Lizzie Borden

 One of the most famous American legendary figures, alongside Sleepy Hollow and Bigfoot, is a young woman named Lizzie Borden. She's associated with using an axe to butcher her family. Possibly considered one of the most infamous figures, portrayed as an "axe welding creepy girl" of the 19th Century. She has so much folklore and horror stories about her. There is even a children's nursery rhyme about her that goes like this:

Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave he father forty one. Andrew Borden now is dead. Lizzie hit him on the head. Up in heaven he will sing. On the gallows she will swing.

There are a few things to consider about this character. She was born Lizzie Borden, nicknamed Lizbeth, on 19th July in 1860, Fall River, Massachusetts. Her father was a successful businessman named Andrew Borden and Lizzie's mother was named Sarah. Lizzie had two sisters named Emma and Alice but one died very young. When Lizzie was three years old, her mother died. A few years later, Andrew married a woman named Abby Durfee Gray. Things didn't sound perfect that much in that family home afterwards. Lizzie didn't get on well with her stepmother, and the house itself had problems with leaks. Lizzie adored the flocks of pigeons that nested in the barn, and she liked to care for them and viewed them as her pets. However, her father might've considered them vermin, as he killed them using an axe, which made Lizzie feel distressed. 

There had been many family disputes and resentment feelings from the Borden girls when they discovered that their father gave expensive and large presents to the stepmother's relatives. 

Many believe that Lizzie killed her father and stepmother, although Lizzie was a suspect to their murders. Others state that she didn't kill them at all. Before the axe murders took place, the family fell ill with food poisoning. Andrew Borden had enemies. Lizzie's clothes were not covered in blood. A maid was inside the house washing windows upstairs during the time of the murders. Lizzie had been out in the barn when she heard a loud noise coming from the house. No blood was found on the weapon. Lizzie was arrested because the maid said she'd seen Lizzie burning a dress that she wore during the murders and heard Lizzie laughing.   

Both sisters set up a reward of $5,000 to find the killer of their father and stepmother. A journal belonging to Lizzie had been shown that she grieved the death of her father. She was found Not Guilty and eventually she moved on to live a life of luxury. Her life wasn't always that happy ever after, because she was made a social outcast. Her name tied with the axe murders and she became this folklore villain in the psyche always an axe murderess. 

Associated with her is the Lizzie Borden House, turned into a Bed and Breakfast, which is haunted and many visitors report something paranormal happening there. Many ghost hunters take trips there.

Posted by She Wolf Night team     

(Due to the new style of posting, I can't make paragraphs without it creating double spaces. Once I figure out a way to solves it, I will make better paragraphs when I type verse, songs and poems in future).  

(Picture at top is Lizzie Borden made by us using Rinmaru Games)

Divine Canines: Cadmea and Laelaps

 

In Greek mythology, there is a story about two animals who became entwined and forever fated together. Firstly the city of Thebes had a king named Laius, who was the father of Oedipus. King Laius was paranoid and believed in a prophesy that his son will one day kill him. He tried to send newborn Oedipus away, but once the boy grew up into a man, he found his father. Upset when his father killed his horse, things went downhill and Laius was no more. While the king was missing, a regent took over Thebes, and he was named Creon. 

It was during the regency period of Creon, that something happened. Outside of Thebes was a village named Teumessus and a field. This is where a giant monstrous fox appeared. It was in the form of a vixen and she was named Cadmea. She was also known as the Cadmean Vixen and later called the Teumessian Fox. People were afraid of her. Cadmea ate humans and she devoured those who were near and unaware of her hiding. Men skilled at hunting were sent out to kill Cadmea and get rid of her tyranny. No weapons had an effect on Cadmea, and she couldn't even be caught in traps made to catch her. 

