View source for Werewolf

{{Short description|Mythological human with acquired ability to transform into a wolflike creature}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{hatnote group|
{{redirect-several|Werewolf|Loup-garou|Lycanthrope|Lycanthropy}}
{{for|the episode of ''Grimm''|Lycanthropia (Grimm)}}
}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
| name = Werewolf
| image = WeirdTalesv36n2pg038 The Werewolf Howls.png{{!}}class=skin-invert
| caption = Illustration of a werewolf in the woodlands at night in the story ''The Werewolf Howls'' (November 1941)
| Grouping = Mythology
| Sub_Grouping =
| AKA = Lycanthrope
| Similar_entities = [[Skinwalker]]
| Folklore = Worldwide
}}
{{Paranormal}}
In [[folklore]], a '''werewolf'''{{efn|1=Also spelled '''werwolf'''. Usually pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɛər|w|ʊ|l|f}} {{respell|WAIR|wuulf}}, but sometimes {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɪər|w|ʊ|l|f}} {{respell|WEER|wuulf}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɜr|w|ʊ|l|f}} {{respell|WUR|wuulf}}.}} ({{etymology|ang|{{wikt-lang|ang|werwulf}}|man-wolf}}), or occasionally '''lycanthrope'''{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|aɪ|k|ən|θ|r|oʊ|p}} {{respell|LY|kən|throhp}}.}} (from [[Ancient Greek]] {{wikt-lang|grc-Latn|λυκάνθρωπος|lŭkánthrōpos}} {{gloss|wolf-human}}), is an individual who can [[shapeshifting|shapeshift]] into a [[wolf]], or especially in modern film, a [[Shapeshifting|therianthropic]] [[Hybrid beasts in folklore|hybrid]] wolf–humanlike 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]].{{efn|1={{qi|... the motif of the full moon is a modern invention, since historical sources do not mention it as an instigator of metamorphosis.}} ({{harvnb|de Blécourt|2015|pp=3–4}}).}} Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called '''lycanthropy''',{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|l|aɪ|ˈ|k|æ|n|θ|r|ə|p|i}} {{respell|ly|KAN|thrə|pee}}.}} are [[Petronius]] (27–66) and [[Gervase of Tilbury]] (1150–1228).

The werewolf is a widespread concept in [[European folklore]], existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a [[Christianization|Christian interpretation]] of underlying European folklore developed during the [[Middle Ages]]. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the [[New World]] with [[colonialism]]. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in [[European witchcraft|witches]] during the [[late Middle Ages]] and 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 a marginal one, with accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials.{{efn|1=Lorey (2000) records 280 known cases; this contrasts with a total number of 12,000 recorded cases of executions for witchcraft, or an estimated grand total of about 60,000, corresponding to 2% or 0.5% respectively. The recorded cases span the period of 1407 to 1725, peaking during the period of 1575–1657.}} 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 [[Werewolf witch trials|persecution of supposed werewolves]], primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with the persecution of [[Wolfssegen|wolf-charmer]]s recorded until well after 1650, the final cases taking place in the early 18th century in [[Carinthia]] and [[Styria]].{{efn|1=Lorey (2000) records six trials in the period 1701 and 1725, all in either Styria or Carinthia; 1701 Paul Perwolf of Wolfsburg, Obdach, Styria (executed); 1705 "Vlastl" of Murau, Styria (verdict unknown); 1705/6 six beggars in Wolfsberg, Carinthia (executed); 1707/8 three shepherds in Leoben and Freyenstein, Styria (one lynching, two probable executions); 1718 Jakob Kranawitter, a mentally disabled beggar, in Rotenfel, Oberwolz, Styria (corporeal punishment); 1725: Paul Schäffer, beggar of St. Leonhard im Lavanttal, Carinthia (executed).}}

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 [[Romance (heroic literature)|romances]] (e.g., ''[[Bisclavret]]'' and ''{{Lang|fr|[[Guillaume de Palerme]]}}'') and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" [[chap book|chapbook]] tradition. The trappings of horror literature in the 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern [[popular culture]].

== Names ==
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 language|West Frisian]] ''waer-ûl(e)''.<ref>[https://gtb.ivdnt.org/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=MNW&id=71840&lemmodern=weerwolf Lemma: Weerwolf], ''Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal'' (in Dutch)</ref> These terms are generally derived from a [[Proto-Germanic]] form [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] as ''*wira-wulfaz'' ('man-wolf'), itself from an earlier [[Germanic parent language|Pre-Germanic]] form *''wiro-wulpos''.{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}}<ref name="OED">{{Harvnb|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}, s.v. ''werewolf, n.''</ref>{{sfn|Koch|2020|p=96}} An alternative reconstruction, *''wazi-wulfaz'' ('wolf-clothed'), would bring the Germanic [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] closer to the Slavic meaning,{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}} with other semantic parallels in [[Old Norse]] ''úlfheðnar'' ('wolf-skinned') and ''úlfheðinn'' ('wolf-coat'), [[Old Irish]] ''luchthonn'' ('wolf-skin'), and [[Sanskrit]] ''Vṛkājina'' ('Wolf-skin').{{Sfn|West|2007|p=450}}

The Norse branch underwent [[Word taboo|taboo modifications]], with Old Norse ''vargúlfr'' (only attested as a translation of [[Old French]] ''garwaf'' ~ ''garwal(f)'' from [[Lais of Marie de France|Marie's lay]] of [[Bisclavret]]) replacing *''wiraz'' ('man') with ''vargr'' ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under the influence of the Old French expression ''leus warous ~ lous garous'' (modern ''loup-garou''), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'.{{sfn|de Vries|1962|p=646}}<ref name="DEAF">[[Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français|DEAF]] G:334–338.</ref> The modern Norse form ''varulv'' (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish) was either borrowed from Middle Low German ''werwulf'',<ref name="DEAF" /> or else derived from an unattested Old Norse ''*varulfr'', posited as the regular descendant of Proto-Germanic *''wira-wulfaz''.<ref name="OED" /> An [[Old Frankish]] form ''*werwolf'' 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 languages|Germanic]]–[[Romance languages|Romance]] correspondence ''w-'' / ''g-'' (cf. ''William'' / ''Guillaume'', ''Wales'' / ''Galles'', etc.).<ref name="DEAF" /><ref>[[Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch|FEW]] 17:569.</ref>

