THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION.1

jThe belief that a human being is capable of assuming an
animal's form, most frequently that of a wolf, is an almost
worldwide superstition. Such a transformed person is the Ger-
manic werewolf, or man-wolf; that is, a wolf which is really
a human being.2 So the werewolf was a man in wolf's form or
wolf's dress,2 seen mostly at night,3 and believed generally to
be harmful to man.4J

The origin of this werewolf superstition has not been satis--
factorily explained. Adolf Erman 5 explains the allusion of
Herodotus 6 to the transformation of the Neurians (the people

NOTE. — After the author had written the following article, she
gathered most of the material contained in the notes. That the origin
and development of the use of masks as given in the Annual Report of the
United States Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, p. 73 fol. (see note 32) is
similar to the origin and development of the werewolf superstition itself,
as given in the following pages, was an unexpected coincidence. The
author has italicized some words in the quotations.

2 According to Mogk, in Paul's Grundriss der germanischen Philologie
III. 272 Tver means "man," found in Old Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, Old High
German, and werewolf a man in wolf's form. Kogel connects tver with
Gothic was/an "kleiden." Darum bedeutet werrv0/feigentlich Wolfsgewand
ulfshamr; ahnlich bedeutet vielleicht berserkr Barengewand," therefore
werewolf according to Kogel means a wolf's dress. See also Schrader,
Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde.

3 Post p. 24.

4 Encyclopaedia Britannica, XV. 90 fol., 1883: — Beastform in mythology
proper is far oftener assumed for malignant than for benignant ends. See
note 52.

5 Reise um die erde durch Nordasien, Berlin, 1833, I. 232.

6 Herodotus says of the Neurians, that among Scythians and Greeks
settled in Scythia they pass for magicians, because once a year every Neu-
rian becomes a wolf for a few days, and then resumes the human form.
See concerning this also Hirt, Die Indogermanen, I. 120.

253] '

2 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [254

of the present Volhynia, in West Russia) into wolves as due
merely to their appearance in winter, dressed in their furs. This
explanation, however, would not fit similar superstitions in warm
climes. Others ascribe the origin of lycanthropy to primitive
Totemism, in which the totem is an animal revered by the mem-
'bers of a tribe and supposed to be hostile to their enemies.7 Still
another explanation is that of a leader of departed souls as the
original werewolf.8

The explanation of the origin of the belief in werewolves must
be one which will apply the world over, as the werewolf super-
stition is found pretty much all over the earth,9 especially to-day 10
however in Northwest Germany and Slavic lands; namely, in

7 Encyclopaedia Britannica, XXITI. 467 fol.

8 Note 102, also see note 22.

9 See also Mogk in Paul's Grundriss, III. 272. Dr. Rud. Leubuscher*
ftber die Wehrwolfe und Thierverwandlungen im Mittel alter, Berlin, 1850,
mentions cases in ancient Arcadia, in Arabia, Abyssinia (hyenas), and the
almost epidemic disease in the Middle Ages. Dr. W. Hertz, Der Werwolf,
Stuttgart, 1862, ascribes the superstition to Armenia, Egypt, Abyssinia
(hyenas), Greece (pages 20-28), but not to India, contrary to Encyc. Brit,
below; on p. 133 he says: "Tierverwandlungen sind allgemein menschlich,
finden wir iiberall. Die eigentiimliche Entwicklung der Werwolfsagen
aber finden wir vorzugsweise bei einer bestimmten Volkergruppe, den
arischen Stammen der Griechen, Romer, Kelten, Germanen und Slaven;
bei den siidwarts gezogenen Stammen der Inder und Iranier sind uns
gleiche Sagen nicht begegnet [but see below]. Am massenhaftesten treten
die Werwolfe bei den Slaven auf, und ihnen gehort die alteste historische
Erwahnung der Sage; viel alter aber ist der Lykaon Mythus und arkadische
Werwolfe". According to Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen und Ver-
gleiche, Stuttgart, 1878, ss. 62-80, the superstition is found in every Eu-
ropean country (amongst Anglo-Saxons, English, French, Bretons, Poles,
Tschechs, Lithuanians, White Russians of Poland, inhabitants of island
Oesel, Russians, Italians, Portuguese, Provencal peoples, Greeks, Kelts, in
Asia, Africa, America; but not in India nor Persia, contrary to Encyc. Brit,
below), especially though in northwestern Germany and in Slavic lands.

As to the American Indians, see Ethnological Report for 1880-81, p. 83,
"From their close relations with wild animals Indians' stories of transfor-
mations into beasts and beasts into men are numerous and interesting. . . In
times of peace, during the long winter evenings, some famous story-

255] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 3

the lands where the wolf is most common.11'12 According to

teller told of those days in the past when men and animals could transform
themselves at will and hold converse with one another."

Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, Bell & Sons, 1883, II. 668
says no metamorphosis occurs more frequently in Germanic antiquities
than that of men into werewolves. Thus Fenrisulfr, a son of Loki, makes
his appearance in wolfs shape among the gods.

Encyc. Brit. XV. 89 fol., under the heading Lycanthropy, states: — A
belief firmly rooted among all savages is that men are in certain circum-
stances transformed temporarily or permanently into wolves and other in-
ferior animals. In Europe the transformation into a wolf is by far more
prominent and frequent (amongst Greeks, Russians, English, Germans,
French, Scandinavians). Belief in metamorphosis into the animal most
prominent in any locality itself acquires a special prominence. Thus the
were-wo//" prevails in Europe, also in England, Wales, Ireland; and in S.
France, the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Servia, Bohemia,
Poland, Russia, he can hardly be pronounced extinct now (see note 12).
In Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland the bear competes with the
wolf for pre-eminence. In Persia the bear is supreme; in Japan the fox; in
India the serpent vies with the tiger (contrary to Mogk in Paul's Grd., III.
272, who says: — "Nur Griechen, Romer, Kelten, Germanen, Slaven unter
den indogermanischen Volkern kennen den Werwolf, den Indern und
Iraniern ist er unbekannt." Compare notes 6 and 9, Hertz, p. 133); in
Abyssinia and Borneo the hyena with the lion; in E. Africa the lion with the
alligator; in W. Africa the leopard is perhaps most frequently the form
assumed by man ; among the Abipones the tiger, among the Arawaks the
jaguar, etc.

In Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon, for the Middle Ages the were-
wolf belief is ascribed to all Slavic, Keltic, Germanic and Romanic peo-
ples; found to-day especially in Volhynia and White Russia.

Paul, Grundriss, III. 272: — Bei den Angelsachsen lasst sich der Wer-
wolf im ii. Jahrh. nachweisen: Knut befahl den Priestern, ihre Herden
vor dem werewulf zu schirmen .... Das alteste Zeugnis auf deutschem
Gebiete vom Werwolf ist vom Burchard v. Worms (n century).

10 See note 9.

"Encyc. Brit. XV. 89 fol. :— There can nowhere be a living belief in
contemporary metamorphosis into any animal which has ceased to exist
in the particular locality. Belief in metamorphosis into the animal most
prominent in any locality itself acquires a special prominence. (See
note 12.) In none of these cases however is the power of transformation
limited exclusively to the prominent and dominant animal.

>*Encyc. Brit. XXIV. 628 fol. under Wolf:— The wolf is found

4 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [256

Mogk 13 the superstition prevails to-day especially in the north
and east of Germany.14

The werewolf superstition is an old one, a primitive one.15

in nearly the whole of Europe and Asia, North America from Green-
land to Mexico, the Indian peninsula, but not in Ceylon, Burmah or
Siam; and not in South America or Africa, in the two latter jackals
instead.

Meyer's Kleines konversations-lexikon:— Der wolf "ist haufig in Ost
und Nordeuropa, Mittel-und Nordasien, Nordamerika, seltener in Frank-
reich and Belgien, den Herden gefahrlich, besonders in Russland." Encyc.
Brit., XXIV under Wolf: — In northern countries the wolf is generally
larger and more powerful than in the southern portion of its range.
Its habits are similar everywhere. It has from time immemorial been
known to man in all the countries it inhabits as the devastator of his
flocks of sheep. It has speed and remarkable endurance. They usually
assemble in troops or packs, except in summer, and by their combined
and persevering efforts are able to overpower and kill even such great
animals as the American bison. Children and even grown people
are not infrequently attacked by them when pressed for hunger. The
ferocity of the wolf in the wild state is proverbial. Even when tamed,
they can rarely be trusted by strangers.

18 Paul, Grundriss, III. 272.

14Gustav Freytag, Bilder aus neuer zeit, Leipzig, 1904, p. 275 fol.,
speaking of the Polish borderlands, says: "Noch lebte das Landvolk
in ohnmachtigem Kampf mit den Heerden der Wolfe, wenig Dorfer,
welchen nicht in jedem Winter Menschen und Thiere decimirt wurden,"
and in the same note 2, pp. 275-6: — "Als 1815 die gegenwartige Provinz
Posen an Preussen zuriickfiel, waren auch dort die Wolfe eine Landplage.
Nach Angaben der Posener Provinzialblatter wurden im Regierungsbezirk
Posen vom i. Sept. 1815 bis Ende Februar 1816, 41 Wolfe erlegt, noch
im Jahre 1819 im Kreise Wongrowitz 16 Kinder und 3 Erwachsene von
Wolfen gefressen."

