WEREWOLVES: With Halloween rolling near, it’s time to have some fun with creepy legends. The legend of the werewolf is difficult to narrow down to one version. For some, the word means a man who becomes a powerful wolf for periods of time before returning to a human form, while for others the term means a strange combination of human and wolf. History shows that another twist involves serial killers who claim to be werewolves — and the witnesses who claim they have seen them turn. Regardless of the meaning, however, the word is strongly connected with a thirst for blood and death.

In the Middle Ages the existence of werewolves was attributed to spells cast by witches, and the close connection between the two supernatural beings led to the deaths of thousands of both accused witches and accused werewolves.

Overall, there was little difference between the killings and activities of wolves and werewolves: both would hunt at night, attacking sheep or livestock, and sometimes humans. The main difference was, of course, that the werewolf changed into human form at some point.

The earliest werewolf legends can be traced back to Greek mythology, which shares the tale of Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus. Lycaon made Zeua angry when he fed the god a young boy Lycaon had sacrificed. Zeus, as punishment, made Lycaon and his sons into wolves.

However, the legend also can be traced back to The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest known stories in Western prose, in which Gilgamesh turns her mate into a wolf.

Another twist to the werewolf legend is the father-son duo in Nordic folklore. The Saga of the Volsungs tells the duo found out wolf pelts allowed people to turn into wolves for 10 days. Following this discovery, father and son went on a killing spree that ended with the father attacking the son. The father received a leaf with healing powers from a raven, which was the only thing that saved his son’s life.

A future RTS will continue sharing werewolf lore.