Where did the concept of werewolf come from?

Reina B asked: Where did the concept of werewolf come from? On a dark night, some clouds show a bright full moon. Somewhere in the distance, there was a sound, a sound, a struggling roar. The terrible sound pierced the dead air like a sharp knife. Finally, silence and everything was still. I didn't go to hell until the howl echoed from the ground to the sky. Obviously, the werewolf is among us, but if you look at your reflection, you will find the werewolf … you.

The legend of the werewolf has been puzzling mankind, perhaps, as long as human beings realize the wolf. It is difficult to accurately point out the "werewolf" in the first literary work, but the epic of Gilgamesh written in ancient Mesopotamia in 2 100 BC seems to be the first work that has been handed down so far. In this poem, the forgotten refused to be Ishtar's lover. Ishtar is a goddess who is famous for turning people into wolves. Fortunately, this fate has not befallen the forgotten.

1500 years later, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote a story. He heard in his travels that a nation will become a wolf only a few days a year. Ovid's Metamorphosis, written in the 8th century, tells a story similar to Gilgamesh's epic, involving a god of revenge (this time Zeus). In short, Zeus decided to visit a king, Li Kai, but the king didn't believe that his so-called sacred guest was really McKee. King Lykeon thought that feeding tourists human flesh at the banquet held in his honor would be the best way to prove his hypothesis. If Zeus is really a god, he may see through this trick.

Leon tried to kill Zeus in his sleep, but it didn't help. Needless to say, Zeus was not friendly to Cai Lu's behavior. He turned the unfortunate king into a werewolf. He thought, if Lykane likes serving and eating human flesh so much, he'd better live in a wolf's body.

Pliny Sr. and Virgil also wrote that turning humans into wolves is a punishment for all kinds of crimes. The legendary story of the Walson family in Northern Europe in the 65438+3rd century tells how a father and son molted wolves and turned them into wolves for ten days. Before the father was angry with his son, they started a killing spree and almost killed him. Thanks to a kind crow, my son survived.

The word comes from these ancient sources. It is believed that the word "werewolf" appeared in the 5th century and originated from the old English word "werewolf". Essentially, before "man" refers to a male (in the history of this word, it was completely neutral-equivalent to "human" today), was the word "wer" or "w?" "pmann" is often used to refer to "male human". Wer "disappeared almost completely around13rd century, but still existed to some extent, such as" werewolf ",which literally means" Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade ".

As for these creatures themselves, it is obvious that the basis of werewolves comes from this ancient concept. Wolves are violent creatures and have a taste for human flesh. But is this view of wolves true? Probably not, especially today. Although wolves are opportunistic hunters (they will even kill members of their own group if they starve to death or one is sick and dying), in fact, wolves rarely attack humans. But it should be pointed out that this is also one of the reasons for the sharp drop in population today to some extent. They are not stupid. They soon learned that humans are more dangerous prey than deer or rabbits. When wolves pose a real threat to human beings, it seems that only in the severe winter when food is scarce, or when wandering alone in the Woods at night. (For example, recently: a blogger's story: the hero decided to leave the computer for a day and was eaten by a wolf a few seconds later)

Another factor is whether they are sick, such as whether they are infected with rabies. In this case, they will become very aggressive, lose their way, be seen during the day and lose their fear.

This kind of thing, coupled with a large number of wolves in history (meaning more frequent contact with humans), is speculated to be the reason why wolves crave human flesh, although all the evidence shows that werewolves prefer prey as easily as possible.

In any case, the werewolf myth really became popular in the second half of the Middle Ages. As mentioned earlier, wolves were very common in Europe at that time. They are still a little annoying. They got into the henhouse under the cover of darkness and attacked other small animals. From this perspective, it is not surprising that "wolf" has finally become a derogatory term to describe those who do whatever it takes to satisfy their greed. Soon, wolves were classified as the products of the devil just like witches. The word "werewolf addiction" was also invented during this period. Refers to a mysterious transformation, usually into a wolf.

Because of this, violent crimes at that time were sometimes attributed to the connection between the devil and the wolf. For example, in the 15 and 16 centuries, some widely publicized killing sprees were blamed on the so-called "werewolves", that is, people who called themselves wolves. In other words, French Pierre Bogota and Michel Verdun murdered several children in medieval France. During the trial, they claimed that they bought ointment and turned them into wolves. They were soon burned at the stake.

