In 1588 a woman in Ryon was executed for being a werewolf. The story goes… A gentleman asked a hunter to share a part of his kill with him. The hunter must have agreed while in the woods hunting he was attacked by a huge wolf.
Unable to injure it by shooting it he reached for his knife. While fighting he cut off one of the wolf’s paws. The hunter took the paw to the gentleman’s house which happened to be nearby. The paw turned into a human hand after the hunter removed it from his pocket.
The hand belonged to a woman and had a wedding ring on its finger. The gentleman recognized the ring and searched for his wife. He found her in the kitchen. Her hand was missing.
She confessed to transforming into a wolf in order to attend a Sabbat. She was burned at the stake.
Great story. Complicated way to get rid of one’s wife. This could make a great double cross story. You’ve roused my Muse.
Glad the Muse was roused, hope it was for a writing idea and not a way to get rid of your wife. 🙂 There’s lots of stories of wives being killed in the name of safety, because they were werewolves or vampires or some such danger.
There are many variations of this, but the general tale does seem particular to France.
This seemed the most popular, and the one written in my oldest sources. 😀 Thanks for coming by and commenting.