^Thus in note 6 was mentioned Herodotus' (484-425 B. C.) statement
about the Neurians. The oldest werewolf legend, according to Hertz, is
that of Lykaon, the son of Pelasgos, the first king of ancient Arcadia.
These Arcadians lived as huntsmen and shepherds. According to J. Oppert
(Andree, p. 65 ; and notes 6 and 9) the werewolf superstition existed
amongst the Assyrians; and Andree states, the oldest Hellenic werewolf
myth is found in Pausanias (died 467 B. C). In the Nprse "Edda" we find
Odin's wolves, also Skoll, Hati and Fenrir. In the Volsunga Saga, Sig-

257] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 5

/The point in common everywhere is the transformation of a liv-
ing human being into an animal, into a wolf in regions where the
wolf was common 16 into a lion, hyena or leopard in Africa, »
where these animals are common; into a tiger or serpent in
India ; 17 in other localities into other animals characteristic of
the region.18 Among Lapps and Finns occur transformations
into the bear, wolf, reindeer, fish or birds; amongst many North
Asiatic peoples, as also some American Indians, into the bear;
amongst the latter also into the fox, wolf, turkey or owl; in
South America, besides into a tiger or jaguar, also into a fish, or
serpent. Most universal though it seems was the transformation
into wolves or dogs.1JJ ^

As the superstition is so widespread — Germany, Eastern
Europe, Africa, Asia, America, it either arose at a very early time,

mund and Sinfjotli become wolves. For other reflections of the fear in
which wolves were held, see the loth century ms. of the "Wiener
Hundesegen" against male and female wolves (Braune, Althochdeutsches
Lesebuch, 6. aufl. 1907, p. 85). Jacob Grimm, — Geschichte der deutschen
sprache s. 233 : — "Unsere thierfabel stellt vortrefflich das gebannte raubthier
des waldes dar, und lehrt die nahe des wolfs und fuchses."

C. Lemcke, Aesthetik, 6. aufl. II. 1890, s. 562: — In die altesten Zeiten
hinauf reicht auch bei Jagervolkern die Tiersage, in ihrer Weise zum Teil
die Eigentiimlichkeiten der Tiere erklarend, ihr Gebahren erzahlend."
Die furchtbaren und die listigen Tiere boten sich am besten dar. . . Wo
die Menschen stadtisch beisammen wohnen, bleibt Tier Tier; wo sie
einsamer mit Tieren leben, bekommen diese eine hohere Bedeutung. So
wird dem Waldler Bar und Wolf zum ebenbiirtigen Rauber und Kampfer,
menschlicher aufgefasst zum Gegner voll Mut, List, Rachsucht, der
Gedanken hat wie der Mensch selbst."

16Volhynia, Europe, Northern Asia. Formerly, according to Andree, p.
65, the wolf was as common throughout Europe as it is to-day in Russia.
Hirt, Die Indogermanen, I. 187, says: "Der Wolf ist uberall in Europa
verbreitet gewesen, der Bar ist aber ganz sicher ein Waldtier."

17 Note 9.

18 Cf. note 9, Encyc. Brit.

19Leubuscher, p. i: — Weil die Verwandlung vorzugsweise in Hunde
und Wolfe geschehen sollte, so erhielt die Krankheit den namen Lykan-
thropie.

6 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [258

/ when all these peoples were in communication with each other 20
or else, in accord with another view of modern science, it arose
independently in various continents in process of the natural psy-
/ chical development of the human race under similar conditions.

PThe origin of the superstition must have been an old cus-
tom of primitive man's of putting on a wolf's or other animal's
skin21 or dress, or a robe.22 Thus Leubuscher,23 says: "Es ist

as Mogk in Paul's Grd., III. 272 expresses it, for example
amongst the West Indogermanic peoples when they still formed a whole,
as shepherds, by whom the wolf as robber of herds was especially feared.
Leubuscher, p. 55 writes: "Die meisten Lykanthropen waren Hirten, die
im Freien lebten, mit Tieren viel verkehrten, und der Wolf schwebte
ihrer Einbildungskraft am oftersten vor, weil sie am meisten damit zu
kampfen hatten. Wenn das Gespenst des Wehrwolfes sich in Einzelnen
als Krankheit erhob, war die Gegend wahrscheinlich von Wolfen besonders
beunruhigt worden, und wahrscheinlich manche Mordthat nur von
Wolfen begangen." Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 282:— "The Dakotas have long
believed in the appearance from time to time of a monstrous animal that
swallows human beings. The superstition was perhaps suggested by the
bones of mastodons, often found in the territory of those Indians."

21Ethn. Rep. 1893-94, p. 267: — In celebrations it is possible that the
foxskin so universally worn by the animistic personifications is a sur
vival comparable with the skin of the animal in which formerly the whole
body was clothed.

22Hertz, p. 17, gives the origin as follows: "In der altesten Natur-
religion ist die Gottheit des Todes und der winterlichen Erde als Wolf
gedacht. Ihre Priester trugen wohl in der Vorzeit Wolfsfelle und hatten
nach dem Volksglauben die Gabe, sich in das Tier der Gottheit zu
verwandeln. Der Wolf, als das schnelle, kampfgewandte Tier, war zum
raschen Zuriicklegen weiter Wege und zur Erlegung von Feinden besonders
geeignet. Darum nahmen die Gotter und die zauberbegabten Menschen
zu solchen Zwecken Wolfsgestalt. Der Wolf ist von Natur gefahrlich und
wurde darum als diabolisch gedacht, und beim Werwolfe auch ist Drang
nach Mord und Zerstorung die Hauptsache. Die Urspriinge des Werwolf-
glaubens waren also i. religiose Vorstellungen, 2. Rechtsvorstellung
(der friedlose Mo'rder ist ein Wolf bei Griechen und Germanen ); 3. die
Geisteskrankheit der Lykanthropie." Page 51. "Die Verwandlung in
Wolfe geschieht vorzugsweise durch Wolfshemden." Page 57: "Dass die
von allem menschlichen Verkehr abgeschnittenen Waldfliichtigen sich in
Tierfelle kleideten, ist nahe liegend."

23 Page 46. See also note 9.

259] THE ORIGIN OF. THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 7

der Mythenkreis eines jeden Volkes aus einfachen wahren Bege-
benheiten hervorgewachsen."24'25 Likely also the notion of at-
tributing speech to animals originated from such disguising or
dressing of men as animals. In the following we shall examine
into primitive man's reasons for putting on such a skin or robe.
Primitive man was face to face with animal foes, and had
to conquer them or be destroyed^ The werewolf superstition in
Europe arose probably while the Greeks, Romans, Kelts and Ger-
manic peoples were still in contact with each other, if not in the
original Indo-Germanic home, for they all have the superstition
(unless, as above, we prefer to regard the belief as arising in
various localities in process of psychical development under sim-
ilar conditions ; namely, when people still lived principally by the
chase.26) jProbably the primitive Indo-European man before and
at the time of the origin of the werewolf superstition, was almost
helpless in the presence of inexorable nature. This was before
he used metal for weapons. The great business of life was to
secure food. Food was furnished from three sources, roots,
berries, animals, and the most important of these was animals.27

24Similarly Dilthey, Erlebnis und Dichtung, 1906, p. 153 fol.;— "1st so
die Einbildungskraft in Mythos und Gotterglauben, zunachst gebunden an
das Bediirfnis des Lebens, so sondert sie sich doch allmahlich im Verlauf
der Kultur von den religiosen Zweckbeziehungen und erhebt jene zweite
Welt zu einer unabhangigen Bedeutsamkeit" — like Homer, Dante, etc.
See note 20, close, and Encyc. Brit., Lycanthropy: — "Insane delusions
must reflect the usages and beliefs of contemporaneous society."

25 Notes 20, 21 and 27.

26 See note 15.

27Grinnell, Story of the indian, p. 54, says: — Traces of the fear in
which buffalo "were held may still be discovered in the traditional stories
of certain tribes, which set forth how, in those days," [i. e. in the stone
age] "before men were provided with arms, the buffalo used to chase, kill,
and eat the people. Such tales show very clearly how greatly the buffalo
were dreaded in ancient times, and such fear could hardly have arisen save
as the result of actual experience of their power to inflict injury and
death.'* Pliny informs us how the Romans kept the wolf out of their

8 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [260

Without efficient weapons, it was difficult to kill an animal of any
size, in fact the assailant was likely himself to be killed. Yet
primitive man had to learn to master the brute foe. Soon he no
longer crouched in sheltered places and avoided the enemy, but
began to watch and study it, to learn its habits, to learn what
certain animals would do under certain circumstances, to learn
what would frighten them away or what would lure them on.
So at least the large animals were to early man a constant cause
of fear and source of danger; yet it was necessary to have their
flesh for food and their skins for clothing.28

Very soon various ingenious contrivances were devised for
trapping them. No doubt one primitive method was the use of
decoys to lure animals into a trap. Some could be lured by baits,
others more easily by their kind. Occasionally masks were used,29
and similarly, another form of the original decoy was no doubt
simply the stuffed skin of a member of the species, whether ani-
mal or bird, say for example a wild duck.30 Of course the

fields, see Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, III. 1241. Whether the Indians
lived on the steppes, in the woods, on the coast, or in the mountains,
the animals were their whole study. They moved with the animals,
followed them for food.

28 Note 27.

^Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 122, note: — It seems that masks were occa-
sionally used as decoys. . . Next to the otter the most valuable animal in
the estimation of the Kadiak men, is the species of seal or sea-dog called
by the Russians nerpa. The easiest manner of taking it is to entice it
toward the shore. A fisherman, concealing the lower part of his body
among the rocks, puts on his head a wooden cap or rather casque resemb-
ling the head of a seal and makes a noise like that animal. The un-
suspicious seal, imagining that he is about to meet a partner of his own
species, hastens to the spot and is instantly killed. Compare note 57.

^Ethn. Rep. 1896-97, I. 132: — Bering Strait Eskimo stuff rudely the
skin of the bird called ptarmigan, and mount it upon a stick which holds
the head outstretched, then imitate the call of the bird, which is trapped
in the net attached to the decoy. Other decoys are made by molding soft
snow into the form of a bird; for the ptarmigan, brown moss is put around
the neck for plumage. The call then brought the real birds.

