Note: Errors in German quotes and booktitles were mostly not corrected.
A more detailed transcriber’s note can be found at the end of this text.
THE ORIGIN OF THE WEREWOLF SUPERSTITION.[1]
[1] NOTE.—After the author had written the following article,
she gathered most of the material contained in the notes. That
the origin and development of the use of masks as given in
the Annual Report of the United States Bureau of Ethnology,
1881-82, p. 73 fol. (see note 32) is similar to the origin and
development of the werewolf superstition itself, as given in
the following pages, was an unexpected coincidence. The author
has italicized some words in the quotations.
The belief that a human being is capable of assuming an animal’s form,
most frequently that of a wolf, is an almost worldwide superstition.
Such a transformed person is the Germanic werewolf, or man-wolf; that
is, a wolf which is really a human being.[2] So the werewolf was a
man in wolf’s form or wolf’s dress,[2] seen mostly at night,[3] and
believed generally to be harmful to man.[4]
[2] According to Mogk, in Paul’s Grundriss der germanischen
Philologie III. 272 _wer_ means “man,” found in Old Saxon,
Anglo-Saxon, Old High German, and werewolf a man in wolf’s
form. Kögel connects _wer_ with Gothic _wasjan_ “kleiden.”
“Darum bedeutet _werwolf_ eigentlich Wolfsgewand úlfshamr;
ähnlich bedeutet vielleicht _berserkr_ Bärengewand,” therefore
werewolf according to Kögel means a wolf’s dress. See also
Schrader, Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde.
[3] Post p. 24.
[4] Encyclopaedia Britannica, XV. 90 fol., 1883:—Beastform in
mythology proper is far oftener assumed for malignant than for
benignant ends. See note 52.
The origin of this werewolf superstition has not been satisfactorily
explained. Adolf Erman[5] explains the allusion of Herodotus[6] to the
transformation of the Neurians (the people of the present Volhynia, in
West Russia) into wolves as due merely to their appearance in winter,
dressed in their furs. This explanation, however, would not fit similar
superstitions in warm climes. Others ascribe the origin of lycanthropy
to primitive Totemism, in which the totem is an animal revered by the
members of a tribe and supposed to be hostile to their enemies.[7]
Still another explanation is that of a leader of departed souls as the
original werewolf.[8]
[5] Reise um die erde durch Nordasien, Berlin, 1833, I. 232.
[6] Herodotus says of the Neurians, that among Scythians and
Greeks settled in Scythia they pass for magicians, because once
a year every Neurian becomes a wolf for a few days, and then
resumes the human form. See concerning this also Hirt, Die
Indogermanen, I. 120.
[7] Encyclopaedia Britannica, XXIII. 467 fol.
[8] Note 102, also see note 22.
The explanation of the origin of the belief in werewolves must be one
which will apply the world over, as the werewolf superstition is found
pretty much all over the earth,[9] especially to-day[10] however in
Northwest Germany and Slavic lands; namely, in the lands where the
wolf is most common.[11][12] According to Mogk[13] the superstition
prevails to-day especially in the north and east of Germany.[14]
[9] See also Mogk in Paul’s Grundriss, III. 272. Dr. Rud.
Leubuscher, Über die Wehrwölfe und Thierverwandlungen im
Mittelalter, Berlin, 1850, mentions cases in ancient Arcadia,
in Arabia, Abyssinia (hyenas), and the almost epidemic disease
in the Middle Ages. Dr. W. Hertz, Der Werwolf, Stuttgart,
1862, ascribes the superstition to Armenia, Egypt, Abyssinia
(hyenas), Greece (pages 20-28), but not to India, contrary to
Encyc. Brit. below; on p. 133 he says: “Tierverwandlungen sind
allgemein menschlich, finden wir überall. Die eigentümliche
Entwicklung der Werwolfsagen aber finden wir vorzugsweise
bei einer bestimmten Völkergruppe, den arischen Stämmen der
Griechen, Römer, Kelten, Germanen und Slaven; bei den südwärts
gezogenen Stämmen der Inder und Iranier sind uns gleiche
Sagen nicht begegnet [but see below]. Am massenhaftesten
treten die Werwölfe bei den Slaven auf, und ihnen gehört die
älteste historische Erwähnung der Sage; viel älter aber ist
der Lykaon Mythus und arkadische Werwölfe”. According to
Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche, Stuttgart,
1878, ss. 62-80, the superstition is found in every European
country (amongst Anglo-Saxons, English, French, Bretons, Poles,
Tschechs, Lithuanians, White Russians of Poland, inhabitants
of island Oesel, Russians, Italians, Portuguese, Provencal
peoples, Greeks, Kelts, in Asia, Africa, America; but not in
India nor Persia, contrary to Encyc. Brit. below), especially
though in northwestern Germany and in Slavic lands.
As to the American Indians, see Ethnological Report for
1880-81, p. 83, “From their close relations with wild animals
Indians’ stories of transformations into beasts and beasts
into men are numerous and interesting.... In times of peace,
during the long winter evenings, some famous storyteller told
of those days in the past when men and animals could transform
themselves at will and hold converse with one another.”
Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, Bell & Sons, 1883, II. 668
says no metamorphosis occurs more frequently in Germanic
antiquities than that of men into werewolves. Thus Fenrisûlfr,
a son of Loki, makes his appearance in wolf’s shape among the
gods.
Encyc. Brit. XV. 89 fol., under the heading Lycanthropy,
states:—A belief firmly rooted among all savages is that
men are in certain circumstances transformed temporarily or
permanently into wolves and other inferior animals. In Europe
the transformation into a wolf is by far more prominent and
frequent (amongst Greeks, Russians, English, Germans, French,
Scandinavians). Belief in metamorphosis into the animal most
prominent in any locality itself acquires a special prominence.
