In some countries and cultures, other animals play the role of the werewolf. Thus, in Africa they still believe in were-hyenas or in were-leopards; in India it was thought that tigers, enemies of men, were capable of turning into humans to attract them. To this day in Latin America, legends of "tiger-men" abound, associated with jaguars, jaguars, otorongos or pumas since these are the most feared animals on that continent. The two most important myths are: the runa uturuncu, "indian-tiger" or "man-puma" in the Quichua of northwest Argentina) the Yaguareté-Abá or "tigre-capiango" of the Guarani legends of northeastern Argentina and Paraguay.4 5 These legends also appear in the posthumous work of the poet Leopoldo Lugones.
However, from a certain point of view it would not be appropriate to call all the aforementioned beings lycanthropes since, as can be seen in the previous etymology, the word lycanthrope designates a werewolf.
The myth of werewolves seems (or is) originally from Europe, and was closely linked to other superstitions and black magic. The myth is essentially masculine and, among the causes for a human being to become a werewolf, the most frequent were the following:
Eating certain plants traditionally linked to wolves and black magic.
Drinking in the same place a wolf would have.
Drink from the footprint of a wolf or werewolf.
Cover yourself with the skin of a wolf.
Sleep naked in the light of the full moon.
Wear a wolf skin clothing.
Acquire the ability to transform into a wolf through magic and spells.
Being bitten by another werewolf (this form was the most common).
Having sex with a werewolf.
Being born after twins or twins being a male child.
In all cases, the traditional explanation of the myth seems to overlap with the violation of some natural or social norm. It can, like the most modern and literary myth of Man and the Beast, summarize the conscious and social tendencies of man and his unconscious drive tendencies, even more than instinctive drives prior to the socialization of the subject.
According to lore, most werewolves do not voluntarily become such (only wizards and true werewolves, i.e. not cursed, can do so); they are victims of a curse and suffer greatly at the time of their metamorphosis. What's worse, when they transform they completely lose human consciousness and become dangerous, even to their loved ones. The only way to free a werewolf from his curse is to kill him, which is not easy; it must be done with a silver instrument, be it a cane, a knife or a bullet, although in some areas of the Iberian Peninsula there is a ritual that consists of cutting off the head and tearing out the heart.
A werewolf is a completely normal man most of the time, he behaves naturally, if a little hairy, and with heightened senses (especially smell), as well as being in good health and fitness.
It is only during the night of the Full Moon that he transforms, since the light from this satellite is what controls his transformations. Although it varies from version to version, a transformed werewolf's appearance can range from a true wolf, albeit larger than normal, to a furry humanoid with fangs in search of human flesh.
Werewolf transformation
Historical legends describe a wide variety of methods to become a werewolf. One of the simplest is to strip naked and wear a belt made of wolfskin, probably a substitute for assuming the full skin of the animal, which is also frequently described for this process. In other cases, the body is rubbed with magical sap. Other ways also considered to achieve metamorphosis are drinking water that is in the animal's footprint or drinking from certain enchanted fountains. Olaus Magnus said that Livonian werewolves were initiated by drinking a cup of specially brewed beer while repeating a magical formula. Ralston, in his Songs about the Russian People, gives a form of incantation that is still familiar in Russia. It is also said that when a woman gives birth to six girls, a seventh child will be born and it will be a werewolf.
In Galician, Portuguese and Uruguayan folklore Argentine and Brazilian, is the seventh of the sons. It should be noted that this belief was so widespread in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, where the werewolf derived or merged with the legend of being called the werewolf or luisón, in which the seventh children were abandoned, donated, given up for adoption or killed. . In 1907 the president of Argentina made the first official sponsorship, and in 1973 he issued a decree to legalize this custom. The State now awards them a gold medal at their baptism and a scholarship until the age of 21. With this, it was possible to end the abandonment of children, and it is still traditional for the president to be the godfather of the seventh children.
In other cases, the transformation is supposedly accomplished by satanic agents to which he willingly submits, and this is done for the most unsavory purposes, particularly to satisfy a craving for human flesh (the human flesh that the lycanthrope may crave can be understood as such —that is, an anthropophagy related to cases of psychosis— or, it can be understood figuratively as sexual desire without any censorship). Richard Verstegan wrote:
«The werewolves, are certain sorcerers, who anoint their bodies with an ointment that they elaborate with the instinct of the devil, and putting it in a certain enchanted sash, not only in the sight of others they appear Wolves, but also to their own Thought has the shape and nature of the wolves, as soon as they wear the aforementioned belt. And they set out like wolves, nibbling and killing, especially human creatures."
