Werewolf
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HandThatFeeds
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 226044240 by [[Special:Contributions/68.213.153.249|68.213.153.249]] ([[User talk:68.213.153.249|talk]]) rm trivial mention
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[[Image:Loup-garou.jpg|thumb|An 18th century engraving, conveying that weapons used against [[vampires]] (wooden stakes and [[rosary|rosaries]]) are useless against werewolves<ref name="Woodward">{{cite book | author= Woodward, Ian | url = http://www.amazon.com/werewolf-delusion-Ian-Woodward/dp/0448231700 | title=The Werewolf Delusion | year=1979 | pages= pp.256 | id= ISBN 0448231700 }}</ref>]]
'''Werewolves''', also known as '''[[lycanthropy|lycanthropes]]''' or '''[[wolfmen]]''', are [[Mythology|mythological]] humans with the ability to [[shapeshifting|shapeshift]] into [[Gray Wolf|wolves]] or wolf-like creatures, either purposely, being bitten by a another werewolf or after being placed under a [[curse]]. The medieval chronicler [[Gervase of Tilbury]] associated the transformation with the appearance of the [[full moon]]; however, there is evidence that the association existed among the ancient [[Greeks]], appearing in the writings of [[Petronius]]. This concept was rarely associated with the werewolf until the idea was picked up by Gervase. [[Shapeshifting|Shape-shifter]]s similar to werewolves are common in tales from all over the world, though most of them involve animal forms other than wolves.
Werewolves are a frequent subject of modern [[fiction]]al [[book]]s and [[films]], although fictional werewolves have been attributed traits distinct from those of original folklore, most notably the vulnerability to [[silver bullet]]s.<ref> They originated in Germany, and there were similar creatures in India{{citebook|last=Summers|first=Montague|authorlink=Montague Summers|title=The Werewolf in Lore and Legend|publisher=Dover|id=ISBN 0-486-43090-1}}</ref>
==Origins==
Many authors have speculated that werewolf and [[vampire]] legends may have been used to explain serial killings in less rational ages. This theory is given credence by the tendency of some modern serial killers to indulge in practices commonly associated with werewolves, such as cannibalism, mutilation, and cyclic attacks. The idea (although not the terminology) is well explored in [[Sabine Baring-Gould]]'s [[wikt:seminal|seminal]] work ''The Book of Werewolves''.
Until the 20th century, [[wolf attacks on humans]] were an occasional, but widespread feature of life in Europe.<ref name="NO">{{cite web | url = http://www.lcie.org/Docs/Regions/Baltic/Linnell%20AZL%20Wolf%20attacks%20in%20Fennoscandia.pdf | title = Is the fear of wolves justified? A Fennoscandian perspective. | work = | publisher = Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 2003, Volumen 13, Numerus 1 | accessdate = 2008-05-09}}</ref> 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; ''[[werehyena]]s'' in Africa, ''weretigers'' in India,<ref name="Woodward" /> as well as ''werepumas'' ("''runa uturunco''")<ref>[http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/p243/12479418822381506109435/p0000001.htm Facundo Quiroga, "The Tiger of the Argentine Prairies" and the Legend of the "''runa uturuncu''" (in Spanish).]</ref><ref>[http://quipucultural.galeon.com/uturuncu.htm The Legend of the ''runa uturuncu'' in the Mythology of the Latin-American Guerilla (in Spanish).]</ref> and ''werejaguars'' ("''yaguaraté-abá''" or "''tigre-capiango''")<ref>[http://www.temakel.com/leyendayaguarete.htm The Guaraní Myth about the Origin of Human Language and the Tiger-men (in Spanish).]</ref><ref>J.B. Ambrosetti (1976). Fantasmas de la selva misionera ("''Ghosts of the Misiones Jungle''"). Editorial Convergencia: Buenos Aires.</ref> of southern South America.
