{{Short description|Mythological creature}} {{Infobox mythical creature | name = Werewolf | Folklore = Slavic mythology | image = Вовкулака - міфічний герой.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = Sculpture of a volkolak or werewolf.<br/>Exhibition "Ukrainian Homestead", Fantasy Park "New Sifyevka", Uman, Ukraine | Grouping = Wolf shapeshifter | Habitat = Forest | Similar_entities = Shapeshifter, sorcerer, witch | alt = A photograph of a wooden sculpture of werewolf }} In Slavic mythology, a werewolf{{efn|Slavic names include: vǎlkolak, volkodlak, volkolak,<ref name=":12">Gura E. E., Levkiyevskaya E. E. Волколак. Волколак [Volkolak]. Славянские древности: Этнолингвистический словарь в 5 т. <abbr>М.</abbr>: Межд. отношения, 1995. V 1: А (Август) — Г (Гусь). pp. 418–420. {{ISBN|5-7133-0704-2}}</ref> vukodlak, vurdalak, etc.; Romanian ''Vârcolac''; and Greek ''Vrykolakas'' (both borrowed from the Slavic term);<ref>M. Fasmer, ''Etymological Dictionary Russian Language''</ref> see {{Section link|#Etymology}} for more}} is a human-shapeshifter who temporarily takes the form of a wolf. Werewolves were often described as ordinary wolves, though some accounts noted peculiarities in appearance or behavior that hinted at their human origin. Werewolves retain human intelligence but cannot speak.
According to folk beliefs, transformation into a wolf is the most common form of shapeshifting among Slavs. The concept is ancient and appears to varying degrees among all Slavic peoples, with the most detailed accounts among Belarusians, Poles, and Ukrainians. In Russian folklore, the character is often simply called a ''shapeshifter'', sharing clear similarities with the werewolf. South Slavic traditions sometimes conflate werewolves with vampires.
It was believed that sorcerers could transform into wolves by reciting spells and performing actions such as leaping, stepping over, tumbling through, or passing through magically imbued objects, or draping them over themselves. To revert to human form, sorcerers typically needed to repeat the actions in reverse. Sorcerers voluntarily became werewolves to cause harm to others.
Some beliefs described people born with a predisposition to periodic shapeshifting due to their parents' actions or as punishment for their own sins. Such werewolves were thought to exhibit zoomorphic traits in human form, such as hair resembling wolf fur. Transformations often occurred at night or during specific seasons. These werewolves were believed to lack control in wolf form, attacking livestock and even humans, including loved ones, and were sometimes associated with cannibalism. Ancient beliefs linked werewolves to celestial events like eclipses.
Folk beliefs also held that sorcerers or witches could transform a person into a wolf, often as an act of revenge, by casting spells on a wolf skin, belt, or enchanted door, among other methods. A popular narrative involved transforming an entire wedding party into wolves. The duration of the transformation ranged from days to years. Involuntary werewolves suffered fear and despair, longing for human life and avoiding true wolves. They were thought to avoid carrion and raw meat, subsisting on foraged food or stolen human provisions. Numerous methods were described to restore their human form.
Werewolf beliefs incorporated much of the wolf's symbolism in Slavic culture. The myth likely originated from ancient totemic beliefs and rites of youthful initiation. The werewolf image may have been influenced by observations of people with physical or mental disorders or of old and sick wolves. The concept has been reflected in Slavic literature.
== Historical and geographical context == The motif of humans transforming into wolves was present in the folk beliefs of all Slavic peoples,<ref name="lev">{{Cite book |last=Levkiyevskaya |first=Yelena Yevgenyevna |title=Мифы русского народа |publisher=Astrel, AST |year=2000 |isbn=5-271-00676-X |location=Moscow |pages=408–414, 508–509 |trans-title=Myths of the Russian People}}</ref><ref name="bal">{{Cite journal |last=Balushok |first=V. G. |year=2001 |title=Волк и волколак в славянской традиции в связи с архаическим ритуалом |trans-title=Wolf and Werewolf in Slavic Tradition in Connection with Archaic Ritual |journal=Etnolingwistyka: Problemy języka i kultury |volume=13 |pages=215–226 |issn=0860-8032}}</ref> but it is best preserved among Ukrainians, {{Interlanguage link|Mythology of Belarus|lt=Belarusians|ru|Белорусская мифология}},<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maksimov |first=Sergei Vasilyevich |title=Нечистая, неведомая и крестная сила |publisher=R. Golike and A. Vilborg Partnership |year=1903 |editor=Ethnographic Bureau of Prince |location=St. Petersburg |trans-title=Unclean, Unknown, and Holy Power |chapter=Оборотни |trans-chapter=Shapeshifters}}</ref><ref name="Wollman">{{Cite journal |last=Wollman |first=Frank |year=1926 |title=Vampyrické pověsti v oblasti středoevropské |trans-title=Vampire Legends in Central Europe |url=http://www.nulk.cz/ek-obsah/vestnik/html/knihy/vestnik18/index.htm |journal=Národopisný Věstník Českoslovanský |language=cs |issue=18 |pages=133–156 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418075156/http://www.nulk.cz/ek-obsah/vestnik/html/knihy/vestnik18/index.htm |archive-date=April 18, 2016 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref><ref name="SDFS2">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1995 |title=Волколак |encyclopedia=Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary |volume=1 |pages=418–420 |trans-title=Werewolf |last2=Levkiyevskaya |first2=Yelena Yevgenyevna |last1=Gura |first1=Aleksandr Viktorovich}}</ref> and eastern Poles.<ref>Wollman F''.'' [https://www.nulk.cz/ek-obsah/vestnik/html/knihy/vestnik18/index.htm Vampyrické pověsti v oblasti středoevropské] // Národopisný Věstník Českoslovanský. 1926. No. 18. pp. 133–156.</ref> Among Russians, the term ''volkolak'' is recorded only in southern regions,<ref name="SDFS2" />{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}} while elsewhere, those transforming into wolves were simply called ''shapeshifters'', with beliefs closely resembling those about werewolves.<ref name="SDFS2" />{{Sfn|Tokarev|2012|p=43-47}} In Slovak and especially Czech traditions, werewolf beliefs are scarce; among Sorbs, they are also diminished, primarily found in Lower Lusatia.<ref name="Wollman" /> South Slavic beliefs often conflate werewolves with vampires,<ref name="SDFS2" /><ref name="ESBE2">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1890 |title=Волкулак |encyclopedia=Yuzhakov's Large Encyclopedic Dictionary |volume=7 |pages=42–43 |trans-title=Werewolf}}</ref><ref name="lev" /> with the exception of Slovenians,<ref>Plotnikova A. A. [https://inslav.ru/publication/plotnikova-etnolingvisticheskaya-geografiya-yuzhnoy-slavii-m-2004 Этнолингвистическая география Южной Славии.] <abbr>М.</abbr>: «Индрик», 2004. pp. 30, 51, 212–217, 634–637.(Традиционная духовная культура славян. Современные исследования). {{ISBN|5-85759-287-9}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite journal | last1=Butler | first1=Francis | title=Russian "vurdalak" 'vampire' and Related Forms in Slavic | journal=Journal of Slavic Linguistics | date=2005 | volume=13 | issue=2 | pages=237–250 | jstor=24599657 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24599657 }}</ref> where these concepts nearly merge.<ref name="bal" /><ref name=":0" /> Beyond folk beliefs, bylichkas, and byvalshchinas, werewolves also appear in a small number of fairy tales.<ref name="wil">{{Cite book |last=Wilczyńska |first=E. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281494604 |title=Wilki i ludzie. Małe kompendium wilkologii |publisher=gk Grupakulturalna.pl |year=2014 |isbn=978-83-934011-4-7 |location=Katowice |pages=237–254 |language=pl |trans-title=Wolves and People: A Small Compendium of Wolfology |chapter=Przemiany wilkołaka w folklorze polskim |trans-chapter=Transformations of the Werewolf in Polish Folklore |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416134750/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281494604_Wilki_i_ludzie_Male_kompendium_wilkologii |archive-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref>
Regarding the antiquity of beliefs about human-to-wolf transformations in Slavic lands, the tribe of the Neuri, living in the 6th–5th centuries BCE somewhere in modern-day Ukraine and/or Belarus, is notable. According to Herodotus (c. 484–c. 430/425/420 BCE) in his ''Histories'', members of this tribe transformed into wolves for a few days each year,<ref name="Pełka2">{{Cite book |last=Pełka |first=Leonard |title=Polska demonologia ludowa |publisher=Iskry |year=1987 |isbn=83-207-0610-6 |location=Warsaw |pages=201–205, 213–214 |language=pl |trans-title=Polish Folk Demonology |chapter=Wilkołaki |trans-chapter=Werewolves}}</ref><ref name="Ridley">{{Cite journal |last=Ridley |first=R. A. |year=1976 |title=Wolf and Werewolf in Baltic and Slavic Tradition |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |issue=4 |pages=321–331 |issn=0092-2323}}</ref><ref>Novichkova T. A. ''А.'' Волкодлак // Русский демонологический словарь. — <abbr>СПб.</abbr>: Петербургский писатель, 1995. pp. 114–117. {{ISBN|5-265-02803-X}}</ref><ref name=":5">Krinichnaya N. A. Оборотни // Русская мифология: Мир образов фольклора. — <abbr>М.</abbr>: Академический проект; Гаудеамус, 2004. — pp. 640–704. (Summa). {{ISBN|5-8291-0388-5}}, {{ISBN|5-98426-022-0}}</ref> likely in winter:{{efn|''Herodotus''. Histories. Book IV, 105.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Herodotus |title=История |publisher=OLMA-PRESS Invest |year=2004 |isbn=5-94848-181-6 |location=Moscow |pages=242–243 |translator-last=Stratanovsky |translator-first=Georgy Andreyevich |trans-title=Histories}}</ref>}}<ref name="Baring-Gould">{{Cite book |last=Baring-Gould |first=Sabine |title=The Book of Werewolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co. |year=1865 |location=London |pages=9, 57–59 |chapter=The Were-Wolf in the Middle-Ages}}</ref><blockquote>These people [Neuri] seem to be sorcerers. At least, the Scythians and Greeks living among them claim that each Neuri annually turns into a wolf for a few days and then returns to human form.</blockquote>This may refer to a ritualistic "transformation".<ref name=":1" />{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}}<ref>Baring-Gould S. The Were-Wolf in the Middle-Ages // The Book of Werewolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1865. pp. 9, 57–59.</ref> Comparing the Neuri's "shapeshifting" with Slavic ritual masking supports, for some researchers, the hypothetical Slavic nature of the Neuri.