Post by Dean Winchester on Apr 14, 2008 21:08:29 GMT -5
A person who shapeshifts into a wolf or wolflike creature, either by using magic, or after being placed under a curse. The idea of transforming during the appearance of the full moon was an idea that was picked by fiction writers. In popular culture, a werewolf can be killed if shot by a silver bullet, although this was not a feature of the folk legends. The name most likely derives from Old English “wet” and “wulf.”
The first part, “wer”, translates as “man.” The second half, “wulf,” is the ancestor of “wolf.” An alternative derivation of the word has the first part coming from Old English “weri” (to wear), making the full form in this case: “wearer of wolf skin.”
Historical legends describe a wide variety of methods for becoming a werewolf, such as the removal of clothing and putting on a belt made of wolfskin, rubbing the body with a magic salve, drinking water out of the footprint of the animal in question, and drinking from certain enhanced streams. According to Russian lore, a child born on December 24th becomes a werewolf. Folklore and literature also depicts that a werewolf can be spawned from two werewolf parents. Becoming a werewolf by being bitten by another werewolf is common in modern fiction, but rate in legend, in which werewolf attacks seldom left the victim alive long enough to transform.
The ones that are placed under the lycanthropy curse are unaware of their alter egos and normally find themselves asleep in their own beds in the morning, unaware of what they did the previous night.
The first part, “wer”, translates as “man.” The second half, “wulf,” is the ancestor of “wolf.” An alternative derivation of the word has the first part coming from Old English “weri” (to wear), making the full form in this case: “wearer of wolf skin.”
Historical legends describe a wide variety of methods for becoming a werewolf, such as the removal of clothing and putting on a belt made of wolfskin, rubbing the body with a magic salve, drinking water out of the footprint of the animal in question, and drinking from certain enhanced streams. According to Russian lore, a child born on December 24th becomes a werewolf. Folklore and literature also depicts that a werewolf can be spawned from two werewolf parents. Becoming a werewolf by being bitten by another werewolf is common in modern fiction, but rate in legend, in which werewolf attacks seldom left the victim alive long enough to transform.
The ones that are placed under the lycanthropy curse are unaware of their alter egos and normally find themselves asleep in their own beds in the morning, unaware of what they did the previous night.