Exploring Mythology: Werewolves

thanks fur claws werewolves much like vampires ghosts and demons werewolves have been a staple part of horror pop culture for decades and a part of folklore for centuries longer as time went on from culture to culture the werewolf myth has evolved changing from the earliest legends of man turning into beasts and been affected by the influence of Christianity in this video we'll explore the myths and lore of werewolves throughout history primarily in Europe as well as the growing prevalence of werewolf fiction in the modern era the concept of shape-shifting or the ability for a human to change into animal form has existed in folklore for thousands of years ranging back to ancient Mesopotamia ancient Greek mythology had a number of depictions of men changing into wolves often as a form of punishment for murder or cannibalism like haein was a king in Greek mythology the tested Zeus is omniscience and was punished by being turned into a wolf this concept continued into the Middle Ages although there lacked any widespread belief in men changing into wolves it was during this time that the term werewolf was first recorded meaning man wolf and some legends from this era related to werewolves from Germany and Scandinavia a poem from the 12th century recounting the tale of a Viking Prince also mentions another Prince and makes claims that he was a werewolf the poem states that as Prince he ruled towns but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf the Eastern European mythology of a werewolf continued to evolve and take on the traits seen in vampires and undead creatures whereas the Western European werewolf would become more associated with witches throughout the 16th 17th and 18th centuries there's a widespread panic over Satanic witches across Europe roughly 40,000 to 60,000 people were executed during this period after being accused of being witches mostly women and they were burnt at a stake hung or beheaded a small part of these witch trials involved the concept of lycanthropy changing into a wolf combined with accusations of wolf charming and wolf riding werewolf accusations would be most common in Estonia and belief in werewolves would be widespread amongst the peasantry their people were also accused of turning into bears as well as wolves there were a number of accounts of accusations and trials related to werewolves in France and Switzerland in the early 1600s generally involving some connection with Satan and working against the Catholic Church some died under torture before they could confess while others confessed to a number of deeds including the killing and eating of their own children like much of Europe however these trials were mostly about witchcraft with shape-shifting being just a small part of that belief in werewolves in some parts of Europe began to fade during the 17th century but continued throughout Germany well into the 18th century in the French region of Gevaudan during the 1760s a beast or group of beasts of some type caused a large number of attacks killing somewhere between 60 and over a hundred adults and children throughout the province common descriptions at the time relate to some form of large wolf with red fur and due to the frequency of attacks some suspected a group of creatures superstition began to spread attributing a number of supernatural elements to the attacks but the most likely cause was a pack of large feral wolves after a number of deaths the news came to the attention of Louis the 15th who sent professional wolf hunters to the region despite this the attacks continued for another two years before a number of very large wolves were killed ending the panic a number of stories and recounts throughout the years have involved the concept of a werewolf or other supernatural beast wolf attacks in general were fairly common throughout Europe and so fear and superstition regarding them was inevitable like vampires the myths regarding werewolves varied wildly from place to place and time to time the transformation could be something that occurs every night week month or is a permanent transformation the creature could be a human that transformed or could be a person soul or not even the person itself but an animal spirit connected to a person many believe that if a person was a werewolf they would display signs while in their normal human forms again these vary wildly between cultures from a person having a unibrow bristles under their tongue curved fingernails or if you cut them they would have fur underneath the wound most myths of werewolves envision them as appearing as larger wolves with human eyes and voices and occasionally lacking a tail although the concept of the walking werewolf was not unheard of either for one to turn into a werewolf one could wear a wolf skin or clothes made from parts of a wolf as well as drinking rainwater from the footprint of a wolf magical solves and specially prepared concoctions could also be involved and there was some belief in the idea of sleeping outside on a summer night underneath a full moon a connection or allegiance with Satan was often believed to be a part of where will folklore with potential werewolves gaining knowledge of the transformation from