L'Ankou

Cette image a été prise dans la Bible pour l'Halloween, enfin un bouquin qui est pour moi comme un livre sacré lorsque vient ce temps de l'année. J'ai nommé Halloween: Sorcières, lutins, fantômes et autres croquemitaines.. L'image est bien entendu celle de l'Ankou, le psychopompe breton qui mérite de faire partie des personnages de l'Halloween. J'aimerais bien le retrouver dans une histoire d'horreur ou deux également.

L'Ankou, la crêpe

Mes lecteurs savent que je suis adepte de pas mal tous les folklores, mais surtout le folklore celtique, dont le folklore breton. J'ai une fascination particulière pour l'Ankou, l'ouvrier de la mort en Bretagne, dont la lame de la faux est inversée. C'est un personnage sinistre et méconnu, qui devrait selon moi moi faire partie des créatures que l'on voit rôder à l'Halloween. Or, c'est aussi le nom que la crêperie Le Mouchoir de Poche à La Gacilly a donné à l'une de ses crêpes repas (les Bretons appellent celles-ci des galettes, mais pour moi ça reste des crêpes.) Boeuf haché sous la crêpe, confit de tomates, oignons caramélisés et oeuf sur le plat. C'est délicieux et si j'avais l'énergie et la patience, c'est ce que je mangerais pour repas d'Halloween.

Scary bedtime stories

This evening, my wife and had dinner with friends, their ten year old daughter and their daughter's friend (yes, I mean the Ticklers). After dinner, the girls tried to tickle me, without success (I did not laugh, for some reason), so as it was getting late and bedtime was near they asked me to tell them a story, "a scary story." They adore scary stories, especially when I tell them. I even learned that they tell them after to each other and their friends. So I decided to tell them from memory a story I got from La Légende de la Mort by Anatole Le Braz, a story about l'Ankou, the henchman of death in Breton folklore, which you can see on the front cover of the version I have of the book, holding his trademark scythe with the upside down blade. I am fascinated with this character. Without giving too much away, it was a story where a few young drunk Bretons make the mistake to pull a prank on an unknown traveler they hear coming by cart on an old pathway. They throw a dead tree on the middle of the way. Bad idea, as the traveler turns out to be... Anyway, I don't know if I managed to recreate the atmosphere of the original, but they loved it all the same. If they don't have nightmares tonight (and they don't get scared easily), I think I might tell them another story about l'Ankou next time.

Nightmare, shadow and bogeymen

For those like me who sometimes feel that Halloween is not coming soon enough, here is a little post which I hope will be frightening. I mentioned it a bit before. A bit more than a week ago, I had a nightmare about an old man wearing a dark coat. He was a tall old man, with a malevolent face, following me around. He looked a bit like l'Ankou. He was keeping a distance when I was walking home and watching me from outside when I was looking out of the window. There was even mentions in my dream of Jungian archetypes (I think I got this from Batman Begins). I asked a psychoanalyst or a psychologist or some sort of therapist if anyone had ever met a physical Jungian archetype, he grinned evilly and he turned into the old man, but this time he was more bat-like. It was very scary when it happened, but I can't help being fascinated by it, and now remembering it I shiver pleasantly. The nightmare is a mix of many stories I read or movies I watched, and stuff I read about horror stories, the unheimlich and so on. I had an intellectual nightmare.

I can recognise in the character of my nightmare the Shadow, but also a manifestation of the bogeymen of my childhood.  My brother once had a nightmare about Lustukru, one summer night when we were children, we were so impressed by it that we wanted him to nightmare about it again and give us a sequel. Strangely enough, it didn't turn into a game. I might just try to do the same now and turn this evil old man into the bogeyman of a horror story. I have been promising myself to write my own horror story for quite a while. Nightmares inspired great horror stories, but it is difficult to bring the stuff of nightmare convincingly in this world. It is scarier when you read it.

A dreadful great unknown written line

I am not the father of another great unknown line, which I think is quite funny (if I may say so myself). Halloween Spirit blogged today about a zombie cake she made. She should be proud of it, the cake actually looks like a rotting undead head. My comment has not been published on it yet, so I publish it here in exclusivity:

"I hope it tastes better than it looks."

For those of you like who thinks that it is a long way until Halloween, this is my modest contribution to keep the spirit of the holiday alive. Oh, and I dreamt of a sinister l'Ankou looking character recently (don't flicker through your scary books before going to bed). If I have the discipline, I might try to put him in a horror story.