Writer Ian Woodward theorized in his ''The Werewolf Delusion'' (1978) that the werewolf legend first developed when the Greeks, Romans, Celts and Germanic tribes were still in good relation with one another;
{{bquote|“When one race began to partition off its particular identity from the other, the superstition became slightly modified- in some cases intensifying its grip on the ancient imagination-according to local needs and cultures. With the growth of culture, too, came the growth of supernaturalism, from the roots of which grew werewolfery.”|x|x|“The Werewolf Delusion”, Ian Woodward, Paddington Press, 1978
}}
In his ''[[Man into Wolf]]'' (1948), [[anthropologist]] [[Robert Eisler]] drew attention to the fact that many Indo-European tribal names and some modern European surnames mean "wolf" or "wolf-men". This is argued by Eisler to indicate that the European transition from fruit gatherering to predatory hunting was a conscious process, simultaneously accompanied by an emotional upheaval still remembered in humanity's subconscious, which in turn became reflected in the later medieval superstition of werewolves.<ref name="Eisler">{{cite book | author= Eisler, Robert | url = http://www.amazon.com/Man-Into-Wolf-Anthropological-Interpretation/dp/140673313X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213714483&sr=1-1 | title=Man Into Wolf - An Anthropological Interpretation Of Sadism, Masochism, And Lycanthropy | year=1948 | pages= | id= ASIN B000V6D4PG }}</ref>
[[Image:Werwolf.png|thumb|right|Werewolf, by [[Lucas Cranach der Ältere]], 1512]]
Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf behaviour with recognised medical conditions. Dr Lee Illis of [[Guy's Hospital]] in London wrote a paper in 1963 entitled ''On Porphyria and the Aetiology of Werewolves'', in which he argues that historical accounts on werewolves could have in fact been referring to victims of congenital [[porphyria]], stating how the symptoms of [[photosensitivity]], reddish teeth and [[psychosis]] could have been grounds for accusing a sufferer of being a werewolf. This is however 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.<ref name="Woodward" /> Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been sufferers of [[hypertrichosis]], a hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive hair growth. However, 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.<ref name="Woodward" /> [[Rabies]] has been suggested as being a likely originator of werewolf lore, seeing as how the symptoms of rabies bear some similarities to those manifested by werewolves. The Roman poet [[Ovid]] described the symptoms of [[Lycaon (mythology)|Lycaon]], one of the first mythological werewolves;
{{bquote|“In vain he attempted to speak; from that very instant
His jaws were bespluttered with foam, and only he
thirsted
For blood, as he raged among flocks and panted for slaughter.
His vesture was changed into hair, his limbs became
crooked;
A wolf-he retains yet large trace of his ancient
expression,
Hoary he is afore, his countenance rabid,
His eyes glitter savagely still, the picture of fury”|x|x|
}}
These symptoms are argued by Woodward as having remarkable similarities to those shown by rabies victims, despite the fact that Ovid was describing what was then considered a werewolf. According to some European traditions, being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim turning into one. Being bitten by a rabid wolf or person would have spread the condition in the same way. To the medieval mind, a rabid wolf or person would have been seen as a werewolf, especially if a person was attacked by one and subsequently developed rabid symptoms.<ref name="Woodward" />
===Etymology===
The earliest authenticated written record containing the word "werewolf" is present in Gervase of Tilburys ''Otia Imperialia'' written in [[1212]].<ref name="Woodward" /> Little more than a century later, the 12th century poem ''[[Guillaume de Palerme|The Romance of William and the Werewolf]]'' was translated from old French into English in the 14th century.<ref name="Woodward" /> The name most likely derives from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''wer'' (or ''[[were]]'') and ''wulf''. The first part, ''wer'', translates as "man" (in the sense of male human, not the race of humanity). It has [[cognates]] in several [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] [[languages]] including [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''wair'', [[Old High German]] ''wer'', and [[Old Norse]] ''verr'', as well as in other [[Indo-European languages]], such as [[Latin]] ''vir'', [[Irish language|Irish]] ''fear'', [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''vyras'', and [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''gŵr'', which have the same meaning. The second half, ''wulf'', is the ancestor of [[modern English]] "wolf"; in some cases it also had the general meaning "beast." An alternative [[etymology]] derives the first part from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''weri'' (to wear); the full form in this case would be [[Gloss (transliteration)|glossed]] as ''wearer of wolf skin''. Related to this interpretation is [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] ''[[ulfhednar]]'', which denoted lupine equivalents of the ''[[berserker]]'', said to wear a bearskin in battle.
[[Image:Werewolf script.jpg|thumb|Facsimile of the first seven lines of the 14th century English translation of the 12th century French manuscript ''The Romance of William and the Werewolf'']]
Yet other sources derive the word from ''warg-wolf'', where ''warg'' (or later ''werg'' and ''wero'') is cognate with Old Norse ''vargr'', meaning "rogue," "outlaw," or, euphemistically, "wolf".{{Fact|date=February 2007}} A ''Vargulf'' was the kind of wolf that slaughtered many members of a flock or herd but ate little of the kill. This was a serious problem for herders, who had to somehow destroy the rogue wolf before it destroyed the entire flock or herd. Herders would often hang the wolf's hide in the bedroom of a young infant, believing it to give the baby [[supernatural]] powers.{{Fact|date=March 2007}} The term ''[[Warg]]'' was used in Old English for this kind of wolf (see [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s book ''[[The Hobbit]]'') and for what would now be called a [[serial killer]]. Possibly related is the fact that, in Norse society, an outlaw (who could be murdered with no legal repercussions and was forbidden to receive aid) was typically called ''vargr'', or "wolf." It is also speculated that werewolves are under the influence of a god who was once a lycanthrope. He visits them in their dreams before transformation and tells them specifically who to feed upon. Some believe it is the spirit of Lycaon, the first werewolf that does this deed.
The Greek term ''[[lycanthropy]]'' (a compound of which "lyc-" derives from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*wlkwo-'', meaning "wolf") formally denotes the "wolf - man" transformation. Lycanthropy is but one form of [[therianthropy]], the ability to [[Shapeshifting|metamorphose]]
into animals in general. The term "therianthrope" literally means "beast-man," from which the words ''turnskin'' and ''turncoat'' are derived. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} (Latin: ''versipellis'',<ref>{{cite web| url=http://perseus.uchicago.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aentry%3Dversipellis | title=Versipellis| accessdate = 2006-09-23| publisher=Perseus Digital Library}}</ref> Russian : ''oboroten'', O. Norse: ''hamrammr'').
