In folklore, a werewolf[a] (from Old English werwulf ‘man-wolf’), or occasionally lycanthrope[b] (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος ‘wolf-human’), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf or therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either voluntarily or involuntarily due to a curse or other affliction. In modern fiction, especially film, transformations are often depicted as triggered by the full moon and transmitted by a bite or scratch from another werewolf. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy, are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228).

The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants, which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore developed during the Middle Ages. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs spread to the Western Hemisphere with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel with the belief in witches during the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland, especially the Valais and Vaud, in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century.

The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the “witch-hunt” phenomenon, albeit a marginal one, with accusations of lycanthropy being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves, primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with the persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650, the final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria.

After the end of the witch trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction as a genre has premodern precedents in medieval romances (e.g., Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme) and developed in the 18th century out of the “semi-fictional” chapbook tradition. The trappings of horror literature in the 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern popular culture.

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  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    4 hours ago

    People who reply to my city’s Facebook page are super mad about bus lanes. Starve to death in traffic while I zip by, losers. There are still people doing 15 minute city conspiracy posts which is hilarious cause it’s in the municipal core which is already super walkable. I wont get much use out of these lanes personally cause I can ready walk that distance in 15 minutes but mist people can’t, I am amazing at walking. It’s like another ten minutes for most people let alone the elderly or disabled. Car people can eat shit, the city is doing literally one good thing.

  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    5 hours ago

    Someone should have fully developed on that half assed turned based strategy mode in soul caliber 3 where it eas kinda like fire emblem and the tales series combined

  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    6 hours ago

    At work a game developed about asking me music trivia style questions and being amazed how fast I could answer them. Stuff like songs with days of the week in the title etc. I got every day of the week except Thursday within a minute, after looking it up I haven’t heard a single song with Thursday in the title but I got points for the band Thursday. Or different seasons, types of weather, songs that have the same name as a person etc. It was fun getting to show off that I’m a music encyclopedia

  • KnilAdlez [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    8 hours ago

    I have to hand it to the VisionQuest writers. They had the bravery to keep things like “established canon” and “logic” from effecting their writing in any way.

  • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    6 hours ago

    Doing a weird amount of research into the basis of why vampires need to be invited into a place cause I had a funny idea where a vampire becomes a doctor to have access to medical blood but his hypocratic oath stops him cause im hoping that vampires cant break oathes is in some sort of folklore.

  • tombruzzo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    9 hours ago

    Sorry to mention the whole H3H3 thing but no one mentioned his wife was in the IOF. I feel like that puts a lot of context on the hard Isn’trael pivot and the Hasan crashout. Hasan was doing a good job explaining to him what politics is so I was surprised to see him swing the other way so hard

  • UmbraVivi [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.net
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    9 hours ago

    After getting a bit frustrated with Breath of the Wild I booted up Twilight Princess again and man, I like that game so much better. Midna alone has so much personality that BotW sorely lacks for a significant chunk of its runtime.