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by ladyspica on October 28th, 2004

ladyspica

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Where does the legend of werewolves come from?

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  • by Graendal on November 1st, 2004

    Graendal

    Also know as Lycanthropy, the word comes from the Greek lykoi, "wolf", and anthropos, "man".

    The legend of the werewolf is one of the most ancient and wide spread. Stories of werewolves can be found as far back as history has been written. These shape-shifter myths can be found all over the word from China to Iceland and Brazil to Haiti.

    Some of the earliest accounts of werewolves come from Romania and Greek sources. Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, told of King Lycaeon, who was visited by passing gods. Not believing them to be true gods he decided to test them by serving human flesh in one of the many dishes served at a banquet in their honor. Cannibalism being very frowned upon in that part of the world was a major slight indeed. Upon discovering the tainted dish, the gods changed King Lycaeon into a werewolf -- since he obviously liked human flesh, the wolf form would be a more acceptable form to take part in such a vile activity

    The most widely know story of the werewolf would be Little Red Riding Hood. There are many ancient were tales to worn the fragile, small and easiest of targets -- children. Little Red Riding Hood features a wolf who talks to Little Red Riding Hood and then dresses in grandmas clothing to fool the innocent little girl. Not something any 'ol wolf could do.

    The full moon has been linked to werewolves. Conversely, unlike movie werewolves, 'real' werewolves change shape voluntarily. In many myths they are witches who take animal form to travel unnoticed using either a potion made from magic ingredients - the fat of dead children, herbs, human blood - or an animal-skin. A 'real' werewolf changes completely, becoming the animal rather than a hairy human. The full moon business seems to be dramatic license. However it is an interesting notion since the full moon has been associated with creating madness in humans and to be a time during which man and beast have a magical connection.

    As with witches, finding a werewolf largely seems to be a matter of looking hard enough. Some of the warning signs, according to the world's myths, are:

    - Red hair
    - Born on the 25th of December
    - Eyebrows join in the middle
    - Index and middle fingers are of the same length
    - Love of rare or raw meat
    - Hairs on the palms of the hands
    - Hair on the inside of the skin (that seems like a tough one to check!)
    - Will change back to a human if you throw a piece of iron or steel over its head when in animal form.

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