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95-502: Popular shapeshifting creatures in folklore are werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadian, and Native American/early American origin), ichchhadhari naag (shape-shifting cobra) of India, shapeshifting fox spirits of East Asia such as the huli jing of China, the obake of Japan, the Navajo skin-walkers , and gods, goddesses and demons and demonesses such as the Norse Loki or

190-564: A donkey in The Golden Ass . Proteus was known among the gods for his shapeshifting; both Menelaus and Aristaeus captured him to obtain information, and they succeeded only by holding on through his many transformations. Nereus told Heracles where to find the Apples of the Hesperides for the same reason. The Oceanid Metis , the first wife of Zeus and the mother of the goddess Athena,

285-476: A state of trance ; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a familiar spirit , whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being. Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included

380-402: A therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction, often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf, with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon . Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy , are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228). The werewolf

475-401: A utopia full of wealth which is also without pain or death, they crave the pleasures and hardships of human societies. Transformation into human form is said to be rare, and usually occurs at night. The encantado will often be seen running from a festa , despite protests from the others for it to stay, and can be seen by pursuers as it hurries to the river and reverts to dolphin form. When it

570-513: A "disorder of the brain". Although there were continuing reports of extraordinary wolflike beasts, they were not considered to be werewolves. One such report concerned the Beast of Gévaudan , which terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan , now called Lozère , in south-central France. From 1764 to 1767, it killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children. The part of Europe which showed more vigorous interest in werewolves after 1650

665-556: A butterfly. The most dramatic example of shapeshifting in Irish myth is that of Tuan mac Cairill , the only survivor of Partholón 's settlement of Ireland. In his centuries-long life, he became successively a stag, a wild boar, a hawk, and finally a salmon before being eaten and (as in the Wooing of Étaín) reborn as a human. The Púca is a Celtic faery, and also a deft shapeshifter. He can transform into many different, terrifying forms. Sadhbh ,

760-415: A common man, Lycaon wants to test if he is really a god. To that end, he kills a Molossian hostage and serve his entrails to Zeus. Disgusted, the god turns Lycaon into a wolf. However, in other accounts of the legend, like that of Apollodorus' Bibliotheca , Zeus blasts him and his sons with thunderbolts as punishment. Pausanias also relates the story of an Arcadian man called Damarchus of Parrhasia, who

855-438: A full human, she uses her beauty to seduce men and eat their hearts (or in some cases livers where the belief is that 100 livers would turn her into a real human). In Somali mythology Qori ismaris ("One who rubs himself with a stick") was a man who could transform himself into a " Hyena-man " by rubbing himself with a magic stick at nightfall and by repeating this process could return to his human state before dawn. ǀKaggen

950-459: A giant, or even a human, depending on the exact myth, but in all variants, he transformed into a dragon—a symbol of greed —while guarding his ill-gotten hoard. His brother, Ótr , enjoyed spending time as an otter, which led to his accidental slaying by Loki. In Scandinavia , there existed, for example, the famous race of she-werewolves known by the name of Maras, women who took on the appearance of huge half-human and half-wolf monsters that stalked

1045-607: A headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her father's head, fully grown, and in battle armor. In Greek mythology , the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. While the Greek gods could use transformation punitively – such as Medusa , who turned to a monster for having sexual intercourse ( raped in Ovid's version) with Poseidon in Athena 's temple – even more frequently,

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1140-490: A hen and ate him. She became pregnant, and he was reborn as a baby. He grew up to be the bard Taliesin. In the Book of Taliesin , he mentions many forms which he is able to take, including that of lantern-light. Tales abound about the selkie , a seal that can remove its skin to make contact in human guise with people for only a short amount of time before it must return to the sea. Clan MacColdrum of Uist 's foundation myths include

1235-402: A hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth. Woodward dismissed the possibility, as the rarity of the disease ruled it out from happening on a large scale, as werewolf cases were in medieval Europe. Woodward suggested rabies as the origin of werewolf beliefs, claiming remarkable similarities between the symptoms of that disease and some of the legends. Woodward focused on

