Page 20 - Hunter - The Vigil

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A AVES MINERVA|THE ARCHIVED HUNT
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The Archived Hunt
The Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, noted for the destruc-
tion of the legendary monster Grendel (and that monster’s
mother), is often thought by theologians to be symbolic of
overt Christian themes. However, for those who are aware of
the truth and not dissuaded by the impossibility of less esoter-
ic answers, Grendel’s history is much more sinister. The most
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common translation of the poem is attributed to a 10 cen-
tury English monk who refers to both Grendel and his mother
as “kins of Cain” — an occasional euphemism for vampiric
or otherwise unholy creatures. For hunters who recognize the
feasibility of such creatures existing, Beowulf is often touted
as one of the earliest recognized followers of the Vigil.
Not all historic hunters fought monsters with sword and
shield. Some explored and recorded the habits of witches,
demons, ghosts or monsters, so that others might protect
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themselves. Johannes Nider, a 15 century theologian and
hunter, drafted a book entitled the Formicarius, which de-
tailed (among other things) the habits and practices of a male

witch. Nider himself was a clergyman first and foremost, and
served as part of the Council of Florence. The Council, dur-
ing Nider’s participation, had greater religious clout than the

papacy itself, in no small part due to the financial backing
of the Medici family. Nider publicly denounced the heretical
nature of magic users of all stripes, and did his political best to

fill the politically powerful Council with like-minded individ-
uals. While not everyone on the Council was there because of
the Vigil, Nider and his cell did a great deal to plant the seed
of their anti-witch goals in a group that was all too eager to
brand sorcerers with the Devil’s iron. Perhaps not coinciden-
tally, Nider’s main source of information for the Formicarius
was an interview with an infamous German hunter (and secu-
lar judge) by the name of Peter of Greyerz. Greyerz reportedly
served in a cell that exemplified the rigorous fortitude of the

medieval Inquisition, and used his powers as a secular judge
to condemn witches to death. Greyerz claimed to have, in the
course of his career, personally tortured the confessions from
more than 200 European men, women and children, and then
sentenced them to death. Each and every one, he claimed,
eventually admitted to practicing witchcraft and having sold
their souls to the devil in exchange for some diabolic favor.
More recently, another writer-hunter collected his life’s
studies of one particular monster into a book that, unfor-
tunately, spelled demise for his career. Anthonid Cornelis
Oudemans was a noted 19 -century biologist whose insight-
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ful additions to the fi eld earned him the title of director of
the Royal Zoological Gardens in The Hague. Unfortunately
for Oudemans, not long after being appointed director, he
encountered what he would later describe as a sea serpent.
Having witnessed what humankind had long claimed was
a creature of folklore, Oudemans was struck with a passion
(or, some would say, an obsession) to learn more. He took
to the Vigil, spending the rest of his years hunting down
“mythical” sea creatures, or accounts thereof, across the
globe. Early in his Vigil, he was able to mask his hunt in the
guise of his work for the Royal Zoo, but in time, his passions
took him further and further afi eld, and it became obvious
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