The Origin of the Werewolf Superstition — John Shaqi
The Origin of the Werewolf SuperstitionStewart, Caroline Taylor
History
The Origin of the Werewolf Superstition
Stewart, Caroline Taylor
Werewolves
[64] As superstition waxed strong, no doubt the wolf robe was
put on not merely to make the wearer look just like a common
object of the landscape, but also because the wearer of the
disguise was supposed to take on the characteristics of the
animal he represented (swiftness, boldness, etc.), as in the
case of masks (see note 57), and finally the wearer of such
a robe was believed to actually become transformed, like the
wearers of the werewolf shirt, for example in Germany. Wolves
were regarded as good hunters who never fail, Ethn. Rep.
1897-98, I. 280, also p. 264:—The wolf is revered by the
Cherokee as hunter and watchdog of Kanáti; therefore we can
understand how the wolf disguise, as conferring the quality of
unerring huntsmanship, might be in especial favor amongst those
who gained their food from the chase. Similarly the singing of
songs imitating the cries of certain animals was supposed to
confer a characteristic of the animal in question (see note 33).
Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 394:—To gain animal characteristics a
wizard attached crow and owl plumes to his head that he might
have the eyes of the crow to see quickly the approach of man,
and the eyes of the owl to travel by night. He flapped his
arms, ... A Zuñi man hearing a cry like an owl, yet human,
looked about him and found a man whom he recognized as a Zuñi.
“Aha!” said he, “why have you those plumes upon your head? Aha,
you are a sorcerer,” etc.
An example of the transforming power of the _robe_ we find in
Bulletin 26, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington,
1901, Kathlamet texts, p. 156 fol.:—A woman ate of some of the
fat of a bitch, gave birth to five male dogs and one female
dog. When they grew older, she discovered one day that they
could transform themselves into real children. While they were
down at the beach, she entered the house, and now she saw the
dog _blankets_. She took them and burnt them. Then the children
retained their human form (like Sigmund and Sinfjötli in the
Völsungasaga). Page 58 fol., is the Myth of the Elk, according
to which an old man transformed himself into an elk by putting
on an elkskin.
W. Golther, Handbuch der germanischen mythologie, 1895, p.
100, writes, “Die Fähigkeit von Leuten, die sich verwandeln
können, heisst ‘sich zu häuten, die Hülle zu wechseln’.
Das Umwerfen eines äusserlichen Gewandes kann den Wechsel
der Gestalt hervorbringen, wie Freyjas Federgewand, die
Schwan- und Krähenhemden der Valkyrjen, Odins Adlergewand.
Die Wolfsgewänder (úlfahamir) wenn angelegt, verwandeln
den Menschen zum Wolfe”. See also Meissner, Ritter Tiodel,
Zeitschrift für deutsches altertum, XLVII. 261.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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