1330-406: A mare to escape Poseidon , but Poseidon counter-transformed himself into a stallion to pursue her, and succeeded in the rape. Caenis , having been raped by Poseidon , demanded of him that she be changed to a man. He agreed, and she became Caeneus , a form he never lost, except, in some versions, upon death. Clytie was a nymph who loved Helios, but he did not love her back. Desperate, she sat on

1425-659: A marginal one, accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves , primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650,

1520-451: A meal, but when he went to do so, it ran to safety in Zeus's lap. Zeus said they need not slay the goose and that they should leave the town. This was because he was going to destroy the town and all those who had turned them away and not provided due hospitality. He told Baucis and Philemon to climb the mountain with him and Hermes and not to turn back until they reached the top. After climbing to

1615-555: A quasi-historical figure who appears in the Icelandic Sagas , according to which she was the wife of Eric Bloodaxe , was credited with magic powers – including the power of shapeshifting and turning at will into a bird. She is the central character of the novel Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson , which considerably elaborates on her shapeshifting abilities. In the Finnish epic poem Kalevala of ancient folklore, Louhi , Mistress of

1710-423: A ransom. Math fab Mathonwy and Gwydion transform flowers into a woman named Blodeuwedd , and when she betrays her husband Lleu Llaw Gyffes , who is transformed into an eagle, they transform her again, into an owl. Gilfaethwy raped Goewin , Math fab Mathonwy 's virgin footholder, with help from his brother Gwydion . As punishment, Math turned them into different types of animals for one year each. Gwydion

1805-546: A rock with no food or water for nine days looking at him as he crossed the skies, until she was transformed into a purple, sun-gazing flower, the heliotropium . As a final reward from the gods for their hospitality, Baucis and Philemon were transformed, at their deaths, into a pair of trees. Eos , the goddess of the dawn, secured immortality for her lover the Trojan prince Tithonus , but not eternal youth, so he aged without dying as he shriveled and grew more and more helpless. In

1900-484: A tail. After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression. One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the Annales Medico-psychologiques in the 19th century. Various methods for becoming

1995-509: A union between the founder of the clan and a shape-shifting selkie. Another such creature is the Scottish selkie, which needs its sealskin to regain its form. In The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry the (male) selkie seduces a human woman. Such stories surrounding these creatures are usually romantic tragedies. Scottish mythology features shapeshifters, which allows the various creatures to trick, deceive, hunt, and kill humans. Water spirits such as

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2090-732: A werewolf have been reported, one of the simplest being the removal of clothing and putting on a belt made of wolfskin, probably as a substitute for the assumption of an entire animal skin (which also is frequently described). In other cases, the body is rubbed with a magic salve . Drinking rainwater out of the footprint of the animal in question or from certain enchanted streams were also considered effectual modes of accomplishing metamorphosis. Baucis and Philemon Baucis and Philemon ( Greek : Φιλήμων και Βαυκίς , romanized :  Philēmōn kai Baukis ) are two characters from Greek mythology , only known to us from Ovid 's Metamorphoses . Baucis and Philemon were an old married couple in

2185-699: A wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in Polotsk they rang for matins early at St. Sophia the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev. The situation as described during the medieval period gives rise to the dual form of werewolf folklore in Early Modern Europe. On one hand the Germanic werewolf, which becomes associated with the witchcraft panic , and on the other hand the Slavic werewolf or vlkolak , which becomes associated with

2280-517: A woman has been reported who during episodes of acute psychosis complained of becoming four different species of animals. The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his double whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his soul , which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in

2375-517: A year a man was chosen by lot from the Anthus' clan. The chosen man was escorted to a marsh in the area, where he hung his clothes into an oak tree, swam across the marsh and transformed into a wolf, joining a pack for nine years. If during these nine years he refrained from tasting human flesh, he returned to the same marsh, swam back, and recovered his previous human form, with nine years added to his appearance. Ovid also relates stories of men who roamed

