Werewolf animal. Werewolves: do they exist in real life? Fictions and facts. What kind of monsters are these?

Jean Grenier, the French Werewolf (Retold by Sabaina Baring-Gould.) A 13-year-old girl named Marguerite Poirier used to herd sheep near the village of Saint-Antoine-de-Pison with a boy her age named Jean Grenier. The girl often complained about him to her

Answering the question “who is a werewolf” is not so easy, despite all the obviousness it would seem. And all because there are many werewolves, as well as the options and methods of werewolves themselves. Nevertheless, we will still try to answer the question “who is a werewolf” as fully as possible?

Who is a werewolf?

Let's start by answering the question "what is a werewolf?" from the fact that, in fact, werewolves were originally people who were involved in witchcraft and therefore capable of “turning around,” that is, turning into any creatures and even inanimate objects. Those who knew how to be werewolves were also called “wrappers”, “switchers”, “overturners”, “transitioners”.

In general, it should be noted that werewolfism, in other words, the ability to change one’s appearance, was initially inherent in any evil spirit. Therefore, people seeking to master the secret of werewolf (and these are not only sorcerers, but also hunters, shepherds, millers, blacksmiths, and so on), as a rule, adopted this science from unclean and dangerous creatures. Devils and demons were also werewolves; they could take the form of beautiful young men or girls, various animals, jewelry, will-o-the-wisps, and so on. According to popular belief, devils, goblin, water and other unclean entities take on human form in order to lure passers-by into the thickets of the forest, drown them in pools and generally annoy ordinary people in every possible way.

Also, according to popular belief, the ability to be a werewolf is possessed by people born “with a shirt on,” that is, with an embryonic film partially covering the newborn’s head. Among such personalities there were usually many people with an unusual destiny, clairvoyants, and so on.

Werewolves and metvetsy

By the way, according to popular belief, the dead also have the ability to become werewolves. Thus, it was believed that the souls of the dead come from the other world in the form of insects, birds, or reptiles; they can also appear in the form of a whirlwind, a column of dust, will-o-the-wisp, clouds, and so on. Sorcerers and the damned almost always become werewolves after their death (unless a special neutralizing ritual has been performed). Taking various forms, they roam the earth and bring trouble to people.

Ways to become a werewolf

This or that class or type of people had different propensities for forms of turnover. Thus, sorcerers most often preferred to become wolves or bears, witches usually turned into animals such as a pig, a horse, among birds they preferred a magpie, rarely a crow, and could even take the form of objects - a wheel, a haystack, a log, and in rare cases even could turn into smoke.

Representatives of the profession of hunters and fishermen mostly turned into game animals, that is, those who were hunted. Shepherds “turned over” into dogs, but people who became werewolves against their will usually became a wolf, a bear or a horse.

Animal werewolves were distinguished by unusual behavior or by some features in their appearance (a white stripe on the neck of a wolf, the absence of a tail in a magpie, etc.).

Sorcerers and witches turn around when they need it, and they can return to their human appearance at any time. Usually transformations occur either at dusk or at night.

There were many varieties of magical procedures with the help of which the “turnover” from the human state to the animal state was carried out. “To turn around,” that is, to turn into an animal or an inanimate object, sometimes literally meant “to turn over” (somersault) across a certain conventional line (object-border) established on the symbolic border between worlds.

Most often, sorcerers and witches threw themselves over one or more knives stuck into the ground underground or into a smoothly cut stump in the forest. Among other boundary objects through which werewolves tumbled, hoops, rockers, decks and some others are also mentioned. In more detail, the ritual apparently looked like this: before turning into a wolf, the sorcerer, in some secluded place, drove five knives or aspen stakes into the ground or into a stump, two of which symbolized the front paws, two the hind paws, and one the tail. Jumping or tumbling forward over the knives, starting from the back, he became a wolf.

In order to regain his human appearance, the werewolf had to run from the opposite side of the border and somersault back over it. But if, during a person’s stay in the form of a beast, someone picks up and carries away a knife or a similar boundary object, then he will forever remain a wolf.

Sometimes, for “turnover”, a wolf skin was used, which the sorcerer threw over himself. Apparently, this is one of the most ancient methods, since information about a similar technique is already found in shamanic legends. For example, North American and Koryak myths tell how the mythological hero Ememkut turned into the Great Raven using a crow suit, and his grandson Kil turned into a bear by wearing a bear skin. Ememkut gave the dog skin to his sister and she turned into a dog.

In some cases, for werewolfism they used a “magic rope” - a belt or bast enchanted with a spell, which was used to encircle the sorcerer to carry out a magical operation. Such magical belts, with the help of which a sorcerer could take on the appearance of a wolf, have been often mentioned in teachings against paganism since the 12th century. In these teachings, “wearing nauz” was equated with the performance of koschyuns (myths) and “demonic songs.”

Types of werewolves and werewolves

All werewolves can be divided into three classes, depending not on what animal a person turns into, but whether he does it voluntarily, whether he was forced to become a werewolf with the help of magic spells, or whether he received such a gift from birth.

The first group - voluntary werewolves, includes sorcerers and magicians who know how to take on an animal form primarily in order to harm people. According to popular beliefs, they can take the form of not only a wolf, but also other animals, as well as plants (bush, branch, straw) and objects (a ball of thread, a spindle, a haystack, a log). And moreover, sorcerers and witches, according to legend, have the ability to “turn around” several times, that is, change their appearance repeatedly. The Eastern Slavs also had a belief that a witch could change her appearance twelve times in an instant, and then turn back into a woman.

The goals of the transformation of sorcerers and witches are selfish: to penetrate unnoticed into someone else's courtyard; harm the neighbor's livestock (for example, take milk from a cow and the like); attack your enemy while remaining unidentified; intimidate people, confuse them or drive them off-road; cause damage. A witch mother in a terrifying animal form could pursue her son in order to prevent him from going on a date with a girl she did not like and ruin their relationship.

Often, “knowledgeable” people turn into animals in order to hide from their pursuers or deceive them, or simply cross long distances. Let us remember that in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” it is said about how Prince Vseslav “prowls like a wolf in the night,” covering vast distances.

Unwitting werewolves usually include people forcibly turned into wolves by the power of witchcraft. One of the main differences between an involuntary werewolf and a voluntary werewolf is that an involuntary werewolf usually does no harm to anyone, with the exception of those people who “spoiled” him, that is, turned him into a wolf.

