History of the Werewolf
Many people the world over have been fascinated with the stories of werewolves, and many continue to be intrigued with the legends. Various movies that have been made on werewolves have fueled and peaked people’s interest the more. While the movies have been both entertaining and at the same time fearsome, it has begged the question of werewolves actually existing. Indeed, the stories of werewolves is a legend that many come to believe as true from the many movies and books they have read on the subject, and what is more, the movies and books seem to endorse the veracity of these creatures. However, the question remains, do werewolves really exist and if it does not, how did the legend become so widespread and accepted?
Werewolf is one of the favourite fancy dress costumes for Halloween
Before venturing into how the legend seemed to start, it must be noted that werewolves were believed to be humans who changed into wolves or other animals of their fancy. They were known to be very cruel in killing other humans or animals for fun. People, based on their confessions and gruesome incidences around neighborhoods were believed to turn to wolves during the full moon and wreak havoc on the community by killing other humans and livestock. These people on turning to werewolves were endowed with supernatural powers that made them to lust for blood and become serial killers, killing as many as they wanted and sometimes eating their victims or eating killed livestock where it was not possible to kill any human. They were believed to recite an incantation under favorable conditions after rubbing themselves with a magical ointment made from special herbs, before putting on wolf clothing or belt that made them werewolves. However, it was believed that no werewolf could turn himself back into a man by himself except by another werewolf, but a man could easily become a werewolf and be seized by this satanic hound that killed wantonly.
Later in the early 1500s in Europe, many self-confessed werewolves were captured and executed, although most of those executed by them were also known to be serial killers and criminals. Among these was a German, Peter Stubbe who was allegedly arrested after killing some livestock at the point of turning back to a human. He was said to have confessed to committing incest with his daughter and eating human flesh, which made his daughter and wife to be executed too after him for being in the know concerning his activities. There was also the case of a Frenchman, Gilles Garnier, who was also executed in 1573 for being a serial killer after confessing to being a werewolf; and there was the execution of other men like Pierre Burgot and Michel Verdun in 1521 for allegedly being werewolves. There were other executions across Europe of werewolves with the rise of Christianity, because they were considered Satanists.
It was believed that the legend of werewolves started with Ovid in a Greek mythology where Lycaon gave human flesh to Jupiter for food, and on discovery that it was human flesh Jupiter had to curse him and turn him into a werewolf, and this became the beginning of werewolves or lycanthrope.
Tags: Halloween characters, history of werewolf, werewolf