The French name for a werewolf, sometimes used in English, is ''loup-garou'', from the [[Latin nouns|Latin noun]] [[lupus]] meaning wolf.<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/7/L0260700.html| chapter=loup-garou| title=The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language| edition=4| year=2000}}</ref> The second element is thought to be from [[Old French]] ''garoul'' meaning "werewolf." This in turn is most likely from [[Frankish]] ''*wer-wulf'' meaning "man-wolf."<ref>{{cite book| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE588.html| chapter=Appendix I: Indo-European Roots: w-ro-| title=The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language| year=2000| edition=4}}</ref>
==World literature and folklore==
===Classical Literature===
[[Image:Lycaon turned into wolf-Goltzius-1589.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Zeus turning Lycaon into a wolf, engraving by [[Hendrik Goltzius]].]]
In [[Greek mythology]], the story of [[Lycaon (mythology)|Lycaon]] provides one of the earliest examples of a werewolf legend. According to one version, Lycaon was transformed into a wolf as a result of eating human flesh; one of those who were present at periodical sacrifice on Mount Lycæon was said to suffer a similar fate. [[Herodotus]] in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''<ref>{{cite book| author=Herodotus| title=Histories| chapter=iv| pages=105}}</ref> tells us that the [[Neuri]], a tribe he places to the north-east of [[Scythia]], were annually transformed for a few days, and [[Virgil]] is familiar with transformation of human beings into wolves.<ref>{{cite book| author=Virgil| title=[[Eclogue]]s| chapter=viii| pages=98}}</ref>
In [[Metamorphoses (poem)|''Metamorphoses'']], the Roman poet [[Ovid]] vividly described stories of men who roamed the woods of [[Arcadia]] in the form of wolves.<ref name="Woodward" />
The Roman scholar [[Pliny the Elder]], relates two tales of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes,<ref>{{cite book| url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/8*.html#81| title=Historia Naturalis| author=Pliny the Elder| chapter=viii| pages=81}} 22/34</ref> he mentions a man who hung his clothes on an [[ash tree]] and swam across an [[Arcadia]]n lake, transforming him into a wolf. On the condition that he attacked no human being for nine years, he would be free to swim back across the lake to resume human form. Pliny also quotes [[Agriopas]] regarding a tale of a man who was turned into a wolf after tasting the entrails of a human child.
In the Latin work of prose, the [[Satyricon]], written about 60 C.E. 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 the incident as follows, "When I looked for my friend I saw he'd stripped and piled his clothes by the roadside...He urinated in a circle round his clothes and then, just like that, turned into a wolf!...after he turned into a wolf he started howling and then ran off into the woods."<ref>{{cite book|author=Petronius|authorlink= Petronius| title=Satyrica|translators= R. Bracht Branham and Daniel Kinney|year= 1996|publisher= University of California|location= Berkeley|isbn= 0-520-20599-5|page=56}}</ref>
===European cultures===
Many European countries and cultures influenced by them have stories of werewolves, including [[Albania]] (''oik''), Armenia (''mardagayl'') [[France]] (''loup-garou''), [[Greece]] (''lycanthropos''), [[Spain]] (''hombre lobo''), [[Argentina]] (''lobizón''), [[Mexico]] (''hombre lobo'' and ''nahual''), [[Bulgaria]] (''varkolak''), [[Turkey]] (''kurtadam''), [[Czech Republic]]/[[Slovakia]] (''vlkodlak''), [[Serbia]]/[[Montenegro]]/[[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]] (''vukodlak'', ''вукодлак''), [[Belarus]] (''vaukalak'', ''ваўкалак''), [[Russia]] (''vourdalak'', ''оборотень''), [[Ukraine]] (''vovkulak(a)'', ''vurdalak(a)'', ''vovkun'', ''перевертень''), [[Croatia]] (''vukodlak''), [[Poland]] (''wilkołak''), [[Romania]] (''vârcolac'', ''priculici''), [[Republic of Macedonia|Macedonia]] (''vrkolak''), [[Slovenia]] (''volkodlak''), [[Scotland]] (''werewolf'', ''[[wulver]]''), [[England]] (''werewolf''), [[Ireland]] (''faoladh'' or ''conriocht''), [[Germany]] (''Werwolf''), the [[Netherlands]] (''weerwolf''), [[Denmark]]/[[Sweden]]/[[Norway]] (''Varulv''), [[Norway]]/[[Iceland]] (''kveld-ulf'', ''varúlfur''), [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] (''lobisón''), [[Portugal]]/ (''lobisomem''), [[Lithuania]] (''vilkolakis'' and ''vilkatlakis''), [[Latvia]] (''vilkatis'' and ''vilkacis''), [[Andorra]]/[[Catalonia]] (''home llop''), [[Hungary]] (''Vérfarkas'' and ''Farkasember''), [[Estonia]] (''libahunt''), [[Finland]] (''ihmissusi'' and ''vironsusi''), and [[Italy]] (''lupo mannaro''). In [[northern Europe]], there are also tales about people changing into animals including bears, as well as wolves.