26 1] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 9

hunter would soon hit on the plan of himself putting on the animal
skin, in the case of larger animals; that is, an individual dressed
for example in a wolf's skin could approach near enough to a
solitary wolf to attack it with his club, stone or other weapon,
without exciting the wolf's suspicion of the nearness of a dan-
gerous foe.31 So the animal disguise, entire or partial, was used
by early man acting in the capacity of a decoy, firstly, to secure
food and clothing. Secondly, he would assume animal disguise,
whole or partial, in dancing and singing; and both these accom-

31Thus G. B. Grinnell, Story of the Indian, p. 61, in his descrip-
tion of the primitive Indians' method of trapping buffalo, says: ''Some
men went forth naked, others carried a dress made of the entire skin of a
buffalo, the head and horns arranged like a buffalo head, while the rest of
the skin hung down over the wearer's back," etc. This "caller" went near
to a herd of buffalo, got them in pursuit of him, then led them into the
trap, a chute, or to a precipice, the fall from which often proved fatal to
the entire herd. Again, in Ethn. Rep. 1884-85, p. 484, about Central Eskimo
seal hunting, is stated: If a hunter is close to an animal he imitates its
movements. Some utter sounds similar to those of a blowing seal. "The
sealskin clothing makes man and seal look so extremely alike that it is
difficult to distinguish one from the other at some distance." And on p.
508, about deer hunting: In a plain the Central Eskimos carry guns on
their shoulders, two men going together, so as to resemble the antlers of a
deer. The men imitate their grunting. If they lie on the ground at some
distance they greatly resemble the animals themselves. According to
Ross the "inhabitants of Boothia imitate the appearance of the deer, the
foremost of two men stalking a herd bearing a deer's head upon his own."
Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 534: — "The old manner of hunting antelope and deer :
the hunter would disguise himself by covering his head with the head and
skin of an antelope, and so be enabled to approach the game near enough
to use his bow and arrow. In a similar manner the Hidatsa would mask
themselves with a wolfskin to enable them to approach buffalo." Ethn.
Rep. 1901-02, p. 439;— Two of the party of hunters (Zufii) out after deer
"wear cotton shirts with sleeves to the elbow, the front and back of the
shirt being painted to represent as nearly as possible the body of the deer;
the hands and the arms to the elbow and also the sleeves are colored to
represent the deer's forelegs. Each wears the skin of a deer's head over
his head. . . In this dress the two huntsmen imitate as closely as possible,
even to the browsing, the game they would catch."

IO UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [262

plishments seem to have arisen from the imitation of the motions
and cries of animals,32 at first to lure them, when acting as a
decoy. With growth of culture came growth of supernaturalism,
and an additional reason for acquiring dance and song was to
secure charms against bodily ills,33 and finally enlivenment.34 In
both dance and song, when used for a serious purpose, the per-
formers imagined themselves to be the animals they were imi-

^Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. 352: — Tradition says the Iroquois derived the
music and action of the Buffalo dance while on an expedition against the
Cherokee, from the bellowing and the movements of a herd of buffalo
which they heard for the first time 'singing their favorite songs,' i. e.
bellowing and snorting." Also note 33.

^Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. 266, gives a song to prevent frostbite. The
wolfs, deer's, fox's, opossum's feet it is held never become frostbitten.
After each verse of the song, the singer imitates the cry and the action of
the animal. The words used are archaic in form and may be rendered
"I become a real wolf, etc." The song runs:

1. Tsun' wa' <ya-ya' (repeated four times), wa-f-a! (prolonged howl).
The singer imitates a wolf pawing the ground with his feet.

2. Tsuii'-ka' wi-ye' (four times), sauh! sauh! sauh! sauh! (imitating
the call and jumping of a deer).

3. Tsun'-tsu' 'la-ya' (four times), gaih! gaih! gaih! gaih! (imi-
tates barking and scratching of a fox).

4. Tsun'-si'-kwa-ya' (four times), ki-f (imitates cry of the opossum
when cornered, and throws his head back as that animal does when
feigning death).

^Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 323, about the Omaha Coyote dance performed
by warriors whenever it was thought necessary to keep up their spirits, in
which each had his robe about him and imitated the actions of the coyote,
trotting, glancing around, etc. Page 348 describes the Omaha Buffalo
dance, in which each of four men used to put the skin of a buffalo over
his head, the horns standing up, and the hair of the buffalo head hanging
down below the chest of the wearer. The various movements of the
buffalo were imitated by the dancers. Pages 348-349, the Omaha wolf
dance, by the society of those who have supernatural communication with
wolves. The dancers wear wolfskins, and dance in imitation of the
actions of wolves. Similarly they performed the grizzly bear dance,
horse dance, etc.

263] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION II

tating,35 and in the dance they wore the skins of the animals
represented.36 J

Probably as long as animal form, partial or entire, was as-
sumed merely for decoys and sport (early dancing), for peaceful
purposes therefore, such people having whole or partial animal
shape were not regarded as harmful to man,38 just as wise women
began to pass for witches only when with their art they did evil.39
A similar development can be traced in the case of masks.40 It
was some time before man could cope with food-and clothing-
furnishing animals that were dangerous to life, though these are
the ones he first studied;41 and we cannot presuppose that he dis-
guised to represent them until he could cope with them, since the
original purpose of the disguise was to secure food and clothing.
Thus far then we see whole or partial disguise as animals used to
secure food and clothing when acting as decoys to lure animals;
and in dancing.

35 Notes 22, 34 and 37.

36 See notes 34 and 37.

^Similarly in the use of masks (see note 57). See Wundt, Volkerpsy-
chologie II. i. 412 fol., and in regard to this Zeitschrift fur deutsche
Philologie, XXXVIII. 1906, ss. 558-568:— "Der maskierte mensch ist der
ekstatische Mensch. Mit dem anlegen der maske versetzt er sich in
ekstase, fiihlt er sich in fremde lebensvorgange ein, eignet er sich das
wesen an, mit dem er sich durch die maske identificiert." Fur den
naiven menschen, wie fur das kind, ist die maske durchaus nicht
blosser schein, sondern wirkender charakter. Der augenblickstanz
wurde zum zaubertanz. Die naturvolker verwenden ihre masken nur
bei den feierlich-ernsten zaubertanzen, nicht zu ihrer burlesken mimik;
die tanzer sind in Tierrnasken, etc.

^Amongst American Indians for example a man transformed into a
bear and vice versa is usually regarded as benevolent (Ethn. Rep. 1880-81,
p. 83). See, also, Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, III. 1097: — In Norse
accounts also we find transformation into a bear, for the bear was regarded
as rational and was esteemed.

39 Note 84.

40 See note 57a.

41 Notes 27 and 42.

12 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES 24

J Fourthly, primitive man would put on an animal's skin or
dress when out as forager (or robber) or spy, for the purpose
of avoiding detection by the enemy. 1 The Pawnee Indians for
example,43 were called by neighboring tribes wolves, probably
not out of contempt, since it may be doubted that an Indian feels
contempt for a wolf any more than he does for a fox, a rabbit, or
an elk, but because of their adroitness as scouts, warriors and
stealers of horses; or, as the Pawnees think, because of their
great endurance, their skill in imitating wolves so as to escape de-
tection by the enemy by day or night; or, according to some
neighboring tribes, because they prowl like wolves44 "have the
endurance of wolves, can travel all day and dance all night, can
make long journeys, living on the carcasses they find on their
way, or on no food at all." . . . And further, "The Pawnees,
when they went on the warpath, were always prepared to sim-

important consideration in the mind of primitive man was
whether certain things were harmful or useful. See Behaghel, Die
deutsche Sprache, p. 98: — "Die grossen Tiere und die machtigen
Baume, die Tiere und Pflanzen, die fur die Ernahrung and Bekleidung des
Menschen von Bedeutung sind, die Tiere, die sein Leben bedrohen, sie haben
viel friiher sprachliche Bezeichnung gefunden, als der unscheinbare Kafer
im Sande, als die kleine Blume des Waldes. So kommt es, dass die Namen
der grosseren Tiere, der grossen Waldbaume, der wichtigsten Getreidearten
alien germanischer Stammen gemeinsam sind, einzelne sogar, wie Wolf
Kuh, Ochse, Birke, Buche, Erie, Gerste mit den Benennungen anderer
indogermanischer Volker iibereinstimmen." Doubtless animals occupied
their attention sooner than plants. See Wundt, Volkerpsychologie, II.
412 fol., about the maskentanz'. "Uberhaupt haben die Tiermotive weit
friiher Beriicksichtigung erfahren als die Pflanzenmotive."

See note 95.

43 G. B. Grinnell, Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales, N. Y., Scrib-
ners, 1893, p. 245, fol.

"Jacob Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, s. 233: Ein
sabinischer stamm hiesz Hirpi (lat. hirpus bedeutet wolf in sabinischer
oskischer Mundart), weil den einwandernden ein wolf fiihrer geworden
war, oder nach andrer sage sie wolfe gejagt hatten und gleich wolfen
raubten, d. h. im sinn des deutschen ausdrucks friedlos waren.

265] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 13

ulate wolves. . . . Wolves on the prairie were too common 45
to excite remark, and at night they would approach close
to the Indian camps." . . . The Pawnee starting off on the
warpath usually carried a robe made of wolf skins, or in later
times a white blanket or a white sheet; and, at night, wrapping
himself in this, and getting down on his hands and knees, he
walked or trotted here and there like a wolf, having thus trans-
formed himself into a common object of the landscape. This
disguise was employed by day as well, for reconnoissance. . . .
While the party remained hidden in some ravine or hollow, one
Indian would put his robe over him and gallop to the top of the
hill on all fours, and would sit there on his haunches looking all
over the country, and anyone at a distance who saw him, would
take him for a wolf. It was acknowledged on all hands that the
Pawnees could imitate wolves best. "An Indian going into an
enemy's country is often called a wolf,46 and the sign for a scout
is made up of the signs wolf and look-"47 Should any scout de-
tect danger, as at night when on duty near an encampment, he
must give the cry of the coyote.48

JThe idea of the harmfulness to other men of a man in
animal form or dress became deeply seated now, when men in an-
imal disguise began to act not only as decoys for animals danger-
ous to life, but also as scouts (robbers49 — and later as posses-

werewolf story could arise only where the animal, wolf, tiger or
lion, etc., was common; and likewise the werewolf tales gradually died
out when the animals became rare or extinct. See note n.