Typically, this type of werewolf is committed with the goal of punishing a person for an offense and settling scores with him. Typical examples of such revenge are turning unwanted sons-in-law or boyfriends or men who rejected the love of a witch into wolves. The sorceress can take revenge on the offender by wrapping him in a horse at night and beating him half to death. There are also many legends about how an offended sorcerer “let loose” the newlyweds who did not invite him to the wedding, or even all the wedding participants.

If an involuntary werewolf became a victim of a hunter, then before his death he screamed in a human voice, and the hunters, removing the skin from the killed werewolf, discovered under it the remains of a red sash, traces of a person’s clothing, or even his human appearance hidden under the skin. Although sometimes there are beliefs that the sorcerer turns his victim into a wolf only for a certain period of time. When the time expires, he turns into a human again, but his distinguishing features are fused eyebrows and red eyes, or a piece of gray fur near his heart. Also, by some other signs it was possible to distinguish a real wolf from a werewolf: it was believed that a werewolf retains a human reflection, which can be seen in the water when it comes up to drink; in addition, werewolves can be recognized by the structure of their hind legs - they are turned with their knees forward, like a human's.

How were people turned into werewolves against their will? The effect of the magical spell of the “knowing” on the victim is achieved in different ways. According to legends, a sorcerer or witch throws an animal skin, ribbon or belt (“nauzu”) over a person or beats him with his stick, accompanying these actions with spells.

Another technique is also known: a twisted belt is placed under the threshold of the hut, and the one who enters it becomes a werewolf. The witch, in order to turn the bride and groom into wolves, throws a ball of yarn under the horses' hooves. According to some stories, the witch, in order to cause damage, dug up the road along which the wedding was to pass with a small ditch, and when the train crossed this depression, the horses fell dead, and people turned into wild animals. The sorcerer could also turn the entire wedding procession into a wolf pack by throwing a mitten with wolf fur under the feet of the first horse.

And finally, the last category of werewolves are werewolves from birth, also called “spontaneous” werewolves. They were usually considered children conceived by parents on days that, according to tradition, were forbidden for sexual intercourse, for example, Easter. Suffering for the sins of their parents, at the appointed hour - usually at night - they involuntarily turn into wolves. This transformation is very painful for them and is accompanied by strong groans. In the Russian North, they believed that children cursed by their parents or criminals who committed a terrible crime became werewolves.

Legends have preserved many stories about unhappy marriages of such werewolves, which usually end in disaster for their spouses, who, as a rule, are killed by them. Wolves of this origin, like witches and sorcerers, can be in the form of wolves after death, since in addition to their soul, they also have a “spirit” that gives them the opportunity to be ghouls.

Failure of a pregnant woman to comply with certain prohibitions and regulations could also lead to sad consequences. It was believed that a born child could be under the influence of evil spirits, which would give him extraordinary abilities.

Werewolves

Despite the variety of faces and forms of werewolves, the most stable image of a werewolf is associated, of course, with a wolf.

Why a wolf? The fact is that for many peoples, since time immemorial, the wolf has been associated with the world of magic, and at the same time, which is typical, its origin was usually associated with evil spirits. So, according to one legend, the devil blinded a wolf from clay or carved it out of wood, but could not revive it, and then God himself breathed life into the wolf. At the same time, the wolf, revived by God, rushed at the devil and grabbed him by the leg (that’s why the devil has been limping ever since). In addition, wolf features are sometimes traced in folklore portraits of devils and other evil spirits (wolf teeth, ears, eyes, tail, fur, and so on). In general, the idea of ​​werewolf is usually associated with an animal that in a given territory posed a particular danger to humans. For the peoples of Europe, it was, naturally, a wolf (for comparison, there were were-tigers in South and East Asia, were-leopards in Africa, were-jaguars in South America, and so on).

Belief in wolf people, who were called wolfhounds (not to be confused with ghouls!) was widespread among Slavic peoples until the 19th-20th centuries. The word “wolf-dlak” itself is formed from two parts - the common Slavic “wolf” and the South Slavic “dlak”, meaning “wool, skin”.

Sometimes werewolves in general were also called wolfhounds, that is, those people capable of taking on the appearance of not only a wolf, but also a dog, cat, bush, stump, bird, and so on. However, from the beginning, apparently, a wolfhound is, after all, a werewolf, that is, a person capable of turning only into a wolf and into no one else. And here’s what’s curious: a werewolf, even when in animal form, always retains human thoughts and feelings.

According to popular beliefs, the transformation of werewolves into wolves occurs during special periods when evil spirits are most active - on Christmastide, on Kupala night, during the Trinity period and other major holidays. Sorcerers and witches, according to popular opinion, most often “spill over” during the summer solstice and winter Christmastide. Although later legends, which appeared already under Christianity, indicate that werewolves can turn into wolves at almost any time in order to harm their fellow tribesmen in every possible way: kill livestock and people and cause damage.

A forced werewolf differed from a sorcerer in that he did not eat carrion, raw meat or other “unclean” food - he tried to get himself bread and other human food, or at worst, fry prey killed by a wolf pack. This feature of behavior was explained as follows: after eating raw meat, a bewitched person will finally turn into a wolf, which is why he strives to get the food that would maintain his connection with the world of people. Sometimes, in search of food, werewolves climbed into cellars, and many peasants, noticing a decrease in supplies, usually attributed such thefts to unwitting werewolves. Longing for human life, werewolves often came under the windows of their native hut and howled pitifully, wanting to see their relatives.

Sometimes there are beliefs that werewolves can run in a pack of real wolves, occupying a subordinate position in relation to them. However, while in the guise of an animal, a werewolf must always be careful, since he smells of human flesh, and if real animals smell him, they will tear him apart.

Werewolf shamans

Werewolfism was widespread among shamans. Shamans put on an animal costume to turn into an animal during rituals, and the main purpose of the costume was to facilitate the transformation of a person into an animal. An explanation for this can be found in the myths of the Tlingit Indians, which say that people and animals used to be one, animals differed from people in clothing - skin and fur. In dens and holes they took them off and became people.

Among the Buryat shamans, the patron spirit is called “khubilgan”, which can be translated as “metamorphosis” (from khubilhu - “to change”, “to take on a different form”), which directly indicates the ability to “throw over”.

