"Men Who Walk Upon the Air" by Frank Belknap Long

Published in Weird Tales in May, 1925

François Villon is an actual historical figure, a 15th century French poet. He also had a number of run-ins with the law, so apparently something of a scoundrel besides. The historical Villon was born into poverty and was raised by a priest rather than his biological parents. He did, however, get a degree from the University of Paris, and in 1455 he killed a priest (Philippe Chermoye) in a scuffle that resulted in his banishment, although he was subsequently pardoned. He would subsequently go on to a life of crime and was eventually sentenced to death by hanging in 1462, but the sentence was commuted to banishment instead in 1463, after which he completely vanishes from the historical record.

gibbet: an upright post with a projecting arm for hanging the bodies of executed criminals as a warning

like Flora or Archipiade or Heloisa: References to a poem by the historical François Villon entitled "Ballade des dames du temps jadis"

Dictes moy où, n'en quel pays,
Est Flora, la belle Romaine ;
Archipiada, ne Thaïs,
Qui fut sa cousine germaine;
.
.
.
Où est la très sage Heloïs,
Pour qui fut chastré et puis moyne
Pierre Esbaillart à Sainct-Denys?

Guenevere the mythical, Guillemette the upholstress, Jenny the hatter, Jehan Cornu, Seigneur de Grigny: These all are characters from actual poems and ballads by the historical Villon

flaffing: a movement made by flapping or fluttering

The picture used is the illustration for this story from Weird Tales by Andrew Brosnatch.

To follow along: https://archive.org/details/WeirdTalesV05N05192505/page/n107/mode/2up

I don't really understand the title of this story... If you have a thought about it, please leave a comment below.