I converse with The Archdruid and his readers about Le Nain Rouge

I included a programming note among the countdown in Montly meta: top ten entries for February 2015.

The ninth most read entry with 88 page views as of the end of February was Marche du Nain Rouge, a blast from the past that I promoted at Greer's blog. Not only did it revive interest in this two year old post, it spurred an exchange with Greer that I plan on posting later this month to mark this year's festive expulsion of Detroit's resident demon.

As I indicated at the end of Statistics for the fourth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News when I told my readers to "stay tuned for a post about the Nain Rouge," it's time for that entry, especially since this year's Marche du Nain Rouge happens in the morning.

Follow over the jump for the conversation among Greer, another of his readers, and me about Detroit's resident malign spirit.

First, here's my comment on The Butlerian Carnival at Greer's blog that started the conversation.

"Collapse now and avoid the rush--it's fun!"  That should be your message now.  Speaking of people who are having fun by collapsing now, I can think of two subcultures that fit that description, hipsters and steampunks.  You, your readers and I already had a good conversation about the devotees of steampunk and their reaction to a disappointing present by escaping into an elegant past.  The hipsters aren't as extreme, but they are [also] coping with a disappointing present by adopting worthwhile and supposedly forgotten pieces of the past.  In addition to the vintage technology you mentioned, the hipsters who've moved into Midtown Detroit have revived Marche du Nain Rouge, a ceremony of the original French colonists to placate the city's resident malign spirit, the Red Dwarf.  Given what's happened to Detroit since the French tradition was abandoned, it couldn't hurt, and based on what you write about in your other blog, it might just help.  Besides, the hipsters find it fun.

Greer found a way to turn the conversation in an unexpected direction.

Pinku-Sensei, hmm! Is le Nain Rouge any relation to l'Homme Rouge des Tuileries? Might explain a thing or two...

I had to do some frantic Googling, which led me to EsoterX, the source for  of 21st Century monsters.

According to the webmaster of EsoterX, the answer appears to be yes.  Both Le Nain Rouge and The Little Red Man of Destiny are descended from the Nain Rouge of Normandy, a subtype of Lutin, or French domestic spirit or fairy.  Both of them share the characteristics of being harbingers of doom.  However, Detroit's Red Dwarf isn't actually a French immigrant to the New World.  As "the demon of the straights," he appears to have been known to the Native Americans/First Nations people before the French ever settled in the area.  Perhaps he was a similar kind of local being who was interpreted by the French as something familiar to them and then took on the characteristics of what they assumed him to be.  I'll stop there, as discussions of theota, theoregions, and the theosphere really belong at your other blog.

Close inspection of my response reveals a spelling error, one that Patricia Matthews pounced on.

"The demon of the *straights*?!?! He/she/it torments heterosexuals or mundanes? Or do you mean "straits" as in narrow bodies of water? Inquiring minds and spelling geeks are dying of curiosity.

Oops.

Mea culpa, I'm afraid my Freudian Slip was showing.  It's actually "The Demon of the Strait," as Detroit means "The Strait" in French.  That written, Le Nain Rouge is much more likely to torment "mundanes," i.e., the common man and woman, than "The Little Red Man of Destiny."  That particular spirit communicated with royalty, including Napoleon, who paid particular attention to its pronouncements, and apparently disappeared with Napoleon.  No monarchy, no spirit.

That particular characteristic of l'Homme Rouge des Tuileries appears in both Napoleon and his Red Man of Destiny and Napoleon's Book Of Prophecy.  In contrast, Le Nain Rogue is much more democratic in his choice of targets.  That doesn't make him any better.

Greer got in the last word, telling me "Pinku-sensei, thanks for the data!"  You're welcome, Archdruid.

Stat tuned for a retrospective entry about  the top entry of the past year.  As for the Sunday entertainment entry, I'm delaying that until Monday.