<ref name="RybakovYDS">{{Cite book |last=Rybakov |first=Boris Aleksandrovich |title=Язычество древних славян |publisher=Nauka |year=1994 |isbn=5-02-009585-0 |editor=Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences |edition=2nd |location=Moscow |pages=583–584 |trans-title=Paganism of the Ancient Slavs |chapter=Мифы, предания, сказки: Иван Сучич (Быкович) и его братья |trans-chapter=Myths, Legends, Tales: Ivan Suchich (Bykovich) and His Brothers}}</ref><ref name="RybakovYDR">{{Cite book |last=Rybakov |first=Boris Aleksandrovich |title=Язычество Древней Руси |publisher=Nauka |year=1987 |editor=Institute of Archaeology, USSR Academy of Sciences |location=Moscow |pages=722–736 |trans-title=Paganism of Ancient Rus |chapter=Языческие обряды и празднества XI—XIII вв. |trans-chapter=Pagan Rituals and Festivals of the 11th–13th Centuries}}</ref> However, it cannot be definitively stated whether these beliefs originated with the Neuri, the Scythians, or the Greeks, as such beliefs were not uncommon among the latter.<ref name=":2">Berwiński R. W. [https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=67801 Studia o literaturze ludowej ze stanowiska historycznej i naukowej krytyki. Poznań: Nakładem autora], 1854. pp. 50–68.</ref> The earliest evidence of beliefs about wolf transformations among Slavs likely comes from Italian and Byzantine chronicles<ref name="Beshevliev">{{Cite journal |last=Beshevliev |first=Veselin |year=1929 |title=Гръцки и латински извори за вярата на прабългарите |trans-title=Greek and Latin Sources on the Beliefs of the Proto-Bulgarians |journal=Известия На Народния Етнографски Музей В София |language=bg |issue=8–9 |pages=165 |trans-journal=Bulletin du Musée National d'Ethnographie de Sofia}}</ref> mentioning the supernatural abilities of the Bulgarian prince Boyan the Mage (910–970):<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Máchal">{{Cite book |last=Máchal |first=Jan H. |url=https://archive.org/details/bjeslovslovansk01mcgoog |title=Bájesloví slovanské |publisher=Nákl. J. Otto |year=1907 |location=Prague |pages=18–20 |language=cs |trans-title=Slavic Mythology |chapter=Názory o duši v národním podáni slovanském: Duše za živa |trans-chapter=Views on the Soul in Slavic Folk Traditions: The Soul in Life |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/bjeslovslovansk01mcgoog#page/n23/mode/2up}}</ref>{{Sfn|Potushnyak|2011|p=290}}{{efn|''Liutprand of Cremona''. Antapodosis. 3, XXIX.<ref name="Beshevliev" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Liutprand of Cremona |url=https://medii-aevi.ru/sources/19.pdf |title=Антаподосис; Книга об Оттоне; Отчет о посольстве в Константинополь |publisher=SPSL — Russkaya Panorama |year=2006 |isbn=5-93165-160-8 |series=MEDIÆVALIA: Medieval Literary Monuments and Sources |location=Moscow |pages=65 |translator-last=Dyakonov |translator-first=Igor Mikhailovich |trans-title=Antapodosis; Book about Otto; Report on the Embassy to Constantinople |chapter=Антаподосис, кн. III |trans-chapter=Antapodosis, Book III |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/rus/Liut_Kr_2/frametext3.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820223829/https://medii-aevi.ru/sources/19.pdf |archive-date=August 20, 2016}}</ref>}}<blockquote>It is said that Boyan had so mastered magic that he once inadvertently turned into a wolf or a similar beast. (Latin original: ''Bajanum autem adeo foere magicam didisse, ut ex homine subito fieri lupum quamvecunque cerneres feram''.)</blockquote>In the ''Tale of Igor's Campaign'' (1185), the Polotsk prince Vseslav Bryachislavich (d. 1101) transforms into a wolf at night and runs to Tmutarakan in that form{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=242–243}}<ref name="lev" /><ref name=":3">Novichkova T. А. Волкодлак // Русский демонологический словарь. <abbr>СПб.</abbr>: Петербургский писатель, 1995. pp. 114–117. {{ISBN|5-265-02803-X}}</ref><ref name="nim">{{Cite journal |last=Nimchuk |first=Vasyl Vasylyovych |year=2009 |title=Нове про видатну вітчизняну писемну пам'ятку XII ст |trans-title=New Insights into an Outstanding 12th-Century Domestic Written Monument |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/6072 |journal=Ukrainian Language |language=uk |issue=4 |pages=85, 89–93 |issn=1682-3540 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427213623/http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/6072 |archive-date=April 27, 2016 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref> (though this may be metaphorical):<ref name="nim" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shelemova |first=A. O. |title=Русская и белорусская литературы на рубеже XX—XXI вв.: сборник научных статей. В 2 ч. Ч. 2 |publisher=RIVSh |year=2007 |isbn=978-985-500-094-6 |editor=Goncharova-Grabovskaya S. Ya. |location=Minsk |pages=91–96 |trans-title=Russian and Belarusian Literature at the Turn of the 20th–21st Centuries: Collection of Scientific Articles. In 2 Parts, Part 2 |chapter=Современные интерпретации образа Всеслава Полоцкого в «Слове о полку Игореве»: полемический аспект |trans-chapter=Modern Interpretations of the Image of Vseslav of Polotsk in the Tale of Igor's Campaign: Polemical Aspect |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=http://elib.bsu.by/handle/123456789/54240}}</ref><ref name="Husic">{{Cite journal |last=Husic |first=Geoff |date=May 18, 2010 |title=Vampire by Any Other Name: Vampires, Werewolves and Witches of the Slavs, Balkan Peoples and Other Lands: A Linguistic and Cultural Adventure |url=http://hdl.handle.net/1808/6213 |access-date=10 July 2025 |journal=Catalog of Exhibit Held in Watson Library, University of Kansas, May–June 2010 |publisher=KU ScholarWorks, University of Kansas Libraries, Slavic Dept |pages=6–7 |hdl=1808/6213 }}</ref>{{efn|Quote from the original is based on a photocopy of the 1800 edition of the poem. The capital letter reflects the early editors' belief that it refers to the city of Kursk.<ref name="nim" />}} <blockquote>Leaping from them [Kievans] as a fierce beast at midnight from Belgorod, when a dark mist hung... he leapt as a wolf to Nemiga from Dudutki... Prince Vseslav judged people, distributed cities to princes, but at night roamed as a wolf; from Kiev he reached [the crowing of] roosters to Tmutarakan; as a wolf, he crossed the path of great Khors.</blockquote>The wolf image, alongside other animal imagery, is also attributed in the poem to the bard Boyan<ref name="Ridley" /> and Prince Igor Svyatoslavich (1151–1201).<ref name=":15">Bondarenko A. O. [https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Bondarenko_Anton/Kult_voina-zvira_u_militarnykh_tradytsiiakh_na_terytorii.pdf Культ воїна-звіра у мілітарних традиціях на території України:] дис. ... канд. іст. наук : 07.00.05 / Київський національний університет ім. Т. Шевченка. Киев, 2015. pp. 160-172.</ref> In the Serbian (Ilovitsa) and Russian Kormchaya books of 1262 and 1282, respectively, ''volkodlaki'' are mentioned (the first recorded use of the term), chasing clouds and devouring the moon and sun.<ref name="SDFS2" /><ref name="lev" /><ref>Khobsein N. V. Вовкун // [https://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0001602 Гуцульська міфологія: Етнолінгвістичний словник] / Інститут українознавства ім. І. Крип'якевича НАН України. Львів, 2002. pp. 72–81. {{ISBN|966-02-2299-8}}</ref> In Russian epics, Volga Svyatoslavich transforms into a wolf:<ref name="bal" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name="Nosov">{{Cite journal |last=Nosov |first=N. N. |year=2011 |title=О происхождении былинных имен Волха и Вольги |trans-title=On the Origin of the Epic Names Volkh and Volga |url=http://russkayarech.ru/files/issues/2011/2/15-nosov.pdf |journal=Russkaya Rech |issue=2 |pages=78–88 |issn=0131-6117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910170807/http://russkayarech.ru/files/issues/2011/2/15-nosov.pdf |archive-date=September 10, 2016 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Былины |publisher=Lenizdat |year=1984 |editor-last=Azbelev |editor-first=Sergei Nikolaevich |series=Library of Folk Poetic Creativity |location=Leningrad |pages=217, 222 |trans-title=Epics |chapter=Волх Всеславьевич; Вольга и Микула Селянинович |trans-chapter=Volkh Vseslavich; Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich}}</ref><blockquote>Volga, learned another wisdom, to turn into a grey wolf... It pleased Volga to gain much wisdom... to roam as a grey wolf across open fields.</blockquote>In Serbian epics, the hero Vuk Grgurević transforms into a wolf{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}<ref name=":3" /> (prototype: despot Vuk Branković, d. 1485).<ref name="bal" /> According to Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov and Vladimir Nikolayevich Toporov, this may indicate the existence of a common Slavic mythological wolf-hero.{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}
In the 15th–18th centuries, beliefs in werewolves in Polish lands were frequently mentioned in local and foreign historical chronicles and demonological works.<ref name="Pełka2" /><ref name=":4">Baranowski B. Wilkołaki // W kręgu upiorów i wilkołaków. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, 1981. pp. 147–156. {{ISBN|83-218-0072-6}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name="Słupecki">{{Cite book |last=Słupecki |first=Leszek Paweł |title=Wojownicy i wilkołaki |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN |year=2011 |isbn=978-83-01-16590-1 |edition=3rd revised and expanded |location=Warsaw |language=pl |trans-title=Warriors and Werewolves}}</ref><ref name="Kowalewska">{{Cite book |last=Kowalewska |first=D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4B3CQAAQBAJ |title=Magia i astrologia w literaturze polskiego oświecenia |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika |year=2009 |isbn=978-83-231-2331-6 |location=Toruń |pages=148–160 |language=pl |trans-title=Magic and Astrology in Polish Enlightenment Literature |chapter=Wilkołaki powinowaci wampirów |trans-chapter=Werewolves, Kin of Vampires |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4B3CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA148}}</ref><ref>Osiński Z. [https://dlibra.umcs.lublin.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=3655 Zabobon, przesąd, diabły, czarownice i wilkołaki w pamiętnikach polskich z XVI i XVII wieku] // Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska. Sectio F, Historia. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej, 2003. Vol. 58. pp. 65–67. — ISSN 0239-4251</ref> Polish authors, within the prevailing European views, denied the possibility of real transformation, attributing it to illusory, devilish deception.<ref name="Berwiński">{{Cite book |title=To be specified |pages=56–61 }}</ref><ref name="Słupecki" /> One of the earliest recorded cases involves a Masurian peasant captured in a forest, with excessive body hair and numerous scars allegedly from dog bites, accused of attacking neighbors’ livestock in wolf form, which he gradually assumed around St. John the Baptist's Day and Christmas. He was imprisoned in the cellar of Prussian Duke Albert’s (1490–1568) castle, but the expected transformation did not occur;<ref name="Pełka2" /><ref name="Baring-Gould" /> he was likely later burned alive.<ref name="Baring-Gould" /> In the 17th–18th centuries, transformation into she-wolves was one of the accusations in Polish witch trials.<ref name=":4" />
