TheNightling
@TheNightling
1
The oldest known werewolf tale is the story of King Lycaon of Arcadia. This is a story based on the old world rules of hospitality. The Old World Rules of Hospitality have been used to bind and limit supernatural entities for thousands of years. In the ancient world nothing was so respected as the rules of hospitality.
Today it’s commonly believed that a vampire cannot enter a home without an invitation from someone residing there. Some demonologists believe a demon cannot enter a home or possess you without first being invited in. In The Dresden Files novels, comic books, and short stories by Jim Butcher, a magick user such as a witch could enter a home without an invitation but it greatly diminishes their ability to use their magick while inside the home until or if given an actual invitation, then they have full access to their power and may use their power against you. In The Lost Boys movie a vampire being invited into your home made you unable to ward him out with traditional means but usually the vampire cannot physically enter the home without the invitation first (And no, a search warrent doesn’t count).
The rules of hospitality aren’t limited to invitations. It also has to do with how you might treat a guest who has entered your home or who may have asked for shelter and or food.
It’s even in The Bible that those that are not hospitable to guests are often severely punished.
In Ancient Greece and Rome it was believed that the Gods (specifically Zeus) might disguise himself as a mortal vagabond to test mortals in their hospitality and charity to those in need. The Norse have similar beliefs about Odin testing mortals in the same fashion.
The oldest known werewolf story is the tale of King Lycaon of Arcadia. The story can be found in The Werewolf Handbook by Dr. Robert Curran (Pages 44 and 45 of the first edition) and was also retold by Ovid.
According to that myth, King Lycaon was an infamously cruel king. And one day Zeus showed up at his palace in disguise. King Lycaon was warned that this stranger was really Zeus but he did not believe it. He decided to put the stranger to a test. He had a banquet prepared for the weary traveler but the feast featured human flesh served like a roast supper. In some versions of the tale the human flesh was even that of Lycaon’s own murdered sons. Zeus was so offended that he punished Lycaon for his vulgar inhospitality, body desecration, and the murder of his own kin, by transforming King Lycaon into a wolf. He felt that if King Lycaon was going to act like a beast he should look the part.
Lycaon was transformed into a wolf. He looked just like a regular wolf but his eyes remained human. As time passed King Lycaon figured out how to take human form again at will and shift between wolf and man at his choosing. It’s possible he was more feral and animal-like on the nights that the moon was full but his human mind was usually in tact during the transformation. However, while in human form, he had the eyes of a wolf. This was so that he could never truly be of the world of wolves or the world of humans. He could come and go between the world of beasts and men but he belonged to neither. Wolves are very protective of their family so the wolves saw him as an outsider too. Lycaon’s home was no where. But his curse also left him immortal.
Lycaon founded a cult and somehow or other (through bite or scratch or both) figured out how to pass on his curse to other human beings, some of whom were willing, and welcomed the power to transform into a mostly-immortal wolf.
From this story we get the terms Lycanthrope (Greek for werewolf), Lycanthropy (The condition of being a werewolf or believing that one is a werewolf) and the modern pop fiction term of Lycan (Underworld franchise).
In a lot of early werewolf lore the werewolf could be harmed by iron instead of silver. The idea that silver could harm a werewolf did not come about until around the eighteenth century and even then it was not popularized until cinema.
The pentacle or pentagram (both work) considered Sacred Geometry by the Pythagoreans could be used to ward off a werewolf if you had faith in it. Symbols of faith have been used for centuries against supernatural threats like how the cross is used in most Dracula stories. Pentacle could also ward out Mephistopheles in German folklore.
The pentacle or pentagram was believed to be able to ward away or keep out a werewolf. If drawn on an interior wall or, drawn, carved, or placed, over a door frame it could keep out an unwanted werewolf. A pentacle or pentagram amulet could protect someone from a werewolf attack or, if worn as an amulet by a werewolf, prevent the transformation into wolf form. In some lore a werewolf will have a pentacle or pentagram mark somewhere on his body as a tell to reveal what he is. In some stories if a werewolf sees a phantom pentacle or pentagram upon another person it’s a warning that this person will be their next victim or that person will become a werewolf themselves. Usually the latter. It is a sign of who will be transformed by that werewolf into a werewolf.
