In third century France, Raimbaud de Pinetum was disinherited by Ponce de Chapteuil, a noble. Pinetum, being a very active, trained military man, did not take well to his disinheritance. He began to prowl like a wild beast, wandering forests and byways. One night, smitten by a great dread, he lost his senses and turned into a wolf.

As a wolf with military training, Pinetum caused great havoc. He forced many farmers to abandon their homes; he mangled old people with his fangs; he gobbled up children. At long last he had one of his paws chopped off by a woodsman. At this amputation, he regained his human form.

He admitted in public that "he had decided to sacrifice one leg, because by amputating it he had got rid of his misfortune. For they say that amputation of a limb frees such men from their calamitous condition".