History Literature / TheBrownMan

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire de Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple. "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, more sympathy towards Nora and her mother, removal of the scene that prepares the audience for the Brown Man's deceit, and removal of all confirmation that the animals can talk. Between 1833 and 1857, "Goule" travelled southwards to the Pyrenees and became incorporated in the folk tale "[[Literature/TheCastleOfTheVampire Le Château du Vampire]]" as included by Ernest de Garay in ''Les Légendes des Pyrénées''.

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire de Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple. "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, more sympathy towards Nora and her mother, removal of the scene that prepares the audience for the Brown Man's deceit, and removal of all confirmation that the animals can talk. Between 1833 and 1857, "Goule" made it to the Pyrenees and became incorporated in the folk tale "[[Literature/TheCastleOfTheVampire Le Château du Vampire]]" as included by Ernest de Garay in ''Les Légendes des Pyrénées''.

* {{Epigraph}}: "The Brown Man", "Goule", and each have their own epigraphs.

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire de Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple. "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, more sympathy towards Nora and her mother, removal of the scene that prepares the audience for the Brown Man's deceit, and removal of all confirmation that the animals can talk.

Some time between 1827 and 1857, "The Brown Man" or "Goule" made it to the Pyrenees and became incorporated in the folk tale "[[Literature/TheCastleOfTheVampire Le Château du Vampire]]" as included by Ernest de Garay in ''Les Légendes des Pyrénées''.

** "Le Château du Vampire"'s epigraph is the line "Il est des croyances qu'on retrouve partout,"[[note]]"There are beliefs that are found everywhere." attributed to Charles Nodier. It is unknown when or where he would've said this.

* OurGhoulsAreCreepier: In "Goule", the antagonist by virtue of the title is identified as a ghoul. He is not notably different from the maybe-fae antagonist from "The Brown Man". Both sneak out at night to eat corpse flesh at the cemetery and hunt for food whenever that's the better option.

"The Brown Man" is a [[ShortStory short story]] by Gerald Griffin included in his 1827 ghost story collection ''Holland-Tide; or Munster Popular Tales'', published at the latest in February. It is a take on ATU 363, The Corpse-Eater, of the Aarne-Thompson-Uther index, but with elements that suggest influence from "Literature/TheStoryOfSidiNouman" too. Reception of ''Holland-Tide'' was favorable, but "The Brown Man" was the controversial entry, being deemed juvenile and excessive. The [[FramingDevice framing device]] of ''Holland-Tide'' is that, in celebration of the [[UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve first day of Hallowtide]], the people of a town in the west of Munster, Ireland have gathered at a mansion and inevitably, at one point they sit down to tell one another [[GhostStory ghost stories]].

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire of Rouen, Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple. "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, more sympathy towards Nora and her mother, removal of the scene that prepares the audience for the Brown Man's deceit, and removal of all confirmation that the animals can talk.
%%Between 1833 and 1857, Ernest de Garay ''Les Légendes des Pyrénées'' "Le Château du Vampire"

While the Brown Man is a ghoul in "Goule", his identity in "The Brown Man" is more enigmatic. He and his animals may be some type of [[TheFairFolk fae]], because several of those are associated with the color brown, but none fit the Brown Man's description beyond that. It is also possible that the Brown Man, as a predatory maybe-man-of-means, serves an allegorical function. In the 19th century, Ireland was dominated by England and the Irish-speaking Brown Man may be meant as a critique of that domination in general, without taking risks on the sales of ''Holland-Tide'' in England.

* {{Epigraph}}: "The Brown Man" and "Goule" each have their own epigraphs.

In the west of Munster, Nora Guare and her mother are very poor and running out of food when a man with brown aspects, dressed in brown, accompanied by a brown horse and a brown dog, shows up and pays the mother well for the right to marry Nora. The alternative being starvation, all is agreed to and the Brown Man takes Nora with him to Mangerton Mountain near Mucruss Abbey. As it turns out, Nora's groom lives miserably himself with hardly any shelter, comfort, or food. The first night, Nora also discovers the Brown Man and his animals leave for about an hour after midnight when they think she's asleep. The second night goes by the same and the third night Nora investigates. She follows her husband to the abbey's churchyard and finds him, his horse, and his dog conversing and dining on a recently buried body. Nora's own shadow rises up to flee and Nora follows suit. The next morning, she asks the Brown Man to visit her mother, but he counter-offers to fetch the old woman to visit them instead. Having his suspicion that Nora saw him at the churchyard, he disguises himself as her mother to lure her into confessing. Nora falls for it and is given a few seconds to realize her error before the Brown Man stabs her with his fingers and lets her bleed out. She's his, his horse's, and his dog's meal that night.