46Grinnell, p. 245.

47The Watusi of East Africa distinctly describe all wild beasts save
their own totem-animals as enemy-scouts (Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy).

^Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 323. See also Grinnell, Story of the indian, p.
208: The wolf was believed, in the animals' council, to be able to give
the Indian the power to creep right into the midst of the enemy's camp
without being seen.

49 See note 53.

14 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [266

sors of supernatural power, when growth of culture brought
with it growth of supernaturalism 50 ) ; when people began to as-
sociate, for example, the wolf's form with a lurking enemy.51
All uncivilized tribes of the world are continually on the
defensive, like our American Indian; they all no doubt on occas-
ion have sent out scouts who, like our American Indians, to avoid
detection, assumed the disguise of the animal most common to
the special locality in question, just as to-day they are known to
disguise in animal skins for purposes of plunder or revenge.52 53

50 See note 57-b.

51So originally the germanic god Logi was not an evil god. Logi meant
the natural force of fire; Loki meant the same, but the burly giant has
been made a sly, seducing villain (Grimm, Teut. Myth. I. 241). A son of
Loki, Fenristilfr, appears in wolf's shape among the gods. Perhaps
association with the wolf is in part responsible for the transformation of
Logi (Loki) from a good to an evil god.

62Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy: — In modern savage life we find
beastform of chiefs or spirits, medicine men, some hunt in beast form for
the community; others are said to assume beast form in order to avenge
themselves justly on enemies; others for love of bloodshed and cannibal-
ism. See also note 58.

^No doubt some of these men disguised as wolves won considerable
fame through their skill and bravery, as we should judge from such
proper names as Rudolf, which means really Ruhimvolf, Ruhm related to
Gothic hropeigs "victorious," Sanskrit ktr "to praise"; or Adolf from
Adalolf, which means Edel-wolf-, originally, therefore, Edelrauber, for
wolf meant originally about the same as robber (Kluge). So robber or
wolf was originallv a highly respectable appellation, at a time when men
lived from robbery and the chase, either as searobbers, or mountain
robbers, etc. (about this early profession see Hirt, Die Indogermanen,
1905, p. 268 fol.), and the profession was not looked on as a disgrace
(see appellation "wolves" applied to Pawnees, p. 12.). Later we find
such names as Wulfila "little wolf." Many Indian names are those of
animals, such as Good Fox, Good Bear, Walking Bear, Conquering Bear,
Rushing Bear, Stumbling Bear, Brave Bear, Bear Rib, Smoking Bear,
Biting Bear, Bear-Looks-Back, Cloud Bear, Mad Bear, Mad Wolf, Lone
Wolf, Lean Wolf, Wolf-Ear, Wolf-Robe, etc. See Ethn. Rep. 1882-83,
p. 169: The names of Indians very often refer to some animal, predicating
some attribute or position of that animal. For discussion of names, see
note in.

267] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 15

The kind of animal makes no difference, the underlying
principle is the same; namely, the transformation of a living hu- «*•"
man being into an animal. The origin of the belief in such a
transformation, as stated above 54 was the simple putting on of
an animal skin by early mariT] The object of putting on animal
skins was,

(i) To gain food. For this purpose the motions and cries **-
of animals were imitated (origin of dancing and singing),55
artificial decoys (like decoy ducks to-day)56 and finally even
masks were used.57

M Ante p. 6.
"See (3) below.

66 See ante p. 8.

67 See note 4 and also Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 73 fol. (see note 37) :— The
use of masks is worldwide. The origin and development of the use of
masks is very much the same as the origin and development of the were-
wolf as given in the preceding pages. The wolfrobe and the mask, both
originally useful devices, degenerated in unscrupulous hands into instru-
ments for personal aggrandizement and gain. The use of the mask is de-
scribed in the above report as follows:

a). It was used as a shield or protection for the face, for defense
against physical violence, human or otherwise. It was therefore first used
merely as a mechanical resistance to the opposing force; then secondly,
still in the lowest grade of culture, it was used to inspire terror, to gain a
moral influence over the opposing agent by hideousness or by symbolizing
superhuman agencies. Now individual variations arose — devices for ex-
ample derived or conventionalized from some predatory, shrewd or mys-
terious animal.

b). With growth of culture came growth of super-naturalism, and
the mask came to be used in religious performances, as a part of the relig-
ious paraphernalia, like the shirts or girdles of the shamans. Ethn. Rep.
1896-97, I. 395: — "When worn in any ceremonial, . . . the wearer is
believed to become mysteriously and unconsciously imbued with the spirit
of the being which his mask represents."

c). Finally the element of humor enters in, and the mask is used for
public amusements and games; by secret societies; as protection against
recognition on festive occasions," etc., like the animal skins worn in
dances.

1 6 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [268

(2) To secure clothing in cold climes by trapping or decoy-
ing animals, as in ( i ) above.

(3) The imitation when decoying, of the motions of ani-
mals led to dancing, and in the dances and various ceremonies the
faces and bodies of the participants were painted in imitation of
the colors of birds and animals, the motions of animals imitated
and animal disguises used.58

(4) Scouts disguised themselves as animals when out
foraging, as well as for warfare,59 60 therefore for booty, and self-
defense. Either they wore the entire skin, or probably later just
a part of it as a fetich, like the left hind foot of a rabbit, worn as
a charm by many of our colored people to-day.61

58 Notes 32, 34, 33, ante p. n.
a> See p. 13.

60 Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 503: — Account of "a cloak or mantle made
from the skin of a deer, and covered with various mystic paintings. It was
made and used by the Apaches as a mantle of invisibility, that is, a
charmed covering for spies which would enable them to pass with impun-
ity through the country, and even through the camp of their enemies. In
this instance the fetichistic power depends upon the devices drawn." The
Apache have a similar fetich or charm. The symbols drawn were the rain-
cloud, serpent lightning, raindrops and the cross of the winds of the four
cardinal points. Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p. 515: — Among the Hidatsa (Sioux)
fetiches are especially the skins of the wolf. "When they go to war, they
always wear the stripe off the back of a wolf skin, with the tail hanging
down the shoulders. They make a slit in the skin through which the warrior
puts his head, so that the skin of the wolf's head hangs down upon his
breast." Finally the magic robes or shirts and girdles came to be a part of
the regular paraphernalia of the shamans, or practisers of magic. In the
folklore of all countries we find numerous notices of holy girdles.

Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. (Cherokee) 393: "Some warriors had medicine
to change their shape as they pleased, so that they could escape from their
enemies." Page 501: Such stories might be paralleled in any tribe.

61 See further development in note 64.

269] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 17

x^(5) For purposes of revenge,62,63 personal or other. For
some other personal motive of advantage or gain, to inspire terror
in the opposing agent by hideousness.

^ (6) To inspire terror in the opposing agent by symbolizing
superhuman agencies.64 So now would arise first a belief in

62 Note 52.

63 As an example of the motive of vengeance, or pure brutality, we
cite from Andree, p. 69: — People in the interior of Africa who understand
magic, transform themselves into lions and go about killing people. See
also below, note 65, where the wolf-man of Abyssinia kills his enemy and
sucks his blood, and also kills other wolf-men it meets, the question being
one of the survival of the fittest, that is the strongest. All this takes place
at night, which reminds us of our Pawnee Indian starting out at night in
his wolf's robe, and trotting up to the hostile village to ascertain where his
enemies' horses are tied, so as to steal them when all are asleep (Grin-
nell's Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales, p. 246, and pp. 70 73). Ethn.
Rep. 1887-88, p. 461 : — "To recover stolen or lost property, especially ponies,
is one of the principal tasks imposed upon the so-called medicine-men"
(shamans).

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 land-
scape, 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 were-
wolf 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 Kandti; therefore
we can understand how the wolf disguise, as conferring the quality of un-
erring 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 ani
mal in question (see note 33).

Ethn. Rep. 1901-02^.394: — To gain animal characteristics a wizard at-
tached 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 Zuni man hearing a cry like
an owl, yet human, looked about him and found a man whom he recog-
nized as a Zuni. "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

1 8 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [270

superhuman power or attributes,65 and then ,

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 chil-
dren. 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 Sinfjotli in the
Volsungasaga). 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. TOO,
writes, Die Fahigkeit von Leuten, die sich venvandeln konnen, heisst fsich
zu hauten, die Hiille zu wechseln'. Das Umwerfen eines ausserlichen
Gewandes kann den Wechsel der Gestalt hervorbringen, wie Freyjas
Federgewand, die Schwan- und Krahenhemden der Valkyrjen, Odins
Adlergewand. Die Wolfsgewander (ulfahamir) wenn angelegt, verwan-
deln den Menschen zum Wolfe". See also Meissner, Ritter Tiodel, Zeit-
schrift fur deutsches altertum, XLVII. 261.

^Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 392: — The owner of fine beads fears that some
witch, prompted by jealousy, will strike him with disease.

As another example' of the pretended assumption of superhuman
powers to gain influence over others, we may cite the instances given by
Andree, p. 68 fol., according to which Livingston met in Africa a native
said to have power to transform himself into a lion. As lion he would
stay for days and months in the forest, in a sacred hut, to which however
his wife carried beer and food for him, so we may judge that at least this
lion did not cause much devastation amongst the wild beasts. He was able
to reassume human form by means of a certain medicine brought him by
his wife. Again Andree, p. 69: — In Banana, Africa, the members of a cer-
tain family transform themselves in the dark of the forest into leopards.
They throw down those they meet in the forest, but dare not injure them
nor drink their blood, lest they remain leopards. (See note 83.)

The motive of personal gain is exemplified by our American Indians,
who put on a wolfs mantle to steal, or to recover stolen animals (Grin-
nell, Pawnee hero stories, p. 247, also the story of robbery entitled
Wolves in the night, p. 70 fol.). Similarly in Abyssinia, Andree, p. 69,
where the lowest caste of laborers are believed to have power to transform
themselves into hyenas or other animals, as such, plundering graves. They
employ naturally various artifices to help along their cause, since it yields
such returns. They are reported to act like other folk by day, at night
though to assume the ways of wolves, kill their enemies and suck their
blood, roaming about with other wolves till morning. They are supposed

271] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 19

(7) Witchcraft.66 It is very easy to see why it was usually

to gain their supernatural powers by a secret beverage made from herbs.
They are not likely to be discovered to be only sham animals, since their
roaming and plundering is done in the night] in the daytime they of
course conceal the animal skins (see Andree, p. 72).

Ethn. Rep. 1880-81, p. 68:— Among the Chaldeans, Egyptians and
Greeks, the success of magic depended upon the ignorance of the masses
and the comparative learning of the few who practised it. Among the
American Indians the medicine-man and the more expert sorceress have
little learning above that of the body of the tribe, and their success de-
pends entirely upon their own belief in being supernaturally gifted, and
upon the faith and fear of their followers.

The Iroquois believed in people who could assume a partly animal
shape. See Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 79: — "An old blind wolf
with a powerful medicine cured a man, and made his head and hands look
like those of a wolf. The rest of his body was not changed. He was
called a man-wolf."

^Ethn. Rep. 1 880-81, p. 73: — Witches could and did assume animal
shapes. For example a dog seen by a man which had fire streaming from
its mouth and nostrils. It was night. The man shot at it, and the next
morning tracked it by the marks of blood from its wound. At a bridge a
woman's tracks took the place of the dog's, and finally he found the
woman. She had died from the effect of the phot. Page 73: Likewise a
hog, when pursued, disappeared at a small creek, and finally reappeared
as an old man, who said it was he, whom they had been chasing. So they,
the pursuers, knew he was a witch. Page 74: A Canadian Indian one
evening pursued a white bull with fire streaming from its nostrils. He had
never seen a white bull on the reservation before. "As it passed in tront of
a house it was transformed into a man with a large white blanket, who was
ever afterward known as a witch."

Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 395: — A man going out at night noticed a queer- /
looking burro. Upon his return home he was told that a large cat had en-
tered the house. He went out again, discovered a man wrapped in a blan-
ket, but not in the Zuni fashion, his head was sunk low in the blanket.
He knew this creature to be a wizard.

Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 458: — That the medicine man (Shaman) has the
faculty of transforming himself into a coyote and other animals at pleas-
ure and then resuming the human form, is as implicitly believed in by the
American Indians as it was by our own forefathers in Europe. And page
459: The Abipones of Paraguay credit their medicine-men with power
to put on the form of a tiger. The medicine-men of Honduras claimed

2O UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [272

the so-called medicine-men (more correctly Shamans), who
claimed such transformation power, because they received remun-
eration from their patients.67

the power of turning themselves into lions and tigers. Also the Shamans
of the Nicaraguans possessed similar power. Hertz, p. 133 fol.: — "In der
christlichen Zeit wurde der heidnische Cultus Teufelsanbetung und hier
entstand mit dem Hexenglauben die Vorstellung von Menschen, die sich
mit Hilfe des Satans aus reiner Mordlust zu Wolfen verwandeln. So wurde
der Werwolf das Bild des tierisch Damonischen in der Menschennatur."

67 Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 467: — The medicine-men of the Apache are paid
at the time they are consulted, the priest beforehand among the Eskimo.
Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p. 187: "The magnitude of the disease is generally meas-
ured by the amount of the patient's worldly wealth." Page 416: — Sioux
sorcerers prepared love-potions for those who bought them. Ethn. Rep.
1901-2, p. 568 : — The shaman, like the theurgist is usually paid after each visit
with calico, cotton, or food, according to the wealth of the family, since it is
always understood that these doctors expect proper compensation for their
services." Page 387: — "The Zuni doctor is paid according to his reputa-
tion." Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 284: l<In early days if a man
remained sick for three or four weeks, all his possessions went to pay
doctors' fees."

Ethn. Rep . 1887-88, p. 462 fol. — The American Indian's theory of disease
is the theory of the Chaldean, the Assyrian, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Ro-
man— all bodily disorders are attributed to the maleficence of spirits (that
is of animal spirits, ghosts or witches), who must be expelled or placated.
Gibberish was believed to be more potential in magic than was language
which the practitioner or his dupes could comprehend. Page 468: — The
medicine-men are accused of administering poisons to their enemies.
Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p. 416: — Sioux sorcerers were thought to cause the
death of those persons who had incurred their displeasure. Ethn. Rep.
1887-88, p. 581 : — "When an Apache or other medicine-man is in full regalia
he ceases to be a man, but becomes, or tries to make his followers believe
that he has become, the power he represents." The Mexican priests
masked and disguised, and dressed in the skins of the women offered
up in sacrifice.

So the shaman practiced sorcery, medicine and was a priest. Ethn.
Rep. 1887-88, p. 594: — The Indian doctor relied far more on magic than on
natural remedies. Dreams, beating of the drum, songs, magic feasts and
dances, and howling were his ordinary methods of cure. Grinnell, Story
of the indian, p. 210 fol.: — They have "firm confidence in dreams."
"Their belief in a future life is in part founded on dreams," etc.

2/3] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 21

' (8) Finally dreams 68 and exaggerated reports gave rise
to fabulous stories.69

We have discussed (i), (2), and (3) ;70 for an example un-
der (4) we have cited the practices of American Indians.71 It is
probable that about now (at the stage indicated in (4) above),
what is known as the real werewolf superstition (that of a fren-
zied, rabid manwolf) began to fully develop. IThe man in wolf-'
skin was already a lurking thief or enemy, or a destroyer of human
life. To advance from this stage to the werewolf frenzy, our
primitive man must have seen about him some exhibition of such
a frenzy, and some reason for connecting this frenzy particularly
\ with, say the wolf. He did see insane persons, and the connect-/
ing link would be the crazy or mad wolf (or dog, as the trans-
formation was usually into a wolf or dog,72) for persons bitt
by it usually went mad too.73 The ensuing frenzy, with the

68 Note 67, close.

69 An example of fabulous invention for pure personal gain occurs An-
dree, p. 77: If the Greenlanders catch too many seal at one place, the
latter will take a terrible revenge. Assuming human form, they attack
their enemy in the night at his home. This is the transformation of an
animal into a man, but the inventor of the story was no doubt looking
towards his own gain. It is the same old fight for seal protection which
in another form is still going on to-day. Andree, p. 72. In Siam stories
are told of people who by magic formulae become tigers and roam about
at night in search of booty. One of the man-tigers was actually a priest.

70 Ante pp. 7,8,9.

71 Ante p. 12 fol.

78 See notes 19 and 74.

73Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 283: "It is said that wolves,
which in former days were extremely numerous, sometimes went crazy,'
and bit every animal they met with, sometimes even coming into
camps and biting dogs, horses and people. Persons bitten by a mad wolf
generally went mad, too. They trembled and their limbs jerked, they
made their jaws work and foamed at the mouth, often trying to bite other
people. When any one acted in this way, his relatives tied him hand and
foot with ropes, and, having killed a buffalo, they rolled him up in the
green hide, built a fire on and around him, leaving him in the fire until
the hide began to dry and burn. Then they pulled him out and removed the
buffalo hide, and he was cured. This was the cure for a mad wolf's bite."

22 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [274

sternation it occasioned, soon appealed to certain primitive minds
as a good means of terrorizing others. Of these mad ones some {
no doubt actually had the malady; others honestly believed they
had it and got into a frenzy accordingly ; others purposely worked
themselves up into a frenzy in order to impose on the unini-
tiated.74 Later, in the Middle Ages, when the nature of the real
disease came to be better understood, the werewolf superstition
had become too firmly fixed to be easily uprootedv*

We have discussed (5), (6), (7), and (8) in the notes.75 As
further examples of the development into fabulous story,76 we may
cite any of those stories in which the wild werewolf, or animal-
man is represented as roaming the land, howling, robbing, and
tearing to pieces men and beasts, until he resumes his human
form. Thus an early scout in animal garb would be obliged
to live on food he found on his way, and later fabulous report
would represent him as himself when in disguise possessing the
attributes of the animal he represented, and tearing to pieces man
and beast. For such an account see Andree,77 concerning what

74Sometimes the professionals even became possessed of a monomania
themselves, as in witchcraft. Andree goes into this widespread disease
or delusion (of the first century till late in the middle ages), p. 76 fol.:
"The sick" ones would prowl about burial places at night^ imagining
themselves to be -wolves or dogs, and go about barking and howling. In
the middle ages such people would even kill children and grown people.
When they came to themselves again, or were cured, they claimed to
know nothing of what had happened. Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, P- 491 : Amongst
the Shamans feats of jugglery or pretended magic rivaling or surpassing
the best of spiritualistic seances are recounted. Page 207: The use of
robes made of the hides of buffalo and other large animals, painted with
shamanistic devices, is mentioned. Page 235: The speaker terms him-
self a wolf spirit, possessing peculiar power.

76 Notes 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69.

76 See (8) above.

"Page 71.

275] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 23

eyewitnesses reported of the [wild reveling over corpses of the
hyena-men of Africa. ' Naturally the uninitiated savage who wit-
nessed such a sight would become insane, or at least would spread
abroad such a report as would enhance the influence of the
hyena-men far and wide. Some savages, as in Africa,78 came
to regard any animal that robbed them of children, goats or other
animals, as a witch in animal form;79! just as the American Indians
ascribe to evil spirits death, sickness and other misfortunes.

We can see how at first the man in animal disguise or an
animal robe would go quietly to work, like the Pawnee scout;80
how though, as soon as the element of magic enters in, he would
try to keep up the illusion. At this stage, when the original
defensive measure had become tainted with superstition, men
would go about in the night time howling and holding their
vile revels.81 [Andree,82 narrates how a soldier in Northeast
Africa shot at a hyena, followed the traces of blood and came to
the straw hut of a man who was widely famed as a magician.
No hyena was to be seen, only the man himself with a fresh
wound. Soon he died, however the soldier did not survive him
long. Doubtless one of the magician class was responsible for
the death of the soldier, just as we to-day put to death the man
who so violates our laws, as to become a menace to our society,
or as formerly kings killed those who stood in their way; or as

78Andree, p. 69.

79Ethn..Rep. 1889-90, p. 263, gives the following story of the origin of the
wolf: "T/te ivolf was a poor woman, who had so many children that she
could not find enough for them to eat. They became so gaunt and
hungry that they were changed into wolves, constantly roaming over the
land seeking food."

80 Ante p. 12 fol.

81Ethn. Rep. 1885-86, p. 152: It is impossible to imagine the horrible
howlings, and strange contortions that these jugglers (shamans) or con-
jurers make of their bodies, when they are disposing themselves to
conjure.

82 Page 71.

24 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [276

religious sects murder those who dissent from their faith. These
magicians, supposed to be men who could assume animal form,
as a matter of fact do often form a class, are greatly feared by
other natives, often dwell with their disciples in caves and at
night come forth to plunder and kill.83 J It is to their interest to
counterfeit well, for if suspected of being malevolent, they were
put to death or outlawed, like criminals to-day.84 Their fren-
zies were, as said above, in some cases genuine delusions; in
other cases they offered, as one may readily imagine, excellent
opportunities for personal gain or vengeance.85

83Andree, p. 70, gives an account of the chief magician (Abyssinia),
who demands as yearly tribute of his subordinate animal-men the teeth of
the persons whom they have killed during the year, with which he
decorates his palace. See also pp. 72, 75, etc.: Ethn. Rep. 1885-86, p. 151,
about sorcery among American Indians: Societies existed. The purposes
of the society are twofold; i. To preserve the traditions of Indian
genesis and cosmogony, etc. 2. To give a certain class of ambitious
men and women sufficient influence through their acknowledged power of
exorcism and necromancy to lead a comfortable life at the expense of the
credulous. Page 162: "Each tribe has its medicine men and women, an
order of priesthood consulted and employed in all times of sickness. It
is to their interest to lead these credulous people to believe that they can
at pleasure hold intercourse with the munedoos," etc. Sometimes one
family constitutes the class. See note 65; Andree, p. 69.

84Grimm, Teut. Myth. III. 1104: To higher antiquity witches were
priestesses, physicians, fabulous night-wives, never as yet persecuted.
Maidens might turn into swans, heroes into werewolves, and lose nothing
in popular estimation. The abuse of a spell was punished. A wise
woman, healing sickness and charming wounds, begins to pass for a witch
only when with her art she does evil. In course of time, when the Devil's
complicity with every kind of sorcery came to be assumed, the guilt of
criminality fell upon all personal relations with him. Ethn. Rep.
1901-2, p. 393: "Though the witch may be regarded as all powerful, none
but the poor and unfortunate are condemned. Few others are even brought
to trial — their prominence prevents public accusation." This again re-
minds us some of our customs; namely, that of overlooking the trans-
gressions of the rich and powerful. See note 91, and for outlaws note 112

^Such artificial frenzies had a serious effect upon the body, and more
particularly the eyes, so that many shamans (Siberia, America, etc.)
become blind.

277] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 25

IQnly by instilling in their fellows a firm belief in this super-
stition and maintaining the sham, could the perpetrators of the
outrages hope to escape punishment for their depredations, could
they hope to plunder and steal with impunity.86 So they prowled
usually under the cloak of night or of the dark of the forest,87
howled and acted like the animals they represented, hid the
animal skin or blanket, if they used one,88 in the daytime where
they thought no one could find it, whereas the animal skin which
was worn for defence, was put on either by day or night,89 and
one story recounts the swallowing of a whole goat, the man
bellowing fearfully like a tiger while he did it.90 ](Some of the
transformed men claimed they could regain human form only
by means of a certain medicine or by rubbing. The imposters
were the criminal class of society that is still with us to-day,91

86Encyc. Brit., XV. under Lycanthropy : In Prussia, Livonia and Lithu-
ania, according to two bishops, werewolves were in the i6th century
far more destructive than "true and natural wolves." They were asserted
to have formed "an accursed college" of those "desirous of innovations
contrary to the divine law." Also see note 90.

87 See ante p. 13, and notes 64, 65, 66, 69, 84, 102, no.

88 Note 22 close, and note 102.

89 See ante p. 13.

^Andree, p. 72. This same tiger-man in Asia killed a woman, whose
husband set out in pursuit, followed him to his house, got hold of him
later in his man shape and killed him. Feats similar to some performed
by him are cited in Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 470: The medicine-men of the
Pawnee swallowed arrows and knives, and also performed the trick of
apparently killing a man and bringing him back to life, like the Zuni.

91Grimm, Rechtsalterthumer, II. 566: Hexen waren fast alle aus der
armsten und niedrigsten Volksklasse (see note 84). Literary Digest,
March 9, 1907, p. 378, article on Spiritualism and Spirituality: "Many,
very many, spiritualists seem to care for communion with spirits only that
they may more surely keep physically well, and earn their bread and
butter and clothing the easier." Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy: The S
absurdity of the superstition would have much sooner appeared, but for
the theory that a werewolf when wounded resumed human shape; in

26 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [278

no longer in werewolf form, but after all wolves in human dress,
each maintaining his trade by deception and countless artifices,
just as did the werewolf of old. Not unlike these shams are those
of the American negro, who in church, when "shouting," that is,
when stirred up by religious fervor, inflicts blows on his enemy
who happens to be in the church, of course with impunity; for
he is supposed to be under some outside control, and when the
spell has passed off, like some of the delusionists mentioned,92
claims not to know what he (or generally she) has done. Similar
also are the negro voudoo ceremonies, those of the fire-eaters, or
any other sham.

The wolf disguise, or transformation into a werewolf was
that most often assumed for example in Germanic lands.93 The
term wolf became synonymous with robber, and later (when
the robber became an outlaw,94 ) with outlaw, the robber and out-
law alike being called wolf and not some other animal (i. e.,
only the wolf-man surviving to any extent) firstly, because the
wolf was plentiful ; and secondly, because as civilization advanced,
there came a time when the wolf was practically the only one of
the larger undomesticated animals, that survived.95 We can

every case where one accused of being a werewolf was taken, he was
certain to be wounded, and thus the difficulty of his not being found in
beast form was satisfactorily disposed of.

92 Notes 57 and 67.

93 Notes 9 and 19.

94 Note 112.

^See note n, also Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. 263: "The deer, which is
still common in the mountains, was the principal dependence of the
Cherokee hunter, and is consequently prominent in myth, folklore, and
ceremonial." see note 42. Page 264: "The largest gens (clan) in the
tribe bears the name of 'wolf people.' " Page 420: The Cherokee
have always been an agricultural people, and their old country has a
luxuriant flora, therefore the vegetable kingdom holds a far more im-
portant place in the mythology and ceremonial of the tribe than it does
among the Indians of the treeless plains and arid sage deserts of the West.

279] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 2J

notice this in our own United States, for example in eastern
Kansas, where at night coyotes and even wolves are sometimes
heard howling out on the prairie near woodlands, or in the
pastures adjoining farms, where they not infrequently kill smaller
animals, and dig up buried ones.96 In Prussia also it is the wolf
that survives to-day. American Indians, and other savages how-
ever do not restrict the transformations to the wolf,97 because ,
other wild animals, are, or were till recently, abundant amongst '
them. As civilization advances, one by one the animal myths
disappear with the animals that gave rise to them (like that con-
nected with the mastodon) ;98 or else stories of such domestic
animals as the pig, white bull, dog superseded them.99 When this
stage was reached, as time went on and means of successfully
coping with the brute creation became perfected, the animals
were shorn of many of their terrors, and finally such stories as
Aesop's fables would arise.100 This however was psychologically

St. Louis "Westliche Post" for January 9, 1908, furnishes
another example : A tame wolf which for the past two years has been a
pet in a farmer's family at Marshfield, Wisconsin, escaped and attacked
a chicken. The farmer's daughter called to the wolf, but it had become
wild from the taste of blood, attacked her, and bit her on both arms and
one leg. It held so fast that the young lady could not be released until
she had nearly choked the wolf with its collar.

Also the following clipping from the same paper, January 13, 1908,
shows the prevalence of wolves to-day in even quite populous districts:
"Wolf-Plage. Aus dem nordlichen Wisconsin wird gemeldet, dass
Wolfe in diesem Jahre zahlreicher sind denn je, und dass sie, durch
Hunger getrieben, sich nahe an die Ortschaften wagen, und Hausthiere
und auch Menschen angreifen. Zwei grosse Wolfe griffen in dieser Woche
das Pferd der Frau Branchard an; das Pferd scheute und jagte in den
Wald, wo es durch Arbeiter angehalten wurde, welche die Bestien
verscheuchten."

97 Note ii.

98 Note 20.
"Note 109.
1(r°Note 24.

28 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [«8o

a long step in advance of our were-wolf believing peoples of an
earlier period.

Up to this point the illustrations have shown that the were-
wolf superstition went through various stages of development. The
motives for assuming wolf's dress (or animal skins or robes), at
first were purely peaceful, for protection against cold, and to
secure food by acting as decoys; then it was used for personal
advantage or gain by foragers (or robbers) and spies; then for
purposes of vengeance;101 later from a desire for power over
others; and finally men (the professional and the superstitious)
began to concoct fabulous stories which were handed down as
tradition or myth, according to the psychic level of the narrator
and hearer.102

101 Close of note 102.
_ 102John Fiske, Myths and myth-makers, p. 78, fol., gives the origin

development of the werewolf as follows: From the conception of
wolf-like ghosts it was but a short step to the conception of corporeal
werewolves. . . . Christianity did not fail to impart a new and fearful
character to the belief in werewolves. Lycanthropy became regarded as
a species of witchcraft, the werewolf as obtaining his powers from the
Devil. It was often necessary to kill one's enemies, and at that time some
even killed for love of it (like the Berserker) ; often a sort of homicidal
madness, during which they would array themselves in the skins of wolves
or bears and sally forth by night to crack the backbones, smash the skulls
and sometimes to drink with fiendish glee the blood of unwary travelers or
loiterers. . . . Possibly often the wolves were an invention of excited
imagination. So people attributed a wolf's nature to the maniac or idiot
with cannibal appetites, then the myth-forming process assigned to the
unfortunate wretch a tangible lupine body. The causes were three: i.
Worship of dead ancestors with wolf totems originated the notion of trans-
formation of men into divine or superhuman wolves. 2. The storm-wind
was explained as the rushing of a troop of dead men's souls or as the howl-
ing of wolf-like monsters (called by Christianity demons). 3. Berserker mad-
ness and cannibalism, accompanied by lycanthropic hallucinations, inter-
preted as due to such demoniacal metamorphosis, gave rise to the were-
wolf superstition of the Middle Ages. The theory that if one put on a
wolf's skin he became a werewolf, is perhaps a reminiscence of the * act al-
leged of Berserkers haunting the woods by night, clothed in hides of wolves

28 1] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 29

The starting point of the whole superstition of the harmful
werewolf is the disguising as some common animal by members
of savage races when abroad as foragers or scouts, in order to
escape detection by the enemy. Like wolves they roamed the land
in search of food. As stated above,103 later fabulous report would
represent them as possessing in their disguise the attributes of
the animal they impersonated,104 and finally even of actually
taking on animal form, either wholly or in part,105 for longer or
shorter periods of time. Some of the North American Indian
transformation stories represent men as having only the head,
hands and feet of a wolf.106 The transformation into a werewolf
in Germanic lands is caused merely by a shirt or girdle made of
wolf-skin.107 This shirt or girdle of wolf-skin of the Germanic

or bears. A permanent cure was effected by burning the werewolf's sack,
unless the Devil furnished him with a new wolfskin. Primitively,
to become incarnated into any creature, the soul had only to put on the
outward integument of the creature. The original werewolf is the night-
wind — a kind of leader of departed souls, howling in the wintry blasts.
Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy: — The Berserkir of Iceland dressed in
the skins of bears and wolves, and further on: "Beastform is in myth-
ology proper far oftener assumed for malignant than for benignant ends."

103 Ante p. 22.

WNote 57.

w Close note 65.

io«Grinnell; and Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 737.

107 Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, III. 1094, fol. says: Our oldest native
notions make the assumption of wolf-shape depend on arraying oneself in a
wolf-belt or wolf-shirt, as transformation into a swan does on putting on the
swan-shirt or swan-ring. Page 1095: "The transformation need not be
for a magical purpose at all: any one that puts on, or is conjured into, a
wolf-shirt, will undergo metamorphosis. . . . With the appearance, he
acquires also the fierceness and howling of the wolf; roaming the woods,
he rends to pieces everything that comes in his way." This is like the be-
lief of the American Indian that the wearer of a mask becomes imbued
with the spirit of the being which his mask represents (note 57); or that
the shaman in full regalia becomes, or tries to make his followers believe
that he has become, the power he represents (note 67).

30 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [282

werewolf is the survival of the robe or mantle originally disguis-
ing the entire body. It would be but a step further to represent
a person as rendering himself invisible by putting on any other
article of apparel, such as the Tarnkappe.108 The stories especially
in Europe were of the were-wolf rather than were-bear or other
animal, because the wolf was the commonest of the larger wild
animals.109 It was the stories of the commonest animal, the wolf,
which crystallized into the household werewolf or transformation
tales.110

108 Thus some American Indian stories represent men transformed into
wolf, turkey or owl turning into stone or piece of decayed wood when pur-
sued. And mantles of invisibility are mentioned in note 60.

109See Hirt, Die Indogermanen, I. 187: "Unter den grossen Raub-
tieren treten uns Bar und Wolf mit alten Namen entgegen. Der Wolf ist
freilich iiberall in Eiiropa verbreitet gewesen, der Bar ist aber ganz sicher
ein Waldtier," etc.^Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy: "In England by
the lyth century the werewolf had long been extinct. Only small creatures,
the cat, hare, weasel,~etc., remained for the malignant sorcerer to
transform himself into.'^ See note n.

110Amongst the American Indians, where various larger animals were
common, the designation "wolf-people" (see the sign-language of the
plains) was bestowed especially on the Pawnees, because, as we have seen,
they best imitated wolves. In Europe, where, of the larger animals, the
wolf alone was universally common, the designation "wolf-people" (or if we
choose, later, werewolves) was not restricted to any one locality or people,
but was bestowed in general on those who assumed the manner of wolves,
and because of their crimes became outcasts like the wolves. They best
imitate wolves, and no doubt, to escape detection, disguised themselves as
wolves (see note 102), and for this reason the -warg or outlaw came to be
called a.tvolf (see close of note 112). Thus Golther, Mythologie, p. 102,
says: "Wird ein Werwolf verwundet oder getotet, so findet man einen
wunden oder toten Menschen." The werewolves, as we have seen (ante
p. 25), keep to the woods and the dark, of course in many cases to avoid
detection. Similarly witches, Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 393: "They say that
witches love the night and lurk in shadows and darkness. Witches are
believed to be able to assume the shape of beasts." Sigmundand Sinfjotli
dwelt as wolves in the woods. Also the progenitor of the Myramenn in
Iceland at night could leave his house in wolf's form. Another Norwe-
gian account reports how earlier many people were able to take on wolf's

283] THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION 3!

form, then dwelt in grove and -woods, where they tore people to pieces,
etc. See Paul, Grundriss, III. 272 fol. ; also note 113.

mNames. See note 31. The development in the case of names was
perhaps the same as in the case of masks (note 57), and of the werewolf
superstition itself (ante p. 15, fol.); namely, a) protection against outside
agencies was sought; b) growth of supernaturalism; c) element of
humor.

a) See Encyc. Brit, under Lycanthropy: "Children are otten
named wolf, are disguised as a wolf to cheat their supernatural foes" (for
similar assumption of characteristics or the nature of animals for personal
advantage see note 33). See also Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, III.
1139: "The escort of wolf or raven augured victory;" and in the note:
'•A name of happiest augury for a hero must have been the O. H. G.
Wolf-hraban (Wolfram), to whom the two animals jointly promised
victory. Old names are no product of pure chance. Servian mothers
name a son they have longed for, Vuk} Wolf', then the witches can't eat
him up. O. H. G. Wolfbizo was a lucky name, i. e., one bitten by the
wolf and thereby protected," like our modern curing of like by like in
medicine.

b) With growth of supernaturalism came probably the development
mentioned by Meringer, Indog. Forsch., 1904, XVI. 165, about the con-
ferring of secret names, since one could harm a person by his name
alone, and could summon a foe merely by mentioning his name: "Wenn
man den Wolf nennt, kommt er g' remit." Again in XXI. 313 fol.: It
was dangerous to name bear or TV off in regions infested by these animals,
so people, out of fear, avoided calling the name of such animals; called
the bear for example honey-eater, etc.

c) Finally, when man could better cope with animal foes, his fear of
them disappeared, the elements of fearlessness and humor enter in, and
such names arise as are mentioned in note 53; and such stories as that of
Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.

1J2Outlaws. The notion of werewolves (see Grimm, Teutonic Myth-
ology, III. 1095) also gets mixed up with that of outlaws who have fled to
the woods. A notable instance is that of Sigmund and Sinfjotli in the
Volsungasaga. In regard to this W. Golther, Handbuch der german-
ischen mythologie, Leipzig 1895, p. 102, says: "Die Sage mag auf einem
alten Misverstandniss beruhen. Warg, Wotfhiess der Geachtete in der
germanischen Rechtssprache. Warg wurde wortlich als Wolf verstanden,
und so bildete sich die Werwolfsgeschichte." Golther again, p. 424: —
"Gefesselt wurde Loki als Achter in den Wald getrieben, er wurde "Warg'*
d. h. Wolf. Wolfe heissen die friedlosen Waldganger." As to ivargt Schade
in his altdeutsches Worterbuch defines it as a rauberisch wiirgendet

33 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [2^4

wiitendes Wesen, Mensch von roher verbrecherischer Denlc-und Handlungs-
weise, geachteter Verbrecher, ausgestossener Missetater; tvarg ist Benen-
nung des Wolfes, in der Rechtssprache ein treu-und vertragbriichiger
Mensch, vogelfreier Mann, der den Frieden durch Mord gebrochen und
landfliichtig geworden, oder nun im wilden Walde gleich dem Raubtiere
haust und wie der Wolf ungestraf t erlegt werden darf ; im jetzigen Gebrauche
auf Island Bezeichnung einer gewalttatigen Person. Similarly, J. Grimm,
Gesch. d. d. Spr. p. 233. For customs amongst the American Indians
relating to the outlaw see Ethn. Rep. 1879-80, p. 67 fol. : An outlaw is one
who by his crimes has placed himself without the protection of his clan,
is not defended in case he is injured by another. When the sentence of
outlawry has been declared, for example among the Wyandots, it is the
duty of the chief of the Wolf clan to make known the decision of the
council ... In outlawry of the highest degree it is the duty of any mem-
ber of the tribe who may meet the offender to kill him like an animal. Page 60
fol.: ''The chief of the Wolf gens is the herald and the sheriff of the tribe"
(see also Ethn. Rep. 1893-94, p. cxiv). Criminals kept to the woods and the
dark. Many of them lived like animals, dressed in animal skins, and to
terrorize others assumed the role of werewolves. Since therefore so many
outlaws lived, dressed (note 22 close) and acted like wolves, to all intents
and purposes became wolves, ivolf and outlaw became synonymous terms.
118 The widespread custom of keeping windows closed at night in Ger-
many is perhaps a relic of heathen days, when people believed that were-
wolves, etc., entered houses at night. In place of the earlier harmful
werewolf is now the "harmful" night air.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ANDREE, RICHARD. Ethnographische parallelen und vergleiche. Stutt-
gart, 1878.

