Fantôme de Maules who is he really?
In the heart of Maules, a French-speaking village ringed by cultivated fields and dense forests, an unusually tall figure has wandered for a decade. First noticed for his height nearly two meters then for his garb: a worn camouflage cape and a mask from another age. Is he human? No one knows. His behavior, however, is strikingly gentle: he lingers among the flowers, gathering and inhaling the flora as if committing each scent to memory. Sensitive to sound, he freezes, absorbs, then vanishes at the slightest crack of a branch or tremble of a leaf.
Locals call him Le Loyon; he calls himself Fantôme de Maules the ghost of the village. Phantom, because he chooses the shade. Of Maules, because the forest belongs to him as much as to those who cross it. Who is he really? A recluse who turned his back on society? A survivalist preparing for a world not yet come? Perhaps. Or simply a being who has chosen silence as his only luxury.
This mystery captivates. In an era when information ignites everything and shadows shrink, encountering someone who refuses explanation is rare and disquieting. Fantôme de Maules offers no story; he imposes a presence. His refusal to reveal himself feeds the legend as much as his tender gestures toward nature. That may be the key: he protects something a memory, a sanctuary, a way of being and it is this refusal to surrender that makes him at once unsettling and magnetic.
STORA SKUGGAN, 2015
Fantôme de Maules who is he really?
In the heart of Maules, a French-speaking village ringed by cultivated fields and dense forests, an unusually tall figure has wandered for a decade. First noticed for his height nearly two meters then for his garb: a worn camouflage cape and a mask from another age. Is he human? No one knows. His behavior, however, is strikingly gentle: he lingers among the flowers, gathering and inhaling the flora as if committing each scent to memory. Sensitive to sound, he freezes, absorbs, then vanishes at the slightest crack of a branch or tremble of a leaf.
Locals call him Le Loyon; he calls himself Fantôme de Maules the ghost of the village. Phantom, because he chooses the shade. Of Maules, because the forest belongs to him as much as to those who cross it. Who is he really? A recluse who turned his back on society? A survivalist preparing for a world not yet come? Perhaps. Or simply a being who has chosen silence as his only luxury.
This mystery captivates. In an era when information ignites everything and shadows shrink, encountering someone who refuses explanation is rare and disquieting. Fantôme de Maules offers no story; he imposes a presence. His refusal to reveal himself feeds the legend as much as his tender gestures toward nature. That may be the key: he protects something a memory, a sanctuary, a way of being and it is this refusal to surrender that makes him at once unsettling and magnetic.
STORA SKUGGAN, 2015
