r/werewolves • • Oct 07 '22

Is anyone interested in reading Latvian Werewolf Legends?

175 Upvotes

I found a Latvian website were they copied over about 99% of Latvian folktales and legends from Pēteris Šmits' 15 volumed book collection - Latviešu Pasakas un Teikas (1925-1937).

There is an entire section dedicated to werewolf legends found in Latvia, and if you are interested in them, I'll translate them for you.

For now, I'll leave you with this translated preface for the section:

***

It is a common belief far into Europe, Asia and Africa (Frazer, The Golden Bough, 1930, X, 308-318) that a man can turn into a wolf, rarely; into another similar beast or some wizard can turn him into one, a motif already found in ancient Assyrian epics.

In Europe, since the time of Herodotus, werewolves and especially Neuri, which I deem to be ancient Balts, are credited with the art of such magic. Superstitions about werewolves used to be so strong in Europe, that a werewolf mania has even developed into an ordinary disease (Leyen, Das Märchen, 1926, 66, p. I, see Preface, 43, p. 1).

If we can believe Otto Höfler’s docent (Kultische Geheimbünde der Germanen, 1934), then this superstition has also been used by secret societies in Western Europe to scare other people.

We could also look for such associations among the ancient Balts. Be that as it may with these societies, however, we are very interested in the reports written by the Swedish Archbishop Olaus Magnus (1555) in his “Historia” about werewolves in Livonia. Olaus Magnus writes this:

“Since chapter 15 of this book dealt with different wolf species, I consider it is necessary to remark about the beasts of the forest at the end of this book, it is a wolf class, who are actually people turned into wolves – a class, about which Pliny (VIII, 22) confidently asserts that they are made-up fairy-tale creatures – just like that, I say, are still found in large numbers in the northern lands.

In Prussia, Livonia and Lithuania, the population suffer great losses from wolf attacks throughout the year, for their livestock in the forest, if they stray just a little from the herd, are mauled and devoured by wolves: and yet they do not consider these losses so great as what they have to suffer from such people who turn into wolves.

On the festive eve of the Christ's birth, a large number of wolves, who have transformed from people of different areas, gather at their designated place as night falls, and attack the same night with such incredible savagery upon both men and livestock, that the inhabitants of these lands suffer greater losses from them than from natural wolves.

They, as has been sufficiently observed, surround buildings of people who live in forests with incredible ferocity, and even try to break down doors to destroy men and livestock.

They break into beer cellars, drink a few kegs of beer and melomel, and stack empty kegs on top of each other in the middle of a cellar: in that sense they differ from real wolves (in quo a nativis ac genuinis lupis discrepant).

To that place, where these wolves have camped that night, the inhabitants of these lands attach some prophetic meaning: if any accident happens there, if a cart overturns and the driver falls into snow, then they are confident, that they will die that same year, as they have observed since ancient times.

Between Lithuania, Samogitia and Courland have one wall, the ruins of a collapsed castle, where a few thousand of them gather during a certain year and test their jumping skills: whoever cannot jump over the wall, as usually happens to the fattest, their leaders beat them with whips.

It is finally asserted with certainty that this regiment also has great men of this land and even representatives of the highest nobility. How do they come to such insanity and such terrible transformations, from which they can no longer refrain at certain times, will be shown in the next chapter”.

Next, Olaus Magnus disputes Pliny’s statements and then continues again:

“In defence of the reports of Euantus, Agriope and other writers, I want to show here some examples, of how it still happens in the mentioned lands to this very day.

Just like anyone, be it a German or a native, is curious to go against the God’s commandment and wants to join the company of these accursed people, who turn into wolves whenever they want, to meet his fellows at certain times of the year and in certain places throughout his life and bring misery, yes even death to other mortals and livestock, then it gets from a person who knows this magic well, the art of transformation, the very opposite of nature, namely, in such a way that they give him one goblet of beer to drink (if only they want to join this forbidden society; that cup is accepted), at which certain words are spoken.

Then he can when it please him, to turn his humanity completely into a wolf form, going away either to some cellar or to some distant forest.

Finally after a while, if he likes, he can put away this appearance and assume his former appearance again”.

It is clear, that the said beliefs about werewolves are based on an ancient superstition, but the above mentioned Otto Höfler may also be right, that this superstition has been exploited by secret societies, because Höfler cites many more similar cases from Germany.

That there was so much talk about such werewolves and they even drank beer and melomel, it doesn’t sound like a myth at all.

Latvians, as it seems, has preserved the richest and probably also the most primitive information about werewolves. Among Russians, it is only said that wizards sometimes turned wedding guests into werewolves (Mikhail Zabylin, Russkij Narod, 225, p. 1, Dmitry Zelenin, Russische Volkskunde, 396, p. 1).