The [[Proto-Slavic]] noun *''vьlko-dlakь'', meaning "wolf-haired" (cf. *''dlaka'', "animal hair", "fur"),{{sfn|Orel|2003|p=463}} can be reconstructed from Serbian ''vukòdlak'', [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] ''vołkodlȃk'', and Czech ''vlkodlak'', although formal variations in [[Slavic languages]] (*''vьrdl(j)ak'', *''vьlkdolk'', *''vьlklak'') and the late attestation of some forms pose difficulties in tracing the origin of the term.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|p=170}}{{sfn|Butler|2005|pp=237–238}} The [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[Vrykolakas]]'' and [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''Vîrcolac'', designating vampire-like creatures in Balkan folklores, were borrowed from Slavic languages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Balinisteanu|first=Tudor|date=2016|title=Romanian Folklore and Literary Representations of Vampires|journal=[[Folklore (journal)|Folklore]]|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Oxford, England|volume=127|issue=2|pages=150–172|doi=10.1080/0015587X.2016.1155358|s2cid=148481574 |issn=0015-587X}}</ref><ref name="Zochios">{{Cite journal |last=Zochios |first=Stamatis |date=2018 |title=Interprétation ethnolinguistique de termes mythologiques néohelléniques d'origine slave désignant des morts malfaisants |journal=Revue des études slaves |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=303–317 |doi=10.4000/res.1787 |s2cid=192528255 |issn=0080-2557|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The same form is found in other non-Slavic languages of the region, such as Albanian ''vurvolak'' and Turkish ''vurkolak.<ref name="Zochios" />'' [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ''vьrkolak'' and [[Church Slavonic]] ''vurkolak'' may be interpreted as back-borrowings from Greek.{{sfn|Butler|2005|pp=237–238}} The name ''[[Wurdulac|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.{{sfn|Butler|2005|p=242}}<ref name="Zochios" />

A [[Proto-Celtic]] noun *''wiro-kū'', meaning 'man-dog', has been reconstructed from [[Celtiberian language|Celtiberian]] ''uiroku'', the [[Old Brittonic]] place-name ''[[Viroconium Cornoviorum|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.{{sfn|Delamarre|2007|pp=30–31}}{{sfn|Koch|2020|p=96}}

The modern term ''lycanthropy'' comes from [[Ancient Greek]] ''lukanthrōpía'' (λυκανθρωπία), itself from ''lukánthrōpos'' (λυκάνθρωπος), meaning 'wolf-man'. Ancient writers used 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.<ref name="OED2">{{Harvnb|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}, s.v. ''lyncanthropy, n.'' and ''lyncanthrope, n.''</ref>

== History ==
=== Indo-European comparative mythology ===
[[File:Lekythos Dolon Louvre CA1802.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dolon (mythology)|Dolon]] wearing a wolfskin. Attic red-figure vase, {{Circa|460 BC}}.]]
The European motif of the devilish werewolf devouring human flesh harks back to a common development during the [[Middle Ages]] in the context of [[Christianity]], although stories of humans turning into wolves take their roots in earlier pre-Christian beliefs.{{sfn|Otten|1986|pp=5–8}}{{sfn|de Blécourt|2015|pp=82–83}}

Their underlying common origin can be traced back to [[Proto-Indo-European mythology]], wherein ''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.{{sfn|Koch|2020|p=96}} The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology is McCone's 1987 work.<ref>Kim R. McCone, "Hund, Wolf, und Krieger bei den Indogermanen" in W. Meid (ed.), Studien zum indogermanischen Wortschatz, Innsbruck, 1987, 101–154</ref>

=== Classical antiquity ===
A few references to men changing into wolves are found in [[Ancient Greek literature]] and [[Greek mythology]]. [[Herodotus]], in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'',<ref>{{cite book| author=Herodotus| title=Histories| chapter-url= https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/4E*.html#105 | chapter=IV.105}}</ref> wrote that according to what the [[Scythians]] and the Greeks settled in Scythia told him, the [[Neuri]], a tribe to the northeast 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 was unconvinced by the story, but the locals swore to its truth.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D105 Herodotus, The Histories, 4.105]</ref> The tale was also mentioned by [[Pomponius Mela]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pomponius Mela |title=Description of the world |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015042048507&view=1up&seq=84 |chapter=2.14|series=De chorographia.English |year=1998 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0472107735 }}</ref>[[File:Lycaon Transformed into a Wolf LACMA M.71.76.9.jpg|thumb|[[Zeus]] turning [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]] into a [[wolf]], engraving by [[Hendrik Goltzius]].]]

In the second century BC, the Greek geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] related the story of King [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]] of Arcadia, who was transformed into a wolf because he had sacrificed a child on the altar of [[Zeus Lycaeus]].<ref name="pausanias-8.2">{{cite book |author1=Pausanias |author-link1=Pausanias (geographer)|title=Description of Greece |chapter=8.2|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.2.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160}}</ref> In the version of the legend told by [[Ovid]] in his ''[[Metamorphoses]]'',<ref>{{cite book |author1=Ovid |author-link1=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses |url=https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/Metamorph.php#anchor_Toc64105461 |chapter=I 219–239}}</ref> when [[Zeus]] visits Lycaon disguised as a commoner, Lycaon wants to test if he is really a god. To that end, he kills a [[Molossians|Molossian]] hostage and serves his entrails to Zeus. Disgusted, the god turns Lycaon into a wolf. However, in other accounts of the legend, like that of [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus's ''Bibliotheca'']],<ref name="apollod-3.8">{{cite book |author1=Apollodorus |author-link1=Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus) |title=Bibliotheca |url=https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#8|chapter=3.8.1}}</ref> Zeus blasts him and his sons with thunderbolts as punishment.