[[Image:GermanWoodcut1722.jpg|300px||thumb|right|A German woodcut from 1722]]
Werewolves in European tradition were mostly evil men who terrorized people in the form of wolves on command of the [[Devil]], though there were rare narratives of people being transformed involuntarily. In the 10 century, they were given the [[binomial name]] of ''melancholia canina'' and in the 14th century, ''daemonium lupum.'' <ref name="Woodward" /> In [[Marie de France]]'s poem ''[[Bisclavret]]'' (c. 1200), the nobleman Bizuneh, for reasons not described in the [[lai]], 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 behaviour at court was so much gentler than when his wife and her new husband appeared at court, that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed. Other tales of this sort include the German [[fairy tale]]s ''Märchen'', in which several aristocrats temporarily transform into beasts. See ''[[Snow White and Rose Red]]'', where the tame bear is really a bewitched prince, and ''[[The Golden Bird]]'' where the talking fox is also a man.
[[Harald I of Norway]] is known to have had a body of ''[[Berserker|Úlfhednar]]'' (wolf coated), which are mentioned in Vatnsdœla saga, Haraldskvæði, and the [[Volsunga saga|Völsunga saga]] resemble some werewolf legends. The Úlfhednar were fighters similar to the berserkers, though they dressed in [[Wolf hunting#Pelts|wolf hides]] rather than those of bears and were reputed to channel the spirits of these animals to enhance effectiveness in battle.<ref name="Woodward" /> These warriors were resistant to pain and killed viciously in battle, much like wild animals. Ulfhednar and berserkers are closely associated with the Norse god [[Odin]].
In [[Latvian mythology|Latvian folklore]], a [[vilkacis]] was someone who transformed into a wolf-like monster, which could be benevolent at times.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Another collection of stories concern the [[skin-walker (mythology)|skin-walkers]]. The vilkacis and skin-walkers probably have a common origin in [[Proto-Indo-European society]], where a class of young unwed [[warrior]]s were apparently associated with wolves{{Fact|date=November 2007}}.
According to the first dictionary of modern Serbian language (published by [[Vuk Stefanović Karadžić|Vuk Stefanović-Karadžić]] in 1818) ''vukodlak / вукодлак'' (werewolf) and ''vampir / вампир'' ([[vampire]]) are synonyms, meaning a man who returns from his grave for purposes of fornicating with his widow. The dictionary states this to be a common folk tale.
Common amongst the [[Kashub]]s of what is now northern Poland, and the [[Serb]]s and [[Slovenes]], was the belief that if a child was born with hair, a birthmark or a caul on their head, they were supposed to possess shape-shifting abilities. Though capable of turning into any animal they wished, it was commonly believed that such people preferred to turn into a wolf<ref name="willis">{{Citation | title= World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide| last = Willis | first = Roy | authorlink = Dr. Roy Willis | last2 = Davidson | first2 = Hilda Ellis| author2-link = Dr. Hilda Ellis Davidson | title = World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide | publisher = Piaktus| year = 1997| isbn = 0-7499-1739-3}}</ref>.
According to [[Armenia]]n lore, there are women who, in consequence of deadly sins, are condemned to spend seven years in wolf form.<ref>The Fables of Mkhitar Gosh (New York, 1987), translated with an introduction by R. Bedrosian, edited by Elise Antreassian and illustrated by Anahid Janjigian</ref> In a typical account, a condemned woman is visited by a wolfskin-toting spirit, who orders her to wear the skin, which causes her to acquire frightful cravings for human flesh soon after. With her better nature overcome, the she-wolf devours each of her own children, then her relatives' children in order of relationship, and finally the children of strangers. She wanders only at night, with doors and locks springing open at her approach. When morning arrives, she reverts to human form and removes her wolfskin. The transformation is generally said to be involuntary, but there are alternate versions involving voluntary metamorphosis, where the women can transform at will.
The 11th Century [[Belarus]]ian Prince [[Usiaslau of Polatsk]] was considered to have been a Werewolf, capable of moving at supehuman 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 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."
There were numerous reports of werewolf attacks – and consequent court trials – in [[16th century|sixteenth century]] France. In some of the cases there was clear evidence against the accused of murder and [[cannibalism]], but none of association with wolves; in other cases people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of [[Gilles Garnier]] in Dole in 1573, there was clear evidence against some wolf but none against the accused{{Fact|date=November 2007}}. The ''loup-garou'' eventually ceased to be regarded as a dangerous heretic and reverted to the pre-Christian notion of a "man-wolf-fiend." The ''lubins'' or ''lupins'' were usually female and shy in contrast to the aggressive ''loup-garous''.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
Some French werewolf lore is based on documented events caused by the full moon. The [[Beast of Gévaudan]] terrorized the general area of the [[Provinces of France|former province]] of [[Gévaudan]], now called [[Lozère]], in south-central France. From the years 1764 to 1767, an unknown entity killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} The creature was described as a giant wolf by the sole survivor of the attacks, which ceased after several wolves were killed in the area.