Restitution of Impaired Intelligence by Richard Verstegan, 1628
Such were the views of lycanthropy in continental Europe when Verstegan wrote: "The ointments and juices in question may contain hallucinogenic agents (particularly those derived from belladonna)."
There are theories that when lycanthropes do not turn into wolves, the wolf hair grows inwards, and when they are wolves, their skin grows outwards; so when he transformed, he would shed his own skin.
There are also various methods to remove the bestial form. The simplest was the act of disenchanting (operating on oneself or the victim), and another was to remove the animal's belt or skin. Other methods of possible cures are: kneeling at one point for a hundred years, being reproached for being a werewolf, being greeted with the sign of the cross, being called three times with the baptismal name, being struck three times on the back of the neck with a knife, or at least spill three drops of blood. Many European folktales include throwing an iron object at the werewolf, in order for the werewolf to reveal his human form.
Lycanthropy is the ability or mythological power that a human being has to transform into a wolf or lycanthrope. The term comes from the ancient Greek lykanthropos (λυκάνθρωπος): λύκος, lýkos ('wolf') + άνθρωπος, ánthrōpos ('man'). The word can also be used to refer to the act of transforming into another human werewolf.
History
Engraving made by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1512, showing a werewolf.
Many European countries and cultures have stories about werewolves, including Spain, Greece (lycanthropos), Bulgaria (varkolak, vulkodlak), Denmark (Varulv), Finland (Ihmissusi), Netherlands (Weerwolf), Hungary (Farkasember), Indonesia (manusia serígala ) . ), Ireland (Bleidd—ddyn), Iceland (varúlfur), Italy (lycanthrope), Serbia (vukodlak), Sicily (Lupu mannaru), Russia (volkodlak), Poland (wilkolak), Romania (vârcolac), Turkey (Kurt Adam) , England (werewolf), Germany (Werwolf), Sweden (Varulv), France (loup-garou), Galicia (lobishome, lobo da xente), Portugal, Brazil and Paraguay (Luisón or Lobizón, lobisomem), Uruguay, Argentina ( Werewolf), Lithuania (vilkolakis and vilkatlakis) and Estonia (libahunt).
According to legend, the first recognized werewolf was Lycaon, king of Arcadia, Greece. In Greek mythology, Lycaon was a wise and cultured king and a highly religious person who had led his people out of the savage conditions in which he originally lived. However, it seems that he himself continued to be a savage, because despite everything he continued to sacrifice human beings in honor of Zeus, and it was even said that he murdered all strangers who came to his kingdom asking for hospitality.
Upon finding out, the god Zeus wanted to verify the rumors and disguised himself as a vagabond to visit Lycaon. He immediately thought of killing his visitor, but discovered in time that it was Zeus and invited him to participate in a sumptuous banquet. Everything would have turned out well if it weren't for the fact that Lycaon couldn't resist the temptation to play a horrible joke on the king of Olympus; he ordered the meat of a child (presumably a son of his) to be served to him.
Zeus noticed, of course, and angrily sentenced Lycaon to become a wolf, since all of his descendants would also be werewolves. Today, the dog or African savage, a relative of wolves, is known as a lycaon.
The Lycaon story provides one of the earliest examples of the werewolf legend. According to Lycaon's story, he was transformed into a wolf as a result of eating human flesh; a witness who was present at a periodic sacrifice on Mount Lycaon reported suffering a similar fate. Pliny the Elder said, quoting Euanthes (Historia Naturalis viii. 22/34. 81): that a man from the family of Anthus selected by Lot and was taken to a lake in Arcadia, where he laid his clothes on a tree and swam across the lake. This resulted in his transformation into a wolf, and he wandered in this form for nine years. So, if during this time he didn't attack any humans, he would be free to swim back and return to his original form.
The two stories are probably identical, although Lycaon's sacrifice by Antaeus's descendants has not been mentioned. Herodotus (iv. 105) mentions that the tribe of the Neuri, a people he places to the northwest of Scythia, transformed annually for a few days. Virgil was also familiar with the transformation of human beings into wolves (see Eclogas viii. 98). In the novel Satyricon, written by Gaius Petronius around the year 60, one of the characters tells a story about a man who turns into a wolf.
From that moment the werewolves seem to have multiplied, when the Middle Ages arrived, the tales of men who transformed into wolves were common and people had so much faith in them that they did not even dare to go out into the forest at night. It must be remembered that in those days royal wolves were common and it was not uncommon for them to attack people. The wolves were subsequently hunted down and exterminated throughout much of their range, but the fear of the beastmen remained as strong as ever.