Pausanias also relates the story of an Arcadian man called [[Damarchus]] of [[Parrhasia (Arcadia)|Parrhasia]], who 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 became an Olympic champion.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+6.8.2 Pausanias 6.8.2]</ref> This tale is also recounted by [[Pliny the Elder]], who calls the man Demaenetus, quoting [[Agriopas]].<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Natural History'', [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn8a.html#82 viii.82].</ref> According to Pausanias, this was not a one-off event, for men have been transformed into wolves during sacrifices to Zeus Lycaeus since the time of Lycaon. If they abstain from tasting human flesh while wolves, they will be restored to human form nine years later; if they do not abstain, they will remain wolves forever.<ref name="pausanias-8.2" />

Lykos (Λύκος) of Athens was a wolf-shaped herο whose shrine stood by the jury court, and the first jurors{{what|date=May 2025}} were named after him.<ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/eta/271 Suda, eta, 271]</ref>

Pliny the Elder likewise recounts another tale of lycanthropy. Quoting Euanthes,<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Natural History'', [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn8a.html#81 viii.81].</ref> he mentions that in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]], once a year, a man was chosen by lot from the [[Anthus (mythology)|Anthus]]'s clan. The chosen man was escorted to a marsh in the area, where he hung his clothes on an [[oak]] tree, swam across the marsh, and transformed into a wolf, joining a [[Pack (canine)|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.<ref>The tale probably relates to a rite of passage for Arcadian youths.{{cite book |last1=Ogden |first1=Daniel |title=Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-513575-X |page=178}}</ref> Ovid also relates stories of men who roamed the woods of Arcadia in the form of wolves.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses |chapter=I|title-link=Metamorphoses (poem) }}</ref><ref name="menard">{{cite book|last=Ménard|first=Philippe|title=Symposium in honorem prof. M. de Riquer|year=1984|publisher=Barcelona UP|language=fr|pages=209–238|chapter=Les histoires de loup-garou au moyen-âge}}</ref>

[[Virgil]], in his poetic work ''[[Eclogues]]'', wrote of a man called Moeris who used herbs and poisons picked in his native [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] to turn himself into a wolf.<ref>{{cite book |author=Virgil |title=Eclogues |chapter=viii |page=98|title-link=Eclogues }}</ref> In [[prose]], the ''[[Satyricon]]'', written circa AD 60 by [[Petronius]], one of the characters, Niceros, tells a story at a banquet about a friend who turned into a wolf (chapters 61–62). He describes the incident as follows, {{qi|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.}}<ref>{{cite book |author=Petronius |author-link= Petronius |title=Satyrica |year= 1996 |publisher= University of California |location= Berkeley |isbn= 0-520-20599-5 |page=56|others= R. Bracht Branham and Daniel Kinney}}</ref>

[[Early Christianity|Early Christian]] authors also mentioned werewolves. In ''[[The City of God]]'', [[Augustine of Hippo]] gives an account similar to that found in Pliny the Elder's ''Natural History''. Augustine explains that {{qi|It is very generally believed that by certain witches' spells men may be turned into wolves...}}<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''The City of God'', [https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_I/Volume_II/City_of_God/Book_XVIII/Chapter_17 XVIII.17]</ref> Physical metamorphosis was also mentioned in the ''Capitulatum Episcopi'', attributed to the [[Synod of Ancyra]] in the 4th century, which became the early [[Christian Church]]'s doctrinal text in relation to magic, witches, and transformations such as those of werewolves.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/witch/canon.html|title=Canon Episcopi|website=www.personal.utulsa.edu|access-date=27 March 2020|archive-date=6 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206122850/http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/witch/canon.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ''Capitulatum Episcopi'' states that {{qi|Whoever believes that anything can be...transformed into another species or likeness, except by God Himself...is beyond doubt an infidel.}}<ref name=":0" />

In the works of the early Roman Christian writers, werewolves often received the name ''versipellis'' ("turnskin"). Augustine{{which|date=May 2025}} instead used the phrase "''in lupum fuisse mutatum''" (changed into the form of a wolf) to describe the metamorphosis of werewolves, which is similar to phrases used in the medieval period.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

=== Middle Ages ===
There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe, spanning across the [[European continent]] and [[British Isles]]. Werewolves were mentioned in medieval law codes, such as that of [[Cnut the Great]], whose ''Ecclesiastical Ordinances'' aimed to ensure that {{qi|...the madly audacious werewolf do[es] not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock.}}{{sfn|Otten|1986|pp=5–6}} [[Liutprand of Cremona]] reports a rumor that Bajan,{{efn|Also spelled Baianum, there is no evidence discovered as of May 2025 that Simeon I of Bulgaria had a son named Bajan.}} a son of [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]], could use magic to turn himself into a wolf.<ref>[https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_germ_41/index.htm#page/88/mode/1up ''Antapodosis'' 3.29]</ref> The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of [[Western Christianity]], being read widely by [[Christian clergy]] of the medieval period. These clergymen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works, including in [[Gerald of Wales]]'s ''[[Werewolves of Ossory]]''—found in his ''Topographica Hibernica''—and [[Gervase of Tilbury]]'s ''[[Otia Imperialia]]''; both works were written for royal audiences.{{according to whom|date=May 2025}}

Gervase of Tilbury, in ''Otia Imperialia'', reveals to the reader that belief in such transformations—he also mentions women turning into cats and snakes—was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase {{qi|i=y|{{lang|la|que ita dinoscuntur}}}} ('it is known') when discussing transformations. Writing in Germany, he also notifies the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for {{qi|...in England we have often seen men change into wolves}} ({{qi|i=y|{{lang|la|Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari...}}}}).<ref>Gervase of Tilbury, ''Otia Imperiala'', Book I, Chapter 15, translated and edited by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 86–87.</ref>

Further evidence of the widespread belief in werewolves and other human-to-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. [[Conrad of Hirsau]], writing in the 11th century, forbids reading stories in which a person's reasoning is obscured following such a transformation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Georg Schepss|first=Conradus Hirsaugiensis|url=http://archive.org/details/conradihirsaugi00hirsgoog|title=Conradi Hirsaugiensis Dialogus super Auctores sive Didascalon: Eine Literaturgeschichte aus den XII|date=1889|publisher=A. Stuber|others=Harvard University|language=la}}</ref> 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 {{qi|...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into the material limbs of any animal}} in his ''Liber de Spiritu et Anima''.<ref>Pseudo-Augustine, ''Liber de Spiritu et Anima'', Chapter 26, XVII</ref>

[[Marie de France]]'s [[Song poetry|song poem]] ''[[Bisclavret]]'' ({{circa|1200}}), a [[Breton lai]], is another example: 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, accompanying the king thereafter. His behavior at court was gentle until his wife and her new husband appeared one day—so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed.<ref>Marie de France, "Bisclavret", translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby, in ''The Lais of Marie de France'' (London: Penguin Books, 1999), 68.</ref>