At the beginning of the [[17th century|seventeenth century]] [[witchcraft]] was prosecuted by [[James I of England]], who regarded "warwoolfes" as victims of delusion induced by "a natural superabundance of melancholic."<ref>{{cite book| title=Demonologie| chapter=iii}}</ref>
===American cultures===
{{Main|Skin-walker}}
During the [[Norse colonization of the Americas]], it is thought by Woodward that the [[Vikings]] brought with them their beliefs in werewolves, which would manifest themselves in the folklore of some [[Native American]] tribes.<ref name="Woodward" />
{{bquote|“Although the traditions, legends and supersitions of North America were then not properly formed, we can be certain that among the earliest notions to strike a common chord was a belief in, and a fear of, the wolf-demon. The wolf was common and pretty well evenly distributed throughout the North American continent, although it was known only in its natural shape and condition, for the inhabitants were not yet in the habit of supposing that, as in Europe and other countries, the fiercest wolves were men, transformed by magic into that shape for the purpose of devouring their fellows, or at least, their flocks and herds. The marauding Vikings and, later, the European settlers changed all that: first the Indian tribes were influenced by the proposition that a man could be transformed into the animal he feared most, the wolf; and then the white man, hearing about the strange stories of wolf-men among the Indians and relating it to those he had heard from European superstition, slowly formulated his own werewolf "tradition".”|x|x|“The Werewolf Delusion”, Ian Woodward, Paddington Press, 1978
}}
The Naskapi's believed that the [[caribou]] afterlife is guarded by giant wolves which kill careless hunters venturing too near. The [[Navajo people]] feared witches in wolf's clothing called "Mai-cob".<ref name="SAM">{{cite book | author = Lopez, Barry |url = http://www.amazon.com/Wolves-Men-Barry-Lopez/dp/0684163225/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203514926&sr=1-2 | title = Of wolves and men | year = 1978 | pages = pp.320 | id = ISBN 0743249364}}</ref> In [[Haiti]], there is a superstition that werewolf spirits known locally as ''Jé-rouge'' (red eyes) can possess the bodies of unwitting persons and nightly transform them into cannibalistic lupine creatures.<ref name="Woodward" />
==Characteristics==
===Traits and habits===
European folklore often shows how werewolves in their human forms can be recognised. The meeting of both [[eyebrow]]s at the bridge of the nose was one accepted trait of werewolves. Other indicators were 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 pretence that fur would be seen within the wound. One Russian superstition in a similair vein tells of how a werewolf can be recognised by bristles under the tongue.<ref name="Woodward" /> The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture, though they are most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves save for the fact that they have no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), and that they retain human eyes and voice. After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression.<ref name="Woodward" /> Many historical werewolves were written to have suffered severe melancholia and manic depression, being bitterly conscious of their crimes.<ref name="Woodward" />
One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe, was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait which is documented extensively, particularly in the ''Annales Medico-psychologiques'' in the 19th century.<ref name="Woodward" />
Fennoscandian werewolves were usually old women who possessed poison coated claws and had the ability to paralyse cattle and children with their gaze.<ref name="Woodward" />
Serbian ''vulkodlak''s traditionally had the habit of congregating annually in the winter months, where they would strip off their wolf skins and hang them from trees. They would then get a hold of another ''vulkodlak''s skin and burn it, releasing the ''vulkodlak'' from whom the skin came from from its curse.<ref name="Woodward" />
The Haitian ''jé-rouges'' typically try to trick mothers into giving away their children voluntarily by waking them at night and asking their permission to take their child, to which the disoriented mother may either reply yes or no.<ref name="Woodward" />
===Becoming a werewolf===
The majority of werewolf legends indicate that the transformation is usually preceded by extreme restlessness and anxiety. As the transformation takes place, the victim is struck by [[convulsion]]s and [[contraction]]s before finally retreating to the nearest wood in the form of a lupine animal.<ref name="Woodward" />
Historical legends describe a wide variety of methods for becoming a werewolf, 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).<ref name="Fate">Bennett, Aaron. “So, You Want to be a Werewolf?” [[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]. Vol. 55, no. 6, Issue 627. July 2002.</ref> In other cases, the body is rubbed with a magic [[salve]].<ref name="Fate" /> To drink water out of the footprint of the animal in question or to drink from certain enchanted streams were also considered effectual modes of accomplishing metamorphosis.<ref>O'Donnell, Elliot. ''Werwolves''. Methuen. London. 1912. pp.65-67</ref> Olaus Magnus says that the Livonian werewolves were initiated by draining a cup of specially prepared beer and repeating a set formula. Ralston in his ''Songs of the Russian People'' gives the form of incantation still familiar in Russia. According to Russian lore, a child born on [[December 24]] shall be a werewolf. Folklore and literature also depict that a werewolf can be spawned from two werewolf parents.
