Werewolves are mythological creatures and the subject of many stories throughout the world. According to legends, they are people who morph into vicious and powerful wolves, while others claim they are a mutant combination of human and wolf. But in all, they are bloodthirsty creatures who cannot control their passion for killing people and animal's.
The main origination of the werewolf is unclear but scholar's believe it made it's early appearance in Greek mythology with the Legend of Lycaon. According to the legend, Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, angered the Olympian god Zeus when he served him the carcass of a sacrificed boy.
Out of anger and as punishment, Zeus turned Lycaon and his son's into wolves. In early Nordic folklore, The Saga of the Volsungs tells of a father and son who discovered wolf pelts which had the power to transform people into wolves for ten days. The father and son took the pelts and went on a killing spree in the forest and ended it when the father attacked the son, giving him a lethal wound.
The son was saved because a kind raven had given the father a leaf with healing powers. Many werewolves from centuries ago were actually serial killers. In 1521, Frenchmen Pierre Burgot and Micheal Verdun allegedly swore allegiance to the Devil and claimed to have an ointment that turned them into wolves. After confessing to brutally murdering several children, they were both burned to death at the stake (as burning was believed to be one of the few ways to kill a werewolf).
Another Frenchman in the sixteenth century, Giles Garnier, known as “Werewolf of Dole” rose to fame with an ointment which gave him wolf-morphing abilities and according to legend, as a wolf, he killed and ate little children. He too was burnt at the stake for his heinous crimes.
A wealthy man in the fifteenth century, Peter Stubbe who was a farmer from Bedburg, Germany may be the most notorious werewolf of them all. According to legend, at night he turned into a werewolf and devoured not only children but grown ups and animal's as well.
He was caught by hunters after they saw him changing from wolf to human form and after confessing under torture, he was executed. He declared he owned an enchanted belt which gave him the power to transform into a wolf at will but unsurprisingly, the belt was never found. His execution sparked controversies since some people believed he wasn't a killer but a victim of a political witch hunt or maybe a werewolf hunt.
In werewolf legend, the full moon gives them power to transform but some are able to morph at will. Throughout the years, people have used werewolves and other mystic beaats to explain the unexplainable but in modern times however, many believe werewolves are nothing more than pop culture horror icons, made famous by fans. Even with this, werewolves have a cult following and werewolf sightings are reported each year even though they are not backed by any evidence.
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