Most mythological stories and beliefs about werewolves, as with other figures of Slavic lower mythology, were recorded in the 19th–20th centuries. In the 20th century, traditional beliefs in shapeshifting waned,<ref name="wil" />{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}} possibly due to the decline of traditional beliefs and the decreasing wolf population,<ref name="wil" /> though in some regions, tales of wolf transformations retain some popularity. In modern urban demonological beliefs, Slavic views on werewolves are being supplanted by the image of werewolves (lycanthropes) from Western popular culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayduzh |first=M. I. |url=http://www.ion.ranepa.ru/оборотни_сб_final.pdf |title=Оборотни и оборотничество: стратегии описания и интерпретации. Материалы международной конференции (Москва, РАНХиГС, 11–12 декабря 2015) |publisher=Publishing House "Delo" RANEPA |year=2015 |isbn=978-5-7749-1103-5 |editor-last=Antonov |editor-first=Dmitry Igorevich |location=Moscow |pages=135–143 |trans-title=Werewolves and Shapeshifting: Strategies of Description and Interpretation. Materials of the International Conference (Moscow, RANEPA, December 11–12, 2015) |chapter=Оборотни и оборотничество в демонологических представлениях современного города |trans-chapter=Werewolves and Shapeshifting in Modern Urban Demonological Beliefs |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029120049/http://www.ion.ranepa.ru/оборотни_сб_final.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2019}}</ref><ref name=":17">Aidachi D. [http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Mik_2011_14_4_40 Перевертень (вовк) у східнослов’янських літературах] // Мова і культура. 2011. V. IV (150), iss. 14. pp. 237–246.</ref>
== Etymology == The term "werewolf" in Slavic languages, derived from Proto-Slavic *''{{wt|sla-pro|Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/vьlkolakъ|vl̥ko-dlakъ}}'' (hypothetical, possibly from dialectal *''{{Lang|sla|vl̥ko-t/dlak(-ъ)}}''),<ref name="BIV">{{Cite book |last=Ivanov |first=Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/616--9 |title=Балканские чтения 9. Terra balkanica. Terra slavica. К юбилею Татьяны Владимировны Цивьян |publisher=Institute of Slavic Studies, RAS |year=2007 |isbn=978-5-7576-0198-4 |editor-last=Nikolaeva |editor-first=Tatyana Mikhailovna |location=Moscow |pages=70–79 |trans-title=9th Balkan Readings. Terra Balkanica. Terra Slavica. For the Anniversary of Tatyana Vladimirovna Tsivyan |chapter=Балканские имена «вурдалака» и их происхождение |trans-chapter=Balkan Names for "Vurdalak" and Their Origin |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322170804/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/616--9 |archive-date=March 22, 2016}}</ref> is reflected in various forms across Slavic languages. It appears in numerous forms across Slavic languages and dialects, reflecting both regional variation and historical linguistic influence. In East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian), variants include {{script|Cyrl|волкола́к}}, {{script|Cyrl|вовкула́к}}, and {{script|Cyrl|ваўкала́к}}, with additional dialectal forms.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161201175947/https://iling.spb.ru/vocabula/srng/srng_05.pdf "Волкола́к и Волкула́к".] [Volkolak and Volkulak]'''.''' Словарь русских народных говоров. Вып. 5. Военство — Выростковый. <abbr>Л.</abbr>:Наука, Ленинградское отделение, 1970. P. 42.</ref><ref>Dal V. [https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%A1%D0%942/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA Волк] [Wolf ]. Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка в 4 т. 2-е изд. <abbr>СПб.</abbr>: Типография М. О. Вольфа, 1880. V. 1. P. 237.</ref> South Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, etc.) preserve older and richly varied forms like {{lang|bg|върколак}}, {{lang|sr-Cyrl|вуко́длак}}, and {{lang|sl|volkodlák}}, some influenced by or borrowed into Greek.<ref>Bypдaлáκ. [Vurdalakl]. Этимологический словарь русского языка / Под рук. и ред. Н. М. Шанского. <abbr>М.</abbr>: Издательство Московского университета, 1968. V. I, iss. III.: В. P. 216.</ref> West Slavic and related languages (Polish, Czech, Slovak, Sorbian) show both native and borrowed forms, with Polish {{lang|pl|wilkołak}} being especially prominent.<ref name=":13">Słupecki L. P. Wojownicy i wilkołaki = Wilkołactwo. [Warriors and werewolves = Werewolfism]. Wyd. 3 popr. i rozsz. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2011. 257, [3] S. {{ISBN|978-83-01-16590-1}}</ref><ref>Valentsova M. M. [https://www.academia.edu/8909826/%D0%A1%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%89%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%8F%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D1%84%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5_%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%82_ Словацкая мифологическая лексика на общеславянском фоне (этнолингвистический аспект) // Славянское языкознание: XV Международный съезд славистов. (Минск, 21–27 августа 2013 г.): Доклады российской делегации]. [Slovak mythological lexicon on the pan-Slavic background (ethnolinguistic aspect) // Slavic linguistics: XV International Congress of Slavists. (Minsk, August 21–27, 2013): Reports of the Russian delegation.]. Российская акад. наук, Отд-ние ист.-филологических наук, Нац. ком. славистов Российской Федерации; редкол.: А. М. Молдован (отв. ред.), С. М. Толстая и др.. <abbr>М.</abbr>: Индрик, 2013. pp. 191–192. {{ISBN|978-5-91674-257-2}}</ref>
The first part of the term derives from Proto-Slavic ''{{wt|sla-pro|vьl̥kъ}}'' ("wolf"),<ref name="Fasmer">{{Cite book |last=Fasmer |first=Max |title=Этимологический словарь русского языка |volume=1 |pages=338–339 |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language |chapter=Волкола́к |trans-chapter=Volkolak }}</ref><ref name="ESBM">{{Cite book |title=Этымалагічны слоўнік беларускай мовы |publisher=Navuka i Tekhnika |year=1980 |editor-last=Martynov |editor-first=Viktor Vladimirovich |volume=2. В |location=Minsk |pages=76 |language=be |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Belarusian Language |chapter=Ваўкала́к |trans-chapter=Vawkalak}}</ref><ref name="ESUM">{{Cite book |title=Етимологічний словник української мови: В 7 т |publisher=Naukova Dumka |year=1982 |editor-last=Melnychuk |editor-first=Oleksandr Savvych |volume=1: А—Г |location=Kyiv |pages=412 |language=uk |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language: In 7 vols |chapter=Вовкула́к; [Вовкура́д] |trans-chapter=Vovkulak; [Vovkurad]}}</ref><ref name="Pasarić">{{Cite journal |last=Pasarić |first=Maja |date=June 2014 |title=The Body, the Soul and the Animal Other: Werewolves and animality |journal=Croatian Journal of Ethnology & Folklore Research = Narodna umjetnost: Hrvatski časopis za etnologiju i folkloristiku |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=209–221 |doi=10.15176/vol51no110 |issn=1848-865X |doi-access=free }}</ref> adapting to each language's phonology. The second part, per the classical hypothesis,<ref name="SDFS2" /> corresponds to Old Church Slavonic {{lang|cu|длака}}, Serbo-Croatian {{lang|sh-Cyrl|дла̏ка}}, Slovenian {{lang|sl|dláka}} ("hair", "hide", "fur"),<ref name="SDFS2" />{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}<ref name="Fasmer" /><ref name="ESBM" /><ref name="ESUM" /> or "horse or cow hair",<ref name="SRNG41-42">{{Cite book |url=https://iling.spb.ru/vocabula/srng/srng_05.pdf |title=Словарь русских народных говоров. Вып. 5. Военство — Выростковый |publisher=Nauka, Leningrad Branch |year=1970 |editor-last=Sorokoletov |editor-first=Fyodor Pavlovich |location=Leningrad |pages=41–42 |trans-title=Dictionary of Russian Folk Dialects. Issue 5. Voystvo — Vyrostkovy |chapter=Волкодла́к |trans-chapter=Volkodlak |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201175947/https://iling.spb.ru/vocabula/srng/srng_05.pdf |archive-date=December 1, 2016}}</ref> reconstructed as Proto-Slavic {{wt|sla-pro|dolka}} or {{wt|sla-pro|-dolkъ}}.<ref name="ESUM" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://etymolog.ruslang.ru/doc/essja05.pdf |title=Этимологический словарь славянских языков. Праславянский лексический фонд. Выпуск 5 (*dělo—*dьržьlь) |publisher=Nauka |year=1978 |editor-last=Trubachev |editor-first=Oleg Nikolaevich |location=Moscow |pages=63 |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages. Proto-Slavic Lexical Fund. Issue 5 (*dělo—*dьržьlь) |chapter=<nowiki>*dolka? / *d(ь)laka?</nowiki> |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830223703/http://etymolog.ruslang.ru/doc/essja05.pdf |archive-date=August 30, 2021}}</ref> The alternation дл / л in волкодлак—волколак and о / у in волколак—волкулак results from consonant cluster simplification and substitution of labialized correlates.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirilova |first=I. V. |year=2017 |title=Особенности вариантных отношений в семантическом поле «нечистая сила» |trans-title=Features of Variant Relations in the Semantic Field "Unclean Force" |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/osobennosti-variantnyh-otnosheniy-v-semanticheskom-pole-nechistaya-sila |journal=Филология И Человек |issue=2 |pages=9 |issn=1992-7940 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825231543/https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/osobennosti-variantnyh-otnosheniy-v-semanticheskom-pole-nechistaya-sila |archive-date=August 25, 2019 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref>
