Claude Lecouteux, born 8 February 1943 is a French historian of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. He is Professor emeritus at the Sorbonne (Paris IV), chair of German civilization and Literature of the Middle Ages.

Lecouteux has taught at the University of Caen

Caen

Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

, where he had the chair of Germanic languages and literatures. He is Director of the Review La grande Oreille, arts de l’oralité. His research thematics are:

• Popular believes of the Middle Age
• The death and the deads
• Myths, tales and legends
• Magic in the Middle Ages
• Supernatural beings

Select bibliography

• The Melusinian
  Melusine
  Melusine is a figure of European legends and folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers.She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down...
  
  Motiv in German mediaeval Literature (doctoral thesis, 1980)

In English (translations by Jon Graham) :

• Phantom armies of the Night. The Wild Hunt and Ghostly Processions of the Undead : Inner Traditions. Rochester (Vermont), Toronto, Canada , 2011.
• The Secret History of Vampires. Their Multiple Forms and Hidden Purposes : Inner Traditions Rochester (Vermont), Toronto, Canada , 2010.
• The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind Inner Traditions Rochester (Vermont), Toronto, Canada , 2009.
• Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages : Inner Traditions Rochester (Vermont), Toronto (Canada), 2003.