Thus the were-_wolf_ prevails in Europe, also in England,
Wales, Ireland; and in S. France, the Netherlands, Germany,
Lithuania, Bulgaria, Servia, Bohemia, Poland, Russia, he can
hardly be pronounced extinct now (see note 12). In Denmark,
Sweden, Norway and Iceland the _bear_ competes with the wolf
for pre-eminence. In Persia the _bear_ is supreme; in Japan the
_fox_; in India the _serpent_ vies with the _tiger_ (contrary
to Mogk in Paul’s Grd., III. 272, who says:—“Nur Griechen,
Römer, Kelten, Germanen, Slaven unter den indogermanischen
Völkern kennen den Werwolf, den Indern und Iraniern ist er
unbekannt.” Compare notes 6 and 9, Hertz, p. 133); in Abyssinia
and Borneo the _hyena_ with the _lion_; in E. Africa the _lion_
with the _alligator_; in W. Africa the _leopard_ is perhaps
most frequently the form assumed by man; among the Abipones the
_tiger_, among the Arawaks the _jaguar_, etc.
In Brockhaus’ Konversations-Lexikon, for the Middle Ages the
werewolf belief is ascribed to all Slavic, Keltic, Germanic and
Romanic peoples; found to-day especially in Volhynia and White
Russia.
Paul, Grundriss, III. 272:—Bei den Angelsachsen lässt sich der
Werwolf im 11. Jahrh. nachweisen: Knut befahl den Priestern,
ihre Herden vor dem werewulf zu schirmen.... Das älteste
Zeugnis auf deutschem Gebiete vom Werwolf ist vom Burchard v.
Worms (11 century).
[10] See note 9.
[11] Encyc. Brit. XV. 89 fol.:—There can nowhere be a living
belief in contemporary metamorphosis into any animal which
has ceased to exist in the particular locality. Belief in
metamorphosis into the animal most prominent in any locality
itself acquires a special prominence. (See note 12.) In none
of these cases however is the power of transformation limited
exclusively to the prominent and dominant animal.
[12] Encyc. Brit. XXIV. 628 fol. under _Wolf_:—The wolf is
found in nearly the whole of Europe and Asia, North America
from Greenland to Mexico, the Indian peninsula, but not in
Ceylon, Burmah or Siam; and not in South America or Africa, in
the two latter jackals instead.
Meyer’s Kleines konversations-lexikon:—Der wolf “ist häufig
in Ost- und Nordeuropa, Mittel- und Nordasien, Nordamerika,
seltener in Frankreich und Belgien, den Herden gefährlich,
besonders in Russland.” Encyc. Brit., XXIV under _Wolf_:—In
northern countries the wolf is generally larger and more
powerful than in the southern portion of its range. Its habits
are similar everywhere. It has from time immemorial been known
to man in all the countries it inhabits as the devastator of
his flocks of sheep. It has speed and remarkable endurance.
They usually assemble in troops or packs, except in summer, and
by their combined and persevering efforts are able to overpower
and kill even such great animals as the American bison.
Children and even grown people are not infrequently attacked by
them when pressed for hunger. The ferocity of the wolf in the
wild state is proverbial. Even when tamed, they can rarely be
trusted by strangers.
[13] Paul, Grundriss, III. 272.
[14] Gustav Freytag, Bilder aus neuer zeit, Leipzig, 1904, p.
275 fol., speaking of the Polish borderlands, says: “Noch lebte
das Landvolk in ohnmächtigem Kampf mit den Heerden der Wölfe,
wenig Dörfer, welchen nicht in jedem Winter Menschen und Thiere
decimirt wurden,” and in the same note 2, pp. 275-6:—“Als 1815
die gegenwärtige Provinz Posen an Preussen zurückfiel, waren
auch dort die Wölfe eine Landplage. Nach Angaben der Posener
Provinzialblätter wurden im Regierungsbezirk Posen vom 1. Sept.
1815 his Ende Februar 1816, 41 Wölfe erlegt, noch im Jahre 1819
im Kreise Wongrowitz 16 Kinder und 3 Erwachsene von Wölfen
gefressen.”
The werewolf superstition is an old one, a primitive one.[15] The
point in common everywhere is the transformation of a living human
being into an animal, into a wolf in regions where the wolf was
common[16] into a lion, hyena or leopard in Africa, where these animals
are common; into a tiger or serpent in India;[17] in other localities
into other animals characteristic of the region.[18] Among Lapps
and Finns occur transformations into the bear, wolf, reindeer, fish
or birds; amongst many North Asiatic peoples, as also some American
Indians, into the bear; amongst the latter also into the fox, wolf,
turkey or owl; in South America, besides into a tiger or jaguar,
also into a fish, or serpent. Most universal though it seems was the
transformation into wolves or dogs.[19]
[15] Thus in note 6 was mentioned Herodotus’ (484-425 B. C.)
statement about the Neurians. The oldest werewolf legend,
according to Hertz, is that of Lykaon, the son of Pelasgos,
the first king of ancient Arcadia. These Arcadians lived as
huntsmen and shepherds. According to J. Oppert (Andree, p. 65;
and notes 6 and 9) the werewolf superstition existed amongst
the Assyrians; and Andree states, the oldest Hellenic werewolf
myth is found in Pausanias (died 467 B. C). In the Norse “Edda”
we find Odin’s wolves, also Sköll, Hati and Fenrir. In the
Völsunga Saga, Sigmund and Sinfjötli become wolves. For other
reflections of the fear in which wolves were held, see the
10th century ms. of the “Wiener Hundesegen” against male and
female wolves (Braune, Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, 6. aufl.
1907, p. 85). Jacob Grimm,—Geschichte der deutschen sprache
s. 233:—“Unsere thierfabel stellt vortrefflich das gebannte
raubthier des waldes dar, und lehrt die nähe des wolfs und
fuchses.”
