In this second Halloween special, Sioned Birchall takes us to Norway and Brazil, showing how werewolf beliefs were the result of a complex interplay between folklore and fear across the globe.

How(l) it all began…

There has never been a consistent definition of a ‘werewolf’. Its lore and description significantly vary between cultures. Werewolf ‘accusations’ come into the historical record from around the early modern period (1500s or so), and it is no co-incidence that witch-hunting was rife at the same time.

Although some men were executed as sorcerers (or witches), the roots of witchcraft accusations lie in the inherent misogynistic belief system – largely resulting from blame being placed on Eve and therefore women for the biblical ‘original sin’. Accusing someone of being a werewolf was an alternative which enhanced the masculinity of the accused/victim, rather than making them appear effeminate.

ALAS! Werewolves haven’t always been a product of Christianity. Although colonisation has facilitated the spread of werewolf beliefs, the concept of a man becoming a wolf or predatory animal far predates Christianity. As such, my blog post will explore the contexts and origins of two different werewolf (or werewolf adjacent) conceptions and recognise the contemporary concerns from which these accusations or folkloric beliefs potentially spawned from.

The Saga of the Volsungs

Origins	Norse mythology and folklore
Nature of the werewolf	The werewolf becomes symbolic of the primal natures of man; hunger and greed are surface level in wolf form.
Battle traditions	The úlfhéðnar – a wolf warrior, went into battle with wolf pelts or wolf heads in place of armour. Often depicted in a werewolf-esque fashion. This highlights not only the animalistic nature expected of warriors but also a level of transformation from man to warrior. It could be argued that this is a werewolf, not in the typical sense but with the ‘soul’ of a wolf in the body of a man.

 

The Saga of the Volsungs provides an insight into the cultural outlook of Nordic people. Throughout the saga characters are punished for shapeshifting or are punished by being shapeshifted against their will. Marking this act of transformation as a negative experience for humans and reserved only for the gods, or perhaps to exemplify the sanctity of the human body after the Christian conversion of Nordic countries.

The most significant ‘wolfing out’ moment in the saga occurs when father and son (or uncle and nephew…it’s complicated), Sigmund and Sinfjotli, stumble across two sleeping men. These men have wolf pelts hung over them and are supposedly cursed to switch between human and wolf every ten days. Sigmund and Sinfjotli place these wolfskins on, transforming into actual wolves – or at the very least becoming physically bonded to these wolfskins, as they cannot remove them for ten days.

This parallels other themes associated with wolves in Norse mythology, namely the comparison between being an outlaw and a wolf (a common form of punishment in many cultures), as well as being “hunted down like wolves” – signifying dishonour. King Cnut (of England, Denmark and Norway) makes reference to werewolves in his Ecclesiastical Ordinances XXVI – to mean both outlawed and as a synonym for the devil; undoubtedly influenced by Biblical comparison of “false prophets” or demons to “ravening wolves”.

Lobisomem and Cumacanga

Origins	A merging of European and Brazilian folklore
Lobisomem	Portuguese for ‘werewolf’, associated with the description of someone who transforms into a large pig and attacks people on paths at night. Often the seventh-born son
Cumacanga	A woman whose head transforms into a ball of fire which whizzes around every Friday night – as punishment for having sexual relations with a priest.
Evidence	The court case of José Cavalcante de Albuquerque

 

Brazilian folklorist Luis de Camara Cascudo suggests that myths linking wolves and humans are a widespread phenomenon across cultures, though I would suggest that the wolf is not always a necessary factor in these myths, but rather that other animals can play this same ‘role’ on an operational level – for example a pig or a ball of fire. Camara Cascudo refers to the Amazonian version of this myth, known as the cumacanga, which has evolved to serve as a moral lesson, condemning behaviours like incest or sexual relations between women and Catholic priests. In a 1793 court case, an administrator named José Cavalcante de Albuquerque was accused of being a lobisomem (werewolf) by a priest, likely in order to ostracize him from society. This accusation paralleled witchcraft accusations in Europe, as historian Laura de Mello e Souza argues that witchcraft and magic were an integral part of the colony in Brazil. José was believed to possess the ability to transform into various forms and manifest as balls of fire, reminiscent of the ‘cumacanga’ myth.

The distinct portrayal of the ‘werewolf’ in this context diverges from the typical modern depiction, largely due to colonial interactions in Brazilian Amazonia. As cultures collided, new interpretations of familiar concepts emerged. Anthropologist Mark Harris describes this phenomenon as an ‘imaginative frontier,’ where ideas and imagery converge in unexpected ways.

Overall…

The depiction and origins of werewolves vary significantly across cultures, but a common thread is their portrayal as a punishment or curse for those who “sin” within their cultural contexts. Often, werewolves are seen as reflections of individuals with violent or warlike dispositions. From the duplicity of King Lycaon in Greek mythology to the Amazonian beliefs surrounding the lobisomem, and the Norse idolization of the wolf as a symbol of ferocity and chaos, the concept of bodily transformation has fascinated humanity for centuries.

Interestingly, this transformation is frequently viewed as dehumanizing. According to Aristotle’s ‘Natural Ladder’, wolves are considered lesser beings than humans. Thus, a creature that is both human and wolf challenges categorization and represents a disruption of the natural order. This fusion of human and animal characteristics invokes fear and uncertainty about the boundaries of humanity and the animal kingdom, often leading to the exclusion or ostracization of the accused from society.

As a result, the werewolf became synonymous with the outlaw, both banished to live in the forest, separate from civilization. This marginalization reinforced the association of werewolves with negative traits, such as deceit, untrustworthiness, and corruption. In Christian contexts, werewolves were often linked to the devil, symbolizing the Church’s attempt to discredit pagan practices. Some sources describe pagans as ritually transforming into wolves, further cementing the werewolf’s role as an adversary to Christian values.