Wendigo, by Edward Swanson
http://chimericgnosis.blogspot.com/2010/12/clambering-back-out-of-abyss.html
An evil spirit of the Great North Woods, an eater of human flesh, a stealer of souls: The Wendigo. Whisper that name in the Halloween twilight woods. “Weennndigooo…”
The word is enough all by itself to send shivers down the spine.
The Wendigo is a winter demon of Algonquin legend, and it seems that many cultures of that extensive American Indian language group across Canada and the U.S. knew him.
An Ojibwe scholar describes the demon thus:
“The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Weendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody [….] Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Weendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption.”
The Algonquins believed that the demon could turn them into Wendigos — a belief so strong that it is considered a “culture-specific” psychological phenomenon — Wendigo Psychosis.
In the 1870s, a Cree hunter and trapper named Swift Runner went Wendigo and killed and ate his family. From Murderpedia:
Swift Runner was a Cree Indian who lived during the last century in what is now central Alberta. His background seemed not unusual. As a young man he received a solid useful Cree education; he married and had a family of six children; he traded with the Hudson’s Bay Company; and, in 1875, he served as a guide for the North West Mounted Police.
But Swift Runner’s life ended in tragedy and notoriety. During the winter of 1878-79, a time of starvation and misery for the Cree people, he became possessed by the Windigo psychosis (an aberration characterized by grand delusions and cannibalistic impulses that anthropologists have identified in several Canadian Indian cultures). He murdered his wife and family and cooked and ate their flesh. Eventually he was arrested, brought to trial, and in December, 1879, hanged at Fort Saskatchewan.
Swift Runner — Possessed by the Wendigo?
JimC says
Wishing y’all a dark and sppoky Halloween. Watch out for the Wendigo…
Jack Badelaire says
Chaosium Books put out an anthology of Wendigo-themed horror stories a number of years ago, and they were very, very creepy (called “The Ithaqua Cycle” and it ties the Wendigo into the Cthulhu Mythos. There is something about the cold, dark, isolation of the winter wilderness that is perfect for creating an atmosphere of horror.
Also, by any chance have you seen the movie “Ravenous”?
Paul McNamee says
Great post for Halloween!
JimC says
Thanks Paul.
Jack:
Have not seen “Ravenous.” Tell us more…
I’ll have to check out “The Ithaqua Cycle.”
Jack Badelaire says
It’s a slow-burn horror film set in the frontier, involving American Indians and Cannibalism and the Wendigo myth. I will say no more to avoid giving anything away. A dark, creepy film with some really brutal and disturbing elements. You can buy it on DVD, or rent it for a few bucks via Amazon Streaming Video.
JimC says
Cool!
John Cornelius says
Way to go. Now I have a movie I want to watch, and a couple of books I want to find. I was also reminded of The Manitou, a book by Graham Masterson from the mid-70’s. H.P. Lovecraft references on Frontier Partisans – wow. And you were surprised that Miley Cyrus made in onto FP. Did you know that REH was a member of “The Lovecraft Circle” – his close cronies and peers.
John C.
deuce says
Masterton’s book was much better than the movie, IMO. Easily one of the best Mythos novels of that era. Regarding THE ITHAQUA CYCLE… There are several stories in it that would fit into the FP wheelhouse. There’s a damned good one set during the Russian Revolution. Ithaqua is supposed to be BEHIND the Wendigo myth in some fashion — kind of riffing on Blackwood’s “The Wendigo” — but Ithaqua is more of a powerful malignant spirit of ALL the circumpolar regions, Eurasia included.
DMcG says
Well that just creeped me out. Appropriately. Thanks!