A widely accepted alternative hypothesis suggests the second element derives from Balto-Slavic ''dlak(i)as'' ("bear"),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nikolaev |first=S. L. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/images/stories/pdf/1983_Balto-slav_etnojaz_otnoshenija_tezisy.pdf |title=Балто-славянские отношения в историческом и ареальном плане: Тезисы докладов второй балто-славянской конференции (Москва, 29 ноября — 2 декабря 1983 г.) |publisher=Nauka |year=1983 |editor-last=Ivanov |editor-first=Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich |location=Moscow |pages=42 |trans-title=Balto-Slavic Relations in Historical and Areal Perspective: Abstracts of the Second Balto-Slavic Conference (Moscow, November 29 — December 2, 1983) |chapter=Один из типов названий хищных млекопитающих в северокавказских и индоевропейских языках |trans-chapter=One of the Types of Names for Predatory Mammals in North Caucasian and Indo-European Languages |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924035433/http://www.inslav.ru/images/stories/pdf/1983_Balto-slav_etnojaz_otnoshenija_tezisy.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> related to Prussian ''tlokis/clockis'' ( klokis), Lithuanian ''lokỹs'', Latvian ''lâcis'',{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}<ref name="val">{{Cite book |last=Valentsova |first=Marina Mikhailovna |title=Этнолингвистика. Ономастика. Этимология: Материалы III Междунар. науч. конф. Екатеринбург, 7–11 сентября 2015 г |publisher=Ural University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-5-7996-1524-6 |editor-last=Berezovich |editor-first=Elena Lvovna |location=Yekaterinburg |pages=45–48 |chapter=Этнолингвистический комментарий к этимологии слав. ''*vlkodlak'' |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/15787386 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720165628/https://www.academia.edu/15787386/Этнолингвистика._Ономастика._Этимология_Материалы_III_Междунар._науч._конф._Екатеринбург_7_11_сентября_2015_г._отв._ред._Е._Л._Березович_._Екатеринбург_Изд-во_Урал._ун-та_2015._318_с |archive-date=July 20, 2023 |trans-article=Ethnolinguistics. Onomastics. Etymology: Materials of the III International Scientific Conference, Yekaterinburg, September 7–11, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SEJP">{{Cite book |last=Brückner |first=Aleksander |title=Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego |publisher=Krakowska Spółka Wydawnicza |year=1927 |volume=II. P — Ż, Dodatek, Indeks |location=Kraków |pages=622 |language=pl |trans-title=Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language |chapter=Wilkołak |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=https://pl.wikisource.org/wiki/PL_Aleksander_Brückner-Słownik_etymologiczny_języka_polskiego_640.jpeg}}</ref><ref name="zhur">{{Cite book |last=Zhuvavlyov |first=Anatoly Fyodorovich |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/543--q-q-2005 |title=Язык и миф. Лингвистический комментарий к труду А. Н. Афанасьева «Поэтические воззрения славян на природу» |publisher=Indrik |year=2005 |isbn=5-85759-318-2 |editor-last=Tolstaya |editor-first=Svetlana Mikhailovna |series=Traditional Spiritual Culture of the Slavs. Modern Studies |location=Moscow |pages=1004 |trans-title=Language and Myth. Linguistic Commentary on A. N. Afanasiev’s Work "Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature" |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428204916/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/543--q-q-2005 |archive-date=April 28, 2016}}</ref> Latgalian ''lōcś'',<ref name="val" /><ref name="Pruss">{{Cite book |last=Toporov |first=Vladimir Nikolayevich |url=http://www.inslav.ru/images/stories/pdf/Toporov_Preussen_4_K-L_1984.djvu |title=Прусский язык. Словарь |publisher=Nauka |year=1984 |editor-last=Ivanov |editor-first=Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich |volume=4. K—L (*kirk — *laid-ik-) |location=Moscow |pages=441 |trans-title=Prussian Language. Dictionary |chapter=clokis |access-date=July 10, 2025 |chapter-url=http://prussk.narod.ru/src4/4_070.bmp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625071603/http://www.inslav.ru/images/stories/pdf/Toporov_Preussen_4_K-L_1984.djvu |archive-date=June 25, 2021}}</ref> Greek {{lang|grc|ἂρκτος}}, Hittite {{lang|hit|ḫartagga}} - ("bear-man"),<ref name="Pruss" /> etc. The second part is reconstructed as Proto-Slavic {{wt|sla-pro|dlaka}} ("bear"), though some consider this erroneous.<ref name="Pruss" /> The term may share an origin with Lithuanian {{lang|lt|vilktakis}}<ref name="BIV" /> and is semantically ''akin'' to Old Norse ''Ulf-biorn, Biǫrn-olfr'',{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=233}}<ref name="val" /> Old High German ''Wulf-bero, Bero-ulf, Visigothic Ber-ulfus''.<ref name="val" /><ref name="Pruss" /> Shapeshifting into both wolves and bears is noted in the Old Russian ''Charovnik{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}'' and Transcarpathian beliefs,<ref name="SDFS2" /> with ''volkodlak'' possibly meaning "man with bear or wolf traits".<ref name="BIV" />
Some scholars combine both hypotheses, positing that the second component was an Indo-European term for bear, later surviving as a term for hide due to tabooing, or vice versa.<ref name="val" /><ref name="BIV" /> Marina Valentsova questions this, noting rare combinations of wolf and bear shapeshifting in surviving beliefs.<ref name="val" /> Alternative interpretations include "wolf with horse or cow hair, hide,"<ref name="vlas2">{{Cite book |last=Vlasova |first=M. N. |title=Новая абевега русских суеверий = Русские суеверия: Энциклопедический словарь. Энциклопедия русских суеверий |publisher=Azbuka-klassika |year=2008 |isbn=978-5-91181-705-3 |location=St. Petersburg |trans-title=Encyclopedia of Russian Superstitions |chapter=Волкодлак |trans-chapter=Werewolf}}</ref> "wolf pack, kin",<ref name="BondarenkoKIN">{{Cite book |last=Bondarenko |first=Galina |title=Культурные истоки восточнославянской демонологии |publisher=Indrik |year=2007 |isbn=978-5-85759-404-9 |location=Moscow |trans-title=Cultural Origins of East Slavic Demonology}}</ref><ref name="Davidyuk">{{Cite book |last=Davidyuk |first=V. F. |title=Українська міфологічна проза |publisher=Svit |year=1992 |isbn=5-7773-0089-8 |location=Lviv |language=uk |trans-title=Ukrainian Mythological Prose}}</ref> or association with Thracian anthroponyms {{Lang|txh|-ταλκης}}.<ref name="zhur" /> The sound д in the second part may have emerged secondarily in South Slavic due to association with длаке ("hide"), appearing only in literary forms in West and East Slavic,<ref name="nim" /><ref name="Snoj">{{Cite book |last=Snoj |first=Marko |title=Slovenski etimološki slovar |publisher=Modrijan |year=2016 |isbn=978-961-241-926-4 |edition=3rd |location=Ljubljana |language=sl |trans-title=Slovenian Etymological Dictionary }}</ref><ref name="BIV" /> leading to interpretations as suffixes -ol-ъ and -ak-ъ,<ref name="nim" /><ref name="SEJP" /> Proto-Slavic ''{{wt|sla-pro|lakъ}}'' ("clothing", "skin"),<ref name="nim" /><ref name="Snoj" /> ''{{wt|sla-pro|likъ}}'' ("face", "appearance", as ''{{wt|sla-pro|vьlkolikъ}}'', "wolf-like appearance"),<ref name="nim" /> {{wt|sla-pro|lakati}} ("to lurk"), or {{wt|sla-pro|lačiti}} ("to linger", "to follow").<ref name="Ivanov">{{Cite journal |last=Ivanov |first=S. L. |year=1993 |title=Ваўкалак — правобраз… пастуха? |trans-title=Vawkalak — Prototype… of a Shepherd? |journal=Роднае Слова |language=be |issue=1 |pages=39–41 |issn=0234-1360 }}</ref>
Ukrainian Carpathian variants {{script|Cyrl|вовколаб}}, {{script|Cyrl|вовкурад}}, and {{script|Cyrl|вовкораб}}<ref name="khob">{{Cite book |last=Khobzey |first=Nataliya Vasylyevna |url=http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0001602 |title=Гуцульська міфологія: Етнолінгвістичний словник |publisher=Institute of Ukrainian Studies named after I. Krypyakevych, NAS of Ukraine |year=2002 |isbn=966-02-2299-8 |location=Lviv |pages=72–81 |language=uk |trans-title=Hutsul Mythology: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary |chapter=Вовкун |trans-chapter=Vovkun |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208084922/http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0001602 |archive-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> are euphemistic contaminations of {{script|Cyrl|вовкулак}} with {{script|Cyrl|лаба}} ("paw"),<ref name="nim" /> {{script|Cyrl|рад}} ("rejoicing", "loving"),<ref name="khob" /><ref name="ESUM" /> and {{script|Cyrl|раб}} ("servant").<ref name="nim" /> The Smolensk {{script|Cyrl|вукула}} derives from {{script|Cyrl|волколак}} under the influence of the name ''Vukol''.<ref name="nim" /> In Sorbian ''wjelkoraz'', the second part may come from {{script|Cyrl|образ}} ("image"),<ref name="Snoj" /> or Proto-Slavic ''raziti'' (cf. Upper Sorbian ''zarazyć'', "to kill").<ref name="Schuster-Sewc">{{Cite book |last=Schuster-Šewc |first=H. |title=Historisch-etymologisches Wörterbuch der ober- und niedersorbischen Sprache |publisher=VEB Domowina-Verlag |year=1988 |isbn=3-7420-0012-8 |volume=3. (Lfg. 15–21) Płoń—wołma |location=Bautzen |pages=1613 |language=de |trans-title=Historical-Etymological Dictionary of Upper and Lower Sorbian |chapter=wjelkoraz }}</ref><ref name="RES">{{Cite book |last=Anikin |first=Aleksandr Evgenyevich |title=Русский этимологический словарь |publisher=Institute of Russian Language named after V. V. Vinogradov, RAS; Institute of Philology, Siberian Branch, RAS |year=2014 |isbn=978-5-88744-087-3 |issue=8 (''во'' I — ''вран'') |location=Moscow |pages=140 |trans-title=Russian Etymological Dictionary |chapter=волкола́к |trans-chapter=Volkolak}}</ref>
In Croatian dialectal ''(vu)kozlȁk, zlȁka'' is a local equivalent of dlaka.<ref name="Loma">{{Cite book |last=Loma |first=Aleksandar |title=Пракосово: Словенски и индоевропски корени српске епике |publisher=SANU |year=2002 |isbn=86-7025-331-3 |location=Belgrade |language=sr |trans-title=Prakosovo: Slavic and Indo-European Roots of Serbian Epic}}</ref> In Slavic, werewolves were also called by terms from the verb vedati ("to know"): Ukrainian {{lang|uk|віщун}} ("wolf-shapeshifter"), Old Czech ''vedi'' ("she-wolf shapeshifters"), Slovenian ''vedomci, vedunci, vedarci'' ("wolf-shapeshifters"), related to Old Norse ''vitnir'' and Hittite ''uetna'', emphasizing sorcery as the cause of transformation.<ref name=":5" />
== Origins == The wolf is one of the central, most mythologized,<ref name="Gura2">{{Cite book |last=Gura |first=Aleksandr Viktorovich |url=http://www.inslav.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391:----------1997&catid=29:2010-03-24-13-39-59&Itemid=62 |title=Символика животных в славянской народной традиции |publisher=Indrik |year=1997 |isbn=5-85759-056-6 |series=Traditional Spiritual Culture of the Slavs. Modern Studies |location=Moscow |pages=122–159 |trans-title=Symbolism of Animals in Slavic Folk Tradition |chapter=Волк |trans-chapter=Wolf |access-date=July 10, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315143637/http://www.inslav.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391:----------1997&catid=29:2010-03-24-13-39-59&Itemid=62 |archive-date=March 15, 2016}}</ref> dangerous, and revered wild animals in Slavic folk tradition.{{Sfn|Tokarev|2012|p=45}}<ref name=":4" />{{Sfn|Potushnyak|2011|p=290}}{{Sfn|Brückner|1985|p=287}} It is likely that the Slavs once had a cult of the wolf.{{Sfn|Tokarev|2012|p=45}}<ref name="Ridley" /><ref name=":6">Rasadzin S. Ya. Ваўкалак i царык-воўк [Wolf and the tsar-wolf] // Беларуская мова i літаратура ў школе. 