SPOOKY TIME. Welcome back, Herders!
In
folklore, a
werewolf[a] (from
Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally
lycanthrope[b] (from
Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος,
lukánthrōpos, 'wolf-human'), is an individual that can
shapeshift into a
wolf (or, especially in modern film, a
therianthropic hybrid wolf-like 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.
[c] Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called
lycanthropy,
[d] 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
Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the
medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the
New World with
colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in
witches, in the course of 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, accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials.
[e] 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
persecution of supposed werewolves, primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of
wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650, the final cases taking place in the early 18th century in
Carinthia and
Styria.
[f]