2470-688: Is McCone (1987). A few references to men changing into wolves are found in Ancient Greek literature and Folklore . Herodotus , in his Histories , wrote that according to what the Scythians and the Greeks settled in Scythia told him, the Neuri , which was a tribe to the north-east of Scythia , were all transformed into wolves once every year for several days and then changed back to their human shape. He added that he

2565-437: Is a demi-urge and folk hero of the ǀXam people of southern Africa. He is a trickster god who can shape shift, usually taking the form of a praying mantis but also a bull eland , a louse , a snake, and a caterpillar . Amazon river dolphins are curious and lack of fear of foreign objects, are apex predators , and the male Amazon river dolphins are very physically aggressive during their mating period, particularly around

2660-577: Is a widespread concept in European folklore , existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the medieval period . From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the New World with colonialism . Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches , during the Late Middle Ages and

2755-434: Is among the most commonly known, but other such creatures include the bakeneko , the mujina , and the tanuki . Korean mythology also contains a fox with the ability to shapeshift. Unlike its Chinese and Japanese counterparts, the kumiho is always malevolent. Usually its form is of a beautiful young woman; one tale recounts a man, a would-be seducer, revealed as a kumiho. The kumiho has nine tails and as she desires to be

2850-698: Is explored in Sabine Baring-Gould 's work The Book of Werewolves is that werewolf legends may have been used to explain serial killings . Perhaps the most infamous example is the case of Peter Stumpp , executed in 1589, the German farmer, and alleged serial killer and cannibal , also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg. Common Turkic folklore holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian shamans after performing long and arduous rites would voluntarily be able to transform into

2945-637: Is inferred from the Middle Low German variant and was most likely borrowed into Old Norman garwa(l)f ~ garo(u)l , with regular Germanic – Romance correspondence w- / g- (cf. William / Guillaume , Wales / Galles , etc.). The Proto-Slavic noun * vьlko-dlakь , meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. * dlaka , "animal hair", "fur"), can be reconstructed from Serbian vukòdlak , Slovenian vołkodlȃk , and Czech vlkodlak , although formal variations in Slavic languages (* vьrdl(j)ak , * vьlkdolk , * vьlklak ) and

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3040-414: Is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like

3135-430: Is not convinced by the story but the locals swear to its truth. This tale was also mentioned by Pomponius Mela . In the second century BC, the Greek geographer Pausanias related the story of King Lycaon of Arcadia, who was transformed into a wolf because he had sacrificed a child in the altar of Zeus Lycaeus. In the version of the legend told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses , when Zeus visits Lycaon disguised as

3230-400: Is the huli jing , a fox spirit that usually appears as a beautiful young woman; most are dangerous, but some feature as the heroines of love stories. Madame White Snake is one such legend; a snake falls in love with a man, and the story recounts the trials she and her husband faced. In Japanese folklore obake are a type of yōkai with the ability to shapeshifting. The fox, or kitsune

3325-423: Is under human form, it wears a hat to hide its blowhole , which does not disappear with the shapeshift. Werewolf In folklore , a werewolf (from Old English werwulf  'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος , lykánthrōpos , 'wolf-human'), is an individual who can shape-shift into a wolf , or especially in modern film,

3420-611: The Aswang , a vampiric monster capable of transforming into a bat, a large black dog, a black cat, a black boar, or some other form to stalk humans at night. The folklore also mentions other beings such as the Kapre , the Tikbalang , and the Engkanto , which change their appearances to woo beautiful maidens. Also, talismans (called " anting-anting " or " birtud " in the local dialect), can give their owners

3515-902: The Greek Proteus . Shapeshifting to the form of a wolf is specifically known as lycanthropy , and creatures who undergo such change are called lycanthropes. It was also common for deities to transform mortals into animals and plants. The prefix "were-" comes from the Old English word for "man". While the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, there are numerous stories about animals that can transform themselves as well. Examples of shapeshifting in classical literature include many examples in Ovid 's Metamorphoses , Circe 's transforming of Odysseus ' men to pigs in Homer 's The Odyssey , and Apuleius 's Lucius becoming