While the Brown Man is a ghoul in "Goule", his identity in "The Brown Man" is more enigmatic. He and his animals may be some type of [[TheFairFolk fae]], because several of them are associated with the color brown, but none fit the Brown Man's description beyond that. It is possible that the Brown Man, as a predatory maybe-man-of-means, serves an allegorical function. In the 19th century, Ireland was dominated by England and the Irish-speaking Brown Man may be meant as a critique on that domination in general, without negatively affect the sales of ''Holland-Tide'' in England.

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire of Rouen, Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple while the lack of an article appears to be an intentional choice: In French at the time, it was "la goule", which wouldn't have meshed with the male villain of "The Brown Man". "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, removal of the scene explaining the Brown Man's trickery, and more sympathy towards Nora and her mother.

* LivingShadow: In a scene that borders on absurdity and is not explained, when Nora witnesses her husband and his animal sidekicks eat a human corpse, she makes sure to keep still so as not to draw their attention. Her shadow, however, can't stop its fearful trembling. It rises from the ground and walks over to Nora's hiding spot, where it points at the path leading back to the hut, and makes a run for it. Nora follows immediately after.

* TalkingAnimal: The Brown Man's brown horse and brown dog are intelligent and can talk. This is first hinted at when Nora cannot tell whether their joined noises are snorting, barking, or laughing. The second time she hears someone talk to her husband at the window, but can't see who it could be. It is after this happens that she follows her husband outside up to the Mucruss cemetery and sees him dining on a corpse with the horse and dog, all acting very humanlike and conversing, although Nora is too far away to overhear them. Omitted from "Goule" is a line of dialogue from the dog confirming the group's intent to eat Nora.

* TheBadGuyWins: To keep his secrets safe, the Brown Man kills Nora and uses her remains for a meal to feed himself, his horse, and his dog. No one will ever know what happened to Nora, no one will stop the trio from plundering the Mucruss Abbey's cemetery for corpse meat, and it is very likely Nora wasn't the first nor will be the last.

%%* CreepyCemetery: The Brown Man lives in a clay hovel within short walking distance of the Mucruss Abbey and its cemetery. Every night a nutritious body

A French adaptation that does not credit Griffin was submitted by Alphonse René le Mire of Rouen, Normandy for inclusion in ''Revue de Rouen et de la Normandie'' Volume II, which covers submissions from July 10th to December 10th of 1833. The translation is titled "Goule" or "Goule, conte fantastique", which reflects France's particular interest in the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]] as horror staple while the lack of an article appears to be an intentional choice: In French at the time, it was "la goule", which wouldn't have meshed with the male villain of "The Brown Man". "Goule" is largely the same story as "The Brown Man", but it emphasizes the horror with more environmental detail, omission of the scene explaining the Brown Man's trickery, and more sympathy towards Nora and her mother.

Fellow Irish writer Creator/JosephSheridanLeFanu may have taken some inspiration from "The Brown Man" for "The Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter" in 1839. The introduction of the monster in the latter story resembles the introduction of the monster in the former story.

* TheBluebeard: The Brown Man acquired Nora as his wife through deception and treats her poorly. While it doesn't seem he meant for her to learn about his grave-dining at the Mucruss Abbey, it does appear to be the kind of excuse he'd been waiting for to eat and kill her.
%%* ColorMotif:
%%* CreepyCemetery:

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: On rare occasion, characters in "The Brown Man" use Irish words for no particular reason amidst their otherwise English dialogue. For instance, the Brown Man refers to his horse as "ma-coppuleen" ("mo capaillín", "my little horse") once and "horse" is used throughout the rest to the text.