The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves (6 page)

He was then bound to wander in this wolf-state for the next nine years. If during nine years he did not attack a single human being, he was free to swim back across the lake. When he reached the other side, he would once again be fully transformed into a man.

Among the Norse tribes, a group of warriors called the
Berserkersgang
(also called
berserkers
), or “those who act as bears,” were feared for their savagery and aggression. As a result, they were coveted and hired by many of the tribal chieftains. Originally, another similar group called the
ulfheðnar
(pronounced ulf-
heth
-nar), or “Wolf wearers,” were also sought out by the chieftains. Over time, the ulfheðnar merged with the berserkers and were called by the same name, despite their differences.

 

Unlike the berserkers, who are thought to have originated solely as a warrior group, the ulfheðnar are thought to have originally been part of some ancient religious rites. Wolves, for example, are sacred to Odin, Norse god of poetry, mead, and battle. Whereas berserkers were considered men who fought and behaved
like
bears, the ulfheðnar were considered to be men who
became
wolves. The ulfheðnar dyed their skin black and covered themselves with wolf skins. They then performed chants and dance rites that worked them into a frenzied mental state. They went completely mad and abandoned their human natures. This allowed them to fight without fear. The Norse believed that such rites also made the ulfheðnar nearly unstoppable in battle.

 

As a Norse conquest party approached a foreign shore, the ulfheðnar were posted at the front prows of the ships, howling and snarling. When they hit the shore, they rushed straight at the defenders, wearing no armor, carrying no shields, and wielding only basic weaponry. Their psychotic trance was so strong that they seemed to ignore even the most serious of injuries. To those they fought, death seemed the only way to stop them.

 

According to Norse legends of the ulfheðnar, arrows had no effect on them, swords could not wound them, and they were immune to fire. The only way to kill the ulfheðnar, claimed the Norse, was to crush their skulls in with a club. This was a scary idea indeed for those who had to battle the ulfheðnar. Crushing in an ulfheðnar’s skull meant you had to engage him at close range, which meant you had to be brave enough to stand your ground and let him get near you. On numerous occasions, the initial, first-wave charges of berserkers and the ulfheðnar were so demoralizing to defending forces that they turned tail and ran, giving up ground to the main invading force that followed without so much as a fight.

In the Germanic epic the
Volsung Saga,
the main hero, Sigmund, has an encounter with lycanthropy.

 

Sigmund had recently come across a young and eager warrior named Sinfjötli. Though he was eager to join him, Sigmund doubted the young man’s prowess and felt that he might be too inexperienced. In order to test Sinfjötli, the two went into the woods and began to pick fights with any warriors they came across, soon taking a fortune in plundered gold and other treasures. Eventually their excursion led them to a cottage where two ulfheðnar princes were sleeping. Their wolf-skin garments hung from their bedposts. Sigmund and Sinfjötli stole the magical garments and put them on. They were immediately transformed into wolves and could not figure out how to change back.

 

Despite this, Sigmund decided to make sport of the situation. He tells Sinfjötli that they will separate and seek to kill seven men each. When one of them came upon a group, he was to howl so that the other could join him. Sigmund was the first to come upon a group of men, and he howled out so Sinfjötli could join in the bloodshed. However, the overzealous young warrior pounced from the trees and killed the entire group before Sigmund had a chance to share in the fun.

 

The two separated once more. This time, it was Sinfjötli who came upon a group of 11 men. However, he did not keep to the rules of the game and failed to howl so that Sigmund might join him. He killed all 11 men on his own, then rejoined Sigmund and told him what he’d done. Sigmund was angry and asked Sinfjötli why he had not howled out. Sinfjötli arrogantly claimed that 11 men posed no challenge to him and that he didn’t need Sigmund’s help for such a trivial matter. Enraged, Sigmund pounced upon Sinfjötli and tore out his throat.

 

For the entire day, unfortunately, Sigmund could not figure out how to remove the magical garments, not from himself or the dead Sinfjötli. He dragged Sinfjötli back to the mead-hall and sat down next to him. Both men were still in wolf form. The story ends without really explaining how he returned to human form but with a somewhat comical quote from Sigmund—“Damn these wolf-forms!”

In rural parts of Romania, it is customary to leave out food for wolves. It is also considered smart to give food to beggars whenever one can. This custom stems from folklore, which states that beggars are often werewolves, and for obvious reasons of self-preservation it is in one’s best interest to be well thought of by both wolves and werewolves.

 

The reasoning behind this piece of werewolf lore is that, since a wolf is believed not to eat on a full stomach, a werewolf will probably be the same. Therefore, if one keeps full the bellies of the wolves and the beggar-werewolves, then they will not attack people or livestock. The practice seems to be effective since no one in rural Romania has been attacked by werewolves for centuries.

