Croquemitaine [croak-mit-tain]

the bogie raised by fear. The romance so called, in three parts. The first relates the bloody tournament at Fransac, between the champions of the Moorish King Marsillus and the paladins of Charlemagne. The second is the Siege of Saragossa by Charlemagne. The third is the allegory of Fear-Fortress. The epilogue is the disaster at Roncesvallës. The author is M. lʹEpine. There is an English version by Tom Hood, illustrated by Gustave Doré (1867). (See Fear-Fortress, Mitaine, etc.)