Werewolves
a short overview of lore and art

December 9th 2006 - by O.S.

This article has an image gallery. Click here or on one of the thumbnails below to open it as a companion to the article.

"Though thou art abandoned, be not waylaid
By the hungry Werewolves of London Town"

Werewolves are quite a common sight in the myths and folklore of many peoples around the world. Women and men, able to shift their shape into that of a ravenous wolf, or perhaps cursed to do so. A form of heathen magic, a punishment of the gods, or a spell of the Devil. Lycanthropy, as it is also known, can take many forms.

In this short article, I will present some of the roles that werewolves took in the history of western culture, from ancient Greece and Rome, to the Scandinavia of the Vikings, the Mediaeval times of the European continent, and later folklore. In the end, I will point your attention to the appearance of werewolf themes in some modern literature and music.

The most important tale of lycanthropy from ancient times, and the one where the term is derived from, is that of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, as told by Ovid in Metamorphoses. Lycaon dared to doubt the divine nature of Jupiter when the latter appeared in his palace, and he was punished by the supreme God with the wolf curse:

"In vain he attempted to speak; from that very instant
His jaws were bespluttered with foam, and only he thirsted
For blood, as he raged amongst flocks and panted for slaughter.
His vesture was changed into hair, his limbs became crooked;
A wolf,- he retains yet large trace of his ancient expression,
Hoary he is as afore, his countenance rabid,
His eyes glitter savagely still, the picture of fury." [Metamorphoses I, 233-239 = SBG p. 10] [Ovidius p. 23]

Of course, the Gods had the power to change men into different shapes, and they themselves also regularly did so. One need only remember the many shapes which Zeus took to impregnate various women. The Gods of the Norse pantheon were apt to change their forms into that of animals as well. Loki, for example, changes into the form of a mare to aid the Aesir in getting out of a deal with a giant. In the process, he also became pregnant by the giant's stallion Swadilfari, and gave birth to Sleipnir, Odin's steed.

But the concept of human shape-changers was not foreign to the minds of the Norse either. It was believed that certain men could take the shape of an animal, their body changing entirely. Another, related, form is called skipta hömum in Icelandic (literally 'shape-' or 'form-shifting'), and this means transplanting your spirit into an animal's body, and taking possession of it, whilst leaving your own body behind in a catatonic state. When taking the form of the wolf, a fury and bloodlust also took over the spirit, as was the case with Lycaon.

In the mediaeval Icelandic Völsungasaga, we meet werewolf tales in two of the chapters. In chapter V, it is told of a she-wolf who was slain by Sigmund. It was rumoured that she was the mother of King Siggeir, and that she had changed herself into the shape of a wolf by witchcraft. [1]
In chapter VIII, Sigmund and his nephew Sinfjötli enter the house of two shape-shifters, and take the wolf-skins with which they changed themselves into wolves for a time and slay several men. [2]

These and many other accounts of werewolf lore can be found in what is still one the most important books on the subject: Sabine Baring-Gould's The Book of Werewolves. In Chapters 5 through 7 of his book, many accounts can be found of werewolf lore, and even trials, in the Middle Ages. It is therefore no surprise that these creatures found their way into the folklore of many countries.

In Norwegian folklore, for example, we also find the distinction between those who became a werewolf voluntarily, and those who were bewitched. In Tor Åge Bringsværd's Phantoms and Fairies from Norwegian Folklore, we find that it was often thought to be Finns and Laplanders that turned people into wolves. It is told of the Finn Andrianus that:

Once he changed a rich man into a wolf - a miserly fellow, who could never afford anything, but only went in for stealing what he could from others. Then it happened, because of a deal, that Andrianus was angry with him too, and so he changed him into a wolf. According to the story, the rich man remained a wolf for three years, and then he was able to feel what it was like to go hungry. But afterwards, when he had turned into a man again, he would cry every time he heard the wolves howling. 'No one can imagine how much the wolf starves,' he said, and then he hastened to turn out a cow for them. Every Christmas Eve he was in the barn, and let out his big ox to them...' 'so they won't have to starve tonight, at any rate,' he said. [TAB p. 86]

Obviously, one can find many many more werewolf tales in collections of folklore from almost any country. I will therefore leave folklore itself aside now, and turn to some more modern interpretations. First of all, I'm staying close to the scope of the site, and coming up with a neofolk track. Fire + Ice have a song on their album Birdking, entitled "The Werewolves of London Town", an enigmatic ballad about the hidden dangers of a large town:

Beware the days of the year, little man
When the moon hath a face like a silver crown
Cleave if thou may´st to the home of thy clan
And hide from the Werewolves of London Town

Beware the coverts and courts, little maid
Where walks the man with the coat of brown
Though thou art abandoned, be not waylaid
By the hungry Werewolves of London Town

Beware the alleys and lanes, my son
Those shining eyes and their power of sewn
If thou art sighted, be not undone
By the mighty Werewolves of London Town

Beware the starlit nights, my child
And pretty lady in the sleek white gown
Though thou art forsaken, be not beguiled
By the charming Werewolves of London Town

But also in modern literature can we find tales of lycanthropy. Finnish/Estonian writer Aino Kallas has written a great little novel called The Wolf's Bride [Sudenmorsian], in 1928. It tells the tale of Aalo, the wife of Priidik the forester. She was changed by Satan into a werewolf. Aalo was a beautiful maiden, and Priidik fell in love with her, but she had the witches' mark under her left breast, and red hair. Priidik, however, did not heed these warnings and married her. For a long time, all went well, but in time Aalo was unable to resist the call of the Diabolus Sylvarum or Wood Daemon, and she begins to consort with wolves in the forests. I don't want to spoil the rest of the story for you, but I do encourage the reader to try and find a version of this story, for it is very much worth it if you are interested in werewolf tales. Details can be found in the list of sources.

And finally, I want to turn to another musical interpretation of the werewolf theme, namely Ulver's classic black metal album Nattens Madrigal. Obviously, the music falls outside the scope of the website, but the lyrics are a particularly special tale of lycanthropy, which I just had to incorporate into the article. The eight songs are about a man, 'blessed' by the Devil to walk the land as a wolf, preying on man in a wild fury of hatred and blood. During the day, he walks among men, though shunned. But at night, under the glare of the moon, his Goddess, he hunts again. His spell of hatred is unbroken until he meets a pure, dying maiden, and they fall in love with eachother. However, he is unable to resist his nature, and everything ends in a bloody affair. In the end, the wolf-man is doomed to wander alone.

It has become clear that the werewolf has had a few different functions in our cultural history. In pagan societies and later folklores it was considered a curse of the gods or some other mythical or magical source. Yet it was also a 'gift' or 'talent' of some, who could use the power of shapeshifting for their own purposes. Naturally, in christian society, such a state was condemned, and the lycanthrope was obviously under some sort of evil spell of the devil. These different contexts and interpretations have given today's artists a host of images to work with, where the werewolf can be mysterious, evil or sympathetic and tragic, or all at the same time.

[1] http://omacl.org/Volsunga/chapter5.html
[2] http://omacl.org/Volsunga/chapter8.html