Tales of the Devil | Claude Seignol

An extremely interesting study by the famous writer and collector of folklore, in a popular form representing not only the Devil in the French folk tradition, but also legends about sorcerers, monsters, semi-pagan spirits, "scary tales", excerpts from grimoires, beliefs, spells, rituals and prayers.

The book is written in an ironic way and will make the reader laugh heartily more than once.


For ease of reading, a satin ribbon bookmark is sewn into the book.


Advance notice from the author:

In 1959, I published a collection called The Devil in the Folk Tradition, in which, confining myself to the province of Guyen, I offered the reader the stories collected in it between 1934 and 1954. This work, which quickly sold out, was advised by the publishers to supplement with a large number of documents in order to present a kind of panorama of the hellish world according to French folk beliefs.

The book was published under the title ("Les Évangiles du Diable"), which, of course, can be annoying, but it seems appropriate to me precisely because it represents a wide variety of legends characterizing the vision of the subject in different parts of our country. One by one, following a logical chain of situations, I cited texts that were hitherto disparate and of varying interest and value, from brief emotional sayings to realistic and naive stories, and then to classical legends; thus the backbone and foundation of the folk diaboliad was formed.

It seemed to me unnecessary to attempt to distort and improve the style of the tales of this huge vault — it is still impossible to hide the world's disorder, and this would only lead to monotony of style; in fact, it was only necessary to build a roof over the sharp corners generated by the incessant flashes of popular imagination.

As for our rural Devil himself, the inspirer of so many beliefs, magic and deceptions, it is in no way possible to underestimate the role of his common accomplices — many sorcerers who make money from him, sorcerers and deceivers who, being actually ordinary people, fan the fire of all kinds of devilry.