And there you have it. The oldest known werewolf story.
Today it’s commonly believed that a vampire cannot enter a home without an invitation from someone residing there. Some demonologists believe a demon cannot enter a home or possess you without first being invited in. In The Dresden Files novels, comic books, and short stories by Jim Butcher, a magick user such as a witch could enter a home without an invitation but it greatly diminishes their ability to use their magick while inside the home until or if given an actual invitation, then they have full access to their power and may use their power against you. In The Lost Boys movie a vampire being invited into your home made you unable to ward him out with traditional means but usually the vampire cannot physically enter the home without the invitation first (And no, a search warrent doesn’t count).
The rules of hospitality aren’t limited to invitations. It also has to do with how you might treat a guest who has entered your home or who may have asked for shelter and or food.
It’s even in The Bible that those that are not hospitable to guests are often severely punished.
In Ancient Greece and Rome it was believed that the Gods (specifically Zeus) might disguise himself as a mortal vagabond to test mortals in their hospitality and charity to those in need. The Norse have similar beliefs about Odin testing mortals in the same fashion.
The oldest known werewolf story is the tale of King Lycaon of Arcadia. The story can be found in The Werewolf Handbook by Dr. Robert Curran (Pages 44 and 45 of the first edition) and was also retold by Ovid.
According to that myth, King Lycaon was an infamously cruel king. And one day Zeus showed up at his palace in disguise. King Lycaon was warned that this stranger was really Zeus but he did not believe it. He decided to put the stranger to a test. He had a banquet prepared for the weary traveler but the feast featured human flesh served like a roast supper. In some versions of the tale the human flesh was even that of Lycaon’s own murdered sons. Zeus was so offended that he punished Lycaon for his vulgar inhospitality, body desecration, and the murder of his own kin, by transforming King Lycaon into a wolf. He felt that if King Lycaon was going to act like a beast he should look the part.
Lycaon was transformed into a wolf. He looked just like a regular wolf but his eyes remained human. As time passed King Lycaon figured out how to take human form again at will and shift between wolf and man at his choosing. It’s possible he was more feral and animal-like on the nights that the moon was full but his human mind was usually in tact during the transformation. However, while in human form, he had the eyes of a wolf. This was so that he could never truly be of the world of wolves or the world of humans. He could come and go between the world of beasts and men but he belonged to neither. Wolves are very protective of their family so the wolves saw him as an outsider too. Lycaon’s home was no where. But his curse also left him immortal.
Lycaon founded a cult and somehow or other (through bite or scratch or both) figured out how to pass on his curse to other human beings, some of whom were willing, and welcomed the power to transform into a mostly-immortal wolf.
From this story we get the terms Lycanthrope (Greek for werewolf), Lycanthropy (The condition of being a werewolf or believing that one is a werewolf) and the modern pop fiction term of Lycan (Underworld franchise).
In a lot of early werewolf lore the werewolf could be harmed by iron instead of silver. The idea that silver could harm a werewolf did not come about until around the eighteenth century and even then it was not popularized until cinema.
The pentacle or pentagram (both work) considered Sacred Geometry by the Pythagoreans could be used to ward off a werewolf if you had faith in it. Symbols of faith have been used for centuries against supernatural threats like how the cross is used in most Dracula stories. Pentacle could also ward out Mephistopheles in German folklore.
The pentacle or pentagram was believed to be able to ward away or keep out a werewolf. If drawn on an interior wall or, drawn, carved, or placed, over a door frame it could keep out an unwanted werewolf. A pentacle or pentagram amulet could protect someone from a werewolf attack or, if worn as an amulet by a werewolf, prevent the transformation into wolf form. In some lore a werewolf will have a pentacle or pentagram mark somewhere on his body as a tell to reveal what he is. In some stories if a werewolf sees a phantom pentacle or pentagram upon another person it’s a warning that this person will be their next victim or that person will become a werewolf themselves. Usually the latter. It is a sign of who will be transformed by that werewolf into a werewolf.
And there you have it. The oldest known werewolf story.
