Animal sauvage sauve enfant abandonné

Abstract

<p>In a series of medieval narratives in which a newborn child is adopted or abducted by a wild animal to feed and protect, the twists and turns of the adventure culminate in the reuniting of the estranged family, through a process of socialization after a journey through savagery. For some, the challenge of this voyage is access to holiness. In these texts, the topos “WILD ANIMAL SAVES ABANDONED CHILD” stems from two topical situations that it synthesizes. The first refers to stories of which a founding example for Western culture is that of the she-wolf who takes in and nurses Romulus and Remus. The second is the hagiographical account of Saint Eustace’s legend.</p>