''Pyrénée'' is a 1998
French feral child
A feral child (also called wild child) is a young individual who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, with little or no experience of human care, social behavior, or language. Such children lack the basics of primary and ...
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
(bande dessinée) by
Regis Loisel and
Philippe Sternis, about a feral girl who is brought up in the mountains of the French
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
by a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
.
Plot summary
When a huge
earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
devastates a town in the French Pyrenees, a
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...
escapes from a
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...
in the confusion and later finds a small girl whose mother has been killed in the quake. The bear rescues the girl (and her
teddy bear
A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...
) and raises her as his own cub like a female version of
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
's
Mowgli
Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mowgli stories featured among Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kiplin ...
, high in the inaccessible mountains, naming her "Pyrénée" after them. Later on she also learns
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and wisdom from a blind old
eagle
Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
, learns to hunt and fish, and eventually has to find her way back to human society.
Inspirations
The French Pyrenees were home to two people that may have served as inspiration for the story. The Girl of Issaux, lost in the snow at the age of 8 and captured at the age of 16 (circa 1719), and also La Folle des Pyrénées
[ on feralchildren.com] (captured 1807 at the age of about 40) who was not feral but lived with the bears. The story also draws some parallels to another story of a wild child of French origin –
Victor of Aveyron
Victor of Aveyron (; ) was a French feral child who was found around the age of 9. Not only is he considered one of the most famous feral children, but his case is also the most documented case of a feral child. Upon his discovery, he was captur ...
.
See also
*
List of fictional feral children
Feral children, children who have lived from a young age without human contact, appear in mythological and fictional works, usually as human characters who have been raised by animals. Often their dual heritage is a benefit to them, protecting ...
References
External links
Pyreneeon nota-bene.org (in French)
Official website of Regis Loisel(in French)
(in English) on
Lambiek
Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum
Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...
.net
Pyrenee fan-page(in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyrenee
French comics titles
French graphic novels
1998 graphic novels
Comics about anthropomorphic bears
Comics about talking animals
Comics set in France
Fictional feral children
Female characters in comics
Child characters in comics
Comics characters introduced in 1998