3610-641: The Old Brittonic place-name Viroconium (< * wiroconion , 'place of man-dogs, i.e. werewolves'), the Old Irish noun ferchu ('male dog, fierce dog'), and the medieval personal names Guurci ( Old Welsh ) and Gurki ( Old Breton ). Wolves were metaphorically designated as 'dogs' in Celtic cultures. The modern term lycanthropy comes from Ancient Greek lukanthrōpía (λυκανθρωπία), itself from lukánthrōpos (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used

3705-551: The each-uisge , which inhabit lochs and waterways in Scotland, were said to appear as a horse or a young man. Other tales include kelpies who emerge from lochs and rivers in the disguise of a horse or woman to ensnare and kill weary travelers. Tam Lin , a man captured by the Queen of the Fairies is changed into all manner of beasts before being rescued. He finally turned into a burning coal and

3800-464: The early modern period . Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland , especially the Valais and Vaud , in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the " witch-hunt " phenomenon, albeit

3895-441: The meeting of both eyebrows at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue. The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It

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3990-538: The "wolf-men" of Germanic paganism had carried, the associated beliefs and practices had been successfully repressed after Christianization, or if they persisted, they did so outside of the sphere of literacy available to us. We have sources other than those mentioned above. Such examples of werewolves in Ireland and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th century Welsh monk Nennius . Female werewolves appear in

4085-630: The 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern popular culture . The Modern English werewolf descends from the Old English wer(e)wulf , which is a cognate of Middle Dutch weerwolf , Middle Low German warwulf , werwulf , Middle High German werwolf , and West Frisian waer-ûl(e) . These terms are generally derived from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as *wira-wulfaz ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier Pre-Germanic form * wiro-wulpos . An alternative reconstruction, * wazi-wulfaz ('wolf-clothed'), would bring

4180-751: The 20th century, wolf attacks on humans were an occasional, but still widespread, feature of life in Europe. Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe, were projected into the folklore of evil shapeshifters. This is said to be corroborated by the fact that areas devoid of wolves typically use different kinds of predator to fill the niche; werehyenas in Africa, weretigers in India, as well as werepumas (" runa uturuncu ") and werejaguars (" yaguaraté-abá " or " tigre-capiango ") in southern South America. An idea

4275-832: The Elder. Augustine explains that "It is very generally believed that by certain witches spells men may be turned into wolves..." Physical metamorphosis was also mentioned in the Capitulatum Episcopi , attributed to the Council of Ancyra in the 4th century, which became the Church's doctrinal text in relation to magic, witches, and transformations such as those of werewolves. The Capitulatum Episcopi states that "Whoever believes that anything can be...transformed into another species or likeness, except by God Himself...is beyond doubt an infidel.' In these works of Roman writers, werewolves often receive

4370-671: The French use the term " gerulfi" to describe what the English call "werewolves". Melion and Biclarel are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf knight being betrayed by his wife. The German word werwolf was recorded by Burchard von Worms in the 11th century and Bertold of Regensburg in the 13th century, but is not recorded in all of medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England, presumably because whatever significance

4465-548: The Germanic compound closer to the Slavic meaning, with other semantic parallels in Old Norse úlfheðnar ('wolf-skinned') and úlfheðinn ('wolf-coat'), Old Irish luchthonn ('wolf-skin'), and Sanskrit Vṛkājina ('Wolf-skin'). The Norse branch underwent taboo modifications , with Old Norse vargúlfr (only attested as a translation of Old French garwaf ~ garwal(f) from Marie's lay of Bisclavret ) replacing * wiraz ('man') with vargr ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under

4560-476: The Giant Killer and The Black Bull of Norroway , feature shapeshifting. Pwyll was transformed by Arawn into Arawn's shape, and Arawn transformed himself into Pwyll's so that they could trade places for a year and a day. Llwyd ap Cil Coed transformed his wife and attendants into mice to attack a crop in revenge; when his wife is captured, he turns himself into three clergymen in succession to try to pay

4655-694: The Irish work Tales of the Elders , from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves in the 12th to 13th century work, Mabinogion . Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the Scandinavian Viking Age . Harald I of Norway is known to have had a body of Úlfhednar (wolf-coated [men]), which are mentioned in the Vatnsdœla, Haraldskvæði, and the Völsunga saga , and resemble some werewolf legends. The Úlfhednar were fighters similar to

