n : These are creatures that are said to turn from humans into wolves.
The plant wolfsbane (monkshood) and shooting the animal with
blessed silver bullets, were said to be a deterrent for these creatures.
In the middle of the Dark Ages, Europe's population lived in very real
fear of werewolves. The signs
that were used to determine whether or not someone was a werewolf
hairy hands or feet
small and pointed ears that were generally sited quite low and
towards the back of the head
thick eyebrows that meet in the middle
red tinged, curled fingernails
long third fingers
persons who drank at a wolves watering hole.
persons who ate wolves or their brains
persons who were killed by wolves
Hollywood has helped to add a few characteristics of its own to the legend
of the werewolf. Many
werewolf films suggest that a full new moon is the trigger for a person to
change into the wolf. There
is also the suggestion that a werewolf bite may turn someone into a
Indeed there is a rare but well recognised psychological condition called
lycanthropy that could to some extent explain the phenomenon.
Persons suffering from this disorder often believe that they
actually can turn into a wolf. They
are often reported behaving in a wolf-like manner by howling at the moon
or attacking people using their teeth and fingernails.
This particular disorder, although rare is occasionally still
reported in Europe.
There is also a theory that in medieval times persons may have believed
they could turn into wolves because of hallucinogenic drugs, derived from
plants such as deadly nightshade and henbane.
Ergot a grain-contaminating fungus, which secretes a compound
similar to LSD, which promotes illusions and feelings of shape shifting,
has also been offered up as a theory for the phenomena.