Editing Werewolf (section)

=== Characteristics ===
[[File:GermanWoodcut1722.jpg|thumb|A German woodcut from 1722|270x270px]]The beliefs classed together under lycanthropy are far from uniform, and the term is somewhat capriciously applied. The transformation may be temporary or permanent; the were-animal may be the man himself metamorphosed; may be his [[Doppelgänger|double]] whose activity leaves the real man to all appearance unchanged; may be his [[soul]], which goes forth seeking whomever it may devour, leaving its body in a [[altered state of consciousness|state of trance]]; or it may be no more than the messenger of the human being, a real animal or a [[familiar spirit]], whose intimate connection with its owner is shown by the fact that any injury to it is believed, by a phenomenon known as repercussion, to cause a corresponding injury to the human being.

Werewolves were said in European folklore to bear tell-tale physical traits even in their human form. These included the [[Unibrow|meeting of both eyebrows]] at the bridge of the nose, curved fingernails, low-set ears and a swinging stride. One method of identifying a werewolf in its human form was to cut the flesh of the accused, under the pretense that fur would be seen within the wound. A Russian superstition recalls a werewolf can be recognized by bristles under the tongue.<ref name="Woodward">{{cite book |title=The Werewolf Delusion |last=Woodward |first=Ian |year=1979 |publisher= Paddington Press |isbn=0-448-23170-0 }}{{unreliable source?|date=April 2013}}{{page needed|date=April 2013}}</ref>

The appearance of a werewolf in its animal form varies from culture to culture. It is most commonly portrayed as being indistinguishable from ordinary wolves, except for the fact that it has no tail (a trait thought characteristic of witches in animal form), is often larger, and retains human eyes and a voice. According to some Swedish accounts, the werewolf could be distinguished from a regular wolf by the fact that it would run on three legs, stretching the fourth one backwards to look like a tail.<ref>{{Cite episode|title=Varulv|url=http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|access-date=16 May 2011|series=Väsen|credits=[[Ebbe Schön]]|network=[[Sveriges Television|SVT]]|airdate=16 May 2011|language=sv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414121333/http://svt.se/2.150216/vasen|archive-date=14 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After returning to their human forms, werewolves are usually documented as becoming weak, debilitated and undergoing painful nervous depression.<ref name="Woodward" />
One universally reviled trait in medieval Europe was the werewolf's habit of devouring recently buried corpses, a trait that is documented extensively, particularly in the ''Annales Medico-psychologiques'' in the 19th century.<ref name="Woodward" />