In the tales of King Arthur, there is a little-known story about one king’s experience with lycanthropy. The story is told to King Arthur by King Gorlagon, whom Arthur has sought out for wisdom. Arthur had been challenged by Queen Guinevere to discover the truth regarding the hearts, desires, and motivations of women. The king set out immediately on a quest to uncover this, vowing not to eat until he had succeeded.

According to Gorlagon’s tale, a sapling had once sprouted on the day of a certain king’s birth. By some unknown means, it came to be known that if this sapling were ever cut, and one were to be struck upon the head with it while the words “Shape of a wolf, mind of a wolf” were recited, then the person struck would transform into a wolf, both in body and mind. For unknown reasons, perhaps just intuition, the king felt that the survival of the sapling was linked directly with his own. As a result, he had a tall stone wall constructed around the garden and put its security in the charge of his closest companion, a man he had trusted his entire life. The king would visit the sapling every evening upon returning from his daily hunt, inspecting it in order to ensure that it remained alive and unharmed.

 

The king’s wife, unfortunately, was a beautiful but rather hateful woman. She was in love with an attractive, youthful gentleman (not her husband). She wished more than anything to see her current husband dead so that she could legally marry the younger man for whom she lusted. After a time, she became suspicious of her husband’s evening visits to the enclosed garden. She constantly inquired what the purpose of such visits could be. He always replied that it was none of her concern. As time passed, she began accusing him of having extramarital affairs in the garden. He simply denied her accusations and once again told her that the garden was none of her concern. Finally, the king’s wife insisted that she would not eat until he had told her the truth about his visits to the garden. At first, the king stuck to his guns. After three days, however, becoming increasingly worried about his wife’s health (she often feigned illness and fainting spells during her three-day fast), the king gave in. He told her about the enchanted sapling and why it had to be protected. The king’s conniving wife now saw the perfect opportunity to be rid of him.

The next day, when the king left on his hunt, his wife snuck into the garden, cut up the sapling, and concealed it within her sleeve. That afternoon, when her husband returned, she was waiting at the door for him. She held out her arms for him to embrace her, speaking loving and seductive words so that he would come closer. When he reached her, she flung her arms around his neck, as if hugging him. She then removed the cut sapling from her sleeve and struck him on the head. Unfortunately, she made a bit of a mistake. Instead of saying, as she’d intended, “Shape of a wolf, mind of a wolf,” she accidentally said, “Shape of a wolf, mind of a man.”

 

Immediately, the king transformed into a wolf and went running out of the castle. His wife released their pack of hunting hounds, which chased the transformed king into the woods. He narrowly managed to escape them. The king, who had the shape of a wolf but the same human mind, wandered the woods for two years. Eventually, he took a she-wolf as a mate, and she bore him two cubs. In these two years, the king never forgot what his deceitful wife had done to him. He soon decided that he would have his revenge.

The king’s former wife had now married the handsome youth she desired. In an interesting twist, she and her new husband had birthed two sons. That night, the wolf-king snuck into the village with the she-wolf and his cubs. There was an area around the castle gates where the queen would often leave her little boys unattended while she and her new husband had some “alone time.” Finding the young ones unguarded, the wolf-king and his new family fell upon them with their fangs and claws. The wolves tore the two toddlers to shreds. The scene was discovered too late. The deed was already done. However, the townspeople screamed at the wolves, threw stones, and gave chase. The wolves ran into the woods and disappeared from sight.

 

The queen was overcome with grief at the loss of her children. Knowing that the wolf responsible was likely her vengeful ex-husband, she issued a general order to all of her serfs and knights that they were to be on the lookout for wolves. Any wolf was to be captured or killed on sight.

 

Though he had killed her sons, this act was not enough to satisfy the wolf-king’s need for vengeance. He soon returned to the castle gates with his wolf companions. This time he found two noblemen, whom he recognized as his ex-wife’s brothers, conversing there. The wolves attacked the pair, tearing out their stomachs. The men had soon been mauled to death. Once again, the ruckus caught the attention of the townspeople and the castle servants, but they all arrived too late to save the two men. They ordered the gates to be shut, and the wolf-king’s two cubs were too slow to escape. The queen had the cubs hanged from a tree branch, just in view of the gate.

 

The wolf-king went mad with grief. First, she had betrayed him. Now she had killed his cubs. His fury became insatiable. Every night, he would prey upon the pheasants and livestock of the area. He was so successful that soon everyone feared he would bring a famine upon them. Soon, the wolf-king began to find it more and more difficult to escape the ambushes and hounds of the queen’s vassals. He decided to travel to a neighboring country for a time.