outrageous werewolves facts you probably never knew

The idea of werewolvery being transmittable by a bite could have originated from a disease such as rabies, which is also transmitted by a bite.

Werewolves didnt always have to be males. In Armenia, people believed if a woman was convicted of a deadly sin, she had to transform into a wolf and spend seven years in this state.

In countries where wolves could not be found, people came up with other mythical were animals. Werepuma became a feared monster in South America, Weretiger in some Asian countries or Werehyena in Africa.

Similarly to the werewolf legends, in Viking Scandinavia, there were stories about the so called Ulfhednars, warriors dressed up in wolf skin, who were allegedly able to take over the spirit of the animals and use it in battles. They didnt feel any pain and killed their enemies in a frenzy like state.

The link between werewolves and vampires has been ambiguous though. While the werewolves are generally thought to compete with vampires, some Eastern European legends suggest that dead werewolves will be reborn as vampires. The Slavic word volkodlak (werewolf) even translates as vampire in Serbian language.

Not all of the mythological werewolves were evil creatures. In Latvia and Lithuania, for example, the werewolf (called vilkacis) was sometimes beneficial to humans, bringing them treasures. The idea of a good werewolf was also used in the popular fantasy series of Twilight movies where werewolves protect humans from evil vampires.

It was probably through the 16th century European colonists that the werewolf legends spread to the Americas.

The frequency of werewolf myth occurrence usually related to abundance of forests and wildlife of the particular country. Therefore, densely forested parts of Europe with abundant wild animals had more werewolf legends and stories than those in the South. But still, even countries such as Italy or Portugal have their own werewolves (Lupo Manaro in Italian and Lobisomem in Portuguese language).

In Northern Europe, where the werewolf myth has been very popular, there were also legends about people transforming to other animals such as bears.

The werewolf concept developed simultaneously with the belief in witchcraft in Medieval times. Similarly to the witch trials, there were also werewolf trials at that time. Although the werewolf trials were not as common, they persisted as long as the early 18th century.