Of Woodwose And Things That Go Bump In The Night...

The stories of “Wild Men” have been around since the dawn of pre-civilization. Virtually every continent and small groups of islands have their own unique stories of seemingly tall, often hairy-matted version of mythical beings that live in the forest or manifest themselves at certain times of the year or in various seasons. It isn’t clearly understood as to how these strange and abnormal tales of the Woodwose , a term coined from the primitive European word “wudu” or wood,  actually came in to being  - we only know that they’re there and surely must have some semi- premise or root based on actual visual and audio accounts. Remarkably, there are many cultures (virtually all) that still believe in the awe inspiring verbal and written stories from ages long since passed. We still have modern-day accounts of those very same mythical mysteries. To understand the origins of these tales, we must briefly delve into the past of varying ancient cultures:

The Legend of Krampus - 

With Christmastime approaching, many European countries (most notably Austrian villages) still mention the fabled, Krampus. The monster was said to have captured mischievous children and hold them hostage and then beat them until they become nice and not naughty. There has recently been somewhat of a surge in Hollywood to make Christmas-time horror films on this uniquely Germanic tale.

The term “Krampus” was believed to be transference in literation from the meaning of the Son of Hel from Norse mythology. Ironically enough, while researching this article, it would appear that this is also one of the origins of the word, “hell”. Krampus is a derivative of the ancient word, krampen which means “claw” in old High-German. Every year prior to December 6^th which is known as Krampusnacht (OR Krampus Night, December 5^th, the eve of the 6^th), Krampus is said to make his appearance and cage up his young, mischievous subjects to punish them.

Modern day advents with Krampus have the mythical being dressed out as a hairy, giant type of creature with horns. Citizens parade around in the streets and the activity in some places is akin to “The Running of The Bulls”.

The Woodwose Beings in Other Areas of Europe and in North America -

A total of 19 European countries celebrate with some derivation of woodwose- type beings during the holidays. Take for instance the country of Sardinia – participants dress up as a character called, the Mamuthones. Slovenia has their own variation of forest creep called, Kurent or Korent. These beings resemble a sheep-skin covered type animal that are said to have unrestrained, hedonistic behaviors. The Macedonians have the Bearded Djolomari and the Bulgarians have their Babugeri that wards off evil spirits.

Every year at Easter, Poland has a festival with characters dressed as the Dziady and there again the costumes are made of fake hair, woven straw and sheep skin. We there again see a resemblance of what Americans have coined Bigfoot or Sasquatch. Quite remarkably, all of the above mentioned are not supposed to talk during their performances but rather hoot, whistle or murmur. This again is very similar to some of the accounts where people have heard of Bigfoot or Sasquatch making only those types of noises. One must have to wonder where that tradition came from and it would almost seem that the ancients would have had to witness this type of behavior first hand in order to mimic it.

We again see woodwose or forest beings in such as the Gallorones in Spain, the Pelzmartle in another area of Germany, Strohman in another part of Germany, and the Stag on New Year’s Day in Romania - all having the theme of a hairy creatures coming in from the forest.

Is There Any Doubt?

It would almost seem that the mythological creatures of holiday Europe have some ties to what we contemporarily term as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. There’s almost a definite connection based simply on folklore itself. Could early Europeans have based their own Bigfoot-type sightings and then later attributing names to them like what we’ve seen explained here? The Native Americans described the Sasquatch as beings that seemed to live in “two worlds” but; I f I may suggest – is that not the very same attributes early Europeans described and attributed to their holiday folkloric characters?

With the suggestion of both Europeans and Native Americans stating that these forest monster- type beings live in two worlds; would it still not stand to reason that there are elements of truth in these historical accounts? Is it possible that the woodwose and wild men of both continents share a historical kinship in some weird and unknown way? Could they perhaps have undefined gifts that at current have no way of measuring scientifically? Can they really live in “two worlds” as suggested by our ancients?