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A thread about werewolves or Hounds of God.
Most of these will be from accounts of court cases that happened in Livonia during the Middle ages, as well as maybe one or two stories from modern times.
A thread about werewolves or Hounds of God.
Most of these will be from accounts of court cases that happened in Livonia during the Middle ages, as well as maybe one or two stories from modern times.
Up until relatively recent times Livonia and Baltics in general were considered to be a land full of witches, sorcerers and mythical beings (it still is). Thus there are plenty of documented trials and accounts of all kinds of mystical happening taking place.
These tales go as far as Herodotus writing about tribe bordering Scythians by the name of Neuri, who were a a tribe of sorcerers and had the ability to take the shape of wolves. It is thought that the ancient Neuri were the predecessors of the Baltic tribes.
There are several ways one could become a werewolf. The easiest one - simply have a wolfskin and put it on while no one is looking. If one has no such skin he could find a secluded place in the forest with a tree whose top is curved back to the ground making a sort of a gate...
... a person would have to go through this gate six or nine times (accounts vary on this) and on the last loop the person would come out as a wolf. To become human again you would have to do this again by the same tree in the opposite direction.
This will only work if the person is naked. As such the clothes need to be hidden in a bush or in a hollow tree, because if they are touched or moved your soul will not be able to return to human form and you will stay as a wolf until death.
Witches and sorcerers also could turn people into wolves. This usually came as a curse. To do this the witch or the sorcerers had to collect 9 legs from wolves, foxes as well as dogs. This should be stirred in a kettle with an incantation which I shall not mention
People who were cursed to be werewolves couldnt lift this curse, but they could pass it to someone else.If the other person took it willingly. One example of this is when a werewolf Igunds passed the curse onto his fathers brother with the words:Do you want the craft that i have?
Even tho, christians considered werewolves to be the servants of the devil, this is not entirely true as they most often refused to make deals with him. In fact they took orders from God and on occasions were accompanied by him. (when not led by the packs leader).
Their purpose..
Their purpose..
..was to work against the devil. Witches (the bad ones), dragons and sorcerers would go to peasants and steal the blessing from their fields. The responsibility of werewolves were to fight these thieves and bring the blessing back to ensure a good harvest. As well as...
... other duties such as ensuring the safety of sacred groves, stones and other places, punishing those who desecrate them. Of these duties were not fulfilled they would be punished severely by God himself.
There are other stories from all around Europe...
There are other stories from all around Europe...
... one of the more popular being the court case of a frenchman Gilles Garnier who in 1573 was accused of being a werewolf, murder and eating of babies. He himself said that he was a servant of God and was fighting against evil.
This thread is long enough as it is, so im gonna stop here. The stories from more modern times will be posted at some other time separately.
If you understand the language, you can read article linked bellow in which i explain this bit more https://kursslatvija.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/vilkaci-to-nozime-pagatne-un-musdienas/
If you understand the language, you can read article linked bellow in which i explain this bit more
https://kursslatvija.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/vilkaci-to-nozime-pagatne-un-musdienas/