C. Lemcke, Aesthetik, 6. aufl. II. 1890, s. 562:—“In die
ältesten Zeiten hinauf reicht auch bei Jägervölkern die
Tiersage, in ihrer Weise zum Teil die Eigentümlichkeiten der
Tiere erklärend, ihr Gebahren erzählend. Die furchtbaren und
die listigen Tiere boten sich am besten dar.... Wo die Menschen
städtisch beisammen wohnen, bleibt Tier Tier; wo sie einsamer
mit Tieren leben, bekommen diese eine höhere Bedeutung. So wird
dem Wäldler Bär und Wolf zum ebenbürtigen Räuber und Kämpfer,
menschlicher aufgefasst zum Gegner voll Mut, List, Rachsucht,
der Gedanken hat wie der Mensch selbst.”
[16] Volhynia, Europe, Northern Asia. Formerly, according to
Andree, p. 65, the wolf was as common throughout Europe as it
is to-day in Russia. Hirt, Die Indogermanen, I. 187, says: “Der
Wolf ist überall in Europa verbreitet gewesen, der Bär ist aber
ganz sicher ein Waldtier.”
[17] Note 9.
[18] Cf. note 9, Encyc. Brit.
[19] Leubuscher, p. 1:—Weil die Verwandlung vorzugsweise in
Hunde und Wölfe geschehen sollte, so erhielt die Krankheit den
namen Lykanthropie.
As the superstition is so widespread—Germany, Eastern Europe, Africa,
Asia, America, it either arose at a very early time, when all these
peoples were in communication with each other[20] or else, in accord
with another view of modern science, it arose independently in various
continents in process of the natural psychical development of the human
race under similar conditions.
[20] Or as Mogk in Paul’s Grd., III. 272 expresses it, for
example amongst the West Indogermanic peoples when they still
formed a whole, as shepherds, by whom the wolf as robber of
herds was especially feared. Leubuscher, p. 55 writes: “Die
meisten Lykanthropen waren Hirten, die im Freien lebten,
mit Tieren viel verkehrten, und der Wolf schwebte ihrer
Einbildungskraft am öftersten vor, weil sie am meisten damit
zu kämpfen hatten. Wenn das Gespenst des Wehrwolfes sich in
Einzelnen als Krankheit erhob, war die Gegend wahrscheinlich
von Wölfen besonders beunruhigt worden, und wahrscheinlich
manche Mordthat nur von Wölfen begangen.” Ethn. Rep. 1888-89,
p. 282:—“The Dakotas have long believed in the appearance
from time to time of a monstrous animal that swallows human
beings. The superstition was perhaps suggested by the bones of
mastodons, often found in the territory of those Indians.”
The origin of the superstition must have been an old custom of
primitive man’s of putting on a wolf’s or other animal’s skin[21]
or dress, or a robe.[22] Thus Leubuscher,[23] says: “Es ist der
Mythenkreis eines jeden Volkes aus einfachen wahren Begebenheiten
hervorgewachsen.”[24][25] Likely also the notion of attributing speech
to animals originated from such disguising or dressing of men as
animals. In the following we shall examine into primitive man’s reasons
for putting on such a skin or robe.
[21] Ethn. Rep. 1893-94, p. 267:—In celebrations it is
possible that the foxskin so universally worn by the animistic
personifications is a survival comparable with the skin of the
animal in which formerly the whole body was clothed.
[22] Hertz, p. 17, gives the origin as follows: “In der
ältesten Naturreligion ist die Gottheit des Todes und der
winterlichen Erde als Wolf gedacht. Ihre Priester trugen wohl
in der Vorzeit Wolfsfelle und hatten nach dem Volksglauben
die Gabe, sich in das Tier der Gottheit zu verwandeln. Der
Wolf, als das schnelle, kampfgewandte Tier, war zum raschen
Zurücklegen weiter Wege und zur Erlegung von Feinden besonders
geeignet. Darum nahmen die Götter und die zauberbegabten
Menschen zu solchen Zwecken Wolfsgestalt. Der Wolf ist von
Natur gefährlich und wurde darum als diabolisch gedacht, und
beim Werwolfe auch ist Drang nach Mord und Zerstörung die
Hauptsache. Die Ursprünge des Werwolfglaubens waren also 1.
religiöse Vorstellungen, 2. Rechtsvorstellung (der friedlose
Mörder ist ein Wolf bei Griechen und Germanen); 3. die
Geisteskrankheit der Lykanthropie.” Page 51. “Die Verwandlung
in Wölfe geschieht vorzugsweise durch Wolfshemden.” Page 57:
“Dass die von allem menschlichen Verkehr abgeschnittenen
Waldflüchtigen sich in Tierfelle kleideten, ist nahe liegend.”
[23] Page 46. See also note 9.
[24] Similarly Dilthey, Erlebnis und Dichtung, 1906, p.
153 fol.;—“Ist so die Einbildungskraft in Mythos und
Götterglauben, zunächst gebunden an das Bedürfnis des Lebens,
so sondert sie sich doch allmählich im Verlauf der Kultur von
den religiösen Zweckbeziehungen und erhebt jene zweite Welt
zu einer unabhängigen Bedeutsamkeit”—like Homer, Dante, etc.
See note 20, close, and Encyc. Brit., Lycanthropy:—“Insane
delusions must reflect the usages and beliefs of
contemporaneous society.”
[25] Notes 20, 21 and 27.