The lai follows many themes found within other werewolf tales: the removal of clothing and attempted refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder,{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} as well as in Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf story about a werewolf named Chaucevaire. Marie de France also revealed the continued existence of werewolf-related beliefs in [[Brittany]] and [[Normandy]] in using the [[Norman language|Norman]] word ''garwulf'', which, she explains, are common in that part of France wherein {{qi|...many men turned into werewolves}}.<ref>Marie de France, "Bisclavret", translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby, in ''The Lais of Marie de France'' (London: Penguin Books, 1999), 68.</ref> Gervase supports this terminology when relating that the French used the term ''gerulfi'' to describe what the English called "werewolves".<ref>Gervase of Tilbury, ''Otia Imperiala'', Book I, Chapter 15, translated and edited by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 87.</ref> ''[[Melion]]'' and ''Biclarel'' are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf-knight being betrayed by his wife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Amanda |title=Melion and Biclarel: Two Old French Werewolf Lays |date=2005 |publisher=The University of Liverpool |isbn=0-9533816-9-2 |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/modern-languages-and-cultures/research/research-activities/liverpool-online-series/ |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>

The German word ''werwolf'' was recorded by [[Burchard von Worms]] in the 11th century and [[Bertold of Regensburg]] in the 13th century but was not used frequently in medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England (presumably because whatever significance the "wolf-men" of [[Germanic paganism]] had carried), their associated beliefs and practices had been successfully [[Christianisation of the Germanic peoples|repressed by Christianization]]; if they persisted, he writes, they did so outside of the sphere of evidence available.<ref>Baring-Gould, p. 100.{{incomplete short citation|date=May 2025}}</ref> Other examples of werewolf mythology in [[Ireland]] and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th-century [[Welsh people|Welsh]] monk [[Nennius]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} Female werewolves appear in the Irish work ''[[Acallam na Senórach]]'' (Tales of the Elders) from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves are noted in the 12th- to 13th-century work ''[[Mabinogion]]''.
[[File:Bronsplåt pressbleck Öland vendeltid.jpg|thumb|A [[Vendel period]] depiction of a warrior wearing a wolf skin (''[[Tierkrieger]]'').]]

Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the [[Scandinavia]]n [[Viking Age]]. [[Harald I of Norway]] is known to have had a body of an ''[[ulfhedinn]]'' ({{langx|non|ulfheðinn}}, {{literal translation|a warrior clothed in wolfskin}}; pl. {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}}), being mentioned in the [[Vatnsdæla saga]], [[Hrafnsmál]], and [[Völsunga saga]]. The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} were similar to the {{lang|non|berserkir}} ('berserkers') but dressed in [[Wolf hunting#Pelts|wolf]] rather than bear hides and were reputed to channel the spirits of the animals they wore to enhance effectiveness in battle.<ref name="Woodward" /> The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} were resistant to pain and vicious in battle, much like wild animals. The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} and {{lang|non|berserkir}} are closely associated with the [[Norse god]] [[Odin]].

The Scandinavian story traditions of the Viking Age may have spread to [[Kievan Rus']], giving rise to the [[Slavs|Slavic]] werewolf tales. The 11th-century [[Belarus]]ian prince [[Vseslav of Polotsk]] was recounted in ''[[The Tale of Igor's Campaign]]'' to have been a werewolf capable of moving at superhuman speeds:
{{blockquote|
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, [[Tmutarakan|Tmutorokan]]. The path of Great Sun, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in [[Polotsk]] they rang for [[matins]] early at [[Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv|St. Sophia]] the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev.
}}
The mythology described during the [[Middle Ages]] gave rise to two forms of werewolf folklore in [[early modern Europe]]. In one form, the Germanic werewolf became associated with [[European witchcraft]]; in the other, the Slavic werewolf ({{wikt-lang|sla-pro|vьlkolakъ}}) became associated with the [[revenant]] or [[vampire]]. The Eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], including Hungary, Romania, and the Balkans, while the Western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe, and the Baltics.

[[File:Werwolf.png|thumb|[[Woodcut]] of a werewolf attack by [[Lucas Cranach der Ältere]], 1512]]
Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the [[Valais witch trials]], one of the earliest such trials, in the first half of the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Modestin |first=Georg |date=2005 |title=Von den hexen, so in Wallis verbrant wurdent» Eine wieder entdeckte Handschrift mit dem Bericht des Chronisten Hans Fründ über eine Hexenverfolgung im Wallis (1428) |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/22050/files/I-N-268_2005_10_00.pdf |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=doc.rero.ch |pages=407–408}}</ref>

In 1539, [[Martin Luther]] used the form ''[[beerwolf]]'' to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cynthia Grant Schonberger |date=January–March 1979 |title=Luther and the Justification of Resistance to Legitimate Authority |journal=[[Journal of the History of Ideas]] |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.2307/2709257 |jstor=2709257 |s2cid=55409226}}; as specified in Luther's Collected Works, 39(ii) 41-42</ref>

In [[A Description of the Northern Peoples|''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 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magnus |first=Olaus |date=1555 |title=Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus |url=https://runeberg.org/olmagnus/ |access-date=31 October 2023 |website=runeberg.org |language=la}}</ref>

=== Early modern history ===
{{Further|Werewolf witch trials|Wolfssegen}}
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 [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]], but no association with wolves. In other cases, people have been terrified by such creatures, such as that of [[Gilles Garnier]] in [[Dole, Jura|Dole]] in 1573, who was convicted of being a werewolf.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rowlands |first1=Alison |title=Witchcraft and Masculinities in Early Modern Europe |pages=191–213 }}</ref>

[[File:Werewolf in Geneva (1580).png|thumb|In Geneva a man killed 16 children when he had changed himself into a wolf. He was executed on 15 October 1580. Coloured pen drawing, [[Johann Jakob Wick]], ''Sammlung von Nachrichten zur Zeitgeschichte aus den Jahren''. 1560–1587]]

Lycanthropy received peak attention in the late 16th to early 17th century as part of the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|European witch-hunts]].
A number of treatises on werewolves were written in France during 1595 and 1615. In 1598, werewolves were sighted in [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]]. In 1602, [[Henry Boguet]] wrote a lengthy chapter about werewolves. In 1603, a teenage werewolf was sentenced to life imprisonment in [[Bordeaux]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Demonologie |chapter=iii}}</ref>

