Belief in werewolves has something magically attractive and at the same time something very frightening. In any case, this belief has deep roots. For example, the transformation of people into animals is part of legends from prehistoric times. In mythology, the power of shapeshifting was also attributed to the gods and heroes.
Divine Transfiguration
That the ability of shapeshifting had already been attributed to gods and heroes from mythology is evident from the following:
- Scandinavia: The Scandinavian god Odin could transform himself into an eagle;
- Ancient Rome: The Roman god Jupiter could transform himself into a bull;
- Greece: The Greek goddess Artemis turned Actaeon into a deer.
Companions of the werewolf
There are relatives of the werewolf in almost all parts of the world. Thus we find:
- weretigers in India. In his book on werewolves, Elliott O’Donnell tells of the eyewitness accounts of an Indian boy who turned into a tiger;
- Javanese children became panthers;
- there are African were leopards, were hyenas, were crocodiles;
- werebears and werewolves appear in stories in Russia.
Remark
It is striking that were animals are almost always creatures that inspire fear. For example, no one hears anyone talking about a peaceful and slow weather turtle.
The trail back
From the beginning, people have wanted to know the origins of stories about and belief in werewolves. Many authors trace the origins of this to the time when prehistoric man began to wrap himself in animal skins. At the same time, it was also customary to invoke the spirit of a mighty animal by putting on animal skins, with which one hoped to gain the animal’s power.
The berserkers
The word berserk means frenzied rage and is derived from bear sark. The bear skin that the berserkers wore is called ‘Bear sark’. Berserkers were Norse warriors from a bygone era. They fought with ferocity and took advantage of the prevailing fear of wild beasts by wearing bear skins in their battles. Before plunging into the attack, these bands from the far north whipped themselves into a state of diabolical madness. During the attack they roared like animals and foamed at the mouth. In the same way that the word has survived, the memory of the barbarian warriors may also have contributed to the creation of werewolf legends.
The theory of Dr. Robert Eisler
Dr. Robert Eisler was an expert on old sagas and legends. In his book ‘Man Into Wolf’ (From man to wolf) he developed a fascinating theory about the origins of the werewolf stories. Dr. Robert assumes that man was once a peaceful vegetarian. However, this changed due to changes in the climate (arrival of the ice ages), which forced humans to switch to new and different food. To stay alive, man was forced to wrap himself in animal skins, hunt and imitate the behavior of predatory wild animals. He became an omnivore with a great need for meat. Gradually, man developed the same bloodlust as animals, even turning to cannibalism in times of severe food shortage. Dr. Robert Eisler believes that that drastic change from peaceful vegetarian to bloodthirsty hunter left scars in the human subconscious, to which the werewolf legend can be traced.
Obvious statements
In addition to this theory of Dr. Robert Eisler, there are also more obvious explanations.
- Even today, fur is still worn as protection against the winter cold. A person dressed in fur could easily be mistaken for an animal;
- The former incendiary bands consisted of barbarians dressed in skins (the berserkers). It is not impossible that these bands of Scandinavian raiders in their bear skins have given rise to stories about werewolves. For what poor villager, in his fear of a wild horde of beastly attackers, could distinguish between men in animal skins and wolves?
- Some people suffer from a disease that causes large amounts of hair to grow all over the body. This abnormality is called Hypertrichosis universalis and is a hereditary syndrome. The cause of this excess hair is due to a genetic defect. The appearance of such patients can also explain werewolf stories. Especially because in earlier times people did not understand this kind of ailments;
- Stories about werewolves may also have originated from rumors that spread when lost – or abandoned – children were raised by a pack of wolves. Such children would have mastered the way of life of wild animals.
Yet the theory developed by Dr. Robert Eisler is the most attractive.
Metempsychosis
Baring-Gould draws attention to the concept of metempsychosis . This concept refers to the transition of the soul after death. The soul passes from one body to another. This phenomenon – believes Baring-Gould – leads to ‘the longing and groping of the soul for the source from which its own consciousness is derived, its dreams and visions being flashes of memories of previous states of existence’ .
Unconscious
In psychology, the werewolf is a monster from the unconscious, ‘the beast within us’, which can still appear in our dream life. The American psychoanalyst, Dr. Nandor Fodor, has recorded a number of patients’ dreams in which the werewolf theme plays a predominant role, complete with all the nasty details of shapeshifting, wild robberies and killing.
Primal instinct
It seems very unlikely that a human being can transform into a werewolf or other wereanimal, but it is certain that humans often imitate wild animals. One method for this is to wrap themselves in skins. The psychological significance of this should certainly not be underestimated. The primal instinct of shapeshifting finds its most extreme expression in the secret sect of the Leopard Men in West Africa. This sect claimed that their secret ceremonies strengthened tribal feeling and protected them against major Western influences in Africa. The leopard men, dressed in leopard skins and armed with a sharp iron hook in the shape of a leopard’s claw, killed – during special ceremonies – the members of other tribes they had captured in the jungle. The victims were then eaten.