Primitive man was face to face with animal foes, and had to conquer
them or be destroyed. The werewolf superstition in Europe arose
probably while the Greeks, Romans, Kelts and Germanic peoples were
still in contact with each other, if not in the original Indo-Germanic
home, for they all have the superstition (unless, as above, we prefer
to regard the belief as arising in various localities in process of
psychical development under similar conditions; namely, when people
still lived principally by the chase.[26]) Probably the primitive
Indo-European man before and at the time of the origin of the werewolf
superstition, was almost helpless in the presence of inexorable nature.
This was before he used metal for weapons. The great business of life
was to secure food. Food was furnished from three sources, roots,
berries, animals, and the most important of these was animals.[27]
Without efficient weapons, it was difficult to kill an animal of any
size, in fact the assailant was likely himself to be killed. Yet
primitive man had to learn to master the brute foe. Soon he no longer
crouched in sheltered places and avoided the enemy, but began to watch
and study it, to learn its habits, to learn what certain animals would
do under certain circumstances, to learn what would frighten them away
or what would lure them on. So at least the large animals were to early
man a constant cause of fear and source of danger; yet it was necessary
to have their flesh for food and their skins for clothing.[28]
[26] See note 15.
[27] Grinnell, Story of the indian, p. 54, says:—Traces of the
fear in which buffalo “were held may still be discovered in the
traditional stories of certain tribes, which set forth how, in
those days,” [i. e. in the stone age] “before men were provided
with arms, the buffalo used to chase, kill, and eat the
people. Such tales show very clearly how greatly the buffalo
were dreaded in ancient times, and such fear could hardly
have arisen save as the result of actual experience of their
power to inflict injury and death.” Pliny informs us how the
Romans kept the wolf out of their fields, see Grimm, Teutonic
Mythology, III. 1241. Whether the Indians lived on the steppes,
in the woods, on the coast, or in the mountains, the animals
were their whole study. They moved with the animals, followed
them for food.
[28] Note 27.
Very soon various ingenious contrivances were devised for trapping
them. No doubt one primitive method was the use of decoys to lure
animals into a trap. Some could be lured by baits, others more easily
by their kind. Occasionally masks were used,[29] and similarly, another
form of the original decoy was no doubt simply the stuffed skin of a
member of the species, whether animal or bird, say for example a wild
duck.[30] Of course the hunter would soon hit on the plan of himself
putting on the animal skin, in the case of larger animals; that is, an
individual dressed for example in a wolf’s skin could approach near
enough to a solitary wolf to attack it with his club, stone or other
weapon, without exciting the wolf’s suspicion of the nearness of a
dangerous foe.[31] So the animal disguise, entire or partial, was used
by early man acting in the capacity of a decoy, firstly, to secure
food and clothing. Secondly, he would assume animal disguise, whole
or partial, in dancing and singing; and both these accomplishments
seem to have arisen from the imitation of the motions and cries of
animals,[32] at first to lure them, when acting as a decoy. With growth
of culture came growth of supernaturalism, and an additional reason for
acquiring dance and song was to secure charms against bodily ills,[33]
and finally enlivenment.[34] In both dance and song, when used for a
serious purpose, the performers imagined themselves to be the animals
they were imitating,[35] and in the dance they wore the skins of the
animals represented.[36]
[29] Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 122, note:—It seems that masks
were occasionally used as decoys.... Next to the otter the
most valuable animal in the estimation of the Kadiak men, is
the species of seal or sea-dog called by the Russians nerpa.
The easiest manner of taking it is to entice it toward the
shore. A fisherman, concealing the lower part of his body among
the rocks, puts on his head a wooden cap or rather casque
resembling the head of a seal and makes a noise like that
animal. The unsuspicious seal, imagining that he is about to
meet a partner of his own species, hastens to the spot and is
instantly killed. Compare note 57.
[30] Ethn. Rep. 1896-97, I. 132:—Bering Strait Eskimo stuff
rudely the skin of the bird called ptarmigan, and mount it upon
a stick which holds the head outstretched, then imitate the
call of the bird, which is trapped in the net attached to the
decoy. Other decoys are made by molding soft snow into the form
of a bird; for the ptarmigan, brown moss is put around the neck
for plumage. The call then brought the real birds.
[31] Thus G. B. Grinnell, Story of the Indian, p. 61, in his
description of the primitive Indians’ method of trapping
buffalo, says: “Some men went forth naked, others carried a
dress made of the entire skin of a buffalo, the head and horns
arranged like a buffalo head, while the rest of the skin hung
down over the wearer’s back,” etc. This “caller” went near to a
herd of buffalo, got them in pursuit of him, then led them into
the trap, a chute, or to a precipice, the fall from which often
proved fatal to the entire herd. Again, in Ethn. Rep. 1884-85,
p. 484, about Central Eskimo seal hunting, is stated: If a
hunter is close to an animal he imitates its movements. Some
utter sounds similar to those of a blowing seal. “The sealskin
clothing makes man and seal look so extremely alike that it is
difficult to distinguish one from the other at some distance.”
And on p. 508, about deer hunting: In a plain the Central
Eskimos carry guns on their shoulders, two men going together,
so as to resemble the antlers of a deer. The men imitate their
grunting. If they lie on the ground at some distance they
greatly resemble the animals themselves. According to Ross the
“inhabitants of Boothia imitate the appearance of the deer,
the foremost of two men stalking a herd bearing a deer’s head
upon his own.” Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 534:—“The old manner of
hunting antelope and deer: the hunter would disguise himself by
covering his head with the head and skin of an antelope, and so
be enabled to approach the game near enough to use his bow and
arrow. In a similar manner the Hidatsa would mask themselves
with a wolfskin to enable them to approach buffalo.” Ethn. Rep.
1901-02, p. 439;—Two of the party of hunters (Zuñi) out after
deer “wear cotton shirts with sleeves to the elbow, the front
and back of the shirt being painted to represent as nearly
as possible the body of the deer; the hands and the arms to
the elbow and also the sleeves are colored to represent the
deer’s forelegs. Each wears the skin of a deer’s head over his
head.... In this dress the two huntsmen imitate as closely as
possible, even to the browsing, the game they would catch.”
