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Overview

Ferrand’s short notice places crocodiles under the control of people he translates as sorciers. The two converse as humans would. If the controller moves to another village, the crocodile follows by water and comes to the new home. It eats people designated by its master. The account says traps are useless against these animals because the charms with which they are equipped protect them against dangers, specifically contrasting a European bullet with a Malagasy hook. That protection is attributed to the represented charms, rather than an ordinary crocodile’s hide.

The same notice opens with a report of old women visiting riverbanks in the evening and giving themselves to crocodiles. Ferrand’s preface separately discusses crocodile marriages and ornaments said to have been given by human spouses. The selected body does not provide an individual couple’s complete courtship or identify the old women with the crocodile-controlling sorciers, so those roles remain distinct. The source note is precise: Ferrand says he collected the dictated text in 1887 at Vohimasina, identified with Fénérive north of Tamatave, from an unnamed Betsimisaraka. The notice represents local attributed claims at that collection point, not a census of present-day belief.

Human conversationFollowing controller by waterDirected attacksCharm protection
01

Origins & earliest records

Ferrand 1893 XXXIX138; dictated by an unnamed Betsimisaraka at Vohimasina/Fénérive in 1887.

02

Records & interpretation

Whole XXXIX and the preface’s crocodile paragraph read. Directed predation and protection claims kept attributed; different reported human relationships are not silently fused.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Contes populaires malgaches

    Gabriel Ferrand, collector, translator and annotator · 1893

    XXXIX, pp.138, complete with source and comparative notes.

Family & connections

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References

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  1. Historical collected French narrativeFerrand 1893, XXXIXResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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