is italicized text.]

 

THE BOOK OF WEREWOLVES

 

by SABINE BARING-GOULD

 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

CHAPTER II

LYCANTHROPY AMONG THE ANCIENTS

 

Definition of Lycanthropy—Marcellus

Sidetes—Virgil—Herodotus—Ovid—Pliny—Agriopas—Story from

Petronius—Arcadian Legends—Explanation offered

CHAPTER III

THE WEREWOLF IN THE NORTH

 

Norse Traditions—Manner in which the Change was effected—Vlundar

Kvda—Instances from the Völsung Saga—Hrolf’s Saga—Kraka—FaroĂ«se

Poem—Helga Kvida—Vatnsdéla Saga—Eyrbyggja Saga

CHAPTER IV

THE ORIGIN OF THE SCANDINAVIAN WEREWOLF

 

Advantage of the Study of Norse Literature—Bear and Wolfskin

Dresses—The Berserkir—Their Rage—The Story of Thorir—Passages from

the Aigla—The Evening Wolf—Skallagrim and his Son-Derivation of the

Word “Hamr:” of “Vargr”—Laws affecting Outlaws—“To become a

Boar”—Recapitulation

CHAPTER V

THE WEREWOLF IN THE MIDDLE AGES

 

Stories from Olaus Magnus of Livonian Werewolves—Story from Bishop

Majolus—Story of Albertus Pericofcius—Similar occurrence at

Prague—Saint Patrick—Strange incident related by John of

NĂŒremberg—Bisclaveret—Courland Werewolves—Pierre Vidal—Pavian

Lycanthropist—Bodin’s Stories—Forestus’ Account of a

Lycanthropist—Neapolitan Werewolf

CHAPTER VI

A CHAPTER OF HORRORS

 

Pierre Bourgot and Michel Verdung—‘Me Hermit of S. Bonnot—The

Gandillon Family—Thievenne Paget—The Tailor of Chñlons—Roulet 69

Chapter VII

JEAN GRENIER

 

On the Sand-dunes—A Wolf attacks Marguerite Poirier—Jean Grenier

brought to Trial—His Confessions—Charges of Cannibalism proved—His

Sentence—Behaviour in the Monastery—Visit of Del’ancre 85

CHAPTER VIII

FOLKLORE RELATING TO WEREWOLVES

 

Barrenness of English Folklore—Devonshire Traditions—Derivation of

Werewolf—Cannibalism in Scotland—The Angus Robber—The Carle of

Perth—French Superstitions—Norwegian Traditions—Danish Tales of

Werewolves—Holstein Stories—The Werewolf in the Netherlands—Among

the Greeks; the Serbs; the White Russians; the Poles; the Russians—A

Russian Receipt for becoming a Werewolf—The Bohemian

Vlkodlak—Armenian Story—Indian Tales—Abyssinian Budas—American

Transformation Tales—A Slovakian Household Tale—Similar Greek,

BĂ©arnais, and Icelandic Tales

CHAPTER IX

NATURAL CAUSES OF LYCANTHROPY

 

Innate Cruelty—Its Three Forms—Dumollard—Andreas Bichel—A Dutch

Priest—Other instances of Inherent Cruelty—Cruelty united to

Refinement—A Hungarian Bather in Blood—Suddenness with which the

Passion is developed—Cannibalism; in pregnant Women; in

Maniacs—Hallucination; how Produced—Salves—The Story of

Lucius—Self-deception 130

CHAPTER X

MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF MYTH

 

Metempsychosis—Sympathy between Men and Beasts—Finnbog and the

Bear—Osage and the Beaver—The Connexion of Soul and

Body—Buddism—Case of Mr. Holloway—Popular ideas concerning the

Body—The derivation of the German Leichnam—Feather

Dresses—Transmigration of Souls—A Basque Story—Story from the

Pantschatantra—Savage ideas regarding Natural Phenomena—Thunder,

Lightning, and Cloud—The origin of the Dragon—John of Bromton’s

Dragon a Waterspout—The Legend of Typhoeus—Allegorizing of the

Effects of a Hurricane—Anthropomorphosis—The Cirrus Cloud, a

Heavenly Swan—Urvaci—The Storm-cloud a Daemon—Vritra and

Rakschasas—Story of a Brahmin and a Rakschasas

CHAPTER XI

THE MARÉCHAL DE REZT I: THE INVESTIGATION OF CHARGES

 

Introduction—History of Gilles de Laval—The Castle of

Machecoul—Surrender of the Marshal—Examination of Witnesses—Letter

of De Retz—The Duke of Brittany reluctant to move—The Bishop of

Nantes

CHAPTER XII

THE MARÉCHAL DE REZT II: THE TRIAL

 

The Appearance of the Marshal—Pierre de l’Hospital—The

Requisition—The Trial adjourned—Meeting of the Marshal and his

Servants—The Confession of Henriet—Pontou persuaded to confess

all—The adjourned Trial not hurried on—The hesitation of the Duke of

Brittany

CHAPTER XIII

MARÉCHAL DE RETZ III: THE SENTENCE AND EXECUTION

 

The adjourned Trial—The Marshal Confesses—The Case handed over to

the Ecclesiastical Tribunal—Prompt steps taken by the Bishop—The

Sentence—Ratified by the Secular Court—The Execution

CHAPTER XIV

A GALICIAN WEREWOLF

 

The Inhabitants of Austrian Galicia—The Hamlet of Polomyja—Summer

Evening in the Forest—The Beggar Swiatek—A Girl disappears—A

School-boy vanishes—A Servant-girl lost—Another Boy carried of—The

Discovery made by the Publican of Polomyja—Swiatek locked up—Brought

to Dabkow—Commits suicide

Chapter XV

ANOMALOUS CASE—THE HUMAN HYENA

 

Ghouls—Story from Fornari—Quotation from Apuleius—Incident

mentioned by Marcassus—Cemeteries of Paris violated—Discovery of

Violator—Confession of M. Bertrand

CHAPTER XVI

A SERMON ON WEREWOLVES

 

The Discourses of Dr. Johann—The Sermon—Remarks

 

THE BOOK OF WEREWOLVES.