In the Swiss Vaud region, werewolves were convicted in 1602 and 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 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".<ref>{{cite book |title=Demonologie |chapter=iii}}</ref>

After 1650, belief in lycanthropy had mostly disappeared from French-speaking Europe, as evidenced in [[Diderot's Encyclopedia]], which attributed reports of lycanthropy to a "disorder of the brain".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hoyt|first1=Nelly S. |translator=Cassierer, Thomas |title=The Encyclopedia: Selections: Diderot, d'Alembert and a Society of Men of Letters|date=1965|publisher=Bobbs-Merrill|location=Indianapolis}}</ref> 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 [[Provinces of France|former province]] of [[Gévaudan]], now called [[Lozère]], in south-central France. From 1764 to 1767, it killed upwards of 80 men, women, and children.{{sfn|Otten|1986|pp=161–167}}

The part of Europe which showed more vigorous interest in werewolves after 1650 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.{{sfn|Otten|1986|pp=161–167}} As late as in 1853, in [[Galicia (Spain)|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 the 20th century, [[wolf attack]]s were an occasional, but still 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 |publisher=Acta Zoologica Lituanica, 2003, Volumen 13, Numerus 1 |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307025815/http://www.lcie.org/Docs/Regions/Baltic/Linnell%20AZL%20Wolf%20attacks%20in%20Fennoscandia.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2008 }}</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, ''[[weretiger]]s'' in India,<ref name="Woodward" /> as well as ''werepumas'' ("{{illm|Runa uturuncu|es|lt=''runa uturuncu''}}")<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''".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816010101/http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/servlet/SirveObras/p243/12479418822381506109435/p0000001.htm |date=16 August 2017 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>[http://quipucultural.galeon.com/uturuncu.htm The Legend of the ''runa uturuncu'' in the Mythology of the Latin-American Guerilla.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711063421/http://quipucultural.galeon.com/uturuncu.htm |date=11 July 2011 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref> and ''werejaguars'' ("{{illm|Yaguareté-abá|pt|lt=''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 lang|es}}</ref><ref>J.B. Ambrosetti (1976). Fantasmas de la selva misionera ("''Ghosts of the Misiones Jungle''"). Editorial Convergencia: Buenos Aires.</ref> in southern South America.

An idea explored in [[Sabine Baring-Gould]]'s work ''The Book of Werewolves'' is that werewolf legends may have been used to explain [[serial killer|serial killings]]. Perhaps the most infamous example is the case of [[Peter Stumpp]], executed in 1589, the German farmer and alleged serial killer and [[Human cannibalism|cannibal]], also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1cs7mq_kxgC&q=The%20Werewolf%20Book%3A%20The%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Shape-Shifting%20Beings%202nd%20Edition&pg=PP1|title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings|last=Steiger|first=Brad|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=2011|isbn=978-1578593675|pages=267}}</ref>

=== Asian cultures ===
{{See also|Asena|Itbarak}}
Common [[Turkic mythology|Turkic folklore]] holds a different, reverential light to the werewolf legends in that Turkic Central Asian [[Shamanism|shamans]], after performing long and arduous rites, would voluntarily be able to transform into the humanoid "Kurtadam" (literally meaning "Wolfman"). Since the wolf was the totemic ancestor animal of the Turkic peoples, they would respect any shaman in such a form.

== Lycanthropy as a medical condition ==
{{see also|Hypertrichosis|Clinical lycanthropy}}
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 the symptoms of [[photosensitivity]], reddish teeth, and [[psychosis]] could have been grounds for accusing a person of being a werewolf.<ref name="Illis-1964">{{cite journal |last1=Illis |first1=L |title=On Porphyria and the Ætiology of Werwolves |journal=Proc R Soc Med |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=23–26 |date=Jan 1964 |pmid=14114172 |pmc=1897308}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Woodward" /> Others have pointed out the possibility of historical werewolves having been people with [[hypertrichosis]], 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.<ref name="Woodward" />

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 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.<ref name="Woodward" /> 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 a woman has been reported who during episodes of acute psychosis complained of becoming four different species of animals.<ref>Dening T R & West A (1989) "Multiple serial lycanthropy". ''Psychopathology'' 22: 344–347</ref>

== Folk beliefs ==
{{Further|Shapeshifting}}

=== Characteristics ===
[[File:GermanWoodcut1722.jpg|thumb|A German woodcut from 1722|270x270px]]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 [[Doppelgänger|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 a [[altered state of consciousness|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 telltale physical traits even in their human form. These included the [[Unibrow|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.<ref name="Woodward">{{cite book |title=The Werewolf Delusion |last=Woodward |first=Ian |year=1979 |publisher= Paddington Press |isbn=0-448-23170-0 }}{{unreliable source?|date=April 2013}}{{page needed|date=April 2013}}</ref>

The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It 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 a tail.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Varulv|url=http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|access-date=16 May 2011|series=Väsen|credits=[[Ebbe Schön]]|network=[[Sveriges Television|SVT]]|airdate=16 May 2011|language=sv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414121333/http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|archive-date=14 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression.<ref name="Woodward" />
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.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Becoming a werewolf ===
Various methods for becoming a werewolf have been reported, with 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 [[Flying ointment|magic salve]].<ref name="Fate" />

The 16th-century Swedish writer [[Olaus Magnus]] says that the [[Livonia]]n 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. In Italy, France and Germany, it was said that a man or woman could turn into a werewolf if he or she, on a certain Wednesday or Friday, slept outside on a summer night with the full moon shining directly on his or her face.<ref name="Woodward" />

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. [''[[sic]]'']}}

The phenomenon of repercussion, the power of animal [[metamorphosis]], or of sending out a [[Familiar spirit|familiar]], real or spiritual, as a messenger, and the supernormal powers conferred by association with such a familiar, are also attributed to the [[magic (paranormal)|magician]], male and female, all the world over; and [[Witchcraft|witch]] superstitions are closely parallel to, if not identical with, lycanthropic beliefs, the occasional involuntary character of lycanthropy being almost the sole distinguishing feature. In another direction, the phenomenon of repercussion is asserted to manifest itself in connection with the bush-soul of the West African and the ''[[nagual]]'' of [[Central America]]; although there is no line of demarcation to be drawn on logical grounds, the assumed power of the magician and the intimate association of the bush-soul or the ''nagual'' with a human being are not termed lycanthropy.

