[Illustration] [Note: Greek text is in curly braces, i.e., {}.] THE BOOK OF WERE-WOLVES Being an Account of Terrible Superstition by SABINE BARING-GOULD Smith, Elder & Co., London 1865 CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER II. LYCANTHROPY AMONG THE ANCIENTS Definition of Lycanthropy—Marcellus Sidetes—Virgil—Herodotus—Ovid—Pliny—Agriopas—Story from Petronius—Arcadian Legends—Explanation offered CHAPTER III. THE WERE-WOLF IN THE NORTH Norse Traditions—Manner in which the Change was effected—Vœlundar Kvœda—Instances from the Völsung Saga—Hrolf’s Saga—Kraka—Faroëse Poem—Helga Kvida—Vatnsdæla Saga—Eyrbyggja Saga CHAPTER IV. THE ORIGIN OF THE SCANDINAVIAN WERE-WOLF Advantage of the Study of Norse Literature—Bear and Wolf-skin Dresses—The Berserkir—Their Rage—The Story of Thorir—Passages from the Aigla—The Evening Wolf—Skallagrim and his Son-Derivation of the Word “Hamr:” of “Vargr”—Laws affecting Outlaws—“To become a Boar”—Recapitulation CHAPTER V. THE WERE-WOLF IN THE MIDDLE AGES Stories from Olaus Magnus of Livonian Were-wolves—Story from Bishop Majolus—Story of Albertus Pericofcius—Similar occurrence at Prague—Saint Patrick—Strange incident related by John of Nüremberg—Bisclaveret—Courland Were-wolves—Pierre Vidal—Pavian Lycanthropist—Bodin’s Stories—Forestus’ Account of a Lycanthropist—Neapolitan Were-wolf CHAPTER VI. A CHAPTER OF HORRORS Pierre Bourgot and Michel Verdung—’Me Hermit of S. Bonnot—The Gandillon Family—Thievenne Paget—The Tailor of Châlons—Roulet Chapter VII. JEAN GRENIER On the Sand-dunes—A Wolf attacks Marguerite Poirier—Jean Grenier brought to Trial—His Confessions—Charges of Cannibalism proved—His Sentence—Behaviour in the Monastery—Visit of Del’ancre CHAPTER VIII. FOLK-LORE RELATING TO WERE-WOLVES Barrenness of English Folk-lore—Devonshire Traditions—Derivation of Were-wolf—Cannibalism in Scotland—The Angus Robber—The Carle of Perth—French Superstitions—Norwegian Traditions—Danish Tales of Were-wolves—Holstein Stories—The Werewolf in the Netherlands—Among the Greeks; the Serbs; the White Russians; the Poles; the Russians—A Russian Receipt for becoming a Were-wolf—The Bohemian Vlkodlak—Armenian Story—Indian Tales—Abyssinian Budas—American Transformation Tales—A Slovakian Household Tale—Similar Greek, Béarnais, and Icelandic Tales CHAPTER IX. NATURAL CAUSES OF LYCANTHROPY Innate Cruelty—Its Three Forms—Dumollard—Andreas Bichel—A Dutch Priest—Other instances of Inherent Cruelty—Cruelty united to Refinement—A Hungarian Bather in Blood—Suddenness with which the Passion is developed—Cannibalism; in pregnant Women; in Maniacs—Hallucination; how Produced—Salves—The Story of Lucius—Self-deception CHAPTER X. MYTHOLOGICAL ORIGIN OF THE WERE-WOLF MYTH