Arline of Barioux (French, executed Riom 1588)

In his witch-hunting essay, Discours execrable des Sorciers (1602) the French judge Henri Boguet tells the tale of a huntsman who is attacked by a large wolf in the French mountains. The huntsman fires his gun to no avail, however manages to cut off the wolf’s paw with his hunting knife, placing his trophy in his pouch after the wolf flees. On his way home the huntsman passes a gentleman at his château, who requests a share of the spoils. The huntsman obligingly reaches into his pouch for the wolf’s paw and is horrified to find instead a woman’s hand wearing a gold ring. The gentleman recognises the ring as belonging to his wife and immediately charges to the kitchen to confront her, finding her nursing a bleeding stump beneath her apron. The noblewoman confesses to being a werewolf and her husband promptly turns her over to the authorities for the appropriate punishment
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Boguet relates the story as true, although no supporting documents exist. The amputated paw motif does appear, how-ever, in newspapers depicting the exploits of German werewolf Stubbe Peeter.