The curse of lycanthropy was also considered by some scholars as being a [[Divine judgment|divine punishment]]. Werewolf literature shows many examples of [[God]] or [[saint]]s allegedly cursing those who invoked their wrath with lycanthropy. Such is the case of [[Lycaon (king of Arcadia)|Lycaon]], who was turned into a wolf by [[Zeus]] as punishment for slaughtering one of his own sons and serving his remains to the gods as a dinner. 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; [[Natalis of Ulster|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.

A notable exception to the association of lycanthropy and the Devil comes from a rare and lesser known account of an 80-year-old man named [[Thiess of Kaltenbrun|Thiess]]. In 1692, in [[Jürgensburg]], [[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|0-941694-38-0}} pp. 136–137.</ref>
He claimed they were warriors who descended into hell to battle witches and [[demon]]s. Their efforts ensured that the Devil and his minions did not carry off the grain from local failed crops down to hell. Thiess was ultimately sentenced to ten lashes for idolatry and [[Superstition|superstitious belief]].

=== Remedies ===
Various methods have existed for removing the werewolf form. 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 practice 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 lycanthropy: medicinally (usually via the use of [[Aconitum|wolfsbane]]), surgically, or by [[exorcism]]. Many of the cures advocated by medieval medical practitioners proved fatal to the patients. A Sicilian 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. 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. One Danish belief holds that merely scolding a werewolf will cure it.<ref name="Woodward" /> Conversion to Christianity was a common method of removing lycanthropy in the medieval period. A devotion to [[Hubertus|St. Hubert]] has been cited as both cure for and protection from lycanthropes.

=== Connection to revenants ===
{{Further|Revenant}}
Before the end of the 19th century, the Greeks believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life in the form of wolves or hyenas that 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.
These "undead" 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 was thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used. The [[vampire]] was linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as ''vulkodlak''.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Hungary and Balkans ===
In [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] folklore, werewolves are said to live in the region of [[Transdanubia]], and it was thought that the ability to change into a wolf was obtained in infancy, after suffering parental abuse or by a curse. It is told that, at the age of seven, the boy or the girl leave home at night to go hunting, and can change to a person or wolf whenever they want. The curse can also be obtained in adulthood if a person passes three times through an arch made of [[birch]] with the help of a wild [[rose]]'s spine.

The werewolves were known to exterminate all kind of farm animals, especially sheep. The transformation usually occurred during the [[winter solstice]], [[Easter]] and a full moon. Later in the 17th and 18th century, the trials in Hungary were not only conducted against witches, but against werewolves, too, and many records exist documenting connections between the two. Vampires and werewolves are closely related in Hungarian folklore, both being feared in antiquity.<ref>Szabó, György. Mitológiai kislexikon, I–II, Budapest: Merényi Könyvkiadó (év nélkül) Mitólogiai kislexikon. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Among the [[South Slavs]], and among the ethnic [[Kashubians|Kashubian people]] in present-day northern Poland, there was the belief that if a child was born with hair, a birthmark, or a caul on their head, they were supposed to possess shapeshifting 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">{{Cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Roy |last2=Davidson |first2=Hilda Ellis |author2-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |year=1997 |title=World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide |publisher=Piaktus |isbn=0-7499-1739-3 |oclc=37594992}}</ref>

[[Serbia]]n [[Vrykolakas#Etymology|''vukodlak''s]] traditionally had the habit of congregating annually in the winter months, when they would strip off their wolfskins and hang them from trees. They would then get a hold of another ''vulkodlak''{{'}}s skin and burn it, releasing from its curse the ''vukodlak'' from whom the skin came.<ref name="Woodward" />

=== Caucasus ===
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 {{ISBN?}}</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. There are alternate versions involving voluntary metamorphosis, where the women can transform at will.

=== Americas and Caribbean ===
{{Main|Skin-walker}} {{See also|Soucouyant|Rougarou}}
The Naskapis believed that the [[Reindeer|caribou]] afterlife is guarded by giant wolves that 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
| title = Of Wolves and Men
| year = 1978
| isbn = 0-7432-4936-4
| publisher = Scribner Classics
| location = New York
| oclc = 54857556}}</ref>
Woodward thought that these beliefs were due to the [[Norse colonization of North America|Norse colonization of the Americas]].<ref name="Woodward" />
When the [[European colonization of the Americas]] occurred, the pioneers brought their own werewolf folklore with them and were later influenced by the lore of their neighbouring colonies and those of the Natives. Belief in the ''loup-garou'' present in [[Canada]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ransom |first1=Amy J. |title=The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French-Canadian "Loup-garou" |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |date=2015 |volume=26 |issue=2 (93) |pages=251–275 |jstor=26321112 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26321112 |access-date=24 August 2024 |issn=0897-0521}}</ref> the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of [[Michigan]],<ref>
[http://www.gphistorical.org/legends03.html Legends of Grosse Pointe].</ref> and upstate [[New York (state)|New York]] originates from French folklore influenced by Native American stories on the [[Wendigo]].

In [[Mexico]], there is a belief in a creature called the ''[[nagual]]''. 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. 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. 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" />

== Modern reception ==
=== Werewolf fiction ===
{{Main|Werewolf fiction}}
[[File:The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman.jpg|thumb|''The Were-Wolf'' by [[Clemence Housman]]]]
Most modern fiction describes werewolves as vulnerable to [[silver]] weapons and highly resistant to other injuries. This feature appears in German folklore of the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|first=D. L.|last=Ashliman|author-link=D. L. Ashliman|title=Werewolf Legends from Germany|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/werewolf.html#temmezarnow|website=pitt.edu|access-date=1 January 2022}}</ref> The claim that the [[Beast of Gévaudan]], an 18th-century wolf or wolflike creature, was shot by a silver bullet appears to have been introduced by novelists retelling the story from 1935 onwards and not in earlier versions.<ref>Robert Jackson (1995) ''Witchcraft and the Occult''. Devizes, Quintet Publishing: 25.</ref><ref>{{cite book|language=fr|first1=Benoît|last1=Baud'huin|first2=Alain|last2=Bonet|year=1995|title=Gévaudan: petites histoires de la grande bête|publisher= Ex Aequo Éditions|page=193|isbn=978-2-37873-070-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|language=fr|first=Guy|last=Crouzet|year=2001|title=La grande peur du Gévaudan|publisher= Guy Crouzet|pages=156–158|isbn=2-9516719-0-3}}</ref>