Regent Creon announced to give offerings of human sacrifice to please the Cadmean Vixen. This means that every thirty days, a victim of sacrifice that was usually a child, would be given to Cadmea. A visiting man named Amphitryon, who was the grandson of the hero Perseus, promised to help Thebes get rid of the Cadmean Fox. He sought out a hunting dog named Laelaps who never failed to catch prey. The dog Laelaps once belonged to King Minos and eventually ended up with Caphalus of Phocis. Eventually Laelaps was taken to Thebes and let loose from its leash. Laelaps went off running after Cadmea, who then turned and fled. However, Cadmea was destined to never get caught. 

The hunting dog who was always destined to catch its prey was running after Cadmea, the vixen who was destined to never get caught. The ruling god of Olympus, Zeus, had observed this unusual cycle that never seemed to end between Laelaps and Cadmea. So he turned both dog and fox into stones. Then he transferred them into the sky where they became stars. Cadmea became Canis Minor, and Laelaps became Canis Major, stars that are still seen today.    

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She Wolf Night   

Claudia Gaillard, werewolf of Burgundy

 

The name Claudia Gaillard is remembered as the "Werewolf of Burgundy" in France. The area of Franche-Comté was filled with hysteria during the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th Centuries. 

The most there who were executed as "werewolves" was more than 600 under Henry Boguet (1550-1619), the witch-finder of Burgundy. It was believed that the woman Claudia Gaillard was witnessed transforming into a wolf. The witness was probably a friend or neighbour, called Jeanne Perrin. According to Jeanne, she and Claudia were walking through the woods and talking about not having much alms. Then Claudia ran behind a bush and a wolf emerged. Jeanne ran away in a panic then dropped her alms that she was carrying. 

Claudia had told Jeanne that her wolf self wouldn't have harmed her. The confession was enough for to convince everyone that she had turned into a werewolf. This word of mouth often got treated as evidence back then. She was put on trial, and the judge assumed that because Claudia didn't show emotions throughout her ordeal under torture, she had to be guilty of turning into a werewolf! The judge had said "Common report was against her. No one ever saw her shed a single tear, whatever effort might be made to cause her to shed tears." 

Claudia was one of so many other unfortunate victims of the witch hunt mania. She was sentenced to death and then burned at the stake. 

For more info on the werewolf trails, visit this link All That's Interesting page on "Inside Europe's Gruesome Werewolf trials". 

The She Wolf Night blog girls

Nine maidens

Ancient myths and legends all have stories about nine maidens. While the number nine keeps appearing in those very old legends, nine maidens are a theme that often springs up and around folklore across Europe and world. There are the nine Muses in Greek mythology, who  are the daughters of the god Zeus and Mnemosyne. The Muses are talented goddesses. They are Calliope, protector of heroic poems, Clio the guardian of history and maker of the guitar instrument, Erato the protector of love prose and weddings, Euterpe who guards over music, Melpomene who protects over tragedy, Polyhymnia the inventor of geometry, Terpsichore who is guardian of the dance and invented the harp, Thalia who guards comedy and Urania the guardian of stars and inventor of astronomy.   

There are the Nine Wave Maidens, and these are the daughters of the giant Aegir and goddess Ran in Norse mythology. Each of these nine daughters are sea nymphs of sorts. The are each called Blodughadda or "Bloody-hair", Bylgja or "Bollow," then Bara who was previously called Drofn, Dufa or "wave", Hefring or "lift", Himinglaeva or "clear top", then Hronn or "ripple", Kolga or "cold water" and Unn or "Foam". (I think I've got that translated a bit right). 

There are small references to nine maidens all over the world. And there are even stone circles called Nine Maidens. It's said that these were once maidens who were punished for dancing on a Sunday, and were petrified into stones by an unhappy deity. 

More on Nine Maidens here at Wikipedia page 

And for the stone circles called Nine Maidens here at Legendary Dartmoor.

Hope you enjoyed reading that. 

Finally this: The images were found on the web although I don't know who made them. If you're the artist or you know who the artist is, then please let me know. Comments are moderated. 

Thanks for reading.

She Wolf Night team.