Deep Dive: The Grey Fool

We here at Malevolent Maine try our best to limit the scope of our investigations to the border of our great state, but sometimes we aren’t always able to do that. We have become obsessed with this figure of the Grey Fool that has been appearing in the dreams of people around the state. And while it is affecting people in the state, the history of this figure has roots outside the state, even outside the country. We promise not to delve into this kind of content too often, but we wanted to take this opportunity to share our research with you in a new feature called a… Deep Dive!

Let’s start with a baseline on what a jester or fool really was back in the day. Contrary to popular culture’s portrayal of the role of the jester, it was actually a fairly prestigious position often occupied by nobles. They often took on the role of advisors to the monarch they served in addition to being entertaining at parties. They were one of the few people in the court who were allowed to speak freely and frankly to the king and as such they were treated respectfully. Even when kings dismissed fools they were never overtly punished, some were ex-communicated but it is rare to find evidence of a king physically punishing a jester, or executing them. 

King Louis the IX

This is where the Grey Fool comes in, we here at Malevolent Maine suspect that the Grey Fool is actually an apparition or residual psychic image of a man named Sanson de Craon. Sanson was the third son of an aristocratic French family and came to notability during the seventh crusade when he followed Louis the IX into battle. After they all returned from the crusade, Sanson was tapped to be Louis' court jester. For a few years Sanson fulfilled the role dutifully, always providing sage advice to the king, and entertaining the king’s guests with songs and long bawdy tales. However one winter in the court records we see Sanson begin complaining of strange dreams. Dreams of him walking through a desert. 

Sanson became erratic and irritable, often talking nonsense as opposed to the sharp wit he had exhibited before. His last conversation before he was removed from his role with King Louis is strange to say the least. He rambles about the end of days, the need for humanity to submit to something. He urges King Louis to kneel before the King Beyond the Desert, and this is when as expected King Louis releases Sanson from his service. Oddly enough that wasn’t the end of Sanson’s days as a jester, he relocated to Scotland and was quickly taken into the court of the King there, who appreciated his manic and crazy behavior. His term there lasted an even shorter amount of time before he was kicked out, a few months if that. Sanson then found himself in a role as a Jester in Poland. This appointment lasted only a few days.

What lies beyond the Dream Desert?

The Duke of Greater Poland was Boleslaw the Pious, and Sanson like in his previous two positions suggested he should kneel before this King Beyond the Desert figure. Bolesław took this very poorly and turned Sanson out into the street and urged the crowd gathered there to turn him into a proper fool, the crowd tore off his clothes and forced him to wear quickly patched together grey clothes. Then things turned even more violent as they dunked him repeatedly in water until he was gasping for air. They then threw him wet through foundry ashes and dragged him through the street. It all culminated in him being hanged in the town square. Sanson’s luck had finally run out. 

What drove this former soldier and nobleman to throw away his position and his life, what about this dream drove him insane? Who is the King Beyond the Desert, can he be reached in the dreams? Is everyone who has these dreams doomed to the same fate as Sanson de Craon? 

These dreams seem to pose a huge threat to those who experience them, please reach out to us if you or anyone you know has experienced them or seen the Grey Fool in their Dreams. 

Stay safe out there Maine!