1991. No. 1. pp. 54–56. {{ISSN|0234-1360}}</ref><ref name="Pylypchuk">{{Cite journal |last=Pylypchuk |first=O. M. |year=2014 |title=Вовча символіка в українській культурі |trans-title=Wolf Symbolism in Ukrainian Culture |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Ukr_2014_12_10 |journal=Ukrainian Studies |language=uk |issue=12 |pages=78–85 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807123456/http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Ukr_2014_12_10 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |access-date=July 10, 2025}}</ref> Key characteristics of the wolf's image include: living in the wild, predation, association with blood, chthonic nature, connection to darkness, ties to the dead, marital, masculine, and erotic symbolism, association with unclean forces (the wolf may be identified with them, suffer from them, or be dangerous to them), certain demonic properties, the presence of a "master" for wolves, a period of heightened wolf activity in winter coinciding with the activity of unclean forces, the wolf's mediating function between humans and gods or humans and evil spirits, the wolf as an "outsider", its association with boundary-crossing and transitional moments, its closest parallels being the bear on one hand and the dog on the other, and the use of wolf body parts and its name as magical means "to acquire repelling properties, aggression, vitality, and health". To varying degrees, these beliefs were transferred to the image of the werewolf.<ref name="wil" />{{Sfn|Potushnyak|2011|p=290}}<ref name="Słupecki" /><ref name="Gura2" /><ref name="Georgieva2">{{Cite book |last=Georgieva |first=Ivanichka |title=Българска народна митология |publisher=Nauka i Izkustvo |year=1983 |isbn=0-543-22216-0 |location=Sofia |language=bg |trans-title=Bulgarian Folk Mythology}}</ref>{{Sfn|Manugiewicz|1930|p=459–463}} [[File:Maska_vuka_Marcelji_EMZ_300109.jpg|thumb|225x225px|Wolf mask from {{ill|Марчельи|lt=Marčelji|sr|Марчељи}}, used in the "zvončari" ritual. Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb]] It is widely believed that the concept of werewolfism, as well as shapeshifting in general, originates from totemism,<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref>Shamyakina T. I. Міфалогія і беларуская літаратура [Mythology and Literature of Belorus]. Минск: Мастацкая літаратура, 2008. P. 23. (Бібліятэка школьніка). {{ISBN|978-985-02-0925-2}}</ref><ref name="val" /><ref name=":7">Pipilenka M. F. Ваўкалак. Минск: Беларуская Савецкая Энцыклапедыя, 1989. pp. 104–105. {{ISBN|5-85700-014-9}}</ref> during which rituals involved dressing in the skins of totemic animals.<ref name=":7" /> Among the Slavs, it was common to dress up in wolf masks and costumes during New Year's celebrations, Maslenitsa, and other occasions,<ref name="bal" /><ref name="RybakovYDS" /><ref>Sytsko Z. Ваўкі. Ваўкалакі. Неўры // Беларуская мова i літаратура ў школе. 1991. No. 1. pp. 56–59. ISSN 0234-1360.</ref><ref name="Georgieva2" /><ref>Ivanov V. V. [https://feb-web.ru/feb/izvest/1975/05/755-399.htm Реконструкция индоевропейских слов и текстов, отражающих культ волка] [Reconstruction of Indo-European words and texts reflecting the cult of the wolf] <abbr>М.</abbr>, 1975. V. 34, No. 5. pp. 406–407.</ref><ref name=":8">Pluskowski A. Before the Werewolf Trials: Contextualising Shape-Changers and Animal Identities in Medieval North-Western Europe // Werewolf Histories / Ed. by W. de Blécourt. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. P. 118. (Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic). {{ISBN|9781137526342}}</ref> which can be seen as an imitation of shapeshifting.<ref name=":5" />{{Sfn|Manugiewicz|1930|p=459–463}} As pagan beliefs were dismantled and Christianity strengthened, attitudes toward wolves shifted from neutral to negative, and shapeshifting, once considered a sign of "an individual's connection to a divine or sacred animal",<ref name=":5" /> became viewed negatively and was seen as a "sign-symbol of an unclean force or its attributes".<ref name=":5" /> Consequently, it is suggested that voluntary transformation into wolves emerged earlier, while other types of shapeshifting developed under Christian influence. Given that, apart from transformations of entire weddings, stories of female werewolfism among the Slavs are very rare, it is inferred that werewolf beliefs are a folklorization of archaic male initiation rituals involving the use of psychoactive substances, which among ancient Slavs were supposedly accompanied by ritual rebirth as wolves, followed by "wolf" unions of young warriors who separated from society,<ref name=":9">Gieysztor A. Duchy leśne i zwierzęce // Mitologia Słowian. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1982. pp. 230–231. — 271. {{ISBN|83-221-0152-X}}</ref> lived in the forest, and engaged in banditry. Echoes of these phenomena are seen,<ref name=":9" /><ref>Shuvalov P. V. [https://www.academia.edu/3179065/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8_%D0%B8_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%8D%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%8F%D0%BD Волкодлаки, заложные покойники и великая экспансия славян // Миграции и оседлость от Дуная до Ладоги в I тысячелетии христианской эры. V чтения памяти Анны Мачинской (Старая Ладога, 21–22 декабря 2000 г.): материалы к чтениям] [Volkodlaky, mortgaged dead and the great expansion of the Slavs // Migrations and sedentarization from the Danube to Ladoga in the first millennium of the Christian era. V readings in memory of Anna Machinskaya (Staraya Ladoga, December 21–22, 2000): materials for the readings] <abbr>СПб.</abbr>: Староладожский историко-архитектурный и археологический музей-заповедник, 2001. pp. 8–10.</ref> for example, in Polish and Ukrainian initiation rituals into male communities in the 19th century and in Ukrainian beliefs about Zaporozhian Cossacks and noble bandits in the early 19th century. Werewolfism could also serve as a metaphor for military campaigns undertaken by young "wolf" warriors.<ref name=":10">Korol D. O. Культ вовка в слов'янській традиції та його генеза // Наукові записки. Киев: Академія, 2002. V. 20–21: Теорія та історія культури. P. 67. {{ISBN|966-518-104-1}}</ref> It is also supposed that werewolf beliefs may trace back to Indo-European worship of a wolf-god—a god of warriors, the world of the dead, and fertility.<ref name=":10" /> Beliefs about wedding parties turning into wolves are linked by some researchers to totemism, as wedding groups once represented clan groups. In East Slavic folk tradition, almost all wedding participants could be called wolves. Other researchers connect these beliefs to an ancient form of marriage known as bride kidnapping.<ref name="bal" />{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}}
However, there are skeptical views regarding these theories, denying a connection between ancient customs and beliefs and later werewolf concepts, which could have arisen independently.<ref name=":2" />{{Sfn|Brückner|1985|p=284}}<ref name=":8" /><ref>Toporkov A. L. [https://magazines.gorky.media/index.html Русский волк-оборотень и его английские жертвы] [The Russian wolf-shifter and his English victims] // Новое литературное обозрение. 2010. No. 103. pp. 140–151. ISSN 0869-6365</ref><ref name=":11">Ivanov P. V. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160827162216/http://starieknigi.info/Knigi/JU/Yubilejnyj_sbornik_v_chestj_Vsevoloda_Fedorovicha_Millera_1900.pdf Вовкулаки (материалы для характеристики мировоззрения крестьян-малорусов) // Юбилейный сборник в честь Всеволода Фёдоровича Миллера, изданный его учениками и почитателями.] [Vovkulaki (materials for characterizing the worldview of the peasants-Malorusians) // Jubilee collection in honor of Vsevolod Fedorovich Miller, published by his students and admirers]. <abbr>М.</abbr>: Типо-литография А. В. Васильева, 1900. P. 292. XXII, 369, [3] с. (Известия общества любителей естествознания, антропологии и этнографии, Т. XCVII; Труды этнографического отдела, Т. XIV).</ref> For example, a possible connection is noted between folk beliefs about shapeshifting and Christian literary sources: retellings of ancient accounts, moral narratives, demonological works, apocryphal tales,<ref name=":11" /> and echoes of German and French werewolf trials.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Fedor_Jeftichew_Jo-Jo.jpg|left|thumb|212x212px|Fyodor Yevtikheyev (1864–1904), who suffered from hypertrichosis, was known as the "boy with the dog face"]]
The werewolf image served as a demonic personification of negative, anxiety-inducing, harmony-disrupting social phenomena. Researchers have explained the persistence of werewolf myths through mental disorders leading to animal-like behavior (e.g., clinical lycanthropy),<ref name=":14">Ivanov P. V. [https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%B5-%D1%87%D1%82%D0%BE_%D0%BE_%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%85_%D0%B8_%D0%BF%D0%BE_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83_%D0%B8%D1%85_(%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2) Кое-что о вовкулаках и по поводу их] [Wolf and Werewolf in Slavic Tradition in Connection with Archaic Ritual] Українці: народні вірування, повір'я, демонологія. 2-е вид. Киев: Либідь, 1992. pp. 505–511. (Пам'ятки історичної думки України). {{ISBN|5-325-00371-2}}</ref> the birth of children with atavistic traits (e.g., wolf's mouth, tails, excessive facial hair), or a generally "wild" appearance, among others.<ref name=":4" /> Rumors about werewolves could be deliberately spread by people stealing livestock, or by vagrants wandering villages, telling emotional stories about seeking relatives turned into wolves or having been wolves themselves, receiving alms from sympathetic villagers. Stories of finding a human body under a wolf's skin or a wolf transforming into a human after death may have stemmed from cases of hunters intentionally or accidentally killing people and attempting to avoid punishment. Beliefs about suffering, enchanted werewolves may have arisen from observing old, feeble wolves unable to hunt. Stories of unusual wolf behavior may also have been linked to cases of rabies.<ref name=":4" /> N. A. Krinichnaya notes that while many folktales mention specific, still-living individuals, usually from a neighboring settlement, when questioned, these individuals often confirm the story but claim it happened to others, again specific people from another village.<ref name=":5" /> B. Baranowski pointed out that the further a werewolf story was recorded from its supposed location, the more fantastical details it accumulated.<ref name=":4" />