4750-528: The North, attacks Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back as she tries to steal Sampo . In Armenian mythology , shapeshifters include the Nhang , a serpentine river monster that can transform itself into a woman or seal, and will drown humans and then drink their blood; or the beneficial Shahapet , a guardian spirit that can appear either as a man or a snake. Philippine mythology includes

4845-468: The Slavic "werewolf" tales. The 11th-century Belarusian Prince Vseslav of Polotsk was considered to have been a werewolf, capable of moving at superhuman speeds, as recounted in The Tale of Igor's Campaign : Vseslav the prince judged men; as prince, he ruled towns; but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, Tmutorokan . The path of Great Sun, as

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4940-844: The Swiss Vaud region, werewolves were convicted in 1602 and in 1624. A treatise by a Vaud pastor in 1653, however, argued that lycanthropy was purely an illusion. After this, the only further record from the Vaud dates to 1670. A boy claimed he and his mother could change themselves into wolves, which was not taken seriously. At the beginning of the 17th century witchcraft was prosecuted by James I of England , who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic". After 1650, belief in lycanthropy had mostly disappeared from French-speaking Europe, as evidenced in Diderot's Encyclopedia , which attributed reports of lycanthropy to

5035-506: The ability to shapeshift. In one tale, Chonguita the Monkey Wife , a woman is turned into a monkey, only becoming human again if she can marry a handsome man. Tatar folklore includes Yuxa , a hundred-year-old snake that can transform itself into a beautiful young woman, and seeks to marry men to have children. Chinese mythology contains many tales of animal shapeshifters, capable of taking on human form. The most common such shapeshifter

5130-529: The appearance of shapeshifting, through their power, called "glamour", to create illusions, and some were limited to changing their size, as with the spriggans , and others to a few forms. But others, such as the Hedley Kow , could change to many forms, and both human and supernatural wizards were capable of both such changes, and inflicting them on others. Witches could turn into hares and in that form steal milk and butter. Many British fairy tales, such as Jack

5225-483: The berserkers, though they dressed in wolf hides rather than those of bears and were reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle. These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Úlfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god Odin . The Scandinavian traditions of this period may have spread to Kievan Rus' , giving rise to

5320-749: The codes aim to ensure that "...the madly audacious werewolf do not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock." Liutprand of Cremona reports a rumor that Bajan, son of Simeon I of Bulgaria , could use magic to turn himself into a wolf. The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of Western Christianity, and were widely read by churchmen of the medieval period. These churchmen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works. Famous examples include Gerald of Wales 's Werewolves of Ossory , found in his Topographica Hibernica , and in Gervase of Tilbury's Otia Imperiala , both written for royal audiences. Gervase reveals to

5415-554: The concept of the revenant or vampire. The eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Romania and the Balkans, while the western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe and in the Baltic. Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the Valais witch trials , one of the earliest such trials, in

5510-511: The context of Christianity, although stories of humans turning into wolves take their roots in earlier pre-Christian beliefs. Their underlying common origin can be traced back to Proto-Indo-European mythology , where lycanthropy is reconstructed as an aspect of the initiation of the kóryos warrior class, which may have included a cult focused on dogs and wolves identified with an age grade of young, unmarried warriors. The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology

5605-476: The courtship practice of object carrying. Amazon river dolphins , known by the natives as the boto , encantados or toninhas, are very prevalent in the mythology of the native South Americans. They are frequently characterized in mythology with superior musical ability, seductiveness and love of sex, resulting in illegitimate children, and attraction to parties. Despite the fact that the Encante are said to come from

5700-423: The details), Baucis noticed that, although she had refilled her guest's beech wood cups many times, the pitcher was still full (from which derives the phrase "Hermes' Pitcher"). Realizing that her guests were gods, she and her husband "raised their hands in supplication and implored indulgence for their simple home and fare". Philemon thought of catching and killing the goose that guarded their house and making it into