Conte de Noël breton

Il fut un temps où les histoires terrifiantes et/ou les histoires de fantômes étaient racontées à Noël. Nous avons un peu oublié cela depuis que l'Halloween remplit cette fonction, mais Noël a donc servi d'arrière-plan pour bien des histoires surnaturelles. A Christmas Carol de Dickens appartient à cette tradition et quiconque l'a lu peut témoigner qu'en plus de la morale et des bons sentiments, il y a également une dimension effrayante à l'histoire. Au Québec, il existe bien sûr la légende de la Chasse-Gallerie, sans doute notre plus célèbre histoire de Noël. Puisque je fête Noël en Bretagne pour la première fois de mon existence, j'ai pensé donner sur ce blogue un lien qui mène à un conte sur l'Ankou. On peut retrouver cette histoire, ainsi que d'autres, dans ce livre, dont j'ai déjà parlé et que je recommande fortement. Un dernier avertissement: Le forgeron et l'Ankou n'a pas de fin heureuse.

Plaisirs terrifiants de l'automne

J'ai déjà cité Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, cette citation en fait, mais elle vaut la peine d'être réutilisée en guise d'introduction pour ce billet:

"Des moyens très simples créent la terreur: une porte qui s'ouvre, un jardin sous la lune... On ne voit pas le diable mais son oeuvre..."

Il fait depuis notre retour en Angleterre un temps d'automne un peu sinistre, avec de la pluie et du vent. Cela dit, je ne m'en plains pas car j'aime l'automne. Les arbres ont déjà commencé à prendre des couleurs. L'automne est aussi le compte à rebours pour l'Halloween, ce qui, dans mon cas, veut dire lire des histoires d'horreur ou des livres sur le folklore et les légendes. Il n'y a pas de plaisir plus délicieux (et cathartique) que de lire une histoire effrayante dans le confort de son salon, quand il fait un sale temps dehors et que la nature prend des allures sinistres avant l'hiver. Je n'ai hélas pas ce bouquin sous la main, étant donné qu'il est stationné à Montréal (ou à Chicoutimi?). Cela dit, j'ai encore à terminer La Légende de la Mort d'Anatole Le Braz. J'ai hélas terminé la section sur l'Ankou, mais je peux y revenir bien sûr. Et il me reste tout le chapitre sur les morts malfaisants. J'ai aussi sous la main The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories que je recommande fortement. Déjà lu, mais je peux toujours relire mes histoires préférées. cela dit, il me faudra faire l'acquisition d'autres livres.

Il y a aussi les films d'horreur que j'essaie de voir en marathon. Halloween bien sûr, l'un de mes préférés, un petit bijou d'efficacité, mais également Nosferatu et les films d'horreur de la Hammer. Comme vous pouvez le constater, je préfère les vieux classiques.

Comment j'ai découvert l'Ankou

J'avais sans doute six ou sept ans quand j'ai lu l'album de Spirou du même nom. Je me rappelle assez peu de l'histoire, mais l'Ankou avait fait une plus forte impression que les autres personnages. Je crois que l'Ankou était un personnage trop sinistre pour le comique léger et bon enfant des Spirou, mais je suis curieux de relire l'album. Je suis également plus curieux de voir ce qu'on a fait du personnage dans une série plus sérieuse.

Journey to Brocéliande

We went to Brocéliande (also known as Paimpont, but I prefer its Celtic name) yesterday. We didn't see all (not Barenton, for instance), but the forest is so big and there is so much to see. I will see barenton next trip. We went to the Tombeau de Merlin, the Château de Comper and some other things, I will write entries with pictures later on. I didn't see any Korrigan, or l'Ankou (but it was daytime), not even the ghost of Merlin or the Lady of the Lake. But that was still nice, and the forest really has character.

Folklore of Brittany

I am reading La légende de la mort (the book bought in L'Oeil de Breizh). Well, I am reading Goldfinger too, but I read some stories from the other book. It is a nice little book, which really achieves being scary with minimal effects. It's a thick book so there will be enough to read for a while. I will read the book more thoroughly in September/October, because usually before Halloween I read scary stories to put myself in the mood for the day. I can't wait to read the chapter about l'Ankou.

L'Ankou

The strangest thing happened to me this afternoon: I went with my wife and in-laws in a little village called La Gacilly and I was buying some postcards in one of the many little shops they have, and I asked the shop owner if he had any literature about l'Ankou the messenger of death in Breton folklore. The guy said he didn't know what I was talking about, so I started explaining what l'Ankou was to him, and he seemed slightly worried, and said he didn't sell anything about death, devils, Satan or witches. He also mentionned a shop called L'Oeil de Breizh where I could find "the thing you are looking for". He also said that mentioning "that" was like mentioning Voldemort. So I think I genuinly scared somebody who believe in some of the old legends, and who thinks that it is bad omen to talk of Death openly or to seek it.

I went to L'Oeil with my wife and my sister-in-law and her boyfriend, and it's a real treat (for me that is, for them it's a bore): I was a kid in a candy store. I bought a book about Breton legends of death (!) and there are many more books to buy when I get back there. The owner was really chatty and I managed to bargain the price of the book. I learned a few things: a witch at the door is good against evil eye and evil spirits. So next time I will buy a witch (VeggieCarrie won't like it) and I will put it at the door of the flat. If my wife allows me, that is.