[32] Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. 352:—“Tradition says the Iroquois
derived the music and action of the Buffalo dance while on
an expedition against the Cherokee, from the bellowing and
the movements of a herd of buffalo which they heard for the
first time ‘singing their favorite songs,’ i. e. bellowing and
snorting.” Also note 33.
[33] Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. 266, gives a song to prevent
frostbite. The wolf’s, deer’s, fox’s, opossum’s feet it is held
never become frostbitten. After each verse of the song, the
singer imitates the cry and the action of the animal. The words
used are archaic in form and may be rendered “I become a real
wolf, etc.” The song runs:
1. Tsûñ´ wa´ ‘ya-ya´ (repeated four times), wa+a! (prolonged
howl). The singer imitates a wolf pawing the ground with his
feet.
2. Tsûñ´-ka´ wi-ye´ (four times), sauh! sauh! sauh! sauh!
(imitating the call and jumping of a deer).
3. Tsûñ´-tsu´ ‘la-ya´ (four times), gaih! gaih! gaih! gaih!
(imitates barking and scratching of a fox).
4. Tsûñ´-sĭ´-kwa-ya´ (four times), kĭ+(imitates cry of the
opossum when cornered, and throws his head back as that animal
does when feigning death).
[34] Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 323, about the Omaha Coyote dance
performed by warriors whenever it was thought necessary to keep
up their spirits, in which each had his robe about him and
imitated the actions of the coyote, trotting, glancing around,
etc. Page 348 describes the Omaha Buffalo dance, in which each
of four men used to put the skin of a buffalo over his head,
the horns standing up, and the hair of the buffalo head hanging
down below the chest of the wearer. The various movements of
the buffalo were imitated by the dancers. Pages 348-349, the
Omaha wolf dance, by the society of those who have supernatural
communication with wolves. The dancers wear wolfskins, and
dance in imitation of the actions of wolves. Similarly they
performed the grizzly bear dance, horse dance, etc.
[35] Notes 22, 34 and 37.
[36] See notes 34 and 37.
Probably as long as animal form, partial or entire, was assumed merely
for decoys and sport (early dancing),[37] for peaceful purposes
therefore, such people having whole or partial animal shape were not
regarded as harmful to man,[38] just as wise women began to pass
for witches only when with their art they did evil.[39] A similar
development can be traced in the case of masks.[40] It was some time
before man could cope with food- and clothing-furnishing animals that
were dangerous to life, though these are the ones he first studied;[41]
and we cannot presuppose that he disguised to represent them until he
could cope with them, since the original purpose of the disguise was
to secure food and clothing. Thus far then we see whole or partial
disguise as animals used to secure _food_ and _clothing_ when acting as
decoys to lure animals; and in _dancing_.[42]
[37] Similarly in the use of masks (see note 57). See Wundt,
Völkerpsychologie II. i. 412 fol., and in regard to this
Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie, XXXVIII. 1906, ss.
558-568:—“Der maskierte mensch ist der ekstatische Mensch.
Mit dem anlegen der maske versetzt er sich in ekstase, fühlt
er sich in fremde lebensvorgänge ein, eignet er sich das wesen
an, mit dem er sich durch die maske identificiert.” Für den
naiven menschen, wie für das kind, ist die maske durchaus
nicht blosser schein, sondern wirkender charakter. Der
augenblickstanz wurde zum zaubertanz. Die naturvölker verwenden
ihre masken nur bei den feierlich-ernsten zaubertänzen, nicht
zu ihrer burlesken mimik; die tänzer sind in Tiermasken, etc.
[38] Amongst American Indians for example a man transformed
into a bear and vice versa is usually regarded as benevolent
(Ethn. Rep. 1880-81, p. 83). See, also, Grimm, Teutonic
Mythology, III. 1097:—In Norse accounts also we find
transformation into a bear, for the bear was regarded as
rational and was esteemed.
[39] Note 84.
[40] See note 57a.
[41] Notes 27 and 42.
[42] The important consideration in the mind of primitive
man was whether certain things were harmful or useful. See
Behaghel, Die deutsche Sprache, p. 98:—“Die grossen Tiere
und die mächtigen Bäume, die Tiere und Pflanzen, die für
die _Ernährung_ and _Bekleidung_ des Menschen von Bedeutung
sind, die Tiere, die sein Leben _bedrohen_, sie haben viel
früher sprachliche Bezeichnung gefunden, als der unscheinbare
Käfer im Sande, als die kleine Blume des Waldes. So kommt es,
dass die Namen der grösseren Tiere, der grossen Waldbäume,
der wichtigsten Getreidearten allen germanischer Stämmen
gemeinsam sind, einzelne sogar, wie _Wolf_, _Kuh_, _Ochse_,
_Birke_, _Buche_, _Erle_, _Gerste_ mit den Benennungen anderer
indogermanischer Völker übereinstimmen.” Doubtless animals
occupied their attention sooner than plants. See Wundt,
Völkerpsychologie, II. 412 fol., about the _maskentanz_:
“Überhaupt haben die Tiermotive weit früher Berücksichtigung
erfahren als die Pflanzenmotive.” See note 95.