Gilles Canil, another Frenchman called "Dole's Werewolf", also claimed that an ointment turned him into a wolf, causing him to kill children and eat them. He was also burned at the stake.

More famously, during this period, German farmer Peter Stub was accused of a series of violent murders. According to legend, he said that he had an appointment with the devil, who gave him a magic belt and turned him into a wolf. For many years, this "werewolf" has been wandering in rural Germany, hunting animals and humans.

Whether these crimes really happened, not to mention whether Stubb was the culprit or just the product of torture, is not completely clear. However, the shocked community responded to Peter's alleged terrible and inhuman behavior, and they themselves made terrible behaviors, such as tearing off Peter's skin with hot pliers everywhere. They also tore off his arms and legs (and smashed them so that if he died, he would be beheaded. On the bright side, his daughter and mistress were also cruelly skinned and strangled. ...

Although Stubb is dead, his high-profile horror stories and executions ensure that the werewolf legend will remain part of the collective consciousness for some time to come. Because of this and other such stories, some people think that the popularity of the concept of werewolf in this era is actually just an attempt to explain the phenomenon of serial killers, because people are more likely to believe that an animal or monster is responsible for the crimes that are considered heinous and unspeakable. Given that some confessions, such as Peter's, were extracted under torture, this is not impossible. Individuals do this because they are actually werewolves, and it is recommended to confirm them before the torture stops.

The myth of how the full moon is associated with werewolves seems to be a relatively modern phenomenon, and may even appear as early as the end of 19. Unfortunately, we don't know who first came up with this idea, but considering the nocturnal activity characteristics of wolves and the fact that you may be more likely to see wolves during the full moon, it is not difficult to see how this connection is formed.

This may also be related to the long-held view that the full moon will lead to more violent and unusual behavior, which may be a by-product of the full moon only means enough light for human beings to engage in night activities. If you have ever been away from the city lights during the full moon, you have probably experienced the fact that you can see very good light even a few hundred yards away, but the world is more or less black and white, not the color of the day. Before extensive artificial lighting, this allowed some atypical outdoor night activities.

Whether this is really the source of this idea or not, the study found that today's full moon has nothing to do with any such behavior. However, the persistence of an idea as a real thing may be a phenomenon of illusory association or confirmation deviation-for example, the perception of an association that does not actually exist. That is to say, if a person witnessed violent or weird behavior and then realized that it was a full moon, he said, individuals would make this connection because they heard about a connection and casually ignored that the full moon came and went without this strangeness. A similar thing may be how the wolf himself gained a reputation as a bloodthirsty animal. They like to eat people, although it seems to be a rare event, even in history and even today.

In any case, unlike many other elements in modern popular mythology, it seems that the idea of werewolves has existed almost since human beings wrote stories. This legend continues to this day, although it is more caricature, less intimidation, and more introspective anti-hero, constantly fighting against his dark and unruly side; Or a young steak with smooth breasts, competing with an emotional, shiny and bloodthirsty vampire for the love of an expressionless, underage and human woman. ...

It's still in the dark night, when thin clouds swept the moon. It's not hard to imagine the primitive fear our ancestors felt when they heard the howling of wolves nearby. After all, even in our enlightened age, we still turn off the lights in the basement and run up the stairs like crazy. Not a monster in the basement this time. Not this time.

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Contrary to what people generally think (widely spread by Animal Planet in 2003), the wolf's howl is indeed an echo, and all sounds will echo in the right environment, that is, a good reflection medium is close enough to be heard and far enough to feel the echo (it must be greater than110). Sound is often absorbed, not reflected. Wolves sometimes use echoes, usually as a defense mechanism. Some wolves in a small group will howl at the same time and change their tone quickly. Coupled with the potential reverberation, the enemy often thinks that there is more reverberation around. Ulysses S. Grant noticed this during the Civil War. When he reported that there were more than 20 wolves around him, he found that only two wolves quickly changed their tone in front of him. The echoes around him made him look like he was surrounded. a pack of wolves