{"id":1810,"date":"2024-11-06T18:49:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T17:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frenchfornerds.com\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2025-04-15T14:06:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T12:06:12","slug":"frissonner-en-cours-de-francais-4-legendes-a-decouvrir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchfornerds.com\/en\/blog\/learn-french-through-legends-halloween\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn French through legends: Halloween Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Who said Halloween was over yet? With my colleague and friend Audrey from The French Palette<\/a>, we have concocted not one but two terrifying articles for you to learn French through legends and shiver in class!\u00a0

Audrey teaches French through art (which is super cool!!), and me, well as you know I teach with nerd culture, and I also help FLE teachers to make their classes more fun and creative! So, it was quite naturally that we decided to collaborate for the first time (and actually, we've been having one hell of a time together!).\u00a0

To extend Halloween, we have chosen to present to you 4 super cool Francophone monsters (well...except when you come across them, I guess) to enrich your culture, but also for you to use afterwards to practice French!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You'll learn about two of them on my blog, and Audrey will tell you about the other two (link at the bottom of the article!)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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#1: The Wendigo<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n
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Supernatural 1\u00d702 gif made by me!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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This is a monster that terrified me when I was little (no, really \u2013 I bought the first DVDs of Supernatural<\/em>, and I watched the first two episodes, the White Lady and our dear Wendigo, and I was so scared that I put the DVDs in a corner for four years \ud83d\ude02) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wendigo \u2013 or Windigo \u2013 is a very old monster, native to Canada, and especially to what is now Quebec (yes, it does NOT come from the United States, contrary to what pop culture might lead you to believe!). It was the indigenous populations who began to talk about this creature, we don't know exactly when, but it is very old. We find writings from the 1600s, but it is clear that it existed before in oral tradition and mythology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the Wendigo? In fact, since it is an ancient legend, there are many versions. That said, it always involves a man, at first, who ate human flesh (or a heart in some versions, hello Piper Halliwell in Charmed<\/em> !) and transformed into a Wendigo. By the way, linguistically the word Wendigo means \u201cthe evil spirit that devours humanity\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Wendigos are very powerful, very large, evil cannibalistic creatures associated in indigenous cultures with cold and famine. They usually have a deformed head and yellow fangs, bloody of course, and powerful claws on their hands and feet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some versions, the Wendigo is also able to possess its victim to force it to hunt and devour its kin (cool, right?\ud83d\ude05 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout history, there has been a rather interesting link between the legend of the Wendigo and mental and psychological disorders. Various events in several countries have been associated with Wendigos, such as in 1878 with the case of the trapper Swift Runner (I'll let you look for more information on this somewhat sordid affair!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, since Wendigos are associated with cannibalism, evil creatures, etc., they are widely used in popular culture, whether in books, movies or video games, they are found almost everywhere! They have also been exported far from Canada, and are known more or less all over the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is interesting is that the legend has also entered academic debates! It serves as a symbol of humanity's destruction of nature, but also as a symbol of greed in psychoanalysis. <\/p>\n\n\n