I have been trying to publish this post since Christmas, but evidently failed and now it’s new Year’s Day. What’s better than a demon for such a celebration?
Children of Misrule, I give you Hellequin. Also known as Harlequin, Herlequin and other variations of the name.
He is the leader of the Mesnée d’Hellequin, the medieval French equivalent of the Wild Hunt. That’s at least according to the 11th century monk Orderic Vitalis, who reports that Hellequin was seen leading his Mesnée, or his ‘household troops’, around the coast of Normandy.
Sometimes Hellequin is the King of Fools, and sometimes he is the Lord of Misrule – any connections to this blog are pure coincidence, believe me. He and his rowdy troupe of animal-faced demons go around making a lot of noise, banging pots and pans and generally wrecking havoc. They particularly like to do that over Christmas, which is generally the time of Misrule. He is also mentioned by Dante. Alichino, as Dante calls him, resides in the Eighth Circle of Inferno, the Malebolge (Canto XXII). You might also recognise him in the figure of Arlecchino, in the Commedia dell’Arte.
Here he is posing for the Roman de Fauvel (BNF Ms fr 146), pushing his cart, in which he carries the souls of unbaptised children. So next time someone tells you about Krampus and his basket of children, tell him about Hellequin and win the evil Christmas game just like that. Thank me later.The image makes me think that his cart runs on orange slices, but this might be just me.
Unsurprisingly, in the Fauvel illumination he is leading the charivari for Fauvel’s marriage. The Charivari is just a fancy old French word for a bachelor’s party that would make you blush.
But that’s a story for another time, and what a story it will be!
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