Origins of the Werewolf

I HAVE WAITED YEARS FOR THIS

I've always been facinated by stories of werewolf and vampires.

When we lived in the old house we had a coyote that would sleep on the porch. The rest of the pack would sleep in the edge of the wood line near the creek. I came out on the porch to grab some wood for the fire and he was just sleeping there to get out of the snow. He jumped off the porch when I stepped out. Then a man that had the same color hair as the coyote started hanging around our place. I wasn't the only one that saw him. Other members of our family and friends saw him too. Joe, a family friend, saw a man run across our porch then saw the coyote standing by the tree at the end of the porch. All of that happened within a couple of minutes as he pulled down into our driveway. We had a circle drive off of the highway. Weird, I know.

This is hands down one of the most detailed studies on this subject on YouTube. Thank you very much for this 🙏🏼

The mythology is always interesting. This is my favorite channel, no weird stuff just facts.

This video really did a good job encapsulating the whole idea of the wolfman in ways no other single video has done for me before. Great job Lugh!

The gray wolf is a beautiful creature.

I am so delighted to have found this come across my feed. I find this subject really fascinating! Thank you so much for this

You do such a good job of contextualising and grounding myth and folklore into practical explanation. Thank you for these videos. They are excellent.

This was extremely interesting. I have Anglo Irish Saxon ancestry and hearing some of the stories of the werewolf from theses places was very interesting. Love it .

In old slavic myth story in a book my dad bought me when I was 14 it was said (oral story written down) that one rude guy entered a forest and disrespected local god by going around and being a jerk so the said god send wolves to kill him and he then came back alive as a werewolf because dying was not enought of a punishment. Mind you, it was not a story of "The first" werewolf, just sorta explanation where do werewolves come from. Angry gods curses. Also, other time a wizard, god in mortal disquse, or very angry guy (unclear) wrote/made symbol above a treshold of house he was kicked out of that meants "whoever crosses the said treshold will be turned into a wolf". And they did until the treshold burned.

Long before the Irish connection, we do of course have the story of Lykaeon, who was turned into a wolf by his own terrible behaviour, killing and eating his son. In some versions he is metamorphosed by Zeus, in others, including Ovid, it just happens that he reconciled his inner wolf with a change of outer form. In Greek lukos meant wolf, cognate with Latin lupus and Germanic wolf. As Lykaon was king of the mountainous area of Arcadia, he probably reflects an ancient cult to ward off wolves. His daughter Callisto was probably a she bear goddess for similar reasons. Her name means ‘most beautiful’, suggesting a taboo about speaking her name. She may be an avatar of Artemis, whose name contains the root arta, she bear.

In the Bible "god" transforms Nebuchadnezzar, Nimrod and Esau into feral man /beasts as an " outcast punishment" you speak of. All three cases were temporary but I've often thought while in this frame of mind , in the wild, that they most likely slept with wolf packs and were the source of werewolves and the legends thereof. Thank you for an interesting pod cast. The legends are not confined to only Europe though. My son at age 7 had a dream we were in the woods starving and I told him to wait but he followed me to a stream where I transformed to a wolf and caught us a big fish to eat. I thought this so interesting because I've been told I reminded some of a wolf and I've always felt an affinity with wolves but never mentioned this to my son.

That howl at the start broke my heart. Reminded me of my husky

Even a man who is pure in heart & says his prayers by night, maybe become a wolf, when the wolfsbane blooms & the autumn moon is bright

This juggernaut of Werewolf history was absolutely intoxicating. Well done sir. Well done indeed. 👏

i am so glad Im not the only one who made the link between lugh and werewolves. actually been writing a story about him and his descendants becoming werewolves

I was just wondering when your next video would come out.

"What, then, is the starting-point of the transformation of a protector into a tyrant? Is it not obviously when the protector's acts begin to reproduce the legend that is told of the shrine of Lycaean Zeus in Arcadia?” “What is that?” he said. “The story goes that he who tastes of the one bit of human entrails minced up with those of other victims is inevitably transformed into a wolf. Have you not heard the tale?” “I have.” “And is it not true that in like manner a leader of the people who, getting control of a docile mob,does not withhold his hand from the shedding of tribal blood, but by the customary unjust accusations brings a citizen into court and assassinates him, blotting out a human life, & with unhallowed tongue & lips that have tasted kindred blood, banishes & slays & hints at the abolition of debts & the partition of lands—is it not the inevitable consequence & a decree of fate that such a one be either slain by his enemies or become a tyrant & be transformed from a man into a wolf?” “It is quite inevitable,” he said. “He it is,” I said, “who becomes the leader of faction against the possessors of property.” “Yes, he.” “May it not happen that he is driven into exile &, being restored in defiance of his enemies, returns a finished tyrant?” “Obviously.” “And if they are unable to expel him or bring about his death by calumniating him to the people, they plot to assassinate him by stealth.” “That is certainly wont to happen,” said he. “And thereupon those who have reached this stage devise that famous petition of the tyrant—to ask from the people a bodyguard to make their city safe for the friend of democracy.” [The Republic, Plato, Book 8]

Fascinating. Nice work sir. 👍🍀