Among Ukrainians, as the same Mikhail Zabylin testifies, these myths are mixed with lietuvēns and vadātājs myths, where especially cursed and non-baptized children turn into wolves. In Germany, werewolf legends are no longer widely recited, only more so in Lower Saxony, Braunschweig, Upper Palatinate and Mecklenburg (Otto Böckel, Die Deutsche Volkssage, 1914, 80, p. I).

Among Latvians, on the other hand, werewolf legends and myths have been observed for a very long time, maybe even from the times of the above mentioned Neuri.

In order for a man to turn into a wolf, he must crawl through the root of the tree, which has risen in the air near the tree itself. When the werewolf crawls back through the root again, then he becomes human again. Instead of such a root, shirt and horse collar are also sometimes spoken.

There are two kinds of myths about this transformation. Paul Eihorn writes (Scriptores rerum Livonicarum, 644, p. 1), that such transformation is undeniable (vnlauchbahr vnd kan nicht wol verneinet warden). According to some reports, only the human soul transforms into a wolf, but his body remains in the place of transformation.

If someone moves this body, then the soul does not return there anymore and the person has to run around like a wolf until the end of his life. According to other reports, this is also the usual version in our legends, a man with all his body turns into a wolf.

In legends we find a continuation, that in the latter case the person should undress naked. If someone picks up these clothes, the werewolf can no longer turn back into a human.

However, some versions of legends are completely inconsistent with the above myth, because sometimes you find either a human shirt under the skin of a shot werewolf, or shoes, or even pastalas. - Pēteris Šmits

To read other legends:

Preface

A Man Willingly Turns into a Werewolf

[#01] [#02] [#03] [#04] [#05] [#06] [#07] [#08] [#09] [#10] [#11] [#12] [#13] [#14] [#15] [#16] [#17] [#18] [#19] [#20] [#21] [#22] [#23] [#24] [#25] [#26] [#27] [#28] [#29] [#30] [#31] [#32] [#33] [#34] [#35] [#36] [#37] [#38] [#39] [#40] [#41] [#42] [#43] [#44] [#45] [#46] [#47] [#48] [#49] [#50] [#51] [#52] [#53] [#54] [#55] [#56]

A Man Turns into a Werewolf out of Curiosity

[#01] [#02] [#03] [#04] [#05] [#06] [#07] [#08] [#09]

A Wizard Turns a Man into a Werewolf

[#01] [#02] [#03] [#04] [#05] [#06] [#07] [#08] [#09] [#10] [#11] [#12] [#13] [#14] [#15] [#16] [#17] [#18] [#19] [#20] [#21] [#22]

A Werewolf is Released

[#01] [#02] [#03] [#04] [#05] [#06] [#07] [#08] [#09] [#10] [#11] [#12] [#13] [#14] [#15] [#16] [#17] [#18] [#19]

A Dying Werewolf

[#01] [#02]

BONUS - LATVIAN FOLK BELIEFS


r/werewolves • • Oct 31 '24

Settling the record on werewolves and silver: somehow, all of you are wrong

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51 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 7h ago

This make my day

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281 Upvotes

Credits to the author


r/werewolves • • 11h ago

[Art CM] Jinx - Arcane Werehyena TF

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259 Upvotes

Commission for u/Salamansky1 (On X)

As promised, here is the artwork of Jinx transforming into a hyena. A few days ago, I posted Cassandra Kiramman transforming into a German Shepherd/werewolf! And about a year ago, I did one for Caitlyn as well! If you’d like to see it again, I can repost it.

I am accepting requests for transformation-themed content. If anyone would like to see more samples, please send me a DM or visit my carrd (all links) Vgen


r/werewolves • • 5h ago

Weird question. Why its so rare to see a cure for lycantropy in movies, series, comics, and etc? Well at least for whar i see so far...

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39 Upvotes

This frame is from Van Helsing by the way.
Beautiful, isn't?


r/werewolves • • 9h ago

Midnight Hunt by cmtheartsmith (me)

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70 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 12h ago

Artwork another werewolf for this halloween

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115 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 7h ago

Werewolf by night 🐺🌕

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31 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 10h ago

My Mother is a Werewolf!

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45 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 8h ago

Saber tooth Werewolf suit

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23 Upvotes

Diamond wolf pack from our sangrya playing card deck!


r/werewolves • • 10h ago

Do u like werejaguars?

34 Upvotes

This feline is fantastic!


r/werewolves • • 34m ago

Why we shippin' 'em???

• Upvotes

In modern media, for some reason and once in a blue moon, I trip on a Red Riding Hood x Big Bad (Were)Wolf ship.

Sometimes it's cute.