In Italy, France and Germany, it was said that a man could turn into a werewolf if he, on a certain Wednesday or Friday, slept outside on a summer night with the full moon shining directly on his face.<ref name="Woodward" />
In [[Galicia]]n, [[Portugal|Portuguese]], and [[Brazil]]ian folklore, it is the [[seven]]th of the sons (but sometimes the seventh child, a boy, after a line of six daughters) who becomes a werewolf (Lobisomem).<ref>Bennett, Aaron. “Lobo-Hombres of Latin America.” <u>Fang, Claw, & Steel</u>. Issue #13. Winter 2002.</ref> In Portugal, the seventh daughter is supposed to become a witch and the seventh son a werewolf; the seventh son often gets the [[Given name|Christian name]] "Bento" (Portuguese form of "Benedict", meaning "blessed") as this is believed to prevent him from becoming a werewolf later in life. In Brazil, the seventh daughter becomes a headless (replaced with fire) horse called "Mula-sem-cabeça" (Headless Mule). The belief in the curse of the seventh son was so widespread in Northern [[Argentina]] (where the werewolf is called the ''[[lobizón]]''), that seventh sons were frequently abandoned, ceded in adoption, or killed. A 1920 law decreed that the [[President of Argentina]] is the official [[godparent|godfather]] of every seventh son. Thus, the State gives a seventh son one gold medal in his [[baptism]] and a scholarship until his twenty first year. This effectively ended the abandonments, but there still persists a tradition in which the President godfathers seventh sons.
In other cases, the transformation was supposedly accomplished by [[Satanism|Satanic]] allegiance for the most loathsome ends, often for the sake of sating a craving for human flesh. "The werewolves", writes [[Richard Verstegan]] (''Restitution of Decayed Intelligence'', 1628), <!-- DO NOT FIX SPELLING, THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE ORIGINAL ARCHAIC TEXT --><blockquote>are certayne sorcerers, who having annoynted their bodies with an ointment which they make by the instinct of the devil, and putting on a certayne inchaunted girdle, does not only unto the view of others seem as wolves, but to their own thinking have both the shape and nature of wolves, so long as they wear the said girdle. And they do dispose themselves as very wolves, in worrying and killing, and most of humane creatures.</blockquote> Such were the views about lycanthropy current throughout the continent of Europe when Verstegan wrote.
The curse of werewolfery was also considered by some scholars as being a divine punishment. Werewolf literature shows many examples of [[God]] or saints allegedly cursing those who invoked their wrath with werewolfism. Those who were [[excommunicate]]d by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] were also said to become werewolves.<ref name="Woodward" />
The power of transforming others into wild beasts was attributed not only to malignant sorcerers, but to [[List of saints|Christian saints]] as well. ''Omnes angeli, boni et Mali, ex virtute naturali habent potestatem transmutandi corpora nostra'' ("All angels, good and [[fallen angel|bad]] have the power of transmutating our bodies") was the dictum of [[St. Thomas Aquinas]]. [[St. Patrick]] was said to have transformed the [[Wales|Welsh]] king [[Vereticus]] into a wolf; [[St. Natalis]] supposedly cursed an illustrious Irish family whose members were each doomed to be a wolf for seven years. In other tales the divine agency is even more direct, while in Russia, again, men supposedly became werewolves when incurring the wrath of the Devil.
;Exception
A notable exception to the association of Lycanthropy and the Devil, comes from a rare and lesser known account of a man named Thiess. In 1692, in Jurgenburg, [[Livonia]], Thiess testified under oath that he and other werewolves were the Hounds of God.<ref>Gershenson, Daniel. ''Apollo the Wolf-God''. (Journal of Indo- European Studies, Monograph, 8.) McLean, Virginia: Institute for the Study of Man, 1991, ISBN 0941694380 pp.136-7</ref> He claimed they were warriors who went down into hell to do battle with witches and demons. Their efforts ensured that the Devil and his minions did not carry off the abundance of the earth down to hell. Thiess was steadfast in his assertions, claiming that werewolves in Germany and Russia also did battle with the devil's minions in their own versions of hell, and insisted that when werewolves died, their souls were welcomed into heaven as reward for their service. Thiess was ultimately sentenced to ten lashes for Idolatry and [[Superstition|superstitious belief]].
A distinction is often made between voluntary and involuntary werewolves. The former are generally thought to have made a pact, usually with the Devil, and morph into werewolves at night to indulge in mischievous acts. Involuntary werewolves, on the other hand, are werewolves by an [[accident of birth]] or health. In some cultures, individuals born during a [[new moon]] or suffering from epilepsy were considered likely to be werewolves.
Becoming a werewolf simply by being bitten by another werewolf as a form of [[disease|contagion]] is common in modern [[horror fiction]], but this kind of transmission is rare in legend, unlike the case in [[vampirism]].<ref name="Woodward" />
===Vulnerabilities===
Werewolves have several described weaknesses, the most common being an aversion to [[Aconitum|wolfsbane]] (a plant that supposedly sprouted from weeds watered by the drool of [[Cerberus]] while he was brought out of [[Hades]] by [[Heracles]]). Unlike [[vampire]]s, werewolves are not harmed by religious artifacts such as [[crucifix]]es and [[holy water]].
