The White Toad

‘Anna noticed a huge, pale toad, its eyes bulging and swivelling towards them, its mouth pulsing as it croaked, white skin cladding its muscled limbs, making its body appear horribly naked.’ It is Hallow’s Eve 1093, and the trobairitz Beatriz and lady’s maid Anna are in the Pyrenees. On this night, the veil between the…