The helping spirits themselves or patron spirits, as a rule, appearing before the shaman in the guise of one or another animal, endowed him with the ability to transform into it at will, that is, to be a werewolf. So a shaman who has an eagle helping spirit can turn into an eagle. We find this phenomenon among Chukchi and Eskimo shamans (they turn into wolves). Lapland shamans become not only wolves, but also bears, reindeer and fish. There are recorded stories of shamans who claim that they can turn into tigers.

Fear of a werewolf and protection from a werewolf

Naturally, none of the people wanted to date a werewolf. They were afraid, and since they were afraid, they came up with various means of protection against them. So, for example, when meeting a werewolf, it was recommended to hit him with a cart axle or the so-called “snake axe,” that is, with an ax that was once used to kill a snake.

If there were suspicions that a horse was actually a werewolf, then in order to nullify the magical spell, it had to be shod.

But the most important thing in the fight against werewolves was finding out his identity. Here our ancestors did not philosophize; when they met, they tried to inflict some kind of injury on him, so that later, when he became human again, they would recognize him. After all, the injury inflicted on the werewolf will remain in his human form.

If you had to deal with a werewolf, who became a deceased sorcerer or other dashing person who died a terrible death, then a rather complex and dangerous ritual was carried out to neutralize the dangerous dead man. It was necessary to dig up his grave, turn the corpse face down, or cut off the heel tendons or pierce the werewolf between the shoulder blades with an aspen stake.

In other cases, while the deceased witch or sorcerer was still in his house, they broke out a board from the ceiling or even dismantled an entire corner of the roof. Also, a reliable remedy against the wanderings of the “revived” witch was nailing her shadow with a nail.

There was a widespread belief that an experienced sorcerer or healer could turn a werewolf back into a human, but this could only be done by a magician who was stronger than the sorcerer who turned the man into a beast. In addition, for the werewolf-victim there was a danger of another kind: if the sorcerer dies before the duration of the spell, then the person will remain a wolf for the rest of his life and no one will be able to help him.

In addition to strong witchers, an ordinary person could also help an involuntary werewolf, but one had to know special magical techniques that could rid the victim of his bestial form.

For this purpose, the following simple ritual was performed. You need to take off your belt, tie several knots on it, each time saying: “Lord, have mercy,” and then gird it around the wolf-dog. Other ways to disenchant a werewolf are to call him by a human name when meeting him, feed him blessed food, throw human clothes or even a simple linen over him.

According to popular beliefs, during the reverse transformation, the wolfdog retains the characteristics of a werewolf: he is naked and cannot speak humanly. The final return of the werewolf to the human world occurs after he is introduced to cultural activities: when putting on clothes, eating human food, washing in a bathhouse, and also at the sound of a bell ringing. Violation of the conditions for reverse transformation threatened that the disenchanted person could still have a tail.

The acquisition of a human form could occur by itself after the expiration of the spell (from 9 days to a year or 3, 7, 9, 12 years) or under special conditions - if the magic belt that the sorcerer threw over his victim frays, bursts or is torn anyone.

© Alexey Korneev

A werewolf (Belarus. pyarevaratsen, Ukrainian. changeling) is a mythological creature with the ability to transform (turn around, throw itself) from a person into an animal or vice versa. In everyday speech, “werewolf” often means a werewolf, but in mythology and fantasy there are different species, from the eastern kitsune werefoxes to the cat werewolves popular in the furdom, to the sharks and insect werewolves of the role-playing game World of Darkness. In science fiction and furry fandom, there are werewolves into fictional creatures: dragons, griffins, Taurians...

In mythology

In Russian beliefs, a werewolf was also called an unkind spirit that “darts at a person’s feet” as a harbinger of trouble [source not specified 516 days]. Moreover, he always appears briefly, while running, and it can be very difficult to see him. Unlike most beliefs in Western countries, the “Russian” werewolf can turn not only into animals, but also into a piece of stick, a haystack, a ball, or a stone. Always hits the ground before transforming. It was believed that such a werewolf was a child who died unbaptized or an apostate whose soul would “perform mischief involuntarily.” In the North, a werewolf was often called a kikimora. The properties of werewolves were attributed to the brownie and the witch. Cursed and unbaptized children or witches could take on different material forms and then also turn into animals.

Belief in werewolves and werewolves was strong both in ancient, medieval Rus', and in Russia of the 18th–19th centuries. At the end of the 19th century, the famous collector of Russian folklore N. Ivanitsky wrote: “Cases of people turning into animals and trees are still considered quite possible and not uncommon among the Vologda people. Frogs are everywhere recognized as converted by people, and in many places bears are too. Most often, people turn into wolves.” Beliefs and mythological stories about werewolves in Russian villages are still widespread to this day: peasants often talk about cases of people turning into animals or inanimate objects known in the local area.

In folk tradition, a werewolf was considered a person who, by his own spell, as a result of the magical influence of other persons, or by virtue of an innate property, turns into a beast. Werewolves were also called “wrappers”, “transitioners”, “overturners”, “transitioners”. Most often, those who were converted or transformed took the form of a wolf, and therefore, in the South Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian traditions, werewolves were called “wolf-lak”, “wolf-lak”. The word “wolfodlak” is formed from two parts - the common Slavic “уълк” and the South Slavic “diaka”, meaning “wool, skin”.

Titles

Origin

Temporary Werewolves

In folklore and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” the historical figure of Vseslav the Prophet is presented as a sorcerer and werewolf. In the form of a wolf, he is able to reach from Kyiv to Tmutarakan in one night.
During the day, “you judged the courts, and at night you dragged yourself on the prowl from Kiev,” “...he dressed up for the princes of the city, and he himself prowled like a wolf in the night... He scoured the path of the great Kherson like a wolf...” (The Tale of Igor’s Campaign).

Another hero with such abilities is the hero Volga Svyatoslavich.
Volga Svyatoslavich (also Volkh Vseslavevich) is a hero, a character in Russian epics. The main distinguishing features of this hero are the ability to shapeshift and the ability to understand the language of birds and animals.
The central point of the epics about Volga is his journey to a distant kingdom. He's recruiting a squad. To provide her with everything she needs, he turns into a wolf and a falcon, feeding her by hunting. The success of the campaign is due to the wisdom of Volga. He spoils the bowstrings of enemies with an ermine, bites the throats of horses with a wolf, and so on.

Magi knew how to turn into wolves, as well as crows, falcons and sometimes other animals.

