Amazing Photographs of Europe’s Wild Men Published In National Geographic

"They dress in bear heads and bells, and behave like beasts."
Image credit: Charles Fréger

"They become bears, stags, and devils. They evoke death but bestow fertile life. They live in the modern era, but they summon old traditions."

Take a visual tour of Europe’s tribal wild man traditions with photographer Charles Fréger. The National Geographic photographer spent two winters travelling through Europe uncovering ancient traditions of Europeans dressed up in "wild man" costumes. Fréger learned that this deep connection is still going strong and has roots in pagan traditions.

National Geographic recently published several of Fréger's stunning photographs from across the continent:

Photographer Charles Fréger set out to capture what he calls “tribal Europe” over two winters of travel through 19 countries. The forms of the costumes that he chronicled vary between regions and even between villages. In Corlata, Romania, men dress as stags reenacting a hunt with dancers. In Sardinia, Italy, goats, deer, boars, or bears may play the sacrificial role. Throughout Austria, Krampus, the beastly counterpart to St. Nicholas, frightens naughty children.

But everywhere there is the wild man. In France, he is l’Homme Sauvage; in Germany, Wilder Mann; in Poland, Macidula is the clownish version. He dresses in animal skins or lichen or straw or tree branches. Half man and half beast, the wild man stands in for the complicated relationship that human communities, especially rural ones, have with nature.

The bear is the wild man’s close counterpart—in some legends the bear is his father. A beast that walks upright, the bear also hibernates in winter. The symbolic death and rebirth of hibernation herald the arrival of spring with all its plenty. For festival participants, says Fréger, “becoming a bear is a way to express the beast and a way to control the beast.”

Traditionally the festivals are also a rite of passage for young men. Dressing in the garb of a bear or wild man is a way of “showing your power,” says Fréger. Heavy bells hang from many costumes to signal virility.

Click here to see the photographs