Editing Werewolf (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
There is evidence of widespread belief in werewolves in medieval Europe, spanning across the [[European continent]] and [[British Isles]]. Werewolves were mentioned in medieval law codes, such as that of [[Cnut the Great]], whose ''Ecclesiastical Ordinances'' aimed to ensure that {{qi|...the madly audacious werewolf do[es] not too widely devastate, nor bite too many of the spiritual flock.}}{{sfn|Otten|1986|pp=5–6}} [[Liutprand of Cremona]] reports a rumor that Bajan,{{efn|Also spelled Baianum, there is no evidence discovered as of May 2025 that Simeon I of Bulgaria had a son named Bajan.}} a son of [[Simeon I of Bulgaria]], could use magic to turn himself into a wolf.<ref>[https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_rer_germ_41/index.htm#page/88/mode/1up ''Antapodosis'' 3.29]</ref> The works of Augustine of Hippo had a large influence on the development of [[Western Christianity]], being read widely by [[Christian clergy]] of the medieval period. These clergymen occasionally discussed werewolves in their works, including in [[Gerald of Wales]]'s ''[[Werewolves of Ossory]]''—found in his ''Topographica Hibernica''—and [[Gervase of Tilbury]]'s ''[[Otia Imperialia]]''; both works were written for royal audiences.{{according to whom|date=May 2025}}

Gervase of Tilbury, in ''Otia Imperialia'', reveals to the reader that belief in such transformations—he also mentions women turning into cats and snakes—was widespread across Europe; he uses the phrase {{qi|i=y|{{lang|la|que ita dinoscuntur}}}} ('it is known') when discussing transformations. Writing in Germany, he also notifies the reader that the transformation of men into wolves cannot be easily dismissed, for {{qi|...in England we have often seen men change into wolves}} ({{qi|i=y|{{lang|la|Vidimus enim frequenter in Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos mutari...}}}}).<ref>Gervase of Tilbury, ''Otia Imperiala'', Book I, Chapter 15, translated and edited by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 86–87.</ref>

Further evidence of the widespread belief in werewolves and other human-to-animal transformations can be seen in theological attacks made against such beliefs. [[Conrad of Hirsau]], writing in the 11th century, forbids reading stories in which a person's reasoning is obscured following such a transformation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Georg Schepss|first=Conradus Hirsaugiensis|url=http://archive.org/details/conradihirsaugi00hirsgoog|title=Conradi Hirsaugiensis Dialogus super Auctores sive Didascalon: Eine Literaturgeschichte aus den XII|date=1889|publisher=A. Stuber|others=Harvard University|language=la}}</ref> Conrad specifically refers to the tales of Ovid in his tract. [[Pseudo-Augustine]], writing in the 12th century, follows Augustine of Hippo's argument that no physical transformation can be made by any but [[God]], stating that {{qi|...the body corporeally [cannot], be changed into the material limbs of any animal}} in his ''Liber de Spiritu et Anima''.<ref>Pseudo-Augustine, ''Liber de Spiritu et Anima'', Chapter 26, XVII</ref>

[[Marie de France]]'s [[Song poetry|song poem]] ''[[Bisclavret]]'' ({{circa|1200}}), a [[Breton lai]], is another example: the eponymous nobleman Bisclavret, for reasons not described, had to transform into a wolf every week. When his treacherous wife stole his clothing needed to restore his human form, he escaped the king's wolf hunt by imploring the king for mercy, accompanying the king thereafter. His behavior at court was gentle until his wife and her new husband appeared one day—so much so that his hateful attack on the couple was deemed justly motivated, and the truth was revealed.<ref>Marie de France, "Bisclavret", translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby, in ''The Lais of Marie de France'' (London: Penguin Books, 1999), 68.</ref>

The lai follows many themes found within other werewolf tales: the removal of clothing and attempted refrain from the consumption of human flesh can be found in Pliny the Elder,{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} as well as in Gervase of Tilbury's werewolf story about a werewolf named Chaucevaire. Marie de France also revealed the continued existence of werewolf-related beliefs in [[Brittany]] and [[Normandy]] in using the [[Norman language|Norman]] word ''garwulf'', which, she explains, are common in that part of France wherein {{qi|...many men turned into werewolves}}.<ref>Marie de France, "Bisclavret", translated by Glyn S. Burgess and Keith Busby, in ''The Lais of Marie de France'' (London: Penguin Books, 1999), 68.</ref> Gervase supports this terminology when relating that the French used the term ''gerulfi'' to describe what the English called "werewolves".<ref>Gervase of Tilbury, ''Otia Imperiala'', Book I, Chapter 15, translated and edited by S.E. Banks and J.W. Binns, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 87.</ref> ''[[Melion]]'' and ''Biclarel'' are two anonymous lais that share the theme of a werewolf-knight being betrayed by his wife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Amanda |title=Melion and Biclarel: Two Old French Werewolf Lays |date=2005 |publisher=The University of Liverpool |isbn=0-9533816-9-2 |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/modern-languages-and-cultures/research/research-activities/liverpool-online-series/ |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>

