The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves

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Introduction

Many of us remember the bedtime stories of childhood, especially the ones about walking, talking, human-eating wolves. We remember the terror of hearing how Little Red Riding Hood was devoured by the Big Bad Wolf. We remember our relief (as well as horror) when the woods-man chopped open the Big Bad Wolf’s stomach to free the girl. And what about the Three Little Pigs and their well-known encounter with a Big Bad Wolf?

From a very young age, those of us in western society are introduced to the negative portrayals of wolves and werewolves. We are taught to fear them, to avoid them, and to cheer on their destruction. However, these hairy creatures of legend never die … living forever in the immortality of myth.

For some of us, the werewolf represents the dark and savage urges within us, urges that we pretend don’t exist. For others, the werewolf represents nature’s dualistic potential for both creation and destruction. A select few of us, however, accept the dark side of our natures and view the werewolf as a dark sibling that should be embraced instead of feared.

In ancient times, the wolf was often revered, and ancient humans dreamed of achieving a union with the wolf’s power. In medieval times, the werewolf came to be seen as the epitome of evil. Many humans were burned after being found guilty of lycanthropy. Today, the werewolf has been embraced by nearly every medium of pop culture—sometimes as a cursed human, other times as a wild antihero. For thousands of years, the werewolf has been a part of human myths, legends, and folklore. And it would seem that this rebel among rebels will not soon be forgotten because the werewolf lives within each of us.

Your appetite for werewolf lore is no doubt insatiable. So to make it as easy as possible to find exactly what you’re looking for, this book has been separated into four main parts and further broken down into chapters by focus subject and type, as follows.

Where do werewolves come from? Well, you see, when a mommy werewolf and a daddy werewolf love each other very much, they sniff each other and then … just kidding. The true theories as to when, how, and why werewolves first entered the realms of the human psyche and ancient folklore will be discussed in
Part 1, “Werewolf Origins.”
This part of the text will offer in-depth explanations of the different types of werewolves, various mythological origins of werewolves from across the globe, and the werewolf’s various shapeshifting relatives.

Part 2, “A History of Werewolves,”
picks up where the previous chapters left off. First, the text will offer summarizations of the many infamous “werewolf trials” that took place during and just following the medieval period of human history. This part will also deal with the relationship between wolves, werewolves, and organized religion, as well as providing a comprehensive treatment of various historical accounts of human encounters with werewolves.

Considering the turbulent history between humans and werewolves, how did they survive as figures in pop culture? In
Part 3, “The Modern Werewolf,”
this question will be thoroughly addressed. From literature to movies to comic books, this part will discuss the various artistic and cultural influences that have ultimately led to the popular modern perceptions of werewolves.

Werewolves have a very real relationship with humans. First and foremost, werewolves play an important role as an archetypal symbol in the unconscious of the human psyche. In
Part 4, “Of Wolf and Man,”
these man-werewolf relationships will be discussed in detail. First, there is a brief guide for what one should do (according to the available lore) if bitten by a werewolf. Also, you will be given a summary of the various methods provided by werewolf lore for how to do battle with them. Last but not least, the text offers a discussion of the potential rational explanations for the historic werewolf phenomenon.

There is a lot to be said about werewolves, and as a result some elements can easily be confused. In order to help you along the way, a number of sidebars are provided throughout the text. Here are detailed descriptions of these sidebars, which will offer you readily available explanations to the key ideas, concepts, facts, and terms related to werewolves.