== Ways of transformation == [[File:Sorcerers-1905.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Nikolai Roerich. ''Sorcerers''. 1905]] Based on the nature of transformations, mythological werewolves can be divided into three main groups: those who transform deliberately through sorcery, those transformed against their will by others' spells, and those who transform spontaneously from time to time.<ref name="НДП2">{{Cite book |last=Levkiyevskaya |first=Elena E. |title=People's Demonology of Polesia: Publications of Texts from Recordings of the 1980s–1990s |publisher=Yazyki slavyanskikh kultur |year=2010 |isbn=978-5-9551-0446-1 |editor=Ludmila Vinogradova, Elena Levkiyevskaya |series=Studia philologica |volume=I: People with Supernatural Abilities |location=Moscow |pages=478–558, 622–624 |trans-title=Narodnaya demonologiya Poles'ya: Publikatsii tekstov v zapisakh 80–90-kh gg. XX veka |chapter=Werewolf}}</ref><ref name="Коваль1742">{{Cite book |last=Koval |first=Vladimir I. |url=http://repo.gsu.by/bitstream/123456789/5387/1/макет%20Пособие%20с%20грифом.%20Последний%20вариант%2011%20марта%202016.pdf |title=Mythological Beliefs of the Eastern Slavs: A Textbook for the Course "Slavic Mythology" |publisher=GGU named after F. Skorina |year=2016 |editor=Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus, Gomel State University named after F. Skorina |location=Gomel |pages=174 |trans-title=Mifologicheskiye verovaniya vostochnykh slavyan: Posobiye po kursu "Slavyanskaya mifologiya" |chapter=Werewolf |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110151824/http://repo.gsu.by/bitstream/123456789/5387/1/макет%20Пособие%20с%20грифом.%20Последний%20вариант%2011%20марта%202016.pdf |archive-date=January 10, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Жайворонок103–1042">{{Cite book |last=Zhayvoronok |first=V. V. |title=Signs of Ukrainian Ethnoculture: Dictionary-Reference |publisher=Vydavnytstvo "Dovira" |year=2006 |isbn=966-507-195-5 |location=Kyiv |pages=103–104 |language=uk |trans-title=Znaky ukrayinskoyi etnokultury: Slovnyk-dovidnyk |chapter=vovkulák = vovkuláka = vovkún = lyudýna-vovk |access-date=July 27, 2025 |chapter-url=http://ukrlit.org/slovnyk/zhaivoronok_znaky_ukrainskoi_etnokultury/вовкулак}}</ref> Depending on the nature of the transformation, the methods also vary.<ref name="НДП2" /> Most of them symbolize integration into another, animalistic, chthonic world, crossing the boundary between worlds.<ref name="НДП2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tykhovska |first=O. |year=2015 |title=Personification of the Shadow Archetype in the Mythological Worldview of Ukrainians |trans-title=Personifikatsiya arkhetypu tini u mifolohichnomu svitohlyadi ukrayintsiv |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/spml_2015_20_27 |journal=Contemporary Problems of Linguistics and Literary Studies |language=uk |issue=20 |pages=132–133 |access-date=July 27, 2025}}</ref><div style="font-size: 85%; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0em 0em 1em 1em; padding: 0.5em; border: 1px solid; width: 318px;"> "There were two neighbors: the rich one was a sorcerer, and the poor one was a good man. The poor man bought a horse and took it to the pasture, but the rich one took three knives, stuck them into the ground, and began to roll over them. He rolled over the first knife — his head became wolf-like; he rolled over the second — his entire torso became wolf-like; he rolled over the third — his legs became wolf-like. Then he ran and killed the horse, but the poor man pulled out one knife. The wolf ran back to the knives to transform back into a human. He arrived. When he rolled over the first knife, his head became human again; when he rolled over the second knife, his torso became human; he rolled over the third time, but his legs remained wolf-like because the third knife was missing".
Belarusian legend ''Sorcerer-Werewolf''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Legends and Tales |publisher=Navuka i Tekhnika |year=1983 |editor=M. Ya. Hrynblat and A. I. Hurski |edition=A. S. Fyadosik; Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, Institute of Art History, Ethnography, and Folklore |series=Belarusian Folk Art |location=Minsk |pages=180 |language=be |trans-title=Lehendy i padanni |chapter=222. [Sorcerer-Werewolf]}}</ref> </div>The ability of a sorcerer or witch to transform into a wolf is a specific case of their shape-shifting ability. In East Slavic and Polish traditions, this is a central motif in werewolf beliefs.<ref name="НДП2" /> Folklore describes several methods of voluntary human-to-wolf transformation: one must recite a secret incantation and then perform a specific action. It was often noted that one must tumble, jump, or step over<ref name="НДП2" /> (once or three times, according to various sources) objects such as knives or stakes driven into the ground point-up (symbolizing mortal danger), a stump, a threshold, or a table several times<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nikiforovsky |first=Nikolai Ya. |title=Nechistiki. Svod prostonarodnykh v Vitebskoy Belorussii skazaniy o nechistoy sile |publisher=N. Mats and Co |year=1907 |location=Vilna |pages=102 |language=ru |trans-title=Unclean Spirits. A Collection of Folk Tales from Vitebsk Belarus about Evil Forces |chapter=Werewolves}}</ref> (five knives could symbolize the limbs and tail of a wolf), or an axe driven into the ground, or through a yoke (Vologda Governorate), a fireplace poker, a fence,<ref name="НДП2" /> a crossroads, an uncrossed aspen stump—either by grabbing it with teeth or placing a comb or splinter on it,<ref name="никиф2">{{Cite book |last=Nikiforovsky |first=Nikolai Ya. |url=http://libarch.nmu.org.ua/handle/GenofondUA/3716 |title=Folk Omens and Beliefs, Superstitious Rituals and Customs, Legendary Tales about People and Places |publisher=Gubernskaya Tipo-Litografiya |year=1897 |editor=Nikolai Ya. Nikiforovsky |location=Vitebsk |pages=67–70, 264 |trans-title=Prostonarodnyye primety i povyer'ya, suyevernyye obryady i obychai, legendarnyye skazaniya o litsakh i mestakh |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416224617/http://libarch.nmu.org.ua/handle/GenofondUA/3716 |archive-date=April 16, 2016}}</ref> a bent birch tree (Gomel Region),<ref name="НДП2" /> a log or bog iron (Belarusians),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koval |first=U. I. |title=Folk Beliefs, Omens, and Signs. A Reference Book on East Slavic Mythology |publisher=Belarusian Agency of Scientific-Technical and Business Information |year=1995 |isbn=985-415-005-4 |location=Gomel |pages=30–32 |language=be |trans-title=Narodnyya uyavlenni, paver'i i prykmety. Davednik pa uskhodneslavyanskay mifalohii |chapter=Werewolf}}</ref> a ditch, a stream (Belarusians), a molehill (Slovenes), or a hoop. Other methods include: throwing a ring made of bast over oneself, tossing a basket over oneself (Smolensk Governorate), crawling through a horse collar (Ukrainians), or an old wheel without axles (Belarusians),<ref name="Новак">{{Cite book |last=Novak |first=Valentina S. |url=http://repo.gsu.by/xmlui/handle/123456789/1677 |title=Slavic Mythology (Based on Materials from Gomel Region) |publisher=Pravo i ekonomika |year=2009 |isbn=978-985-442-716-4 |series=Humanities |location=Minsk |pages=39–49 |language=be |trans-title=Slavyanskaya mifalogiya (na matyeryyalakh Gomel'skay voblastsi) |chapter=Werewolf |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813094657/http://repo.gsu.by/xmlui/handle/123456789/1677 |archive-date=August 13, 2016}}</ref> stepping over a witch's belt placed under a threshold or road (Volyn Oblast), driving an enchanted axe into a stump, undressing completely or (among Ukrainians) changing into tattered clothes, running around seven trees seven times (Poles), wearing one of nine pelts supposedly shed by a wolf (Kashubians), crossing a midday land boundary (Sorbs), rolling in manure (Slovenes), or rubbing oneself with the sap of St. John's wort (Belarusians).<ref name="Новак" /> In cases where repeated actions are required, the transformation could occur gradually.<ref name="НДП2" /> It was believed that to reverse the transformation, one had to perform the same actions in reverse: tumble over the mentioned objects, step over the belt, or pull the axe from the stump.<ref name="НДП2" /> However, if the object is stolen while the werewolf is in wolf form, they remain a wolf forever.<ref name="НДП2" /> Additionally, an inexperienced person attempting to transform in imitation of a sorcerer might fail to revert. According to some Polish beliefs, if a witch is killed in wolf form, her corpse will revert to human form.<ref name="НДП2" /><div style="font-size: 85%; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0em 0em 1em 1em; padding: 0.5em; border: 1px solid; width: 318px;"> "A young couple was on their way to their wedding, and as they passed by a miller, they did not dismount or bow to him. The miller said, 'Well, you will run and bow for a lifetime.' And at that moment, the entire entourage —bride, groom, groomsmen, and matchmakers— turned into wolves and ran off, never to become human again".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lyatsky |first=Yevgeny A. |year=1890 |title=Belarusian Beliefs about Unclean Forces |trans-title=Predstavleniya belorusa o nechistoy sile |journal=Ethnographic Review |issue=4 |pages=19}}</ref> </div>It was widely believed that a sorcerer or witch could transform a person into a werewolf, primarily out of revenge, against their will.<ref name="НДП2" /><ref name="Коваль1742" /> They could recite an incantation and either cast a spell through the wind (Chernihiv Oblast), pour a decoction of linden bast under the victim's feet (Volyn Oblast), throw a wolf pelt over them,<ref name="НДП2" /> encircle them with a belt, cord, rope, or ribbon (the belt serving as both a mediator between worlds and a binding force), place a yoke around their neck (Ukrainians), strike the threshold three times with an axe to transform whoever passes through the door,<ref name="никиф2" /> give enchanted food or a potion (e.g., a decoction of twisted bast among Poles, or wine among Ural Cossacks), often affecting unintended targets, spit in their eyes (Ukrainians), force them through a horse collar by magic or trickery,<ref name="НДП2" /> tie the tops of two rowan trees over a road and slaughter three old non-crowing roosters so their blood drips onto passersby (Vitebsk Governorate), or strike them in the face with a stick.<ref name="НДП2" /> Common narratives include: a scorned woman transforming a man, a mother-in-law transforming an unloved son-in-law, a wife transforming her husband, a stepmother transforming a stepson, a daughter-in-law transforming a brother-in-law, a sorcerer transforming his son as punishment, or children accidentally drinking a potion meant for someone else (Smolensk Governorate). It was generally believed that a sorcerer could transform someone into a wolf for a specific period (1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12, 25 days, weeks, months, or years), but not permanently.<ref name="никиф2" /><ref name="НДП2" /> However, Ukrainians and Slovaks sometimes believed the curse becomes irreversible if the sorcerer dies. In Zakarpattia and Polesia, it was thought a sorcerer could not die (or dies painfully) until the werewolf is alive or disenchanted.<ref name="НДП2" /> Among Russians, there was a belief that a sorcerer transforming into a wolf during a new moon or Christmas could bite a person, turning them into a wolf for seven years; the victim could break the curse earlier by biting another person at the same time, transferring the wolf form.