Werewolves
- It’s unclear exactly when and where the werewolf legend originated.
- Some scholars believe the werewolf made its debut in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known Western prose, when Gilgamesh jilted a potential lover because she had turned her previous mate into a wolf.
- Werewolves made another early appearance in Greek mythology with the Legend of Lycaon.
- According to the legend, Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, angered the god Zeus when he served him a meal made from the remains of a sacrificed boy.
- As punishment, the enraged Zeus turned Lycaon and his sons into wolves.
- Werewolves also emerged in early Nordic folklore. T
- he Saga of the Volsungs tells the story of a father and son who discovered wolf pelts that had the power to turn people into wolves for ten days.
- The father-son duo donned the pelts, transformed into wolves and went on a killing rampage in the forest.
- Their rampage ended when the father attacked his son, causing a lethal wound.
- The son only survived because a kind raven gave the father a leaf with healing powers.
- Many so-called werewolves from centuries ago were in fact serial killers, and France had its fair share.
- In 1521, Frenchmen Pierre Burgot and Michel Verdun allegedly swore allegiance to the devil and claimed to have an ointment that turned them into wolves.
- After confessing to brutally murdering several children, they were both burned to death at the stake. (Burning was thought to be one of the few ways to kill a werewolf.)
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