5795-476: The end, Eos transformed him into a cicada . In some variants of the tale of Narcissus , he is turned into a narcissus flower. Sometimes metamorphoses transform objects into humans. In the myths of both Jason and Cadmus , one task set to the hero was to sow dragon's teeth ; on being sown, they would metamorphose into belligerent warriors, and both heroes had to throw a rock to trick them into fighting each other to survive. Deucalion and Pyrrha repopulated

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5890-526: The final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria . After the end of the witch trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction as a genre has premodern precedents in medieval romances (e.g., Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme ) and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" chapbook tradition. The trappings of horror literature in

5985-517: The first half of the 15th century. In 1539, Martin Luther used the form beerwolf to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted. In ' Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus ' (1555), Olaus Magnus describes (Book 18, Chapter 45) an annual assembly of werewolves near the Lithuania-Courland border. The participants, including Lithuanian nobility and werewolves from

6080-412: The form of a mare to bear Odin's steed Sleipnir which was the fastest horse ever to exist, and also the form of a she-wolf to bear Fenrir . Svipdagr angered Odin , who turned him into a dragon. Despite his monstrous appearance, his lover, the goddess Freyja , refused to leave his side. When the warrior Hadding found and slew Svipdagr, Freyja cursed him to be tormented by a tempest and shunned like

6175-712: The humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning "Wolfman"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would be respectful of any shaman who was in such a form. Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions. In 1963, Dr Lee Illis of Guy's Hospital in London wrote a paper entitled On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves , in which he argues that historical accounts on werewolves could have been referring to victims of congenital porphyria , stating how

6270-406: The idea that being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim turning into one, which suggested the idea of a transmittable disease like rabies. However, the idea that lycanthropy could be transmitted in this way is not part of the original myths and legends, and only appears in relatively recent beliefs. Lycanthropy can also be met with as the main content of a delusion, for example, the case of

6365-471: The incident as follows, "When I look for my buddy I see he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside... He pees in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turns into a wolf!... after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods." Early Christian authors also mentioned werewolves. In The City of God , Augustine of Hippo gives an account similar to that found in Pliny

6460-464: The influence of the Old French expression leus warous ~ lous garous (modern loup-garou ), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'. The modern Norse form varulv (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German werwulf , or else derived from an unattested Old Norse *varulfr , posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic * wira-wulfaz . An Old Frankish form *werwolf

6555-888: The late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term. The Greek Vrykolakas and Romanian Vîrcolac , designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages. The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian vurvolak and Turkish vurkolak. Bulgarian vьrkolak and Church Slavonic vurkolak may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek. The name vurdalak (вурдалак; 'ghoul, revenant') first appeared in Russian poet Alexander Pushkin 's work Pesni , published in 1835. The source of Pushkin's distinctive form remains debated in scholarship. A Proto-Celtic noun * wiro-kū , meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from Celtiberian uiroku ,

6650-422: The material limbs of any animal.' Marie de France 's poem Bisclavret (c. 1200) is another example, in which the eponymous nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, and accompanied the king thereafter. His behavior at court

6745-619: The name versipellis ("turnskin"). Augustine instead uses the phrase "in lupum fuisse mutatum" (changed into the form of a wolf) to describe the physical metamorphosis of werewolves, which is similar to phrases used in the medieval period. There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe. This evidence spans much of the Continent, as well as the British Isles. Werewolves were mentioned in Medieval law codes, such as that of King Cnut , whose Ecclesiastical Ordinances inform us that

6840-489: The night in search of human or animal prey. If a woman gives birth at midnight and stretches the membrane that envelopes the child when it is brought forth, between four sticks and creeps through it, naked, she will bear children without pain; but all the boys will be shamans , and all the girls Maras. The Nisse is sometimes said to be a shapeshifter. This trait also is attributed to Hulder . Gunnhild, Mother of Kings ( Gunnhild konungamóðir ) (c. 910  –  c. 980),

6935-437: The people of the town for a place to sleep that night. They had been rejected by all, "so wicked were the people of that land", when at last they came to Baucis and Philemon's simple rustic cottage. Though the couple were poor, their generosity far surpassed that of their rich neighbors, among whom the gods found "doors bolted and no word of kindness". After serving the two guests food and wine (which Ovid depicts with pleasure in