{{Sfn|Novichkova|1995|p=112}} Additionally, according to Czech beliefs, Saint Nicholas could throw a wolf pelt over a person, turning them into a werewolf, or Saint George among South Slavs,<ref name="Snoj3">{{Cite journal |last=Snoj |first=Marko |year=1984 |title=What Lies Behind the Word Werewolf? |trans-title=Kaj se skriva v besedi volkodlak? |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-DRKB8R7X |journal={{lang|sl|Jezik in slovstvo}} |volume=4 |language=sl |issue=29 |pages=123–126 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422113737/http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-DRKB8R7X |archive-date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2025}}</ref> and in Polesia, there were stories of transformations into werewolves by God.<ref name="НДП2" /> [[File:Alfred_Wierusz-Kowalski_-_Trojka_ścigana_przez_wilki_(3).jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. ''Trojka Chased by Wolves'']] Among Eastern Slavs and Poles, it was widely believed that a sorcerer or witch could transform an entire wedding party into werewolves.<ref name="НДП2" /> This is a specific case of a broader motif where a sorcerer or witch ruins a wedding if they oppose it or were not invited. To achieve this, they would recite an incantation and either encircle all guests with charmed belts, place such a belt (sometimes noted as made of bast) under the threshold for guests to step over, bury it at a crossroads where the wedding procession passes, dig a small ditch at the crossroads,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Madlevskaya |first=E. L. |title=Russian Mythology. Encyclopedia |publisher=Eksmo, Midgard |year=2005 |location=Moscow |pages=533 |trans-title=Russkaya mifologiya. Entsiklopediya |chapter=Werewolves and Changelings}}</ref> throw a ball under the horses' hooves (Novgorod Governorate), or cross the wedding procession's path in wolf form (Volyn Oblast). Among Belarusians, they could also throw a pea from a pod containing as many peas as there are procession members or stretch a thread across the road.<ref name="никиф2" /> The transformed typically fled into the forest immediately.<ref name="НДП2" /> Such werewolves could be recognized by their festive attire, white and red rushnyks on the guests, rushnyks turned into white stripes on their fur, ribbons on the bride, a flower bouquet on the groom, or the enchanted bride and groom running together. In Grodno Governorate, Kharkov Governorate, and the Ural region, it was believed that to prevent the wedding party from turning into werewolves, the senior groomsman needed to know special counter-charms to respond to the witch's spells.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name="vlas2" /> In Arkhangelsk Governorate, it was believed the wedding procession should not depart without the sorcerer's "blessing".{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}}
Numerous methods were listed to break the curse before its term expired. A large group of reverse transformation methods involves contact with something from the human world.<ref name="НДП2" /> Others could help a werewolf regain human form by throwing a belt, torn clothing, a rake (Vitebsk Governorate),<ref name="никиф2" /> or a pitchfork (Belarusians)<ref name="никиф2" /> over them; stretching a thread across a road and letting the werewolf pass under it before breaking it (Vitebsk Governorate); inserting a knife into dough in a kneading trough; giving them bread to eat (Ukrainians and Slovenes) or a piece of wedding karavai (Belarusians); calling them by name<ref name="НДП2" /> (calling by name establishes a magical connection and returns them from the "other" world; if the name is unknown, one could try listing names<ref name="НДП2" />); putting on the werewolf clothing removed from oneself (Arkhangelsk Governorate, Polesia, reversing the act of throwing a pelt) or a belt with knots tied while saying ''Lord have mercy;''<ref name="НДП2" /> tearing one's clothing and throwing it after them; for enchanted wedding members, playing a wedding song on a violin (Belarusians).<ref name="никиф2" /> A separate subgroup involves Christian elements: performing a Christian ritual—crossing, praying, bringing to church, holding a prayer service, or marrying; covering with a belt or priest's vestment; covering with a tablecloth used to bless Easter food;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yanchuk |first=Nikolai A. |url=http://by.ethnology.ru/by_lib/kbelved/graf/kbelved_cont.html |title=Course on Belarusian Studies: Lectures Delivered at the Belarusian People's University in Moscow, Summer 1918 |publisher=Drukarnya A. P. Yarotskogo |year=1918–1920 |editor=Belarusian Subsection of the Department of Education of National Minorities of the NKP |location=Moscow |pages=[http://by.ethnology.ru/by_lib/kbelved/graf/kbelved_yanchuk.html?179 175] |trans-title=Etnograficheskiy ocherk Belorussii |chapter=Ethnographic Sketch of Belarus |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808151640/http://by.ethnology.ru/by_lib/kbelved/graf/kbelved_cont.html |archive-date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> giving blessed food (Novgorod Oblast, Slovenia); the werewolf hearing Easter bells; or disenchantment by Saint Nicholas (Poles).<ref name=":12" /> A Ukrainian description details a complex ritual: spread a rushnyk, insert a knife in front of it, place an icon and bread on the rushnyk, light a candle, and say: "We invite you to bread and salt and the holy icon. May the Lord turn you back and purify your body with holy prayers". A tale from Pskov Oblast describes disenchanting werewolves by luring them with a magical flute and fumigating them with a piece of a sorceress-priestess's shroud. Another group of methods involves removing the wolf pelt: shaking the werewolf out of it (Ukrainians);<ref name="ESBE2" /> tying werewolves’ tails together and scaring them to run apart, leaving the pelts behind; tearing the pelt removed temporarily by the werewolf (Slovenes). Related stories involve turning a werewolf back by striking them<ref name="НДП2" /> or with a pitchfork between the eyes (Volyn Oblast) (as transformation, including reversal, is a form of death), or with a stick on the mouth (Smolensk Governorate), head, or back; sometimes this happens accidentally, e.g., people beat the werewolf to drive it away, or it is bitten by dogs<ref name="НДП2" /> or wolves,<ref name="никиф2" /> gored by a bull, or caught on a fence stake or tree. Other methods include: bathing in running water; passing between the legs of the one who cursed them (Ukrainians); throwing manure at the werewolf (Brest Region; manure, a fertility source, was used to repel evil forces); disenchanting with a charm;<ref name="НДП2" /> cutting an enchanted belt, with the curse lifting if it bursts on its own; or driving two aspen stakes into the corners of a house (Belarusians). The main difficulty in helping a werewolf regain their form was recognizing them among other wolves. However, Belarusians believed that if a woman helps a werewolf revert, she risks becoming a werewolf herself.<ref name="никиф2" /> In some stories, the one who cast the curse lifts it, either by performing a magical act or indicating what to do; some believed only they could do so. However, in some places, it was believed the curse could not be lifted before its term. A common motif is that during reversion, the werewolf's pelt or enchanted belt bursts.<ref name=":12" />
Amulets against transformation into a werewolf were almost unknown.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":11" /> Ukrainians believed a sorcerer could not turn someone into a werewolf if their true name was hidden.<ref name=":5" /> In Kyiv Governorate, people prayed to Saint Vukol (Vakula) to protect against transformations. Ukrainians also believed that someone who had been a werewolf could not become one again.<ref name="bal" />
Additionally, there were beliefs that some people had innate or acquired abilities for periodic shape-shifting.<ref name="Коваль1742" /> This type of transformation is common in Polish, Balkan, Ukrainian Carpathians, and to a lesser extent, Polesia beliefs.<ref name="НДП2" /> It is rare in Russian and Belarusian traditions. Werewolves could include children whose parents violated certain taboos: those born to a woman who saw a wolf during pregnancy, especially after moonset (Ukrainians and Slovenes), or ate meat from an animal killed by a wolf (Ukrainians); those whose parents worked on a holiday; children conceived on a forbidden day (a church holiday or during a fast),<ref name="НДП2" /> such as Easter (Volyn Oblast, Boikivshchyna),<ref name="Левкович">{{Cite journal |last=Levkovych |first=N. M. |year=2012 |title=Traditional Boiko Beliefs about the Souls of Deceased Children (Based on Field Materials) |trans-title=Tradytsiyni uyavlennya boykiv pro dushi pomerlykh ditey (Za pol'ovymy materialamy) |url=http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Vlnu_ist_2012_47_13 |journal=Visnyk of Lviv University. Historical Series |language=uk |issue=47 |pages=237 |issn=2078-6107 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220143851/http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Vlnu_ist_2012_47_13 |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2025}}</ref> on Sunday, at midnight, or in an "evil" moment. This type of belief reflects the motif of redemption borne by the next generation for the sins of the previous one.<ref name="НДП2" /> Birth during certain periods also doomed one to wolf transformations, such as during Christmas (Northern Bulgaria)<ref name="Fol">{{Cite book |last=Fol |first=V. |url=https://www.academia.edu/3121927 |title=Studia archeologiae et historiae antiquae: Doctissimo viro Scientiarum Archeologiae et Historiae Ion Niculiţă, anno septuagesimo aetatis suae, dedicatur |publisher=Bons Offices |year=2009 |isbn=978-9975-80-239-0 |editor= |location=Chișinău |pages=122 |chapter=The wolf / the dog and the North as the direction of wisdom |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720165630/https://www.academia.edu/3121927/Studia_archeologiae_et_historiae_antiquae_Doctissimo_viro_Scientiarum_Archeologiae_et_Historiae_Ion_Niculiţă_anno_septuagesimo_aetatis_suae_dedicatur |archive-date=July 20, 2023}}</ref> or under a specific planet (Pokuttia). Werewolves could include children born to a woman impregnated by a wolf (Zhytomyr Oblast,<ref name="НДП2" /> Boikivshchyna,<ref name="Левкович" /> Slovenia) or a vampire (Slovakia), double-souled beings (with two souls and sometimes hearts; Poland<ref name="Baranowski2">{{harvnb|Baranowski|1981|page=149}}</ref> and Ukrainian Carpathians), children cursed by parents, those whose godparents thought of werewolves during baptism, or the seventh son of a seventh son of the same gender in a family. Ukrainians and Slovenes believed werewolves are born feet first, Ukrainians also believed with natal teeth, and Slovenes believed "in a caul". However, Slovenes believed such a child could avoid becoming a werewolf if properly turned at birth or if a piece of the caul was sewn to their shoulder. Werewolves could also include those transformed after death, unbaptized or improperly baptized infants,<ref name="НДП2" /> suicides, those committing specific sins (e.g., in the ''Chronicles of the Poznań