At that time Volkh learned wisdom:
And I learned the first wisdom
Wrap yourself in a clear falcon,
Volkh studied another wisdom
Wrap yourself in a gray wolf

This image is present in the chronicle of 1282, which tells about the werewolf, which “drives the clouds and eats away the moon” (the Slavs for a long time kept faith in the cloud-busters, who turned into wolves, rose to the sky and called for rain or dispersed clouds).

At a later time, kharakterniki were given the ability to turn into wolves.
Characterist is a Cossack, warrior, sage and sorcerer all rolled into one.

The transformation into a wolf is evidenced by the legends about the Koshevoy Sirk (one of the most famous characters): “Todi jumped off his horse, giving it to another Cossack, and the kuvird himself became a wolf and ran to the Tatars... As the Tatars began to settle down, then having beaten that Vovk so much that they all fell asleep. Todi vin back to the Cossacks, that Znovu kuvird - and having become a fool!"

It was possible to take on the appearance of a beast with the help of spells and rituals ("wisdoms") or by throwing. Throwing around was the most common method. A person endowed with “supernatural” abilities becomes a wolf by “throwing over” (turning over) over a knife or ax stuck into a smooth stump or ground. They also threw themselves over a rocker, a stump, hoops, twelve knives, a rope, a tree branch, a fire on a stove, over the core of a fallen tree, or simply somersaulting “against the sun,” etc.

So, according to the stories of residents of the village of Luchasy, Smolensk province, a werewolf man once lived there. He went somewhere and disappeared without a trace. One day, after another such disappearance, his fellow villagers found a knife stuck in the ground behind a barn. He was taken out of the ground, and from then on the man disappeared in God knows where for three whole years. After this, the local healer advised to stick the knife again where it was found. No sooner said than done, and soon after that the missing man returned to his hut, only covered in wolf hair. They steamed him in a bathhouse, and the fur came off. And only after that he admitted that whenever he threw himself over a knife, he turned into a wolf, and when he threw himself over again, he acquired a human form. And that time, when the knife was removed from behind the barn, he had to run like a wolf in the field for three years. By the way, even in his wolf form, his thoughts remained human.

Werewolves by choice

Sorcerers and witches turn around when they need it, and they can return to their human appearance at any time. Usually transformations take place at night. “To turn around,” that is, to turn into an animal or inanimate object, often literally meant “to turn over,” that is, to tumble over a conventional line in the form of one or another object installed in a certain place, which in the mythological system of space distribution was correlated with the concept of the boundary between worlds . To transform into an animal or object, the sorcerer and witch throw themselves over, somersault over one or more knives stuck into the ground underground, or into a smoothly cut stump in the forest. Among the objects through which werewolves tumbled, mythological stories also mention hoops, a rocker and some others. You could also change your appearance by throwing a belt of bast around yourself. In order to regain his human appearance, the werewolf had to run from the opposite side of the border and somersault back over it. But if, during a person’s stay in the form of a beast, someone picks up and carries away a knife or a similar boundary object, then he will forever remain a wolf. This is how a mythological story recorded in the Angara region tells about such a case:

There lived a man and a woman. And every night the man would go somewhere, and the next morning he would return home. So the daughter says: “Mommy, I’ll find out where the little guy is going.” One day the old man went straight into the forest, and his daughter followed him. The old man stopped, and his daughter hid behind a bush. The old man took off his cross, put it on one stump, then took off his knife and belt and put it behind the log, then walked away a little, and ran straight through the log and somersaulted. The girl looks - the old man is no longer there, and in his place is a mother-bear. Then she got scared and ran home, and in a hurry she grabbed Tyatkin’s cross, and a knife, and a strap. She came running to wash it, threw everything into the oven and threw it. The old man should be home the next morning, but he’s not. And he approached the block, tumbled over, so that the old man turned the trick, and broke everything in his back and legs. I looked and saw that he was not possessed. So he roared here. The goals of transformation of sorcerers and witches are selfish: for example, to sneak into someone else's yard unnoticed or to control the neighbor's cattle. So, in the Vologda tale, the witch turns into a wolf to drive away the sheep. Often, “knowing ones” turn into animals or birds in order to hide from their pursuers or deceive them, simply to cross distant space. Even in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” it is mentioned how Prince Vseslav “prowls like a wolf in the night,” covering vast distances. The epic sorceress Marina Ignatievna turns into a magpie to get from her mansion to the shore of the distant “Turkish Sea”. The Arkhangelsk tale tells the story of a merchant who, fearing that he will be robbed by robbers, turns into a bear and runs straight through forests and swamps. In a mythological story recorded in the Surgut region, a werewolf merchant “walks like a burbot” in the river, looking for fish. A man catches the burbot, but thanks to the fisherman's wife, he manages to escape into the water. After some time, the fisherman goes to the city, and there, at the bazaar, he meets an unfamiliar merchant who invites him to visit, generously treats him and gives him gifts for his wife:
“Brother, please, take me to your wife the gift that I will give you.” And here he began to put aside various materials for the peasant - silk, and satin, and garusnes, and various necklaces, and earrings, and rings. Then the peasant could not stand it and asked the merchant: “Please tell me who you are and what you are giving for.” my wife? “That’s why I’m giving it,” answered the merchant. “Do you remember how just in winter you got a seasoned burbot and ordered your wife to cook fish soup out of it, but she didn’t listen to you?.. This was the burbot I was, and I’m giving it to your wife because she didn’t kill me.” I walked until late in the river, fell behind my comrades and came across a fishing rod, and thanks to your wife, otherwise I would have been in my ear, and for this I gave her a gift.” After this, the man asks: “Why do you go burbot?” - “You see, brother, we hunt fish on the sands, so we go to find out where the most fish stop, and we do the fishing there.” Then the man realized that there was a werewolf in front of him, he quickly took the gifts and went home. By changing their appearance, sorcerers and witches try to attack their enemy, remaining unidentified, scare people, strive to harm them, “confuse” and confuse them, lead them off-road, spoil them, etc. In mythological stories, the mother-witch is often in the form of a pig or dog, she pursues her son in order to prevent him from going on a date with a girl who turned out to be not to her liking and to ruin their relationship.