7030-587: The plague wherever he went. In the Hyndluljóð , Freyja transformed her protégé Óttar into a boar to conceal him. She also possessed a cloak of falcon feathers that allowed her to transform into a falcon, which Loki borrowed on occasion. The Volsunga saga contains many shapeshifting characters. Siggeir 's mother changed into a wolf to help torture his defeated brothers-in-law with slow and ignominious deaths. When one, Sigmund , survived, he and his nephew and son Sinfjötli killed men wearing wolfskins; when they donned

7125-644: The reader that belief in such transformations (he also mentions women turning into cats and into snakes) was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase "que ita dinoscuntur" when discussing these metamorphoses, which translates to "it is known". Gervase, who was writing in Germany, also tells the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for "...in England we have often seen men change into wolves" ("Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari..."). Further evidence of

7220-509: The region of Tyana , which Ovid places in Phrygia , and the only ones in their town to welcome disguised gods Zeus and Hermes (in Roman mythology, Jupiter and Mercury respectively), thus embodying the pious exercise of hospitality , the ritualized guest-friendship termed xenia , or theoxenia when a god was involved. Zeus and Hermes came disguised as ordinary peasants, and began asking

7315-508: The second of Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf stories, about a werewolf by the name of Chaucevaire. Marie also reveals to us the existence of werewolf belief in Breton and Norman France, by telling us the Franco-Norman word for werewolf: garwulf, which, she explains, are common in that part of France, where "...many men turned into werewolves". Gervase supports this terminology when he tells us that

7410-513: The skins themselves, they were cursed to become werewolves . The dwarf Andvari is described as being able to magically turn into a pike . Alberich , his counterpart in Richard Wagner 's Der Ring des Nibelungen , using the Tarnhelm , takes on many forms, including a giant serpent and a toad, in a failed attempt to impress or intimidate Loki and Odin/ Wotan . Fafnir was originally a dwarf,

7505-462: The summit ("as far as an arrow could shoot in one pull"), Baucis and Philemon looked back on their town and saw that it had been destroyed by a flood and that Zeus had turned their cottage into an ornate temple . The couple's wish to be guardians of the temple was granted. They also asked that when time came for one of them to die, that the other would die as well. Upon their death, the couple were changed into an intertwining pair of trees, an oak and

7600-596: The surrounding areas, gather to test their strength by attempting to jump over a castle wall's ruins. Those who succeed are regarded as strong, while weaker participants are punished with whippings. There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in 16th-century France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and cannibalism , but no association with wolves. In other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of Gilles Garnier in Dole in 1573, who

7695-468: The symptoms of photosensitivity , reddish teeth, and psychosis could have been grounds for accusing a person of being a werewolf. This is argued against by Woodward, who points out how mythological werewolves were almost invariably portrayed as resembling true wolves, and that their human forms were rarely physically conspicuous as porphyria victims. Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been people with hypertrichosis ,

7790-537: The tales using it are of amorous adventure. Zeus repeatedly transformed himself to approach mortals as a means of gaining access: Vertumnus transformed himself into an old woman to gain entry to Pomona 's orchard; there, he persuaded her to marry him. In other tales, the woman appealed to other gods to protect her from rape, and was transformed ( Daphne into laurel, Corone into a crow). Unlike Zeus and other gods' shapeshifting, these women were permanently metamorphosed. In one tale, Demeter transformed herself into

7885-470: The term solely in the context of clinical lycanthropy , a condition in which the patient imagined himself to be a wolf. Modern writers later used lycanthrope as a synonym of werewolf , referring to a person who, according to medieval superstition, could assume the form of wolves. The European motif of the devilish werewolf devouring human flesh harks back to a common development during the Middle Ages in

7980-498: The time of Lycaon. If they abstain from tasting human flesh while being wolves, they would be restored to human form nine years later, but if they do not abstain, they would remain wolves forever. Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens was a wolf-shaped herο, whose shrine stood by the jurycourt, and the first jurors were named after him. Pliny the Elder likewise recounts another tale of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes, he mentions that in Arcadia , once