Fourthly, primitive man would put on an animal’s skin or dress when
out as _forager_ (or robber) or _spy_, for the purpose of avoiding
detection by the enemy. The Pawnee Indians for example,[43] were called
by neighboring tribes _wolves_, probably not out of contempt, since it
may be doubted that an Indian feels contempt for a wolf any more than
he does for a fox, a rabbit, or an elk, but because of their adroitness
as scouts, warriors and stealers of horses; or, as the Pawnees think,
because of their great endurance, their skill in imitating wolves so
as to escape detection by the enemy by day or night; or, according to
some neighboring tribes, because they prowl like wolves[44], “have the
endurance of wolves, can travel all day and dance all night, can make
long journeys, living on the carcasses they find on their way, or on
no food at all.” ... And further, “The Pawnees, when they went on the
warpath, were always prepared to simulate wolves.... Wolves on the
prairie were too common[45] to excite remark, and at night they would
approach close to the Indian camps.” ... The Pawnee starting off on the
warpath usually carried a robe made of wolf skins, or in later times a
white blanket or a white sheet; and, at _night_, wrapping himself in
this, and getting down on his hands and knees, he walked or trotted
here and there like a wolf, having thus transformed himself into a
common object of the landscape. This disguise was employed by _day_ as
well, for reconnoissance.... While the party remained hidden in some
ravine or hollow, one Indian would put his robe over him and gallop to
the top of the hill on all fours, and would sit there on his haunches
looking all over the country, and anyone at a distance who saw him,
would take him for a wolf. It was acknowledged on all hands that the
Pawnees could imitate wolves best. “An Indian going into an enemy’s
country is often called a wolf,[46] and the sign for a scout is made up
of the signs _wolf_ and _look_.”[47] Should any scout detect danger, as
at _night_ when on duty near an encampment, he must give the cry of the
coyote.[48]
[43] G. B. Grinnell, Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales, N. Y.,
Scribners, 1893, p. 245, fol.
[44] Jacob Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, s. 233: Ein
sabinischer stamm hiesz Hirpi (lat. _hirpus_ bedeutet _wolf_ in
sabinischer oskischer Mundart), weil den einwandernden ein wolf
führer geworden war, oder nach andrer sage sie wölfe gejagt
hatten und gleich wölfen raubten, d. h. im sinn des deutschen
ausdrucks friedlos waren.
[45] The werewolf story could arise only where the animal,
wolf, tiger or lion, etc., was common; and likewise the
werewolf tales gradually died out when the animals became rare
or extinct. See note 11.
[46] Grinnell, p. 245.
[47] The Watusi of East Africa distinctly describe all wild
beasts save their own totem-animals as _enemy-scouts_ (Encyc.
Brit. under Lycanthropy).
[48] Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 323. See also Grinnell, Story of
the indian, p. 208: The wolf was believed, in the animals’
council, to be able to give the Indian the power to creep right
into the midst of the enemy’s camp without being seen.
The idea of the harmfulness to other men of a man in animal form or
dress became deeply seated now, when men in animal disguise began to
act not only as decoys for animals dangerous to life, but also as
scouts (robbers[49]—and later as possessors of supernatural power,
when growth of culture brought with it growth of supernaturalism[50]);
when people began to associate, for example, the wolf’s form with a
lurking enemy.[51]
[49] See note 53.
[50] See note 57-b.
[51] So originally the germanic god _Logi_ was not an evil
god. _Logi_ meant the natural force of fire; _Loki_ meant the
same, but the burly giant has been made a sly, seducing villain
(Grimm, Teut. Myth. I. 241). A son of Loki, Fenrisûlfr, appears
in wolf’s shape among the gods. Perhaps association with the
wolf is in part responsible for the transformation of Logi
(Loki) from a good to an evil god.
All uncivilized tribes of the world are continually on the defensive,
like our American Indian; they all no doubt on occasion have sent out
scouts who, like our American Indians, to avoid detection, assumed the
disguise of the animal most common to the special locality in question,
just as to-day they are known to disguise in animal skins for purposes
of plunder or revenge.[52][53]
[52] Encyc. Brit. under Lycanthropy:—In modern savage life we
find beastform of chiefs or spirits, medicine men, some hunt in
beast form for the community; others are said to assume beast
form in order to avenge themselves justly on enemies; others
for love of bloodshed and cannibalism. See also note 58.
[53] No doubt some of these men disguised as wolves won
considerable fame through their skill and bravery, as we should
judge from such proper names as _Rudolf_, which means really
_Ruhmwolf_, _Ruhm_ related to Gothic _hropeigs_ “victorious,”
Sanskrit _kir_ “to praise”; or _Adolf_ from _Adalolf_, which
means _Edelwolf_, originally, therefore, _Edelräuber_, for
_wolf_ meant originally about the same as _robber_ (Kluge).
So _robber_ or _wolf_ was originally a highly respectable
appellation, at a time when men lived from robbery and the
chase, either as searobbers, or mountain robbers, etc. (about
this early profession see Hirt, Die Indogermanen, 1905, p. 268
fol.), and the profession was not looked on as a disgrace (see
appellation “wolves” applied to Pawnees, p. 12.). Later we find
such names as _Wulfila_ “little wolf.” Many Indian names are
those of animals, such as Good Fox, Good Bear, Walking Bear,
Conquering Bear, Rushing Bear, Stumbling Bear, Brave Bear, Bear
Rib, Smoking Bear, Biting Bear, Bear-Looks-Back, Cloud Bear,
Mad Bear, Mad Wolf, Lone Wolf, Lean Wolf, Wolf-Ear, Wolf-Robe,
etc. See Ethn. Rep. 1882-83, p. 169: The names of Indians very
often refer to some animal, predicating some attribute or
position of that animal. For discussion of names, see note 111.
The kind of animal makes no difference, the underlying principle is
the same; namely, the transformation of a living human being into an
animal. The origin of the belief in such a transformation, as stated
above[54] was the simple putting on of an animal skin by early man. The
object of putting on animal skins was,
[54] Ante p. 6.
(1) To gain food. For this purpose the motions and cries of animals
were imitated (origin of dancing and singing),[55] artificial decoys
(like decoy ducks to-day)[56] and finally even masks were used.[57]
[55] See (3) below.