Various methods have existed for removing the werewolf form. The simplest method was the act of the enchanter (operating either on oneself or on a victim), and another was the removal of the animal belt or skin. To kneel in one spot for a hundred years, to be reproached with being a werewolf, to be struck three blows on the forehead with a knife, or to have at least three drops of blood drawn have also been mentioned as possible cures. Many European folk tales include throwing an iron object over or at the werewolf, to make it reveal its human form, naked in cases from 1859.
Another vulnerability is to use a weapon of [[silver]] (bullet, knife etc). To stab a werewolf with a silver dagger, or to shoot it with a silver bullet is said to not only kill a werewolf, but to also cause it agony in the time before it dies, rather resembling being slowly burned from the inside.
In many countries, [[rye]] and [[mistletoe]] were considered effective safeguards against werewolf attacks. [[Mountain ash]] is also considered effective, with one Belgian superstition stating that no house was safe unless under the shade of a mountain ash.<ref name="Woodward" />
===Remedies===
In antiquity, the Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in the power of exhaustion in curing people of lycanthropy. The victim would be subjected to long periods of physical activity in the hope of being purged of the malady. This practise stemmed from the fact that many alleged werewolves would be left feeling weak and debilitated after committing depredations.<ref name="Woodward" />
In medieval Europe, traditionally, there are three methods one can use to cure a victim of werewolfism; medicinally, surgically or by [[exorcism]]. However, many of the cures advocated by medioeval medical practitioners proved fatal to the patients.<ref name="Woodward" /> A Sicillian belief of Arabic origin holds that a werewolf can be cured of its ailment by striking it on the forehead or scalp with a knife. Another belief from the same culture involves the piercing of the werewolf's hands with nails.<ref name="Woodward" /> Sometimes, less extreme methods were used. In the German lowland of Schleswig-Holstein, a werewolf could be cured if one were to simply address it three times by its Christian name, while one Danish belief holds that simply scolding a werewolf will cure it.<ref name="Woodward" />
==Vampiric connections==
{{Main|Vampire}}
===Folkloric overlap===
In Medieval Europe, the corpses of some people executed as werewolves were cremated rather than buried in order to prevent them from being resurrected as [[vampire]]s.<ref name="Woodward" /> Before the end of the 19th century, the [[Greek people|Greeks]] believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life as vampires in the form of wolves or [[hyena]]s which prowled battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In the same vein, in some rural areas of Germany, Poland and Northern France, it was once believed that people who died in mortal sin came back to life as blood-drinking wolves. This differs from conventional werewolfery, where the creature is a living being rather than an undead apparition. These vampiric werewolves would return to their human corpse form at daylight. They were dealt with by decapitation with a spade and exorcism by the parish priest. The head would then be thrown into a stream, where the weight of its sins were thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used.<ref name="Woodward" /> The vampire was also linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovakia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as one creature; ''Vulkodlak''.<ref name="Woodward" />
In Hungarian and Balkan mythology, many werewolves were said to be vampiric witches who became wolves in order to suck the blood of men born under the full moon in order to preserve their health. In their human form, these werewolves were said to have pale, sunken faces, hollow eyes, swollen lips and flabby arms.<ref name="Woodward" />
The Haitian ''jé-rouges'' differ from traditional European werewolves by their habit of actively trying to spread their lycanthropic condition to others, much like vampires.<ref name="Woodward" />
===Scholastic comparisons===
In areas allegedly affected sympatrically by werewolves and vampires, the latter were almost invariably the most feared, as evidenced by the fact that while there are unnumerable accounts of individuals becoming werewolves by their own choosing, there are no testimonies indicating that people voluntarily became vampires.<ref name="Woodward" /> Werewolves were typically unaffected by items or rituals used to cast away or kill vampires.<ref name="Woodward" />
Writers such as Woodward have compared werewolves and vampires as two differing personifications of sexual deviancy.
{{bquote|“There is it is true, a certain sexual element associated with the werewolf, although it does not approach the [[Sadomasochism|sado-erotic]] subtlety of the vampire. The werewolf is a crude and aggressive [[rapist]]; the vampire is a [[Don Juan]] among demons.”|x|x|“The Werewolf Delusion”, Ian Woodward, Paddington Press, 1978
}}
==In fiction==
{{main|Werewolf fiction}}
The process [[Shapeshifting|transmogrification]] is often portrayed as painful in [[film]] and [[literature]]. The resulting wolf is typically cunning but merciless and prone to killing and eating people without compunction, regardless of the [[moral character]] of its human counterpart. The form a werewolf assumes is not always that of an ordinary wolf but often [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] or otherwise larger and more powerful than an ordinary wolf. Many modern werewolves are supposedly immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to [[silver]] objects (usually a [[Silver bullet|bullet]] or blade). This negative reaction to silver is sometimes so strong that the mere touch of the metal on a werewolf's skin will cause burns. Current-day werewolf fiction almost exclusively involves [[lycanthropy]] being either a hereditary condition or being transmitted like an [[infectious disease]] by the bite of another werewolf. In some fiction, the power of the werewolf extends to human form, such as invulnerability, super-human speed and strength and falling on their feet from high falls. Also aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be harder to control (hunger, sexual arousal). Usually in these cases the abilities are diminished in human form. In other fictions it can even be cured by medicine men or even antidotes.
