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page 1Bluebeard
Bluebeard
"Bluebeard" ( ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by in Paris in 1697 in . The tale is about a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives and the attempts of the present one to avoid the fate of her predecessors. "The White Dove", "The Robber Bridegroom", and "Fitcher's Bird" (also called "Fowler's Fowl") are tales similar to "Bluebeard". The notoriety of the tale is such that Merriam-Webster gives the word Bluebeard the definition of "a man who marries and kills one wife after another". The verb bluebeardi

Gilles de Rais
leader in the French army, companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, convicted serial killer of children
Tryphine
Saint Tryphine (also spelled Trifine, Triphine and Tréphine) is a semi-legendary Breton saint whose life is often considered to be the basis of the story of Bluebeard. In Brittany she is widely revered as a patron saint of sick children and those whose birth is overdue. The legend of Saint Tryphine probably derives from a historical individual who was the wife of the early Breton ruler Conomor.
Conomor
Conomor ( ), also known as Conomerus or Conomor the Cursed, was an early medieval ruler of Brittany. His name, which has the Welsh cognate Cynfawr, means "Great Dog", but could also indicate "Sea Dog" in early Brythonic. Conomor was notorious for his cruelty, becoming a legendary villain in Breton culture. He is widely regarded as one of the probable sources for the myth of Bluebeard and possibly also of Tristan's uncle King Mark of Cornwall. The wife-beating giant Cormoran may also retain a garbled folk memory of the same character.