Werewolf Stories from All Over the World

 The wolf is liminal figure bordering between light and shadow. On the one hand they are fierce predators who can be hazardous to those wandering about. The wolf also keeps the natural balance and puts a check on other animal populations often feeding on the aged, dying and the sick.

The werewolf is another character based on the wolf but even more terrifying. Rumors of large wolves ravaging livestock and people abound in. European folklore all across the the continent of Europe. There are many ways to transform into a werewolf. There are different were creatures in different countries.

The African nations have wear hyenas and wild cats. In China and Japan you have were tigers. Some theories behind what is called lycanthropy exist. Some think it is a delusion. Someone mentally ill or,deluded and goes around acting like a wolf. There are other who believe that during trance states the souls leaves the body and can assume an animal form.  There are people who believed that they have seen others transform fully into wolves.

How does one transform into a werewolf. For starts let us throw out the full moon motif. Some of the ways people transform is by being cursed by a witch to assume the animal form,sometimes for periods up to 7 years. Others embrace this change by donning a wolf skin or a pelt of a wolf and that will transform them into a wolf. Some believe that a sorcerer has several animal shapes at their disposable.

In certain European countries werewolves are synonymous with witches. Witches too can shapeshift into different animal forms and travel through the night. In Norse mythology part of the soul is an animal soul and it has different forms. People being transformed into wolves or other animals are found all over the world.

Yet not all werewolves are bad some like the benadanti help the people by retrieving grain from Hell so the people can consume it. Bands of wolf warriors used to roam the forests of Europe dedicated to Odin they wore wolf skins and acted a lot like wolves and legend has it they turned to wolves.

The book yields over many stories from folklore illustrating the points above . However , deeper analysis would have been nice.