The first feature film to use an anthropomorphic werewolf was ''[[Werewolf of London]]'' in [[1935]] (not to be confused with the 1981 film of a similar title) establishing the canon that the werewolf always kills whom he loves most. The main werewolf of this film is a dapper London scientist who retains some of his style and most of his human features after his transformation.<ref name=FoSFF>{{cite book |title=Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy |author=Searles B|pages=p. 165-67|year=1988 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |location=New York |isbn=0-8109-0922-7}}</ref>
However, he lacks warmth, and it is left to the tragic character Talbot played by [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] in 1941's ''[[The Wolf Man (1941 film)|The Wolf Man]]'' to capture the public imagination. This catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness.<ref name=FoSFF/> Sympathetic portrayals are few but notable, ''[[An American Werewolf In London]]'' and those in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' literature being more recent examples. Other werewolves are decidedly more willful and malevolent, such as those in [[The Howling (film)|the Howling]] series.
Some recent fiction also discards the idea that the werewolf dominates the mind when one transforms, and instead postulates that the wolf form can be used at will, with the lycanthrope retaining its human thought processes and intelligence.
=== Other uses of the term ===
In [[World War II]], the German [[SS]] formed an irregular network of [[Partisan (military)|Partisan]]-like units known as Operation ''[[Werwolf]]'' to resist the occupation of [[Allies of World War II|allied forces]]. These units were under the leadership of the SS and were comprised of members of that group, along with members of the [[German Army|Heer]] and [[Hitler Youth]]. Their campaign of resistance was, however, an almost complete fiasco, especially following their disownment by Hitler's successor, [[Karl Doenitz|Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz]].{{Fact|date=February 2008}}
== See also ==
{{commonscat}}
* [[Clinical lycanthropy]]
'''Similair creatures'''
* [[Beast of Bray Road]]
* [[Beast of Gévaudan]]
* [[Cynocephaly|Cynocephalus]]
* [[Damarchus]]
* [[Rougarou]]
* [[Soul eater (folklore)]]
* [[Therianthropy]]
* [[Vampire]]
* [[Vârcolac]]
* [[Werecat]]
* [[Werehyena]]
* [[Werewolf Priest]]
* [[Werwolf]]
* [[Wolf of Magdeburg]]
* [[Wulver]]
'''Modern fiction'''
* [[Lycan]]
* [[Werewolf (Buffyverse)]]
* [[Werewolf (Harry Potter)]]
* [[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]
== Footnotes ==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref(erences/)> tags-->
<references/>
== References ==
*[[Sabine Baring-Gould|Baring-Gould, Sabine]]. ''The Book of Were-Wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition''. London: Smith, Elder, 1865. ISBN 0-7661-8307-6
*Douglas, Adam. ''The Beast Within: A History of the Werewolf''. London: Chapmans, 1992. ISBN 0-380-72264-X
*Lecouteux, Claude. ''Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies''. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International, 2003. ISBN 089281096-3
*Prieur, Claude. ''Dialogue de la Lycanthropie: Ou transformation d'hommes en loups, vulgairement dits loups-garous, et si telle se peut faire''. Louvain: J. Maes & P. Zangre, 1596. (By a Franciscan monk, in French)
*[[Montague Summers|Rev. Montague Summers]], ''The Werewolf'' London: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1933. (1st edition, reissued 1934 New York: E.P. Dutton, 1966 New Hyde Park, N.Y: University Books, 1973 Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 2003 Mineola, N.Y.: Dover, with new title ''The Werewolf in Lore and Legend''). ISBN 0-7661-3210-2
*Wolfeshusius, Johannes Fridericus. ''De Lycanthropia: An vere illi, ut fama est, luporum & aliarum bestiarum formis induantur. Problema philosophicum pro sententia Joan. Bodini ... adversus dissentaneas aliquorum opiniones noviter assertum...'' Leipzig: Typis Abrahami Lambergi, 1591. (In Latin; microfilm held by the [[United States National Library of Medicine]])
== External links ==
* [http://www.primitivism.com/hellhounds.htm Arby Stones, "Hellhounds, Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld"]
* [http://www.mythologyweb.com/bookofwerewolves.html ''The Book of Were-Wolves'', by Sabine Baring-Gould, 1865]
* [http://www.geocities.com/schablotski.geo/Werewolf.htm Therianthropy History Timeline]
* [http://www.skepticworld.com/cryptozoology/werewolves.asp Cryptozoology - Werewolf] - Skeptic World
* [http://www.allenvarney.com/av_were.html Allen Varney, "The New Improved Beast"]
[[Category:Folklore]]
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