 

CHAPTER I.

 

INTRODUCTORY.

 

I shall never forget the walk I took one night in Vienne, after having

accomplished the examination of an unknown Druidical relic, the Pierre

labie, at La Rondelle, near Champigni. I had learned of the existence

of this cromlech only on my arrival at Champigni in the afternoon, and

I had started to visit the curiosity without calculating the time it

would take me to reach it and to return. Suffice it to say that I

discovered the venerable pile of grey stones as the sun set, and that

I expended the last lights of evening in planning and sketching. I

then turned my face homeward. My walk of about ten miles had wearied

me, coming at the end of a long day’s posting, and I had lamed myself

in scrambling over some stones to the Gaulish relic.

 

A small hamlet was at no great distance, and I betook myself thither,

in the hopes of hiring a trap to convey me to the posthouse, but I was

disappointed. Few in the place could speak French, and the priest,

when I applied to him, assured me that he believed there was no better

conveyance in the place than a common charrue with its solid wooden

wheels; nor was a riding horse to be procured. The good man offered to

house me for the night; but I was obliged to decline, as my family

intended starting early on the following morning.

 

Out spake then the mayor—“Monsieur can never go back tonight across

the flats, because of the—the—” and his voice dropped; “the

loups-garoux.”

 

“He says that he must return!” replied the priest in patois. “But who

will go with him?”

 

“Ah, ha,! M. le CurĂ©. It is all very well for one of us to accompany

him, but think of the coming back alone!”

 

“Then two must go with him,” said the priest, and you can take care of

each other as you return.”

 

“Picou tells me that he saw the werewolf only this day se’nnight,”

said a peasant; “he was down by the hedge of his buckwheat field, and

the sun had set, and he was thinking of coming home, when he heard a

rustle on the far side of the hedge. He looked over, and there stood

the wolf as big as a calf against the horizon, its tongue out, and its

eyes glaring like marsh-fires. Mon Dieu! catch me going over the

marais tonight. Why, what could two men do if they were attacked by

that wolf-fiend?”

 

“It is tempting Providence,” said one of the elders of the village;”

no man must expect the help of God if he throws himself wilfully in

the way of danger. Is it not so, M. le Curé? I heard you say as much

from the pulpit on the first Sunday in Lent, preaching from the

Gospel.”

 

“That is true,” observed several, shaking their heads.

 

“His tongue hanging out, and his eyes glaring like marsh-fires!” said

the confidant of Picou.

 

“Mon Dieu! if I met the monster, I should run,” quoth another.

 

“I quite believe you, Cortrez; I can answer for it that you would,”

said the mayor.

 

“As big as a calf,” threw in Picou’s friend.

 

“If the loup-garou were only a natural wolf, why then, you see”—the

mayor cleared his throat—“you see we should think nothing of it; but,

M. le CurĂ©, it is a fiend, a worse than fiend, a man-fiend,—a worse

than man-fiend, a man-wolf-fiend.”

 

“But what is the young monsieur to do?” asked the priest, looking from

one to another.

 

“Never mind,” said I, who had been quietly listening to their patois,

which I understood. “Never mind; I will walk back by myself, and if I

meet the loup-garou I will crop his ears and tail, and send them to M.

le Maire with my compliments.”

 

A sigh of relief from the assembly, as they found themselves clear of

the difficulty.

 

“Il est Anglais,” said the mayor, shaking his head, as though he meant

that an Englishman might face the devil with impunity.

 

A melancholy flat was the marais, looking desolate enough by day, but

now, in the gloaming, tenfold as desolate. The sky was perfectly

clear, and of a soft, blue-grey tinge; illumined by the new moon, a

curve of light approaching its western bed. To the horizon reached a

fen, blacked with pools of stagnant water, from which the frogs kept

up an incessant trill through the summer night. Heath and fern covered

the ground, but near the water grew dense masses of flag and bulrush,

amongst which the light wind sighed wearily. Here and there stood a

sandy knoll, capped with firs, looking like black splashes against the

grey sky; not a sign of habitation anywhere; the only trace of men

being the white, straight road extending for miles across the fen.

 

That this district harboured wolves is not improbable, and I confess

that I armed myself with a strong stick at the first clump of trees

through which the road dived.

 

This was my first introduction to werewolves, and the circumstance of

finding the superstition still so prevalent, first gave me the idea of

investigating the history and the habits of these mythical creatures.

 

I must acknowledge that I have been quite unsuccessful in obtaining a

specimen of the animal, but I have found its traces in all directions.

And just as the palĂŠontologist has constructed the labyrinthodon out

of its footprints in marl, and one splinter of bone, so may this

monograph be complete and accurate, although I have no chained

werewolf before me which I may sketch and describe from the life.

 

The traces left are indeed numerous enough, and though perhaps like

the dodo or the dinormis, the werewolf may have become extinct in our

age, yet he has left his stamp on classic antiquity, he has trodden

deep in Northern snows. has ridden rough-shod over the mediĂŠvals, and

has howled amongst

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 30
Go to page:

Free ebook «The Book of Were-Wolves by Sabine Baring-Gould (free ebook novel .TXT) đŸ“–Â» - read online now

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment