Werewolves

The werewolf, also called a lycanthrope, is a figure from folklore who can change shape into a wolf or a human-wolf hybrid. This transformation may be chosen or forced by a curse or other affliction. The word "werewolf" comes from Old English *werwulf*, meaning "man-wolf," while "lycanthrope" derives from Ancient Greek *lukánthrōpos*, also "wolf-human." The concept appears widely across European folklore in many forms, all linked by a shared Christian reinterpretation of older folk traditions during the Middle Ages. Belief in werewolves grew alongside belief in witches from the late Middle Ages through the early modern period. Trials of supposed werewolves first appeared in what is now Switzerland, particularly in Valais and Vaud, in the early 1400s. These trials spread across Europe in the 1500s, peaked in the 1600s, and faded by the 1700s.

The persecution of werewolves was a small part of the broader witch-hunt phenomenon, with lycanthropy accusations appearing in only a fraction of witchcraft trials. Early on, claims of transforming into a wolf mixed with accusations of riding or charming wolves. The 1589 case of Peter Stumpp sparked a major surge in both interest and persecution, mainly in French- and German-speaking Europe. The practice lasted longest in Bavaria and Austria, where wolf-charmers were pursued until after 1650, with the final cases in Carinthia and Styria in the early 1700s. After the witch trials ended, the werewolf became a subject of folklore studies and the emerging Gothic horror genre. Werewolf fiction has premodern roots in medieval romances like *Bisclavret* and *Guillaume de Palerme*, and developed in the 1700s from semi-fictional chapbook traditions. By the 1900s, horror literature had made the werewolf a staple of modern horror and fantasy popular culture.

The name "werewolf" in Modern English comes from Old English *wer(e)wulf*, related to similar words in Middle Dutch, Middle Low German, Middle High German, and West Frisian. These likely derive from a Proto-Germanic form *wira-wulfaz* ("man-wolf"), itself from an earlier Pre-Germanic *wiro-wulpos*. An alternative reconstruction, *wazi-wulfaz* ("wolf-clothed"), aligns with Slavic meanings and parallels in Old Norse *úlfheðnar* ("wolf-skinned"), Old Irish *luchthonn* ("wolf-skin"), and Sanskrit *Vṛkājina* ("wolf-skin"). In Norse, the term underwent taboo changes, with Old Norse *vargúlfr* replacing "man" with "wolf, outlaw," possibly influenced by Old French *leus warous* (modern *loup-garou*, "wolf-werewolf"). Modern Norse forms like Danish *varulv* were borrowed from Middle Low German or derived from an unattested Old Norse *varulfr*. An Old Frankish *werwolf* likely entered Old Norman as *garwa(l)f* or *garo(u)l*, showing the regular Germanic-Romance shift of *w-* to *g-*.

The Proto-Slavic *vьlko-dlakь* ("wolf-haired") can be reconstructed from Serbian *vukòdlak*, Slovenian *vołkodlȃk*, and Czech *vlkodlak*, though variations and late attestations complicate tracing its origin. Greek *Vrykolakas* and Romanian *Vîrcolac*, which describe vampire-like beings in Balkan folklore, were borrowed from Slavic. The same form appears in Albanian *vurvolak* and Turkish *vurkolak*. Bulgarian *vьrkolak* and Church Slavonic *vurkolak* may be back-borrowings from Greek. The Russian form *vurdalak* (meaning "ghoul, revenant") first appeared in Alexander Pushkin's 1835 poem *Pesni*, though its source remains debated. A Proto-Celtic *wiro-kū* ("man-dog") has been reconstructed from Celtiberian *uiroku*, the Brittonic place-name *Viroconium*, Old Irish *ferchu*, and medieval personal names *Guurci* and *Gurki*. In Celtic cultures, wolves were metaphorically called "dogs." The modern term "lycanthropy" comes from Ancient Greek *lukanthrōpía*, originally used only for a clinical condition where patients believed themselves to be wolves. Later writers adopted "lycanthrope" as a synonym for werewolf, referring to someone who, according to medieval superstition, could take wolf form.