[56] See ante p. 8.
[57] See note 4 and also Ethn. Rep. 1881-82, p. 73 fol. (see
note 37):—The use of masks is worldwide. The origin and
development of the use of masks is very much the same as
the origin and development of the werewolf as given in the
preceding pages. The wolfrobe and the mask, both originally
useful devices, degenerated in unscrupulous hands into
instruments for personal aggrandizement and gain. The use of
the mask is described in the above report as follows:
a). It was used as a shield or protection for the face, for
defense against physical violence, human or otherwise. It
was therefore first used merely as a mechanical resistance
to the opposing force; then secondly, still in the lowest
grade of culture, it was used to inspire terror, to gain a
moral influence over the opposing agent by hideousness or by
symbolizing superhuman agencies. Now individual variations
arose—devices for example derived or conventionalized from
some predatory, shrewd or mysterious animal.
b). With growth of culture came growth of supernaturalism, and
the mask came to be used in religious performances, as a part
of the religious paraphernalia, like the shirts or girdles of
the shamans. Ethn. Rep. 1896-97, I. 395:—“When worn in any
ceremonial, ... the wearer is believed to become mysteriously
and unconsciously imbued with the spirit of the being which his
mask represents.”
c). Finally the element of humor enters in, and the mask is
used for public amusements and games; by secret societies; as
protection against recognition on festive occasions, etc., like
the animal skins worn in dances.
(2) To secure clothing in cold climes by trapping or decoying animals,
as in (1) above.
(3) The imitation when decoying, of the motions of animals led to
dancing, and in the dances and various ceremonies the faces and bodies
of the participants were painted in imitation of the colors of birds
and animals, the motions of animals imitated and animal disguises
used.[58]
[58] Notes 32, 34, 33, ante p. 11.
(4) Scouts disguised themselves as animals when out foraging, as well
as for warfare,[59][60] therefore for booty, and self-defense. Either
they wore the entire skin, or probably later just a part of it as a
fetich, like the left hind foot of a rabbit, worn as a charm by many of
our colored people to-day.[61]
[59] See p. 13.
[60] Ethn. Rep. 1888-89, p. 503:—Account of “a cloak or mantle
made from the skin of a deer, and covered with various mystic
paintings. It was made and used by the Apaches as a mantle
of invisibility, that is, a charmed covering for spies which
would enable them to pass with impunity through the country,
and even through the camp of their enemies. In this instance
the fetichistic power depends upon the devices drawn.” The
Apache have a similar fetich or charm. The symbols drawn were
the raincloud, serpent lightning, raindrops and the cross of
the winds of the four cardinal points. Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p.
515:—Among the Hidatsa (Sioux) fetiches are especially the
skins of the wolf. “When they go to war, they always wear the
stripe off the back of a wolf skin, with the tail hanging down
the shoulders. They make a slit in the skin through which the
warrior puts his head, so that the skin of the wolf’s head
hangs down upon his breast.” Finally the magic robes or shirts
and girdles came to be a part of the regular paraphernalia of
the shamans, or practisers of magic. In the folklore of all
countries we find numerous notices of holy girdles.
Ethn. Rep. 1897-98, I. (Cherokee) 393: “Some warriors had
medicine to change their shape as they pleased, so that they
could escape from their enemies.” Page 501: Such stories might
be paralleled in any tribe.
[61] See further development in note 64.
(5) For purposes of revenge,[62],[63] personal or other. For some other
personal motive of advantage or gain, to inspire terror in the opposing
agent by hideousness.
[62] Note 52.
[63] As an example of the motive of vengeance, or pure
brutality, we cite from Andree, p. 69:—People in the interior
of Africa who understand magic, transform themselves into lions
and go about killing people. See also below, note 65, where the
wolf-man of Abyssinia kills his enemy and sucks his blood, and
also kills other wolf-men it meets, the question being one of
the survival of the fittest, that is the strongest. All this
takes place at _night_, which reminds us of our Pawnee Indian
starting out at night in his wolf’s robe, and trotting up to
the hostile village to ascertain where his enemies’ horses
are tied, so as to steal them when all are asleep (Grinnell’s
Pawnee hero stories and folk-tales, p. 246, and pp. 70-73).
Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 461:—“To recover stolen or lost
property, especially ponies, is one of the principal tasks
imposed upon the so-called medicine-men” (shamans).
(6) To inspire terror in the opposing agent by symbolizing superhuman
agencies.[64] So now would arise first a belief in superhuman power or
attributes,[65] and then,
[64] As superstition waxed strong, no doubt the wolf robe was
put on not merely to make the wearer look just like a common
object of the landscape, but also because the wearer of the
disguise was supposed to take on the characteristics of the
animal he represented (swiftness, boldness, etc.), as in the
case of masks (see note 57), and finally the wearer of such
a robe was believed to actually become transformed, like the
wearers of the werewolf shirt, for example in Germany. Wolves
were regarded as good hunters who never fail, Ethn. Rep.
1897-98, I. 280, also p. 264:—The wolf is revered by the
Cherokee as hunter and watchdog of Kanáti; therefore we can
understand how the wolf disguise, as conferring the quality of
unerring huntsmanship, might be in especial favor amongst those
who gained their food from the chase. Similarly the singing of
songs imitating the cries of certain animals was supposed to
confer a characteristic of the animal in question (see note 33).
Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 394:—To gain animal characteristics a
wizard attached crow and owl plumes to his head that he might
have the eyes of the crow to see quickly the approach of man,
and the eyes of the owl to travel by night. He flapped his
arms, ... A Zuñi man hearing a cry like an owl, yet human,
looked about him and found a man whom he recognized as a Zuñi.
“Aha!” said he, “why have you those plumes upon your head? Aha,
you are a sorcerer,” etc.