BEHAGHEL, OTTO. Die deutsche sprache. Leipzig, 1902.

BRAUNE, WILHELM. Althochdeutsches lesebuch. Halle, 1907.

BROCKHAUS, F. A. Konversations-lexikon. Leipzig, 1901 fol.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. Bulletin 26. Washington, 1901.

DILTHEY, WILHELM. Erlebnis und dichtung. Leipzig, 1906.

EDDA. Die lieder der alteren edda. Paderborn, 1876.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. New York, 1883, etc.

ERMAN, ADOLF. Reise um die erde durch Nordasien. Berlin, 1833.

FISKE, JOHN. Myths and myth-makers. Boston, 1892.

FREYTAG, GUSTAV. Bilder aus neuer zeit. Leipzig, 1904.

GOLTHER, W. Handbuch der germanischen mythologie. Leipzig, 1895.

GRIMM, JAKOB. Geschichte der deutschen sprache. Leipzig, 1878.

GRIMM, JAKOB. Rechtsaltertumer. 4te auf. Vol. II. Leipzig, 1899.

GRIMM, JAKOB. Teutonic mythology. Translation by J. S. Stallybrass,
London, 1882.

GRINNELL, GEORGE BIRD. Blackfoot lodge tales. New York, 1892.

GRINNELL, G. B. Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales. New York, 1893.

GRINNELL, G. B. Story of the Indian. New York, 1895.

HERTZ, W. Der werwolf. Stuttgart, 1862.

HIRT, H. Die indogermanen. Strassburg, 1905 fol.

INDOGERMANISCHE FORSCHUNGEN. Vols. XVI, XXI. Strassburg, 1904,
1907.

KLUGE, F. Etymologischesworterbuch der deutschen sprache. Strassburg,
1905.

LEMCKE, K. Aesthetik in gemeinverstandlichen vortragen. Leipzig, 1890.

[33]

34 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES [286

LEUBUSCHER, R. t^ber die wehrwolfe und thierverwandlungen im mittelalter.
Berlin, 1850.

LITERARY DIGEST. New York and London, March 9, 1907.
MEYERS. KLEINES KONVERSATIONS-LEXIKON. Leipzig, 1899-1900.
PAUL, H. Grundriss der germanischen philologie. Strassburg, 1900.
SCHADE, O. Altdeutsches worterbuch. Halle, 1872 fol.

SCHRADER, O. Reallexikon der indogermanischen altertumskunde. Strass-
burg, 1901.

VOLSUNGASAGA. Ranisch, Berlin, 1891,

WESTLICHE POST. St. Louis.

WUNDT, W. Volkerpsychologie. Vol. II. Leipzig, 1905.

ZEITSCHRIFT FUR DEUTSCHES ALTERTUM. Vol. XLVII. Berlin, 1903-1904.

ZEITSCHRIFT FUR DEUTSCHE PHILOLOGIE. Vol. XXXVIII. Halle, 1906.

INDEX

[The pages are in roman numerals, the notes in italic.]

Abipones, 9, 66.

Abyssinia, 9.

Africa, 5, 23; 9,47, 6j.

Alligator, 9.

America, 5; 9, 8j.

American Indians, 5, 14,21, 23, 27;

9, 27, 66, no.
Anglo-Saxons, 9.
Animals, 42.
Animal fable, 75.
Arabia, 9.
Arawaks, 9.
Arcadia, 9, 75.
Asia, 5 ; 9, 12, 16.
Assyrians, 15.

Bear, 5; 9, 75, 76, j<S, 702, 709, 777.
Belgium, 72.
Benignant, 4,38.
Berserkr, i; 70-?.
Bird, 5.

Bison, 12, 27, 31, 32, 73, 74.
Bohemia, 9.
Borneo, 9.
Bretons, 9.
Bulgaria, 9.

Burchard von Worms, 9.
Burmah, 72.
Celebrations, 27.
Ceylon, 12.
Charms, 10, 16.
Clothing, 8, 9, u, 16, 28.
Coyote, 13.
Dancing, 9, 10, n, 12, 15, i6;j*,

33, 34, 37, 42, 57-
Dante, 24.
Death, aa.

Decoy, 8, 9, 10, n, 13, 15, 16, 28;

Denmark, 9.

Dog, 5, 21, 27; 79, 64, 73 , 74.

Dreams, 21; 67.

Edda, 15.

Enemy, 8, 12, 14, 21, 26, 29; ^£. 60,

6s, 102, in.
English, 9, 709.
Eskimo, jo, j7, 67.
Europe, 5, 7; 9, 72, 16, no.
Fenrisulfr, 9,57.
Finns, 5.
Fish, 5.
Fisherman, 29.
Food, 7, 8, 9, n, 12, 15, 28, 29; 27,

29.

Forest, 25 ; 22, 63, 102, 707, 770, 77^,
Fox, 5, 12; 9, 75, 21.
French, 9, 12.
Germany, 2, 4, 5; 9, aa.
Greece, i, 7; 9, 75-, aa.
Greenland, 72, 60.
Harmful, i, n, 13;^, 57.
Herds, 9, 12, 20.
Herodotus, i ; 15.
Hindoos, 9.
Homer, 24.

Hunter, 7, 8; 13,31,52, 53, 64, oj.
Hyena, 5, 23; 9.
Iceland, 9, 770.
India, 5 ; 9, 12.
Indogermanic, 7; 9, 20, 42.
Insanity, 21, 22, 24; 24, 73, 8j, 102.
Iranians, 9.
Ireland, 9.

[35]

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI STUDIES

[288

Italians, 9.

Jackal, 12.

Jaguar, 9.

Japan, g.

Kadiak, sg.

Kelts, 7; g.

Knut, 9.

Lapps 5.

Leopard, 5; g, 63.

Leubuscher, 6; 9, 20.

Lion, 5; 9, 45, 63.

Lithuanians, 9.

Loki, 14; 9, 112.

Lycanthropy, 2; 9, 79, 20, 22, 74,

1 02.

Lykaon, 9, 75.
Magic, 23, 24; **, ^7, 60, 64, 05,

67, 69, 74, £7, 83,84, 707.
Malignant, 24; 4, 84, 102, jog, 113.
Mask, 8, n, 15; 29, J7, ^,57, 64,

67, 707, 777.

Mastodon, 20.

Medicinemen (Shamans), 20; 52,

63, 66, 67, 74, 81, 83, 85, go, 707.
Mexico, 12, 67.
Middle Ages, 22 ; 9, 74, 102.
Murder, 24; 20, 22, 52, 102, 112.
Myths, 7, 27; 24, 95, 102.
Names, 42, 53, log, in.
Netherlands, 9.
Neurians, i ; 75.
Night, i, 12, 13, 23, 24, 25; 63, 05,

66, 6g, 74, 84, 102, no, 112, 113.
North America, 12.
Norway, 9.
Odin, 75.
Island Oesel, 9.
Otter, 2g.

Outlaw, 24, 26; 84, no, 112.
Owl, 5, 30; 64.
Pawnees, 12, 13, 23; 770.
Persia, 9.
Plants, 42, 95.

Poles, 9, 14.

Portuguese, 9.

Posen, 14.

Priests, 22, 67, 6g, 83.

Professionals, 22, 23, 24, 25; 74, 81,
83, 86.

Provencal, 9.

Prussia, 14.

Reindeer, 5.

Religion, 22, 24, 57.

Revenge, 14, 17, 24, 28; 52, 6g.

Robber, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 24, 25,
26, 28; 75, 20, 44, 53, 65, 112.

Romans, 7; 9, 27.

Russia, 2; 9, 72, 76.

Scandinavia, 9.

Scout, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23, 28, 29;
47, 4<?, 60.

Scythians, 6.

Seal, 29, J7, 69.

Serpent, 5; 9.

Servia, 9.

Shepherds, 75, .20.

Siam, 7.2, 69.

Sinfjotli, 75, 64, 770.

Song, 9, 10, 15 ; jj, 64.

Skins (or dress) of animals, 6, 7, 9,
n, 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 22,23,25,
28, 29, 30; 21, 22, 31, 34, 52,
53, 57 •, 6°> 4?, 64, 65, 66, 67,
74, 102, 107, 108, no, 112.

South America, 5 ; 12.

Speech (animals), 7.

Stories, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29; 9,27, bo,
6g, 102, in.

Supernaturalism, 10, 17, 18557, 6j,

JO2, III.

Superstition, i, 4, 5, 14, 23; 20, 64.
Sweden, 9.

Tiger, 5; 9, 45, 69, 90.
Totemism, 2; 47, 102.
Transformation, 5, 15, 21; 9, 77,
79, 22, 52, 64, 65, 66, 6g, 707.

289]

THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION

37

Traps, 8; 31.
Tschechs, g.
Turkey, 5; 108.
Volhynia, 2; g, 16.
Volsungasaga, sj, 112.
Wales, o.

Warfare, 12, 13, 16; do.
Weapons, 7, 8, 9.

Werewolf, i, 2, 4, 6, 7, 21, 22, 28,

29» 30 J 9, 'S, 2°, 22, 45 y <>4, fy,
86, 91, 102, 107, ioq. no, U2,

"3*

Wiener Hundesegen, 75.

Witches, ii, 19, 23; 65, 66, 67, 74,
83, 84, 97, 102, 109, no, in.

14 DAY USE

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