Innate Werewolf

Werewolves under duress

Once upon a time there lived a grandfather and grandmother. They had a lonely son. He squeezed them so hard, he squeezed them, he didn’t give them away for nothing. His old men were naked, hungry, barefoot. The old man has died, the old woman is sitting on the parade ground. And the son goes into the hut with a shovel, and she says:
Why, son, are you taking a spatula? And he says:
I’ll bury my father in the garden, he needs a lot for priests, and without a priest he’ll rot.
Then the old woman howled and said:
- I would rather give birth to a wolf than such a son; he wants to bury his father like a dog.
As soon as she said this, her son became a wolf, tucked his tail, and ran into the forest. He lived in the forest for a long time, or for a short time, but he didn’t eat meat. He will tear apart the sheep, look where the shepherds baked potatoes, and fry the meat on those coals. He knew that if he ate raw meat, he would remain a wolf forever. He came running one night in the winter, lay down under the bud, lay there, trembling all over. A kind man was walking past and saw a dog lying down, trembling, and not barking. He took off his caftan and covered the wolf. As soon as the tselovetian caftan fell on him, he became a man again. He came home and bowed at his mother’s feet. Well, the mother, as we know, forgave. And now he lives, but I won’t say who.

The effect of the magical spell of the “knowing” on the victim is achieved in different ways. According to legends, a sorcerer or witch throws an animal skin, ribbon or belt over a person, or beats him with his stick. Another technique is also known: a twisted belt is placed under the threshold of the hut, and the one who enters it becomes a werewolf. In Novgorodchina it was believed that a witch, in order to turn the bride and groom into wolves, throws a ball of yarn under the horses' hooves. According to some mythological stories, a witch, in order to cause damage, dug up the road along which the wedding was to pass with a small ditch, and when the train crossed this depression, horses fell dead, and people turned into wild animals.

Sometimes, when turning a person, the period of his stay in the form of an animal is determined - up to several years - after which the victim again acquires a human form. Unlike sorcerers and witches, forced werewolves cannot freely change their appearance. Only under special conditions can someone turned into a wolf by witchcraft regain his previous appearance: if the magic belt with which he is belted frays, bursts or is torn by someone.

Werewolves under duress, as well as those who are born werewolves, retain human intelligence. People believed that a werewolf could be distinguished from an ordinary animal or bird. So, a werewolf, unlike a wolf, has a white stripe on its neck, and a werewolf in the form of a magpie does not have a tail. Kaluga peasants believed that the werewolf was easy to recognize, since its “hind legs have knees forward, like a person’s, and not back, like a wolf’s.” Belarusian beliefs say that the werewolf has a human shadow and always runs alone. In the Smolensk region they said that if a werewolf bends over the water, then a human form will be reflected in it. All Eastern Slavs had the idea that under the skin of a killed werewolf there would certainly be remnants of decayed clothing, wedding jewelry, beads, etc. Thus, in the Volgod region, a mythological story was recorded about a werewolf-wolf who had splintered his paw and twice came to him for help. to the man. But the second time the man kills the wolf and discovers under its skin a man in a red shirt. Often in mythological stories it is said that wolves do not eat the raw meat of an animal killed by a wolf pack, but only roast their share over the fire. According to Russian beliefs, if a werewolf eats raw meat, he will remain in the form of an animal forever. In the Chernihiv region, it was generally believed that a werewolf does not eat its prey, but only strangles it.
During their forced wanderings, werewolves always stay downwind of real wolves, fearing that they will attack them. According to popular belief, werewolves never attack humans or touch livestock. Need forces them to eat anything, but for the most part they try to get bread and meat food by penetrating into the cellars. Many peasants, having noticed a loss of food, usually attribute this to the werewolves and remain in this belief if they do not happen to find the culprit of the loss. Sometimes, tormented by longing for human life, werewolves come under the windows of their native hut and howl pitifully, wanting to see their relatives. Relatives sometimes recognize the wolf as their missing member of the household:

This werewolf got into the habit of walking under the barn and lying there. His family thought: “Isn’t this our dear one?” - and put a slice of bread on the place where he lay at night. In the morning we looked, but there was no slice: it had been eaten. The next night they put in more bread, and he ate it. So they fed him until he turned into a human again. Seven years passed, his wolf skin cracked and all fell off: he became a man. The cross remained as it was on his neck, and a piece of gray fur against his heart.

Most of the werewolves are young hosts and guests of a wedding spoiled by sorcerers for not showing them respect. After such a misfortune, one usually has to look for a healer who could turn them back into people.

Any person can rid the wolf-kolak of his bestial appearance if he takes off his belt, ties several knots on it, each time saying: “Lord, have mercy,” and then girds it around the wolf-kolak. You can also simply throw human clothes or regular linen over the werewolf. Then, according to legend, the wolf's skin will fall off and an ordinary person will emerge from it. Other ways to disenchant a werewolf are to feed him “blessed food”, bread, or, upon meeting him, call him by a human name. The acquisition of a human form could occur by itself after the expiration of the spell - from 9 days to a year or 3, 7, 9, 12 years. However, as the Ukrainians believed, there was a danger for the werewolf-victim: if the sorcerer dies before the spell expires, the person will remain a wolf for life.

According to folk beliefs and mythological stories, when transformed back, the werewolf retains the characteristics of a werewolf: he is naked and cannot speak humanly. The final return to the human world and the acquisition of human characteristics occurs when he, having returned from the natural world, is introduced to cultural phenomena: when putting on clothes, eating human food, washing in a bathhouse; at the sound of a bell ringing. Violation of the conditions for reverse transformation threatened that the person might still have a tail. The motif of the transformation of a beast-like monster into a beautiful prince is typical of a fairy tale, where the hero’s human appearance is returned to him by the kiss of his beloved.
According to popular belief, there are practically no amulets that could protect a person from turning into a werewolf. Protective measures, especially during a wedding, included inviting the sorcerer to the wedding feast and giving him plenty of food. In addition, for the wedding ceremony the groomsmen tried to choose a person who knew special spells and amulets.

Transformation

Ways to protect yourself from werewolves

An image similar to a werewolf, a wolf-man, a werewolf, is in the beliefs of many peoples (English Beowulf, German Werewolf, etc.). Belief in wolves dates back to an era when it was possible to imagine a person in the form of a beast and when people, being in constant communication with animals, were able, according to the proverb, to howl like a wolf with wolves: strange as it may seem, the chroniclers actually attributed this art to to some persons. So, in the Laurentian Chronicle we read: “...and as it was midnight, Bonyak got up and left the howl, and the wolf began to howl like a wolf, and the wolf rose up to him, and the wolves began to howl in great numbers.”

