The Sologne country is full of tales and legends that are transmitted from generation to generation. They are still carried on by our modern tale tellers. Each of us is concerned whatever our age may be because they are entertained by our own imagination.
And what if by any chance the 13 villages of Sauldre & Sologne had their own secret, a terrible one which would link all of them together, a deeply burried secret ?
The « malnoue » legend : an underground kingdom
The « Malnoue » is a very large phreatic table and provides most of the Sologne area with water thanks to its many springs which give birth to numerous brooks and streams carrying impetuous fresh water. In all parts of this country, everybody knows the « Malnoue » and they fear it as a potential danger. Even its name holds the print of the wrong she is supposed to have done : the association of evil (mal) and marsh (noue) make her the devil’s daughter who needs water to drown here victims who escape from the fire of hell.
This underground water is told to be responsible for disastrous floods. Part of her sometimes shows, and swells with pouring rains and then suddenly floods the streets of Aubigny. It is not rare to hear it rumble in the district of La Gariole. Elsewhere, at the Nerots in the Clémont area, one will hear it crackle just behind the hot fireplace plate when the winter rain is pouring down.
In the novel « La Malvenue » by Claude Seignolle, the miller of Ménétréol-sur-Sauldre thus explains : « At that moment right under our feet, there seems to be a great river running from start, to end of the Loire’s mouth. Sologne is entirely floating like those clumps of grass you sometimes see on the ponds. People call that river « La Malnoue » and it is said to dive into the ocean while remaining underground .