Satan himself on the flip side there was also belief that God punished certain individuals especially those excommunicated from the church by turning them permanently into wolves of course the processes in which people believed they could cure lycanthropy ranged from laughable to gruesome Danish folklore believed by merely scolding a werewolf he could cure them and some Germans believed you could cure someone by addressing them three times with their Christian name some believed a cure involved striking the individual on the forehead or scalp with a knife or even piercing their hands with nails conversion to Christianity was involved as well as exorcisms to remove an evil spirit or demon Wolfsbane was also utilized in an effort to cure lycanthropy which is interesting since Wolfsbane poisoning is often fatal in humans moving on from folklore to fiction werewolves began to build up popularity as a literary device during the 19th century a number of these stories featured a connection to Satan and one story would also feature a female werewolf that would seduce male victims before transforming to devour them the 20th century however was filled with werewolf stories and films with the first film being released in 1913 called the werewolf the film apparently drew from older folklore featuring a witch that turns into a wolf all prints of the film were supposedly destroyed however and is assumed to be a lost film in 1933 the werewolf of Paris was released as a horror novel featuring the tale of a man who occasionally turns into a wolf at night to feed and his activities during the franco-prussian war in the 1870s the novel is considered to be one of the most important pieces of werewolf fiction and it was a New York Times bestseller the film werewolf of London was released in 1935 by Universal Pictures featuring the first anthropomorphic werewolf on screen the film involves a botanist who is bit by a werewolf in Tibet and he himself turns into a werewolf under the light of a full moon the film wasn't a massive success however and instead 1941 s The Wolfman starring Lon Chaney jr. would be the film to put the common image of a werewolf into the public conscience the film involves many of the traits of werewolves seen in various stories and myths but interestingly does not fully incorporate the idea of a werewolf transforming under a full moon future movies in the series would involve this concept leading to its common use in pop culture the film would however utilize the concept of a weakness to silver which was a recent addition to werewolf mythology as writers began adding it to the legend of the Beast of Gevaudan Universal would capitalize on the Wolfman series much like they did with Dracula and Frankenstein making a number of sequels and making the werewolf a common horror staple writers began taking a more sympathetic look at werewolves and those that become them and also showcased a connection between humans and nature 1981 would see the release of two notable werewolf films the howling and an American warrior wolf in London the howling would go on to have seven sequels and an American Werewolf in London was critically acclaimed and developed into a cult classic Teen Wolf in 1985 starring Michael J Fox featured a far more comedic and light-hearted approach to lycanthropy and a number of films and shows would combine werewolves or The Wolf Man with other horror icons such as 1987's the monster squad the 1990s saw only a few werewolf related media while the turn of the century featured a resurgence in films and TV shows including Ginger Snaps Dog Soldiers the underworld series as well as a remake of The Wolfman in video games werewolves are often seen alongside vampires and are generally found as enemies although occasionally the protagonist features the ability to transform into a wolf or werewolf notable examples of werewolves and games are the Elder Scroll series The Witcher series and the Castlevania series overall werewolves haven't enjoyed quite the same level of popularity as other horror icons such as vampires or zombies reasons for this are debatable possibly due to the charm and sexual connotations of the vampire and the apocalyptic connections and themes of zombies but werewolves have not been ignored either the modern image of a ferocious feral creature stalking the night to rip apart and devour a helpless victim is certainly a fearsome one while it's unlikely that werewolves who ever searched the top of popularity for horror fans there will always be a place for them under the light of a full moon you

Channel: The Exploring Series

Views: 542,268

Rating: 4.92804 out of 5

Keywords: werewolves, mythology, werewolf, lycanthrope, legend, lycanthropy, myth, folklore, legends, creature, monster, beast, history, myths, wolf, werewolf legend, creatures, scary, monsters, documentary, teen wolf, story, werewolf facts, paranormal, history of the werewolf, cthulhu, cthulhu mythos, lore, lord of the rings, explained, explored, explain, backstory, all about the werewolf, werewolf stories, exploring, explore, elder scrolls lore, are werewolves real, where do werewolves come from

Id: vSoaOE46vT4

Length: 11min 54sec (714 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 30 2017