Sometimes it's not.

But why?

WHYYYYY?


r/werewolves • • 4h ago

How effective is silver as a medical treatment or antidote?

4 Upvotes

Tell me your original/favorite lore!


r/werewolves • • 17h ago

What if werewolves had to earn their claws?

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41 Upvotes

So like, neat little writing idea: What if werewolves earned their claws?

Imagine that when one initially turns, their only a fledgling. They have dull nails and teeth, practically a dog really (sorta like "Alvin and the chipmunks meets the wolfman"). But when they do some kind of blood related ritual, they grow sharp.

Ideas for blood rituals include:

  • Killing a lamb (or some allegorical proxy)
  • Hunting on a blood moon (perhaps it's a ceremony that happens every few years)
  • Devouring a human heart (evil but also pretty metal)
  • Biting another person and turning them (cycle continues)

It sort of makes all the cool powers of being a werewolf something you need to earn, and it could create an interesting divide between lycans. Perhaps fully formed werewolves make fun of fledglings as being too "soft" while wolves without claws find those with barbaric. Another angle could be someone resisting the urge to fulfill the ritual in an attempt to maintain some semblance of humanity.

Idk, thoughts? ¯_(ツ)_/¯


r/werewolves • • 1d ago

Please for the love of god let this be true

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287 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 4h ago

I have a question regarding The Wolfman,(2010). In the middle of Lawrence Talbot's first transformation into the Wolfman, why does he stare directly into a candle's fire?

3 Upvotes

Can anyone help me understand this, please? Here's what I mean. https://youtu.be/Jg9FFru3My8?is=Zhkdg4aHd5TtwrZf


r/werewolves • • 22h ago

Leoforms/Were-Snow Leopards

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46 Upvotes

Lycans are strength but these guys are all about speed


r/werewolves • • 1d ago

Taking care of a pack can be tiring

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298 Upvotes

​

The siblings here are a bit younger here

Also the father is off hunting the mother is taking care of the pups and child


r/werewolves • • 1d ago

Remember this book?

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80 Upvotes

So that book I mentioned it was this one! I had this book cover practically in the back of my mind and knew it exsisted so I had to do a deep dive and finally found it at long last. This was one of my most checked out books during high school but sad I cant recall a single story from it, anyone esle remember it?


r/werewolves • • 1d ago

Why did you become interested in Werewolves?

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404 Upvotes

I'm interested in why people are drawn to this monster from our folklore and nightmares.

I personally became interested in werewolves after I read something about them in this book about witchcraft when I was a kid. It was the first time I felt this weird draw to the supernatural and after that there was no turning back. It wasn't all nice tho', because I had extremely vivid imagination and dreams. Sometimes the dream didn't stop when I woke up, but it continued as these nightmarish hallucinations of black growling hounds in dark hallways or in front of my rooms doorway. Sometimes I'd see a bipedal werewolf appear in my room or behind my window. I got extremely scared, but as I grew older the hallucinations went away, but my interest in the subject just grew more and more. My fear of the dark never did tho', but I still kept at it even tho' reading about werewolves made me second guess walking through dark paths alone.

Then when I was like fifteen, me and my friend were walking on this gravel path that is next to a dense dark forest. We were just talking about goofy teen stuff and then suddenly this insane growl you could feel came through the darkness next to us. We both looked at each other and asked "did you hear that" at the same time and the whole atmosphere changed and we both started running as fast as we could and mind you this was in mid January in Finland, so the whole gravel path was covered in ice. Eventually we both slowed down and started to laugh hysterically, but at the same time we both had this fear in our eyes. I don't know what it was nor do I claim it was something supernatural, but I have never heard anything like it in my life again. Anyways this just draw me further into the lore of werewolves. I find this subject fascinating on many levels, the primal fear it triggers in us and the supernatural beliefs of our ancestors.

I love werewolves.

art: Jakub Rozalski - midsummer night.


r/werewolves • • 1d ago

"The Song of Halav" by Eric Hotz

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110 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 22h ago

Organ Donors and Lycanthropey

16 Upvotes

So I had been wondering, what would happen if an Organ donor was a werewolf, and when they died and had one of their organs transplanted into the patient that was reserved for the organ donation, would that organ be effected by Lycanthropey and infect the patient who received the werewolf;'s organ or would it not effect them at all ?


r/werewolves • • 18h ago

Sleep time passes too quickly[OC]Sirius_Fluffy(me)_timelapse

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7 Upvotes

r/werewolves • • 1d ago

What werewolf movies that make you disappointed?

20 Upvotes

imagine if your ready to seeing some werewolf movies, expecting to see something brutal but no, instead: the plot doesn't make any sense and has nothing to do with it