English folklore, prior to 1865, showed shapeshifters to be vulnerable to silver: {{qi|...till the publican shot a silver button over their heads when they were instantly transformed into two ill-favoured old ladies...}}<ref>[[Sabine Baring-Gould]]. "The Book of Were-Wolves". (1865) p. 101</ref> {{circa|1640}} the city of Greifswald, Germany was infested by werewolves. {{qi|A clever lad suggested that they gather all their silver buttons, goblets, belt buckles, and so forth, and melt them down into bullets for their muskets and pistols. ... this time they slaughtered the creatures and rid Greifswald of the lycanthropes.}}<ref>Temme, J.D.H. Die Volkssagen von Pommern und Rugen. Translated by [[D.L. Ashliman]]. Berlin: In de Nicolaischen Buchhandlung, 1840.</ref>

The 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]'' and the short story "[[Dracula's Guest]]", both written by [[Bram Stoker]], drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late [[Victorian age|Victorian]] [[patriarchy]]".<ref name=Sellers>Sellers, Susan. ''Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women's Fiction'', Palgrave Macmillan (2001) p. 85.</ref> In "Dracula's Guest", a band of military horsemen coming to the aid of the protagonist chase off Dracula, depicted as a great wolf stating the only way to kill it is by a "Sacred Bullet".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Brett|title=Dracula's Guest|page=11|url=http://www.bramstoker.org/pdf/stories/03guest/01guest.pdf|quote="A wolf{{snd}}and yet not a wolf!" ... "No use trying for him without the sacred bullet," a third remarked}}</ref> This is also mentioned in the main novel Dracula as well. [[Count Dracula]] stated in the novel that legends of werewolves originated from his [[Székelys|Szekely]] racial bloodline,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Bram|title=Dracula|chapter=Ch 3, Johnathon Harker's Journal|page=42|url=http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/Dracula.pdf|quote='We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lordship. Here, in the whirlpool of European races, the Ugric tribe bore down from Iceland the fighting spirit which Thor and Wodin gave them, which their Berserkers displayed to such fell intent on the seaboards of Europe, aye, and of Asia and Africa too, till the peoples thought that the werewolves themselves had come.}}</ref> who himself is also depicted with the ability to [[shapeshifting|shapeshift]] into a wolf at will during the night but is unable to do so during the day except at noon.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoker|first1=Bram|title=Dracula|chapter=Ch 18, Mina Harker's Journal|url=http://www.planetebook.com/ebooks/Dracula.pdf|quote=His power ceases, as does that all of all evil things, at the coming of the day. Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or exact sunrise or sunset.}}</ref>

The 1928 novel ''The Wolf's Bride: A Tale from Estonia'', written by the [[Finland|Finnish]] author [[Aino Kallas]], tells story of the forester Priidik's wife Aalo living in [[Hiiumaa]] in the 17th century, who became a werewolf under the influence of a malevolent forest spirit, also known as ''Diabolus Sylvarum''.<ref>Chantal Bourgault Du Coudray, ''The Curse of the Werewolf : Fantasy, Horror and the Beast Within''. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1429462655}} (pp. 112, 169)</ref>

The first feature film to use an [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] werewolf was ''[[Werewolf of London]]'' in 1935. 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=165–167 |year=1988 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |isbn=0-8109-0922-7}}</ref> as lead actor [[Henry Hull]] was unwilling to spend long hours being made up by makeup artist [[Jack Pierce (makeup artist)|Jack Pierce]].<ref>Clemens, pp. 119–120.</ref> [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] drew on a Balkan tale of a plant associated with lycanthropy as there was no literary work to draw upon, unlike the case with vampires. There is no reference to silver nor other aspects of werewolf lore such as cannibalism.<ref>Clemens, pp. 117–118.</ref>

A more tragic character is [[Lawrence Talbot]], played by [[Lon Chaney Jr.]] in 1941's ''[[The Wolf Man (1941 film)|The Wolf Man]]''. With Pierce's makeup more elaborate this time,<ref name=Clem120>Clemens, p. 120.</ref> the movie catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness.<ref name=FoSFF/> Sympathetic portrayals are few but notable, such as the comedic but tortured protagonist [[David Naughton (actor)|David Naughton]] in ''[[An American Werewolf in London]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger|first= Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings|publisher=Visible Ink |location=Farmington Hills, MI |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057 |page=12}}</ref> and a less anguished and more confident and charismatic [[Jack Nicholson]] in the 1994 film ''[[Wolf (1994 film)|Wolf]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger |first= Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings |publisher=Visible Ink |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057 |page= 330}}</ref> Over time, the depiction of werewolves has gone from fully malevolent to even heroic creatures, such as in the ''[[Underworld (film series)|Underworld]]'' and ''[[Twilight (novel series)|Twilight]]'' series, as well as ''[[Blood Lad]]'', ''[[Dance in the Vampire Bund]]'', ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'', and various other movies, [[anime]], [[manga]], and [[comic book]]s.

Other werewolves are decidedly more willful and malevolent, such as those in the novel ''[[The Howling]]'' and its subsequent sequels and [[The Howling (film)|film adaptations]]. The form a werewolf assumes was generally anthropomorphic in early films such as ''The Wolf Man'' and ''Werewolf of London'', but a larger and powerful wolf in many later films.<ref>{{cite book |last=Steiger |first=Brad |title=The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shapeshifting Beings |publisher=Visible Ink |year=1999 |isbn=1-57859-078-7 |oclc=41565057|page=17}}</ref>

Werewolves are often depicted as immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to [[silver]] objects, such as a silver-tipped cane, [[Silver bullet|bullet]] or [[blade]]; this attribute was first adopted cinematically in ''The Wolf Man''.<ref name=Clem120/> 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 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 to conventional injury due to their healing factor, superhuman speed and strength, and falling on their feet from high falls. Aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be intensified and more difficult to control, such as hunger, and sexual arousal. Usually in these cases, the abilities are diminished in human form. In other fiction, it can be cured by medicine men or antidotes.