An example of the transforming power of the _robe_ we find in
Bulletin 26, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington,
1901, Kathlamet texts, p. 156 fol.:—A woman ate of some of the
fat of a bitch, gave birth to five male dogs and one female
dog. When they grew older, she discovered one day that they
could transform themselves into real children. While they were
down at the beach, she entered the house, and now she saw the
dog _blankets_. She took them and burnt them. Then the children
retained their human form (like Sigmund and Sinfjötli in the
Völsungasaga). Page 58 fol., is the Myth of the Elk, according
to which an old man transformed himself into an elk by putting
on an elkskin.
W. Golther, Handbuch der germanischen mythologie, 1895, p.
100, writes, “Die Fähigkeit von Leuten, die sich verwandeln
können, heisst ‘sich zu häuten, die Hülle zu wechseln’.
Das Umwerfen eines äusserlichen Gewandes kann den Wechsel
der Gestalt hervorbringen, wie Freyjas Federgewand, die
Schwan- und Krähenhemden der Valkyrjen, Odins Adlergewand.
Die Wolfsgewänder (úlfahamir) wenn angelegt, verwandeln
den Menschen zum Wolfe”. See also Meissner, Ritter Tiodel,
Zeitschrift für deutsches altertum, XLVII. 261.
[65] Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 392:—The owner of fine beads fears
that some witch, prompted by jealousy, will strike him with
disease.
As another example of the pretended assumption of superhuman
powers to gain influence over others, we may cite the instances
given by Andree, p. 68 fol., according to which Livingston met
in Africa a native said to have power to transform himself
into a lion. As lion he would stay for days and months in the
_forest_, in a sacred hut, to which however his wife carried
beer and food for him, so we may judge that at least this lion
did not cause much devastation amongst the wild beasts. He was
able to reassume human form by means of a certain medicine
brought him by his wife. Again Andree, p. 69:—In Banana,
Africa, the members of a certain family transform themselves in
the _dark_ of the _forest_ into leopards. They throw down those
they meet in the forest, but dare not injure them nor drink
their blood, lest they remain leopards. (See note 83.)
The motive of personal gain is exemplified by our American
Indians, who put on a wolf’s mantle to steal, or to recover
stolen animals (Grinnell, Pawnee hero stories, p. 247, also the
story of robbery entitled Wolves in the night, p. 70 fol.).
Similarly in Abyssinia, Andree, p. 69, where the lowest caste
of laborers are believed to have power to transform themselves
into hyenas or other animals, as such, plundering graves. They
employ naturally various artifices to help along their cause,
since it yields such returns. They are reported to act like
other folk by day, at _night_ though to assume the ways of
wolves, kill their enemies and suck their blood, roaming about
with other wolves till morning. They are supposed to gain their
supernatural powers by a secret beverage made from herbs. They
are not likely to be discovered to be only sham animals, since
their roaming and plundering is done in the _night_; in the
daytime they of course conceal the animal skins (see Andree, p.
72).
Ethn. Rep. 1880-81, p. 68:—Among the Chaldeans, Egyptians and
Greeks, the success of magic depended upon the ignorance of the
masses and the comparative learning of the few who practised
it. Among the American Indians the medicine-man and the more
expert sorceress have little learning above that of the body of
the tribe, and their success depends entirely upon their own
belief in being supernaturally gifted, and upon the faith and
fear of their followers.
The Iroquois believed in people who could assume a partly
animal shape. See Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 79:—“An
old blind wolf with a powerful medicine cured a man, and made
his head and hands look like those of a wolf. The rest of his
body was not changed. He was called a man-wolf.”
(7) Witchcraft.[66] It is very easy to see why it was usually the
so-called medicine-men (more correctly Shamans), who claimed such
transformation power, because they received remuneration from their
patients.[67]
[66] Ethn. Rep. 1880-81, p. 73:—Witches could and did assume
animal shapes. For example a dog seen by a man which had fire
streaming from its mouth and nostrils. It was _night_. The man
shot at it, and the next morning tracked it by the marks of
blood from its wound. At a bridge a woman’s tracks took the
place of the dog’s, and finally he found the woman. She had
died from the effect of the shot. Page 73: Likewise a hog, when
pursued, disappeared at a small creek, and finally reappeared
as an old man, who said it was he, whom they had been chasing.
So they, the pursuers, knew he was a witch. Page 74: A Canadian
Indian one _evening_ pursued a white bull with fire streaming
from its nostrils. He had never seen a white bull on the
reservation before. “As it passed in front of a house it was
transformed into a man with a _large white blanket_, who was
ever afterward known as a witch.”
Ethn. Rep. 1901-02, p. 395:—A man going out at _night_ noticed
a queer-looking burro. Upon his return home he was told that a
large cat had entered the house. He went out again, discovered
a man wrapped in a blanket, but not in the Zuñi fashion, his
head was sunk low in the blanket. He knew this creature to be a
wizard.
Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 458:—That the medicine man (Shaman)
has the faculty of transforming himself into a coyote and
other animals at pleasure and then resuming the human form, is
as implicitly believed in by the American Indians as it was
by our own forefathers in Europe. And page 459: The Abipones
of Paraguay credit their medicine-men with power to put on
the form of a tiger. The medicine-men of Honduras claimed the
power of turning themselves into lions and tigers. Also the
Shamans of the Nicaraguans possessed similar power. Hertz,
p. 133 fol.:—“In der christlichen Zeit wurde der heidnische
Cultus Teufelsanbetung und hier entstand mit dem Hexenglauben
die Vorstellung von Menschen, die sich mit Hilfe des Satans aus
reiner Mordlust zu Wölfen verwandeln. So wurde der Werwolf das
Bild des tierisch Dämonischen in der Menschennatur.”