Werewolf

Basic Information

A werewolf¹ is an inherent wolf - human shapeshifter, also known as a lycanthrope². In the European tradition, the werewolf is the most common of the lycanthropes - and probably the original - given how widely they appear. Originally the werewolf shifted only between the shape of a wolf (albeit often a tailless wolf³) and a human, but later accounts - especially modern cinema - add an extra man-wolf hybrid shape, often with very un-lupine claws.

Origins of the werewolf vary - a divine curse (such as in the case of the Mythical Greek King Lycaon⁴) or a form of demonic possession but in some cases it is inherited or even consciously sought out through such methods as drinking from the footprint of a wolf or wearing a garment made of wolfskin⁵. In some cases the werewolf changed to and from human form by taking off (and/or turning inside out) its wolfish skin⁶ or putting on human clothes⁷, in others it is triggered by moonlight and/or nightfall and may be undone by sunlight. The idea of the contagious werewolf - one whose curse is spread by his infected bite - is relatively modern and doesn't appear much before the 20th century. Herodotus wrote of a whole tribe of werewolves - known as the Neuri - who had been driven to settle in Scythian lands by an infestation of snakes in their own. Apparently all of them transformed into wolves for a few days a year - although he had no idea of how or why and doubted whether the story was true.

In most original tales the werewolf takes on the (perceived) characteristics of the wolf as a savage and implacable predator, relentlessly hostile to humanity and a voracious hunter of people and livestock alike. This was not always the case however, as some traditions indicate that a werewolf could be driven off - or even cured - by addressing it by its baptismal name or getting a priest to tell it off. Modern interpretations own more to a less fearful attitude towards wolves and are occasionally inclined to make the werewolf a sympathetic or even heroic figure. The werewolf may or may not be aware of what he does as a wolf - the involuntary werewolf is less likely to be self aware than the voluntary one in many cases, but may notice evidence of his nocturnal activities such as mysterious bloodstains, missing clothing or simple exhaustion. Often the werewolf in animal form will recognise those known to him as a human, but is sometimes said to know only the strength of an emotional bond, not the character so a loved one and an enemy appear more or less the same.

Of course, the origin of the werewolf's lycanthropy will have bearing on a number of issues - not least of which being the small matter of whether an werewolf should be counted as human for any relevant purpose - such as determining whether a werewolf that eats people is a cannibal or merely an anthropophage … and equally if wearing a werewolf skin (which in some traditions retains the werewolf's immunities - see below) is more like a wolfskin cloak or more like a necklace of ears.

In some accounts the werewolf is immune to any weapon not made of silver⁸, in others they shrug off wounds when changing form - but in many early accounts they are vulnerable to normal weapons and could be identified in one form by wounds they took in the other. The herb wolfsbane was said to be particularly effective against them - but then wolfsbane is highly toxic and quite effective as a poison against humans as well.

Symbolically the werewolf can take a variety of roles - of the beast within Man⁹ - or equally as a symbol of man's enduring connection to nature (a very much more modern interpretation). Alternatively he can be the fifth columnist extraordinary - not just a wolf in sheep's clothing but a wolf disguised as a man. In some instances he may also represent paganism (especially in early Christian hagiography) or the predatory aspect of male sexuality (Little Red Riding Hood's wolf often seems to be a lot more than just a wolf - and that story is definitely about sexual predation). More prosaically, a clan of werewolves make a handy upgrade of the traditional Redneck cannibal.

The image of the werewolf was used as an icon by the resistance movements opposing the Allied Occupation of Germany and Austria following WW2, partly due to Mad Uncle Adolf's obsession with wolves¹⁰ and partly due to the idea of something deadly wearing a human face.

Werewolves are sometimes classed as undead¹¹ - partly due to cinematic laziness, but partly due to authentic legends from some parts of Europe that give them more-or-less obscure connections to vampires. As usual with legends this is inverted, subverted and generally messed about with.

One particularly unique historical take on werewolves is the case of Thiess of Kaltenbrun, the Livonian Werewolf who thought of himself as a "Hound of God" but was put on trial for heresy in 1692.

Algernon Blackwood's John Silence story The Camp of the Dog presents an interesting and novel concept of the werewolf - as a manifest astral projection resulting from the breaking out of a repressed subconscious.

Sources

Bibliography

1. The White Wolf Werewolf games are (unsurprisingly) all about werewolves.

2. The British indy movie Dog Soldiers sets up a Sawney-Bean like clan of anthropophagus¹² werewolves in the Scottish Wilderness.

3. There are other movies featuring werewolves … some of which are more socially acceptable than others.

4. Wikipedia

Game and Story Use

• The gap between what PCs think they know and what is actually true can kill them. Especially if players use out of character knowledge.
• There could be legends about many ways of becoming a werewolf for a reason - perhaps there are lots of ways, resulting in different kinds of werewolf.
  • Witness the Dresden Files, where four different kinds of "werewolf" appear in one book… possibly five if some fan theories are correct.
• Those snakes that chased the Neuri out of their homeland … could this actually refer to a war between werewolves and serpent people?
• If you want, your werewolves could have a very long pedigree, racial memory, or tradition. The werewolf concept goes back more than 2,000 years. Zeus and Ishtar both punished people by turning them into wolves in ancient mythology.
  • If you don't want to trace it back that far you could reference the Beast of Gévaudan, Simeon I of Bulgaria, Vseslav of Polotsk, Peter Stumpp, viking ulfhednar, or the Livonian Werewolf tradition, or just say they were transformed by the devil.

Footnotes

1. Old English wer wulf "person-wolf"

2. Lycanthrope means exactly the same as werewolf, only in classical Greek, but has since been appropriated to mean all inherent shape shifters.

3. A missing tail was often a "tell" for a transformed human - whether witch, mage or lycanthrope - after all, humans don't have tails and could be expected to struggle to grow one when changing shape.

4. cursed for trying to feed human flesh to Zeus

5. This may derive from the legacy of the Úlfhéðnar - wolf-skin wearing Norse fanatics who were counterparts to the bear fur wearing berserkers.

6. hence the Latin name versipelis or "skin turner"

7. As in the medieval ballad Bisclavert.

8. Which usually ties in well with their transformation being linked to the moon

9. Homo homini lupus est as Plautus put it…

10. Not helped by the fact that Adolf is a cognate of the name Athalwulf "Noble Wolf"

11. (although not on this wiki)

12. or maybe cannibalistic, depending on the assumptions you care to make