One way or another, the idea that under the skin of a wolf there can be a man or a woman reflected the belief in the kinship and unity of all living things: here the wolf is the “master” of the forest, animals and at the same time the “elder” relative, patron, ancestor of man, “strong » sorcerer, wolf-magician. Man, in turn, is a “transformed wolf” who (especially a sorcerer) draws strength from this kinship, and at critical moments in life can become a wolf again.

In medicine

Clinical lycanthropy

Fyodor Adrianovich Evtishchev, a patient with hypertrichosis, a showman in the Russian Empire. There is an opinion that it was he who served as the prototype for Chewbacca.

Hypertrichosis

Fyodor Adrianovich Evtishchev, a patient with hypertrichosis, a showman in the Russian Empire.
There is an opinion that it was he who served as the prototype for Chewbacca.

Some researchers believe that myths about werewolves owe their origin to these diseases.
Legends about a werewolf exist in the beliefs of almost all peoples and cultures. Phobias associated with belief in werewolves reached their apogee at the end of the Middle Ages, when werewolfism was directly identified with heresy, Satanism and witchcraft, and the figure of the wolf-man was the main theme of various "Hammers of the Witches" and other theological instructions of the Inquisition (for example, "De lamiis et Phitonicis milieribus" by Ulrich Molitor).
Werewolf, wrapper, werewolf, werewolf, werewolf, wrapper, wrapper, wrapper, wrapper, wrapper, overtun, wrapper - an object, a creature turned (wrapped) by a person, or, conversely, a person who has turned, turned into someone, into what -or; witch.

Obertikha, werewolf- witch, sorceress; werewolf.

“The jackass was a raven” [from a fairy tale] (Murm.); “Then the man realized that there was a werewolf in front of him” (Surgut); “The witch is the same werewolf”; “A werewolf rushes across the road”; “The drunk and the werewolf make fun of him”<Даль, 1881>; “The turnip supposedly runs around the yards at night, milking cows” (Perm.); “The service caught the werewolf, put him on the threshold and demanded an ax” (Kursk).

In popular belief, goblins and water creatures are endowed with the ability to be a werewolf, but most often sorcerers, witches, as well as people turned into animals by sorcerers and witches are called werewolves (see Volkodlak).

“In running waters and especially often in “pools” (deep places) werewolves in the form of fish are found; at the same time, they usually “stand on the water,” that is, with their tail they meet the water” (Vlad.); “Werewolves are a special breed of people. Men often turn into bears, and women into pigs” (Surgut). A werewolf turns into a pig, less often into a wolf, more often between them there are female pigs who “simply walk along the streets at night, scaring baptized people” (Vyatsk).

“The people believe in the transformation of people into bears, magpies and other animals and confirm their faith with those who have experienced it for centuries” (Arch.). Werewolves are men and women “who know the magic of war and, with the help of evil spirits, can turn into various animals”; they say that a witch “is always a werewolf and can appear in different forms. So, they say that they saw a pig running around the village for a long time, in the evenings, which was about to be killed several times, but when it saw people, it ran somewhere into a remote corner and disappeared instantly. Several years ago, they allegedly saw a barrel at night that rolled through the entire village and also disappeared: all these were werewolf witches” (Sarat.)<Минх, 1890>. A witch who turns into a cow, into a goat (yamana), into a pig is in some places called a werewolf (Zabaik.); the werewolf rolls up into a ball, a piece of hay, a lump of snow, a sheepskin, turns into a stone, a ball of thread, a pile of tow, into a dog, an owl, a rooster, a hedgehog<Даль, 1880>.

“Werewolves come in two varieties: some are free, others are forced. A free werewolf is one who, by himself, by his own will, turns into some kind of animal in order to accidentally scare people and rob them when they get scared. A forced werewolf is one whom someone, out of spite, turns into a beast, so that he wanders and experiences need. Forced werewolves are safe, like pity... But those who naturally, for the sake of self-interest, indulge in these things, those, we know, are not a sin to kill - that’s the way to go” (Ural.)<Железнов, 1910>.

The most common forms of transformations of “werewolves themselves” are wolf, bear (sorcerers); pig, horse, bird, smoke, wheel, haystack (witches), as well as wolf, bear, horse (for those wrapped in sorcerers).

Sometimes children exchanged, replaced by evil spirits are called werewolves: a werewolf is a firebrand turned into a child by the devil (Kursk).

Belief in werewolves and werewolves was strong both in ancient, medieval Rus', and in Russia in the 18th–19th centuries. In the 18th century V.N. Tatishchev noted that the belief in the transformation of a person into a bear, magpie, smoke “is firmly held” both “between meanness and between unreasonable nobles.” “Cases of people turning into animals and trees are still considered quite possible and not uncommon among the Vologda people,” wrote at the end of the 19th century. N. Ivanitsky. - Frogs are recognized everywhere as converted people, and in many places bears are too. Most often, people turn into wolves” (Volog.). The belief that a bear is a transformed (cursed) person is still held by some residents of the Novgorod region.

“Turn around”, “turn around” (transform) often literally meant “turn over”, that is, to somersault, “throw over oneself” or over a conventional border. According to legends, by jumping over a knife (over twelve knives, twelve knives in the underground - Surgut.), a rope, a rocker, a tree branch, a stump, a fire on a stove pole, or simply “against the sun” (Pech.), a person could become a beast, bird.

“To become a werewolf, you need to throw yourself over twelve knives, placed with sharp ends up, and use well-known spells” (Nizhegor.); werewolves "as people believe<…>at midnight they tumble three times through the fire on a stove pole, with twelve knives and forks between their fingers, after which they fly out into the chimney like a magpie and, at will, become a bird or other animal” (Sarat.); “If a tree falls, then there is no need to leave the core on the stump, because otherwise, if a person familiar with magic throws himself over such a stump, he becomes a bear” (Yenis.).

“Turning around,” the sorcerer and the witch seem to turn over to that side of their being that is connected to the highest powers of the world, to revered animals, birds, fish - “ancestors, relatives and patrons” of man. In stories about werewolves, the line between man and beast is a narrow strip of a knife, rope, branch; in essence, it passes through the werewolf himself: he is both a man and an animal, a bird at the same time.

