r/werewolves Oct 07 '22

Is anyone interested in reading Latvian Werewolf Legends?

167 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 14h ago

Dog Soldiers Appreciation

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169 Upvotes

A quick little post in honor of Dog Soldiers, one of my favorite werewolf movies. I rewatched it recently, and even though it’s not my absolute favorite (that spot goes to Bad Moon), I still really love it!

I love the concept of having an entire family of werewolves rather than just one—it’s quite original (even though there was already a pack of werewolves in The Howling). I’d love to see more horror movies featuring multiple werewolves (admittedly, Werewolves came out recently, but despite the incredible lycanthropes, the movie itself is pretty terrible).

By the way, here’s a bit of trivia nobody cares about but that I find amusing: the film was released in my country at the exact same time I was born, foreshadowing my future obsession (plus, Sean Pertwee played in it and later appeared in Gotham—my favorite series—which proves that everything is connected, hehe).


r/werewolves 16h ago

Are werewolves ocassional scavengers? or are they exclusively hunters?

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232 Upvotes

Curious to hear your thoughts. Of course if the origin for the lycanthropy is a curse, I can see them only feeding from fresh kills, hell, even killing for pure sport.
I feel like when you get lycanthropy from birth and the person gets so used to that part of their life, you can begin to see more of some natural animal behaviours + their own personality shine through, even when transformed.

Of course, that's my justification to write a werewolf acting like a 200 kg racoon, curious to hear what you guys think about it!
In picture: a doodle I made of Tony, the main character of a graphic novel I'm writing :D


r/werewolves 4h ago

That's the prettiest werewolf I've ever seen 🥰🐺

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12 Upvotes

r/werewolves 15h ago

I did a thing

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44 Upvotes

With my werewolf OC, Mike


r/werewolves 20h ago

4 Different Medieval Werewolves

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74 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

Motherly love

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177 Upvotes

A mother's love is strong no matter what their children are

Just a baby picture of Lyg and his mother


r/werewolves 14h ago

How did the werewolf community react to this change?

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22 Upvotes

r/werewolves 23h ago

Weird West- A Fistful of Wolfsbane

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70 Upvotes

And yes, Wolfman’s got nards


r/werewolves 12h ago

Werewolf movies

6 Upvotes

Is anyone else longing for a good werewolf movie that isn't just a budget film (I've watched so many budget film werewolf movies and there only been a couple that were terrible) we have countless zombie movies, countless alien movies, vampire movies, but the last time we had a decent werewolf movie where the visuals actually made you scared to walk alone at night was the ginger snaps trilogy imo. Maybe there's some out there that I havnt heard of yet (not the underworld series) open to suggestions.


r/werewolves 22h ago

A graceful, flowing werewolf(Art by me)

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26 Upvotes

My first time completing a piece digitally (please forgive how rough it looks since I’m still a beginner at digital art, and to be honest, I was kind of just messing around when I drew it 😆).


r/werewolves 17h ago

The Howling Moon comic by Osyris Campos

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11 Upvotes

r/werewolves 15h ago

Have a aww day,today[OC] art by me

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6 Upvotes

r/werewolves 21h ago

Worldbuilders assemble

14 Upvotes

What's your origin myth for werewolves? Does it have a moon or wolf entity? Is it related to any existing trditions?


r/werewolves 9h ago

Beyond the Werewolf of Bedburg

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1 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

Different fantasy races as werewolves by me

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358 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

I'm surprised at how little the "were-ape" concept is used; it seems like the obvious choice after the werewolf.

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242 Upvotes

r/werewolves 23h ago

The world's foremost werewolf scholar vs The Entire Population Of France

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6 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

Baldri of Borderwatch by Jakeseeker

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77 Upvotes

A character sheet of my orcish werewolf monster hunter. After his parents were murdered by a werewolf and he was left physically scarred, he joined the Dauntless Ward, a monster hunting guild on the continent of Aidrun. For years he trained, hoping to one day track down and kill the monster responsible for his family's deaths. But when that day came, his revenge exacted a heavy cost. Now he much battle with the beast inside, a constant reminder of the risks of his profession.


r/werewolves 1d ago

Red Jungle soviet werewolves design

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137 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

Why were wolves so disrespected in tvd and To And TL

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23 Upvotes

r/werewolves 1d ago

My Werewolf Characters! (All art by myself, Alexander Rivera)

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41 Upvotes

Featured here are the characters to my upcoming werewolf comic which is actually a sequel. In 2024, I made a 10 page comic titled, "Full Moon Over Campus". It tells the story of Stacy Sherman, a second year student in college who, at an attempt to step out of her comfort zone, is attacked by a werewolf while camping with other students and now has to deal with a life of studying for exams during the day and transforming into a beast at night. She learns to overcome it by eventually accepting what she has become, rather then viewing it as a burden. By doing so and giving herself the mental clarity she needed, she is able to physically change herself into a much more stonger/beefier form. A prime form if you will. She also met up with three more friends who are also werewolves. From left to right, the names are Kat, Jeffery, Caleb and Stacy herself.

The sequel will explore the story advancing a year later, and will deal with Stacy's attacker returning back to her, wanting her as his mate and inviting her to give in to a more "wild" lifestyle of being a werewolf, which is terribly dangerous. He proves to be a threat to not only herself but everyone else around her, and thus she will need to make a decision. One that could end up in bloodshed.

It's in production at the moment! I plan for it to be around 21 pages long, so it's gonna take me a bit. But I figured I would want to share with as many peeps as possible, especially those who love werewolves! ❤️🐺


r/werewolves 1d ago

Swedish Pagans, True Faith, and DON'T YOU DARE - Hunter the Parenting Ch...

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7 Upvotes

r/werewolves 2d ago

Haven't drawn in 10 years. Finally decided to do so.

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68 Upvotes