It's a dog's life - Possible origins of werewolf myths

Werewolves are a debate between me and Darr. I was never a fan of wolves. I like all animals including dogs, but I’m a cat person and I never understood the fuss about wolves in any medium. When I was a teenage goth girl I too had plenty of wolf-stuff: T-shirts, bags, badges, but when I had to choose a side in the lycan-vampire war–the Underworld movie was very popular back then–,  I always sided with vampires. They were elegant and stylish, while the others... But I don’t want to hurt anyone's feelings. Then Twilight came and the avalanche of vampire and werewolf paranormal romances was unstoppable.

If someone can ever tell me what is sexy in werewolves feel free to DM me because I don’t think, that all those who read and write these shapeshifter romances have hidden bestiality fetish. I guess it has something to do with the “fated-mates” thing that is slowly becoming a trope (or we passed that and it’s already a cliché), but I’m still not sure about this. But just because I don’t understand it I can’t deny its popularity, and like most mythological creatures werewolves also have an origin in the real world – and you can guess, it is a medical condition. Or in this case at least four different medical conditions.

I. Porphyria

We already covered this disease which is the probable origin of the vampire mythos //link//, but we didn’t mention that it can also cause werewolf-like symptoms. People with porphyria can have excessive hair growth, develop sores, scars, and discolored skin. Porphyria also leads to progressive deterioration of the nose, ears, eyelids, and fingers, as well as tightening skin around the lips and gums. Their face can become really wolfish.

II. Hypertrichosis 

It’s the least severe condition, noly causing abnormal hair growth all over the body. There are several different forms of hypertrichosis, one is congenital when hair growth is present at birth and caused by genetic mutations. It can be further divided considering what hair-type and how much of the body is affected. Congenital terminal hypertrichosis is characterized by the presence of fully pigmented terminal hair (meaning thick, dark, “normal” hair) that covers the entire body. This condition is usually accompanied by gingival hyperplasia, or in other words gum enlargement, which gives the patient an even more wolfish look.  People with this condition were frequent attractions at circuses as „freaks” because of their unusual appearance.

Hypertrichosis can also be acquired which appears after birth and can be associated with cancer, as a side effects of drugs or even the product of a hormonal unbalance due to eating disorders. This is reversible unlike the congenital type but the treatment depends on the exact origin of the symptoms.

III. Rabies

Rabies is a viral infection that is carried by dogs, wolves, and other animals, including bats. Humans can contract the disease after being bitten by an infected animal. Rabies affects the central nervous system by brain inflammation and can cause a wide range of symptoms. It can be extreme agitation, painful contraction of the throat muscles, hallucinations, biting other people, and excessive fear of water. Later it progresses into violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and loss of consciousness. Death usually occurs within five days of being bitten.

Rabies was commonplace during medieval Europe and many peasants carried iron crosses called the "keys" of St.Hubert (the patron saint of rabies victims) to protect themselves against it. Now animal control and vaccination programs have decreased the risk of rabies from dogs in several regions of the world. 

Since the site of a fellow human running at you with bloodied eyes and chomping into your arm is quite the trauma, I think it’s obvious where did the myth that new werewolves can be created through biting a human originate.

IV. Lycanthropy

I saved the best for the last. Lycanthropy is a mental disorder, when the affected person thinks that they can transform into, has transformed into, or is an animal. It can be any kind of animal, there was a case when the patient thought they can transform into a bee, and another about frogs, but wolves, foxes, cats, and tigers are among the more common ones.

It has been linked by modern medical doctors to (be prepared, many science words are coming) schizophrenia, organic brain syndrome with psychosis, psychotic depressive reaction, dissociative-type hysterical neurosis, manic depressive psychosis, and epilepsy. One important factor may be differences or changes in parts of the brain known to be involved in representing body shape. A neuroimaging study of two people diagnosed with clinical lycanthropy showed that these areas display unusual activation, suggesting that when people report their bodies are changing shape, they may be genuinely perceiving those feelings. 

Hallucinogenic plants and fungus-infected grains have been at the root of many outbreaks of lycanthropy over the centuries. Belladonna (deadly nightshade) was frequently used in ritualistic practice to induce a mind-altered state in which delusions of bodily metamorphosis were commonplace. However, it was the fungus known as ergot that had the most effect or more precisely ergot infected bread. Ergot contains constituents similar to the powerful hallucinogenic drug LSD and it has in the past led people to believe that they had turned into wild beasts. A 2009 study reported that, after the consumption of the drug MDMA (Ecstasy), a man displayed symptoms of paranoid psychosis by claiming that his relatives had changed into various animals.

Now, I think we have a fairly colorful boundle of things that can seep into mythology and eventually pop culture. But what became of these varied phemonena? We’ll take a look at it next week, seeing how werewolf representation changed from archaic times to contemporary paranormal romance.