Are Werewolves Real?

Such strong impact do mythological stories have on our psyche, that we are often heard asking questions like 'Are werewolves real?', 'Do vampires really exist?', 'Are ghosts fact or fiction'?. Our logical minds may tell us that all these have no existence in reality, still it is difficult to undo the effects of folklore and reported sightings of such abnormal phenomena. Nevertheless, be it werewolves or vampires, the mention of these creatures across various cultures, makes it difficult to debunk their existence altogether.

What are Werewolves?
As per mythology, werewolves are part human and part wolves. These are some tormented souls that become werewolves on a full moon night, because they were bitten by another werewolf or as a result of some curse. They have attributed powers that exceed those of wolves or human beings. In pictures and depictions in folklore, werewolves are shown as huge creatures covered in gray fur that stand 6 to 7 feet tall and walk erect on hind legs as human beings. They have a pronounced snout and sharp claws and teeth and are believed to have phenomenal strength.

Are Werewolves Real or a Myth?

Medical Explanations
Clinical lycanthropy is a form of psychosis, in which an individual suffers from delusions that he is an animal and behaves accordingly. He may crawl, growl and cry like an animal. Though, the belief of such afflicted individuals that shape, shift into wolves is not true, there delusions are frighteningly strong and seem real to them. Another medical condition is hypertrichosis. In this, almost the whole body of an individual is covered with thick hair. The doctors of the middle ages, when incidents of werewolves were first reported, could not trace the animal-like look of a person suffering from hypertrichosis to the disease. Nor could they find logical reasons, as to why people suffering from porphyria (another medical condition), had pale skin, reddish teeth and developed blisters when exposed to sun. As the blisters healed, small, fine hair started growing in their place.

One of the ways in which werewolves claimed they could shape shift into the animal is by rubbing salve. Today, the hallucinogenic properties of salve when mixed with other plants like nightshade and henbane are well-known. Rabies is also put forth as one of the medical conditions, that prompted people of the ancient times to accuse an afflicted individual of being a werewolf. This disease spreads when one is bitten by an infected dog or a wolf and in its advanced stages, one has severe hallucinations that could have triggered a feeling in one, that he is a man-wolf hybrid i.e, a werewolf. It was not difficult to make people suffering from such illness to admit through torture or other means that they were werewolves. The most famous case of such confession was that of Peeter Stubbe, a serial killer in Germany who was tried in 1589 for 25 years of killing spree, which included human beings and animals. He is also known to have engaged in cannibalism. The most gruesome of his crimes was that of killing his own son and devouring his brain. When tried, Stubbe confessed that the Devil had given him a belt made from animal skin, by wearing which he became a werewolf and bore its strength and insatiable quench for blood and raw meat.

Sightings
Mention of werewolves are not limited just to mythology or stories and movies inspired by them. A number sightings have been reported, some of them being as recent as in 1996. Frequent incidents revolving around the 'Bray Road Beast' were recorded in Wisconsin towards the turn of the century. On October 31, 1999, 18 year old Doristine Gipson of Elkhorn was driving along Bray road near Delavan. As she approached the intersection of Hospital Road, she felt the right tire of her vehicle bump off, the road as if she had ridden over some object on the ground. As she slowed down to check what it was, she saw a tall dark hairy creature running towards her. She sped away at that time but when she returned later that evening to the spot, she saw a large hairy creature by the road. As she narrated her story, more and more people came out with similar experiences, and intriguingly, the description that they gave about the animal was almost the same! It was about a 6 foot tall creature, covered in gray hair. It walked on two legs but had a prominent muzzle. Some described it as a giant dog, whereas others recounted that what they had seen was half man and half wolf! Throughout the twentieth century and undoubtedly before, there have been reported sightings across various countries, of an unusual and scary creature that looked like werewolves. Although, the time and place vary, there is one similarity in all the reports and i.e., the description of the creature seen! Is it just an ancient mythological creature playing trick on people's imagination? If so, then why is it that so many people are susceptible to such delusions? Also, if there is really a hybrid of man and wolf, why does such a possibility doesn't find mention in scientific journals and research? However, another point to be considered that fuels the controversy of whether werewolves are real or fiction is, that no conclusive evidence has been found to corroborate the existence of these creatures.

Origin of the Stories of Werewolves

As already said, mythology goes a long way in what we believe, see and interpret what we see. The earliest mention of werewolves can be found in Greek mythology, in which Zeus turned Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, into a wolf for having served him human flesh. The concept of shape shifting finds resonance in a lot of cultures across the world. However, it is not just a wolf that a man can shape shift into. Depending upon the animal that was feared in a particular region, a man was believed to have turned into that beast under the curse. For example, the concept of werehyenas, weretigers and werepumas are prevalent in South Africa, India and South America respectively.

Other than such mythological stories, legends of the berserkers also bolstered the idea of interchangeability of human and animal forms. The berserkers were great warriors in folklore of Norsemen, who were renowned for their strength and brutality in battles. Before going on a war, these warriors would wear skin of wolves or bear in a belief that the animal's hide would bestow on them the powers of creature.

In the middle ages, when the hysteria of werewolves gripped Europe, wolves were feared a lot, as they attacked and killed human beings frequently. Coupled with this was the lack of scientific understanding of the medical conditions, that are now being associated with werewolves phenomenon. Fear of wolves and limited knowledge of certain diseases made Europeans blame werewolves amongst them, for instances of serial killings. In fact, around 1500s, when people were gripped with the fear of werewolves, they even devised certain criteria for recognizing werewolves amongst their people. For example, tall and thin individuals, with pale skin, joined eyebrows, red hair, hair on palms, thin and long fingers and pointed ears were the common suspects of being werewolves.

We have found logical explanations for the origin of the myth of werewolves. But what about the numerous sightings that do not allow us to debunk the phenomenon altogether? We do not have any conclusive evidence either for or against werewolves. Till then whether werewolves are real, would keep haunting us.