I was disappointed in the last Averoigne story, “The Disinterment of Venus.” It wasn’t that it was bad, just not good enough for Averoigne, or at least my conception of Averoigne. I have such a glorified image of Averoigne that even Smith, its creator, can’t always live up to it. That said, “The Beast of Averoigne” did live up to my ideal.
Told in multiple view points, a monstrous beast, similar to a werewolf, terrorizes Averoigne. The reader follows the destruction the Beast causes particularly through the religious community. “Pray for me, Therese,” writes the monastery’s abbot to his sister, “in my bewitchment and my despair: for God has abandoned me, and the yoke of hell has somehow fallen upon me; and naught can I do to defend the abbey from this evil.” By the end, both the abbot and his sister are undone by the beast.
August Derleth criticized the story, thinking that the identity of the beast was too obvious. The editors of The Maze of the Enchanter commented that it wasn’t meant to be a surprise but “confirmation.” No offense to fans of Derleth but I side with the editors.
Just seeing the title of the story got me thinking about the Beast of Gévaudan which is why I tried to draw it a while back. Both beasts terrorized regions of France in the 1500s, one in our world and one in Averoigne. I wonder if the Beast of Gévaudan was an inspiration for Smith. I somewhat doubt it because the original title was “The Werewolf of Averoigne,” but there are parallels.
Despite what Derleth thought, Smith told him “I think that I have done better tales, but few are technically superior.”
Smith’s technique usually was simple. Often times a character simply saw disturbing sights. Other times he wrote in the formula that usually worked. His shifting of viewpoints is similar to what Faulkner was doing at the time. I am surprised that this story had a hard time getting published.
Maybe I have an elevated view of Averoigne but, even so, Smith delivered with this one.
The New Rambler 
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