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In folklore, a werewolf [a] (from Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope [b] (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος, lykánthrōpos, 'wolf-human'), is an individual who can shape-shift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction, often a bite or the occasional ...
The Slavic languages share a term for "werewolf" derived from the Common Slavic vuko-dlak, meaning "wolf-furr". The wolf as a mythological creature plays an important role in Balkan and Serbian mythology and cults. [34] [35] In the Slavic and old Serbian religion and mythology, the wolf was used as a totem. [36]
There is a belief in a galipote capable of turning exclusively into a dog, known as lugaru (a term that seems to come from the French loup-garou, a name used for the legendary werewolf or lycanthrope). [2] This suggests that the legend of the Galipote has a European basis (werewolf), mixed with African elements, in a Christian background. [1]
Long before "Twilight" put Jacob on the map, werewolves have been the subject of countless movies, books and monster tales.. In fact, much like ghosts, witches and vampires, the werewolf has been ...
1722 German woodcut of a werewolf transforming. Popular shapeshifting creatures in folklore are werewolves and vampires (mostly of European, Canadian, and Native American/early American origin), ichchhadhari naag (shape-shifting cobra) of India, shapeshifting fox spirits of East Asia such as the huli jing of China, the obake of Japan, the Navajo skin-walkers, and gods, goddesses and demons and ...
Thiess of Kaltenbrunn (Kniedini), also spelled Thies, and commonly referred to as the Livonian werewolf, was a Livonian man who was put on trial for heresy in Jürgensburg, Swedish Livonia, in 1692. At the time in his eighties, Thiess openly proclaimed himself to be a werewolf ( wahrwolff ), claiming that he ventured into Hell with other ...
The term kallikantzaros is speculated to be derived from the Greek kalos-kentauros ("beautiful centaur"), although this theory has been met with many objections. [1] A second theory proposes that the word comes from Turkish kara-kondjolos "werewolf, vampire", from kara "black" and koncolos "bloodsucker, werewolf".
The medieval Irish work Cóir Anmann (Fitness of Names), which was probably based on earlier traditions, gives an account of a legendary warrior-werewolf named Laignech Fáelad. He was said to be the ancestor of a tribe of werewolves who were related to the kings of Ossory in eastern Ireland, which covered most of present-day County Kilkenny ...