|
|
The metamorphosis of man becoming a wolf (or another animal) is physicaly impossible.
In the middle ages the believe in Werewolfs was wide spread: the stories and legends about Werewolfs come from Scaninavia, France, Germany, Central- and Eastern Europe, the Balkan and Greece.
The Werewolf-idea probably has it's origins from the prehistoric hunters who use to wrap themselves in hides, made by the skin of a wolf, because they believed that they would posses the same powers as this feared predator.
The Werewolf legends in which the transformation took place by full moon also descended from the prehistory.
When humans tamed wild dogs for the hunt they must have seen how these animals howled to a full moon.
Throughout the whole social development of man kind, the moon, the hunt and wolfs were connected in more and more myths.
In many legends the godess of the moon hunts (like the Roman Diane, the Greek Artemis and the Babolonic Ishtar) with her hounds which are man transformed into wolfs.
And so was the myth of the Werewolf born.
Lycanthropy (meaning wolfman) influenced the Werewolf-idea because it was often wrongly seen as a synonym for Werewolfs.
Lycanthropy is an existing psychical illness: that was discovered by the scientist Marcellus Sidetes in the second century after Christ.
Someone who suffers of Lycanthropy believes that he can transform himself into a wolf. Depending on the seriousness of the case, Lycanthropen tear up raw meat with their teeth, howl and scream at the moon and attack other people with a devastading blood-thirst in which they slice the throat of their victum open in an uncontroleble rage.
History is full of these Werewolf stories, the middle ages as peak. This shows due to the fact that there were (only) in France between 1520 and 1630, 30.000 processes about werewolfs. In reality the criminals suffered of Lycanthropy and other mental illnesses that can cause cannibalism and serial murders.
The abundance of Werewolf stories in middle age Europe originate from the many characterizes that you could according to the folklore recognize a Werewolf. Things to look for when you come in contact with a Werewolf; - smal pointed ears, teeth that stand forward and continuous eyebrows.
To shake a persons hand was a good appertunity to look for more clues, like a hairy palm of the hand, long curved fingernails and an unusual long middle finger.
But how did someone become a Werewolf?
Old legends provide many possibilities. Besides actions like wearing magic-coats made from the skin of a wolf or attending magic rituals, there were many way's to become a victim to this evil metamorphosis.
Everyone who drank from a pool on a wolf-trail or from a creek becomes a Werewolf. Also if you eat meat or the brains of a Wolf or even the flesh of a sheep killed by a Wolf then you will become a Werewolf.
The middle-agers from Europe were consolated by the believe that werewolfs could be kept at a distants by hanging a nail of a wolf above the door. They also believed that these "animals" were mortal and could be killed by a consecrated bullet.
In our modern time there are many explanations for the believe in Werewolfs.
Two supposed qualities of a Werewolf are foam on it's mouth and the possibility to transform everyone that it bites in a Werewolf. This points to Rabies; a wolf with Rabies has foam on it's mouth and it's mostlikely that - especialy in the middle ages - who ever was bitten cought this disease and showed the same symptoms.
Ones the Werewolf was a devilish and frightening creature. Nowadays he has, thanks to the in Hollywood created picture, a own place in our culture. Just as the movie-Vampire, the Werewolf of the big screen becomes more lovable, courteous and erotic.
But how and Why?
Fears and inventions from the primitive past have no place anymore in this century of technology. The Werewolf legends are exposed as fiction and more often as ridiculous. Nowadays we know that the real metamorphosis of the Werewolf only exists in folk-legends. We will never be attacked by a lustful Werewolf.
From Nightmare Monster to Megastar: The legend of the Werewolf has gone through a change that is just as dramatic as the metamorphosis of the Werewolf in earlier times.