A witch is especially prone to werewolf metamorphosis, who easily turns not only into birds and animals, but also into various objects and elements, which at the same time become “alive” (though, usually these are certain objects that are significant for a peasant economy - a needle, a ball, haystack, etc.).

This ability for almost universal shapeshifting apparently reflects a long-standing idea of ​​the world as an arena of eternal metamorphosis, the transformation of one form into another.<Штернберг, 1936>, where even inanimate objects - “living”, can become people (and vice versa), and death is not destruction, but a transition “to another plane” of existence, transformation into an animal, bird, plant, tree. “The dead have the ability to turn around and thanks to this ability they overcome the difficulties posed by the grave mound.” “Since the mind of primitive man developed the idea that a person similar to himself could turn into various objects and beings, the most important questions posed by life and nature were resolved for him. He understood the life of nature, the genesis of things and the secret of the afterlife of man."<Смирнов, 1890>.

Sometimes the displacement-transformation of a kidnapped or cursed person is also understood as a moral degeneration. Having drowned, but continuing to “live” under water, the evil wife and the robber son become so kind and good that the husband and father who came to them cannot believe his eyes: “Tell me what all this means? After all, I drowned you. Why are you so affectionate?” - “Because the goblin took me away from my mother while I was sleeping and raised me, he taught me to be rude to you. He taught you to throw me into the water. If you had not come, we would have suffered forever, but you came, so we will live happily.’” (Moscow).

Belief in werewolfism reflected ideas about the unity of the world, the interdependence of all things, which (naturally, not in the form of a coherent theory) can be traced in rituals, fairy tales, and beliefs of Russian peasants.

In the central, northwestern and northeastern regions of Russia, a werewolf is often called a “wolf-man” (less commonly, a “bear-man”) (turning around usually occurs during a wedding) (see Volkodlak). Compare: “People were turned into a wolf or a bear once upon a time, when there were strong sorcerers; However, there is a belief that even now “in the Zyryans” there are still such sorcerers that they can “turn a person into a wolf”; more werewolves are produced at weddings...<…>. Werewolves live in the forest with other wolves, like real ones, but if you kill a werewolf and skin him, you will find a naked person; It is very rare for a werewolf to be killed, and then only by an “expert” (who knows something about witchcraft), because the werewolf is very cunning and evasive” (Volog.)<АМЭ>.

Animals and werebirds were distinguished by their unusual behavior, less often by some features in their appearance (a white stripe on the neck of a wolf; the white color of its skin (Arch., Sib.); the absence of a tail in a magpie, etc.).

“In winter there was a very big wedding. And with the help of an evil man, this wedding was turned into wolves. And this wedding ran away, disappeared without a trace. One fine time, in the cold, this wedding appeared to people. And these wolves came under the porch, under the corridor. And the bride stays closer and closer to the groom, as a couple they all cling to him. And the woman heard about this and began to give them bread. Well, the peasants, of course, had bread with a cross (blessed - M.V.) and butter with a cross. She began to throw bread and butter to them, to these wolves” (Novg.) (one of the ways to disenchant a werewolf is to feed blessed food. - M.V.; for other methods, see Volkodlak).

You could protect yourself from a werewolf (first of all, from a werewolf-sorcerer, witch) by hitting him backhand, crippling him (by cutting off the ear of a werepig, shoeing a witch-horse) (see Witch, Sorcerer). “...One old woman said that when she happened to be walking through the village one night, she met a large black dog on the way. The old woman wanted to defend herself from her with her stick, but the dog said: “Go, go your way: they won’t cover it up.” (Kaluzh.)

The “snake ax” (an ax used to kill a snake) protected from werewolves.

They also believed that if you steal the object with which the transformation took place (for example, a knife), or the sorcerer’s clothes, then he would not be able to turn into a person again.

Wrapping is a witchcraft action in itself. In stories about werewolves (XIX-XX centuries), they can simply prowl as an animal or fly as a bird, sometimes, however, with specific goals - to spoil a person, guard (or, on the contrary, destroy) livestock, scout out fishing grounds: werewolves bite people or They completely eat people up (Sarat, etc.).

The most malicious actions of werewolves (not always so called) include causing damage and epidemics: “Being confident that all misfortunes, especially bestial deaths, are caused by some heretic or warlock, who, according to ancient legend, often turn into four-legged animals for causing harm to people, peasant women, when plowing the ground, fiercely beat the person they come across, whom they take for a werewolf or for death itself” (Kaluzh.)<Ляметри, 1862>.

In a story from the Vologda province, a witch turns around through a yoke to drive away the sheep; the girl turns into a goat and runs away from her unloved husband (Smol.).

In the story of the Arkhangelsk province, a merchant, fearing to be robbed, goes to the fair as a bear; in this guise he is killed - under the skin of the killed bear they discover a werewolf, a man dressed in a vest and trousers, with several thousand money in his pocket<Ефименко, 1877>.

In a story recorded in the Surgut region, a werewolf merchant “walks like a burbot,” looking for fish in the river. The burbot is caught, but thanks to the fisherman's wife, he manages to slip back into the river. Soon after this, a fisherman who arrived in the city meets an unfamiliar merchant at the bazaar, who invites him to visit, treats him and asks him to give gifts to his wife: “... the merchant says to the man: “Brother, please, take me a gift from me to your wife.” I will give you". And here he began to put aside various materials for the peasant - silk, and satin, and garussins, and various necklaces, and earrings, and rings... Then the peasant could not stand it and asked the merchant: “Tell me, please, who you will be and what you are for.” “Give me my wife?” “That’s why I’m giving her,” answered the merchant. “Do you remember how just in winter you got a seasoned burbot and ordered your wife to cook fish soup out of it, but she didn’t listen to you?.. This was the burbot I was, and I’m giving it to your wife because she didn’t kill me.” I walked late in the river, fell behind my comrades and came across a fishing rod, and thanks to your wife, otherwise I would have been in my ear, and for this I gave her a gift...” After this, the man asks: “Why do you go burbot?” - “You see, brother, we hunt for fish on the sands, so we go to find out where the most fish stop, and there we do our fishing...” Then the man realized that in front of him was a werewolf, he quickly took the gifts and went home” (the plots have a similar development , recorded in the Olonets province, in the Novgorod region).