Along with the vulnerability to the silver bullet, the full moon being the cause of the transformation only became part of the depiction of werewolves on a widespread basis in the twentieth century.<ref name="WicherSpyra2014">{{cite book|author1=Andrzej Wicher|author2=Piotr Spyra|author3=Joanna Matyjaszczyk|title=Basic Categories of Fantastic Literature Revisited|year=2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-7143-3|pages=95–96}}</ref> The first movie to feature the transformative effect of the full moon was ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'' in 1943.<ref name="Cook2011">{{cite book|first=Donald F.|last=Glut|title=The Frankenstein Archive|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786413530|page=19}}</ref>

Werewolves are typically envisioned as "working-class" monsters, often being low in [[socioeconomic status]], although they can represent a variety of social classes and at times were seen as a way of representing "aristocratic decadence" during 19th-century horror literature.<ref>Crossen, Carys Elizabeth. ''The Nature of the Beast: Transformations of the Werewolf from the 1970s to the Twenty-first Century''. University of Wales Press, 2019, p. 206</ref><ref>Senn, Bryan. ''The Werewolf Filmography: 300+ Movies''. McFarland, 2017, p. 8</ref><ref>Wilson, Natalie. ''Seduced by Twilight: The allure and contradictory messages of the popular saga''. McFarland, 2014, p. 39</ref>

=== Nazi Germany ===
Nazi Germany used ''Werwolf'', as the mythical creature's name is spelled in German, in 1942–43 as the codename for [[Werwolf (Wehrmacht HQ)|one of Hitler's headquarters]]. In the war's final days, the Nazi "Operation [[Werwolf]]" aimed at creating a commando force that would operate behind enemy lines as the Allies advanced through Germany itself.

Two fictional depictions of "Operation Werwolf"{{snd}}the US television series ''[[True Blood]]'' and the 2012 novel ''Wolf Hunter'' by J. L. Benét{{snd}}mix the two meanings of "Werwolf" by depicting the 1945 diehard Nazi commandos as being actual werewolves.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boissoneault |first1=Lorraine |title=The Nazi Werewolves Who Terrorized Allied Soldiers at the End of WWII |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nazi-werewolves-who-terrorized-allied-soldiers-end-wwii-180970522/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |publisher=The Smithsonian |access-date=27 May 2020}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Asena]]
* [[Damarchus]]
* [[Keibu Keioiba]]
* [[Kitsune]]
* [[Nagual]]
* [[Pricolici]]
* {{illm|Runa uturuncu|es|lt=''runa uturuncu''}} - werepuma 
* [[Werecat]]
* [[Wulver]]
* [[Werewolf witch trials]]
* {{illm|Yaguareté-abá|pt|lt=''yaguaraté-abá''}} - werejaguar

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
=== Secondary sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Butler|first=Francis|date=2005|title=Russian "vurdalak" 'vampire' and Related Forms in Slavic|journal=Journal of Slavic Linguistics|volume=13|issue=2 |pages=237–250|jstor=24599657}}
* {{Cite book |last=de Blécourt |first=Willem |title=Werewolf Histories |publisher=Springer |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-137-52634-2|author-link=Willem de Blécourt}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|author-link=Xavier Delamarre|date=2007|title=Gallo-Brittonica (suite: 11–21)|journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie|volume=55|issue=1|doi=10.1515/ZCPH.2007.29|s2cid=163928150 |issn=0084-5302}}
* {{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|publisher=Brill|year=1962|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (philologist)}}
* {{cite book |title=The Beast Within: A History of the Werewolf |url=https://archive.org/details/beastwithin0000doug |url-access=registration |last=Douglas |first=Adam |year=1992 |publisher=Chapmans |location=London |isbn=0-380-72264-X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Brian J. |title=The Essential Guide to Werewolf Literature |date=2003 |publisher=Popular Press |isbn=978-0-87972-860-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goens |first=Jean |title=Loups-garous, vampires et autres monstres : enquêtes médicales et littéraires |publisher=CNRS Editions |location=Paris |year=1993}}
* {{cite book|last=Koch|first=John T.|title=Celto-Germanic, Later Prehistory and Post-Proto-Indo-European vocabulary in the North and West |publisher=University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies|year=2020|isbn=978-1907029325|author-link=John T. Koch}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lecouteux |first=Claude |title=Witches, Werewolves, and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages |date=2003 |publisher=Inner Traditions/Bear |isbn=978-0-89281-096-3|author-link=Claude Lecouteux}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nichols|first=Johanna|year=1987|chapter=Russian vurdalak 'werewolf' and its cognates|title=Language literature linguistics: In honor of Francis Whitfield on his seventieth birthday March 25, 1986|editor-last1=Flier|editor-first1=Michael S.|editor-last2=Karlinsky|editor-first2=Simon|publisher=Berkeley Slavic Specialties|isbn=978-0933884588|author-link=Johanna Nichols}}
* {{Cite book|last=Orel|first=Vladimir|title=A Handbook of Germanic Etymology|year=2003|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-12875-0|author-link=Vladimir Orel}}
* {{Cite book |last=Otten |first=Charlotte F. |title=The Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8156-2384-7}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|title=[[Oxford English Dictionary Online]]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2021|ref={{harvid|Oxford English Dictionary|2021}}}}
* {{Cite book|last=West|first=Martin L.|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|year=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-928075-9|author-link=Martin Litchfield West}}
{{refend}}

=== Primary sources ===
* 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]])
* 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.
* Bourquelot and [[Jean de Nynauld]], ''De la Lycanthropie, Transformation et Extase des Sorciers'' (Paris, 1615).
* [[Montague Summers|Summers, Montague]], ''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}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Baring-Gould|first=Sabine |title=The Book of Werewolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition |url=https://archive.org/details/bookwerewolvesb00barigoog/mode/2up |publisher=[[Smith, Elder & Co.]] |location=London |year=1865}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=MrAz3l7VrqMC&lpg Google Books]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Werwolf}}
* Grimm, ''[[Deutsche Mythologie]]'', 4, ii. and iii.
* Hertz, ''Der Werwolf'' (Stuttgart, 1862)
* Leubuscher, ''Über die Wehrwölfe'' (1850)
* {{cite book |last=Sconduto|first= Leslie A. |title=Metamorphoses of the ''werewolf'': a literary study from antiquity through the Renaissance}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart|first= Caroline Taylor |title=The origin of the werewolf superstition|url=https://archive.org/details/originofwerewolf00stewrich|publisher= University of Missouri Studies|year= 1909|isbn= 978-0524023778 }}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Werewolves}}

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