8075-560: The widespread belief in werewolves and other human-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. Conrad of Hirsau , writing in the 11th century, forbids the reading of stories in which a person's reason is obscured following such a transformation. Conrad specifically refers to the tales of Ovid in his tract. Pseudo-Augustine, writing in the 12th century, follows Augustine of Hippo's argument that no physical transformation can be made by any but God, stating that "...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into

8170-488: The wife of the famous hero Fionn mac Cumhaill , was changed into a deer by the druid Fer Doirich when she spurned his amorous interests. There is a significant amount of literature about shapeshifters that appear in a variety of Norse tales. In the Lokasenna , Odin and Loki taunt each other with having taken the form of females and nursing offspring to which they had given birth. A 13th-century Edda relates Loki taking

8265-467: The woods of Arcadia in the form of wolves. Virgil , in his poetic work Eclogues , wrote about a man called Moeris, who used herbs and poisons picked in his native Pontus to turn himself into a wolf. In prose , the Satyricon , written circa AD 60 by Gaius Petronius Arbiter , one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chs. 61–62). He describes

8360-468: The world after a flood by throwing stones behind them; they were transformed into people. Cadmus is also often known to have transformed into a dragon or serpent towards the end of his life. Pygmalion fell in love with Galatea , a statue he had made. Aphrodite had pity on him and transformed the stone into a living woman. Fairies , witches , and wizards were all noted for their shapeshifting ability. Not all fairies could shapeshift, some having only

8455-426: Was believed to be able to change her appearance into anything she wanted. In one story, her pride led Zeus to trick her into transforming into a fly. He then swallowed her because he feared that he and Metis would have a son who would be more powerful than Zeus himself. Metis, however, was already pregnant. She stayed alive inside his head and built an armor for her daughter. The banging of her metalworking made Zeus have

8550-529: Was convicted of being a werewolf. A peak of attention to lycanthropy came in the late 16th to early 17th century, as part of the European witch-hunts . A number of treatises on werewolves were written in France during 1595 and 1615. In 1598, werewolves were sighted in Anjou . In 1602, Henry Boguet wrote a lengthy chapter about werewolves. In 1603, a teenage werewolf was sentenced to life imprisonment in Bordeaux . In

8645-405: Was gentle, until his wife and her new husband appeared at court, so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. This lai (a type of Breton sung-poem) follows many themes found within other werewolf tales – the removal of clothing and attempting to refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder, as well as in

8740-598: Was the Holy Roman Empire . At least nine works on lycanthropy were printed in Germany between 1649 and 1679. In the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, belief in werewolves persisted well into the 18th century. As late as in 1853, in Galicia , northwestern Spain, Manuel Blanco Romasanta was judged and condemned as the author of a number of murders, but he claimed to be not guilty because of his condition of lobishome , werewolf. Until

8835-500: Was thrown into a well, whereupon he reappeared in his human form. The motif of capturing a person by holding him through all forms of transformation is a common thread in folktales . Perhaps the best-known Irish myth is that of Aoife who turned her stepchildren, the Children of Lir , into swans to be rid of them. Likewise, in the Tochmarc Étaíne , Fuamnach jealously turns Étaín into

8930-432: Was transformed into a stag, sow, and wolf, and Gilfaethwy into a hind, boar, and she-wolf. Each year, they had a child. Math turned the three young animals into boys. Gwion , having accidentally taken the wisdom from a potion that Ceridwen was brewing for her son , fled from her through a succession of changes, which she answered with changes of her own. This ended when he turned into a grain of corn and she turned into

9025-430: Was turned into a wolf after tasting the entrails of a human child sacrificed to Zeus Lycaeus. He was restored to human form 10 years later and went on to become an Olympic champion. This tale is also recounted by Pliny the Elder , who calls the man Demaenetus quoting Agriopas . According to Pausanias, this was not a one-off event, but that men have been transformed into wolves during the sacrifices to Zeus Lycaeus since

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