Among Russian peasants of the 20th century. Belief in werewolves, in general, is fading, although stories about werewolves - bears and wolves - are still popular in some areas of Russia. An interesting transformation of the theme of werewolfism is found in the story recorded by I. V. Karnaukhova in the Russian North about one of the heroes of the Civil War, “famous” for his cruelty: in this story, the partisan commander appears as a werewolf, a ghoul, destroying people<Карнаухова, 1934>.

The beliefs of the countries of the world include an innumerable number of unusual creatures inhabiting continents and continents. A werewolf is a fictional character who can change his appearance using magic, turning into an animal, bird, object or plant.

General concept

The European version of the creature is a lycanthrope, which is a wolf-man. Slavic mythology tells about the werewolf, which has been known since ancient times, and its description can be found in the folklore of Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. Slavic legends represent the werewolf in the form of a vampire who sucks the blood from his victims.

Often in the chronicles of Ancient Rus' there are descriptions of the transformation of commanders into animals. Taking as an example the ancient Russian epic about the hero Volga Svyatoslavich, you can find out that in a battle with the enemy he turned around:

• lion;
• bird;
• fish.

Slavic mythology tells about the transformation of the Evil Spirit into human form to visit beautiful girls at night. Women living in Rus' have more than once reported that at dusk they saw a young man at the head of the bed who was not wearing any clothes.

Types of werewolves according to the method in which the changeling abilities were obtained:

• transformation at will, having complete control of actions and transformations;
• congenital disease lycanthropy, in which a person does not control transformations, his mind and actions.

To get rid of a werewolf, you must stab him in the heart or cut off his head. Unmasking a person in animal form is quite simple; you should injure the animal that attacked you, and its wounds will remain on the human body. Gogol in his famous work “May Night” describes how the lady was attacked by a black cat, and during the struggle the girl cut off her paw. The next day, Panna saw her stepmother without an arm, it became clear that she was a witch.

Appearance

A werewolf has its own distinctive features from a real wild wolf - these are the hind limbs. The werewolf has paws with concave joints similar to human knees, which allow the creature to move quickly. The animal looks like a large wolf, with the ability to walk upright and move on four limbs. The creature gains superpowers consisting of superhuman strength and dexterity.

The werewolf has close-set black eyes. The whole body is covered with wolf hair, the muzzle is slightly elongated. The mouth contains huge fangs that allow it to bite through the neck of its victim. The wolf's gaze makes even experienced hunters tremble.

Myths tell that the beast hunts and lives in a forest area near a residential area. A werewolf spends his day like an ordinary person. Women love such men very much because of their natural attractiveness and often live with them without even knowing about their demonic side.

Legends about werewolves

The legends of Ancient Egypt tell us that werewolves are gods who control people and give them instructions. A pack of werewolves brought mortals closer to them only if they had superpowers. The werewolf god has the appearance of a humanoid creature with the head of an animal or bird, which indicates an incomplete transformation.

Legends of Ancient Rome point to a werewolf-virtue who, in the guise of a she-wolf, saved the brothers Romulus and Remus, which contributed to the formation of the Roman Empire.

In Ukraine, there are legends about werewolves, which Cossacks turned into to chase the enemy and find out information. Myths have been preserved about the reincarnation of Cossacks into wolves in order to get to another world and return their brothers on the battlefield to the light of day.

There are also legends where ghouls are God-hating people who turn into wolves. They hunt the owner's livestock, and sometimes can kill a person. A pack of werewolves could attack the village and kill all the living creatures.

Consequences of a werewolf bite

A werewolf bite provokes irreversible consequences in the human body.

There are cases when, after an attack by a wild animal, people experienced the following symptoms:

• spasms of facial muscles and limbs;
• falling to the floor for no reason and painfully bending the body;
• biting oneself;
• the eyes of such a person cannot tolerate daylight;
• fear of water appears.

Ways to turn a man into a beast

A person turns into a werewolf by somersaulting. If the transformation into a wolf form is performed by a magician, then he should perform a somersault through an old stump or through a dozen knives stuck into the ground with their tips. Myths say that if you remove one of the magic knives from the soil, the wolf's face will remain forever. Usually a person turns into a werewolf in the forest, which allows him to hunt unhindered and undetected.

The ability to turn into a beast can come from a curse, which means it is impossible to take human form again without outside help. The transformation can be reversed; for this, the werewolf must be fed food consecrated in the church; the animal must not smell the human smell. For the ritual to be successful and for the wolf to take on its true form, it is necessary to throw a tailcoat woven from nettles onto its back.

As the image of modern cinema tells, a person turns into an animal-like creature after being bitten by a werewolf. The reincarnation takes place on a full moon, and if the werewolf breaks out, he will cause a lot of trouble. The transformed wolf behaves organically with nature, showing its bloodthirsty insides, but after the night the newly converted person has no memory of his nightly adventures.

Immortal werewolves

Myths reject the hypothesis that werewolves are immortal, but they are given the ability of regeneration - rapid healing of wounds, which contributes to eternal life, and the werewolf does not age.

Werewolves have only physical immortality, but not absolute, therefore, like all creatures on earth, they can die. Killing a werewolf is not so easy; the ability to regenerate does not make it possible to inflict injuries that significantly harm the animal.

Types of werewolves

There are 6 types of werewolves in mythology and demonology.

1. A werewolf is a famous type of werewolf that takes the form of a wolf, in Western culture it is endowed with demonic powers and evil qualities. Slavic culture leans towards the good beginnings of this creature, which both girls and boys can turn to.
2. Kumiho and kitsune are species of creatures known in the latitudes of China and Japan that have the appearance of a fox. They are a beast-like creature that girls disguise themselves as.
3. Slavic mythology often mentions werecats. Witches turn into black cats and stalk their victims.
4. Bakeneko is a werewolf cat in Japanese culture. It represents the image of a domestic cat, which, reincarnated as a bakeneko, grows up to a meter tall.
5. Tanuki is a raccoon dog that has the bizarre ability to enlarge its scrotum to gigantic size. In the latitudes of Japan, magical qualities are attributed to the tanuki skin. There is a popular belief that if you get a piece of animal skin, you can increase your income.
6. Werebirds are more represented in fairy tales and legends of Slavic mythology. The white swan is a young man who has been bewitched by an evil sorcerer.

Conclusion

This is a legendary image implying the reincarnation of people into animals. The most common type of werewolf is the wolf form. Transformation allows you to acquire the qualities of an animal: strength, courage, bloodthirstiness.