The German word ''werwolf'' was recorded by [[Burchard von Worms]] in the 11th century and [[Bertold of Regensburg]] in the 13th century but was not used frequently in medieval German poetry or fiction. While Baring-Gould argues that references to werewolves were rare in England (presumably because whatever significance the "wolf-men" of [[Germanic paganism]] had carried), their associated beliefs and practices had been successfully [[Christianisation of the Germanic peoples|repressed by Christianization]]; if they persisted, he writes, they did so outside of the sphere of evidence available.<ref>Baring-Gould, p. 100.{{incomplete short citation|date=May 2025}}</ref> Other examples of werewolf mythology in [[Ireland]] and the British Isles can be found in the work of the 9th-century [[Welsh people|Welsh]] monk [[Nennius]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} Female werewolves appear in the Irish work ''[[Acallam na Senórach]]'' (Tales of the Elders) from the 12th century, and Welsh werewolves are noted in the 12th to 13th-century work ''[[Mabinogion]]''.
[[File:Bronsplåt pressbleck Öland vendeltid.jpg|thumb|A [[Vendel period]] depiction of a warrior wearing a wolf skin (''[[Tierkrieger]]'').]]

Germanic pagan traditions associated with wolf-men persisted longest in the [[Scandinavia]]n [[Viking Age]]. [[Harald I of Norway]] is known to have had a body of an ''[[ulfhedinn]]'' ({{langx|non|ulfheðinn}}, {{literal translation|a warrior clothed in wolfskin}}; pl. {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}}), being mentioned in the [[Vatnsdæla saga]], [[Hrafnsmál]], and [[Völsunga saga]]. The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} were similar to the {{lang|non|berserkir}} ('berserkers') but dressed in [[Wolf hunting#Pelts|wolf]] rather than bear hides and were reputed to channel the spirits of the animals they wore to enhance effectiveness in battle.<ref name="Woodward" /> The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} were resistant to pain and vicious in battle, much like wild animals. The {{lang|non|ulfheðnar}} and {{lang|non|berserkir}} are closely associated with the [[Norse god]] [[Odin]].

The Scandinavian story traditions of the Viking Age may have spread to [[Kievan Rus']], giving rise to the [[Slavs|Slavic]] werewolf tales. The 11th-century [[Belarus]]ian prince [[Vseslav of Polotsk]] was recounted in ''[[The Tale of Igor's Campaign]]'' to have been a werewolf capable of moving at superhuman speeds:
{{blockquote|
Vseslav the Prince judged men. As prince, he ruled towns, but at night he prowled in the guise of a wolf. From Kiev, prowling, he reached, before the cocks crew, [[Tmutarakan|Tmutorokan]]. The path of Great Sun, as a wolf, prowling, he crossed. For him in [[Polotsk]] they rang for [[matins]] early at [[Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv|St. Sophia]] the bells; but he heard the ringing in Kiev.
}}
The mythology described during the [[Middle Ages]] gave rise to two forms of werewolf folklore in [[early modern Europe]]. In one form, the Germanic werewolf became associated with [[European witchcraft]]; in the other, the Slavic werewolf ({{wikt-lang|sla-pro|vьlkolakъ}}) became associated with the [[revenant]] or [[vampire]]. The Eastern werewolf-vampire is found in the folklore of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], including Hungary, Romania, and the Balkans, while the Western werewolf-sorcerer is found in France, German-speaking Europe, and the Baltics.

[[File:Werwolf.png|thumb|[[Woodcut]] of a werewolf attack by [[Lucas Cranach der Ältere]], 1512]]
Being a werewolf was a common accusation in witch trials. It featured in the [[Valais witch trials]], one of the earliest such trials, in the first half of the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Modestin |first=Georg |date=2005 |title=Von den hexen, so in Wallis verbrant wurdent» Eine wieder entdeckte Handschrift mit dem Bericht des Chronisten Hans Fründ über eine Hexenverfolgung im Wallis (1428) |url=https://doc.rero.ch/record/22050/files/I-N-268_2005_10_00.pdf |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=doc.rero.ch |pages=407–408}}</ref>

In 1539, [[Martin Luther]] used the form ''[[beerwolf]]'' to describe a hypothetical ruler worse than a tyrant who must be resisted.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cynthia Grant Schonberger |date=January–March 1979 |title=Luther and the Justification of Resistance to Legitimate Authority |journal=[[Journal of the History of Ideas]] |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.2307/2709257 |jstor=2709257 |s2cid=55409226}}; as specified in Luther's Collected Works, 39(ii) 41-42</ref>

In '[[A Description of the Northern Peoples|Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus]]' (1555), [[Olaus Magnus]] describes (Book 18, Chapter 45) an annual assembly of werewolves near the Lithuania-Courland border. The participants, including Lithuanian nobility and werewolves from the surrounding areas, gather to test their strength by attempting to jump over a castle wall's ruins. Those who succeed are regarded as strong, while weaker participants are punished with whippings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magnus |first=Olaus |date=1555 |title=Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus |url=https://runeberg.org/olmagnus/ |access-date=31 October 2023 |website=runeberg.org |language=la}}</ref>