Benedictines'' from 1609, a Lutheran merchant named Ridt, living near the new Benedictine convent in Poznań, compared the nuns’ daily singing to wolf howling, died suddenly, turned into a wolf on the day of his death, and repented his sin, doomed to roam the forests as a wolf until the Last Judgment),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Łukaszewicz |first=Józef |url=https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/3213?id=3213 |title=Historical and Statistical Picture of the City of Poznań in Earlier Times |publisher=Czcionkami C.A. Pompjusza |year=1838 |volume=II |location=Poznań |pages=309 |language=pl |trans-title=Obraz historyczno-statystyczny miasta Poznania w dawniejszych czasach |chapter=Chapter XIV. Chronicle. |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203203757/https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/show-content/publication/edition/3213?id=3213 |archive-date=February 3, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Polish, Ruthenian, and Lithuanian Legends and Tales |publisher=Księgarnia J. K. Żupańskiego, Czcionkami N. Kamieńskiego i Spółki |year=1845 |editor=Lucjan Siemieński |location=Poznań |pages=138 |language=pl |trans-title=Podania i legendy polskie, ruskie i litewskie |chapter=143. Poznań Merchant as a Werewolf. From the Chronicles of the Poznań Benedictines}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kolberg |first=Oskar |url=https://polona.pl/item/14269674/0/ |title=Lud (dzieło) |publisher=Polskie towarzystwo ludoznawcze |year=1982 |volume=9 (Poznań Region, Part I) |location=Warsaw, Poznań |pages=[https://polona.pl/item/14269674/27/ 14] |language=pl |trans-title=Dzieła wszystkie |chapter=Poznań County |access-date=July 27, 2025}}</ref> criminals (Gomel Region, Poland), and sorcerers and witches. A Czech source preserves a legend about the Polish Łaski family from near Łęczyca: as a curse for one of their ancestors killing Saint Stanisław (1030–1079) by order of King Bolesław II the Bold, each year one family member had to turn into a wolf and live in the forest for a year. Notably, Zygmunt Łaski, a young knight under King John III Sobieski, who fought in the Battle of Vienna in 1683 and promised to return to Regina Gerstenkorn, daughter of the burggrave of Černá Hora castle, Christian Gerstenkorn, whom he intended to marry while hoping to overcome the family curse, allegedly turned into a wolf and was killed on May 7, 1684 (the anniversary of Saint Stanisław's murder) by a local forester named Stanisław. Before dying, he confessed his story to a priest administering Eucharist (likely a real hunting accident embellished with fantastical details or a retelling of the Irish legend of the Werewolves of Ossory).<ref name="Berwiński3">{{Cite book |last=Berwiński |first=Ryszard W. |url=http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=67801 |title=Studia o literaturze ludowej ze stanowiska historycznej i naukowej krytyki |publisher=Nakładem autora |year=1854 |volume=2 |location=Poznań |pages=53 |language=pl |trans-title=Studies on Folk Literature from the Perspective of Historical and Scientific Criticism |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918080108/http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=67801 |archive-date=September 18, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=''Jakub Malý'' Collected Folk Tales and Legends. Volume III |publisher=Tisk a Sklad Jar. Pospíšila |year=1845 |location=Prague |pages=85–101 |language=cs |trans-title=Sebrané báchorky a pověsti národní. Swazek III |chapter=Pan Laski. Tale}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pilnáček |first=Josef |url=https://www.obalkyknih.cz/view?nbn=cnb000551298 |title=Memoirs of the Town of Černá Hora |publisher=Tiskl Ant. Odehnal v Brně — nákladem vlastním |year=1926 |location=Černá Hora |pages=203–204 |language=cs |trans-title=Paměti městyse Černé Hory |access-date=July 27, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423203028/https://www.obalkyknih.cz/view?nbn=cnb000551298 |archive-date=April 23, 2024}}</ref> In Poznań, it was said that to identify a werewolf, one should circle the suspected person three times with bread in the mouth, causing the werewolf to begin transforming. In Polish Pomerania, it was believed that cutting off the tail could end regular transformations.
== Appearance == [[File:Eurasian_wolf.JPG|thumb|300x300px|Eurasian wolf, a subspecies of wolf common in Slavic countries]] During transformation, a werewolf's hands become covered in fur and turn into paws, causing them to stand on all fours.<ref name=":12" /> With very rare exceptions, they can no longer speak human language, only howl.<ref name="НДП2" /> However, details of the transformation are rarely specified.<ref name="wil" /><ref name=":5" />
Werewolves are primarily described as entirely ordinary wolves,{{Sfn|Bondarenko|2015|p=170}} However, some accounts note certain peculiarities in their appearance and behavior. According to some beliefs, werewolves retain some human traits. For example, in Kaluga Governorate, it was believed that the joints of a werewolf's hind legs are turned forward like a human's, rather than backward like a wolf's. In Gomel Region, they were said to cast a human shadow. In Smolensk Governorate, they had a human reflection. In Polesie, they emitted a human scent. Belarusians noted human eyes.<ref name="Lyatsky3">{{cite journal |last=Lyatsky |first=E. A. |year=1890 |title=Belarusian beliefs about evil spirits |trans-title=Представления белоруса о нечистой силе |url=http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/12678-4-god-2-y-kn-vii-1890#page/48/mode/inspect/zoom/7 |journal=Ethnographic Review |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=40 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918223237/http://elib.shpl.ru/ru/nodes/12678-4-god-2-y-kn-vii-1890#page/48/mode/inspect/zoom/7 |archive-date=September 18, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2025 <!-- 01:08 PM CST --> }}</ref> In Cherkasy Oblast, they left human footprints from their hind paws. Among the Lusatians, a folktale describes werewolves whistling by placing a front paw in their mouth. In Brest Region, it was said they could cross their paws on their chest. In Zakarpattia, they could snatch a hunter's rifle with their teeth.{{Sfn|Potushnyak|2011|p=291}} On the Russian North, it was believed that in areas without fur, a werewolf's clothing or scraps of it were visible. When hunters killed a werewolf, they found a human and/or clothing, jewelry, or money beneath its hide. In a folktale from Grodno Governorate, they even found a violin belonging to an enchanted musician. In Vitebsk Governorate, it was said that a wounded werewolf might cry out "ah", and wolves would gather and howl over its corpse for a long time. From this, as well as motifs of draping a wolf's hide over a person to turn them into a wolf and its cracking or tearing during reverse transformation, it can be inferred that the wolf's hide was considered an external shell imprisoning the werewolf, concealing and binding its human essence. In the appearance of werewolves, new traits could emerge that were characteristic neither of wolves nor humans. For example, Kashubians believed a werewolf's eyes looked like glowing coals. Belarusians and Poles claimed werewolves had a large head with two additional eyes on the back, allowing them to see in all directions.<ref name="Bogdanovich3">{{cite book |last=Bogdanovich |first=A. E. |title=Remnants of ancient worldview among Belarusians. Ethnographic essay |publisher=Gubernskaya Tipografiya |year=1895 |location=Grodno |pages=145–146 |trans-title=Пережитки древнего миросозерцания у белорусов. Этнографический очерк |chapter=Companions of evil forces |access-date=July 27, 2025 <!-- 01:08 PM CST --> |chapter-url=http://www.bookva.org/books/760 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003749/http://www.bookva.org/books/760 |archive-date=March 5, 2016}}</ref>{{Sfn|Brückner|1985|p=287}} Poles, Belarusians, and Hutsuls believed werewolves were larger, stronger, and more invulnerable than ordinary wolves (for example, some believed they were immune to unconsecrated bullets).{{Sfn|Khobzey|2002|p=80}}{{Sfn|Baranowski|1981}}
A distinguishing feature of congenital werewolves in human form was various zoomorphic traits. Among Poles and South Slavs, hair resembling wolf fur was noted. Among West Slavs, conjoined eyebrows (the so-called "wolf's eye" among South Slavs)<ref name="zhur" /> and the presence of a tail were observed. Slovenes noted "wolf-like" teeth.<ref name="Kropej4">{{cite book |last=Kropej |first=Monika |author-link=Monika Kropej |title=Supernatural Beings from Slovenian Myth and Folktales |publisher=ZRC Publishing in association with the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology at ZRC SAZU |year=2012 |isbn=978-961-254-428-7 |editor=Transl. by N. S. Dular and V. Batagelj |series=Studia mythologica Slavica. Supplementa, ISSN 1581-9744 ; suppl. 6 |location=Ljubljana |pages=196–198, 245 |chapter=Volkodlak; Werewolf |access-date=July 27, 2025 <!-- 01:08 PM CST --> |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/7119416 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611082847/https://www.academia.edu/7119416/Supernatural_Beings_from_Slovenian_Myth_and_Folktales |archive-date=June 11, 2016}}</ref> Poles observed a fierce gaze, pale face, excessive facial hair, and protruding vertebrae. A small hole in the skin under the armpit allowed the skin to be turned inside out, revealing the wolf's hide.{{Sfn|Manugiewicz|1930|p=461}} In Zakarpattia, it was believed that a "vovkun" (werewolf) attacked human livestock even after death, and only two twin oxen could move the coffin containing its body.<ref>{{cite web |last=Shipovich |first=Yuriy |author-link=Yuriy Yuryevich Shipovich |date=May 2, 2014 |title=Carpatho-Rusyn Gothic in "Folk Beliefs" by F. Potushnyak, "Our Native Land" by Alexander Markush, and "Svalyava Region in Tales and Legends" by L. Andrela |trans-title=Карпаторусинська готика у «Народных вірованях» Ф. Потушняка, «Нашому родному крайови» Александера Маркуша и «Свалявщині у переказах и легендах» Л. Андрелы |url=http://transkarpatia.net/transcarpathia/our-news/30526-karpatorusinska-gotika-u-narodnyh-vrovanyah.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709022829/http://transkarpatia.net/transcarpathia/our-news/30526-karpatorusinska-gotika-u-narodnyh-vrovanyah.html |archive-date=July 9, 2014 |access-date=July 27, 2025 <!-- 01:08 PM CST --> |website=Zakarpattia / News in Our Way |publisher=Zakarpattia News: Information Portal |language=rue}}</ref>
When an enchanted werewolf returns to human form, they are, according to various beliefs, naked (because their clothes rotted away), covered in fur (Smolensk Governorate), with calloused (Polesie){{Sfn|Davidyuk|1992|p=72}} or blistered (Poland) hands{{Sfn|Pelka|1987|p=203}} from walking on all fours, mute (among Ukrainians), unsociable, or "wild". They return to a normal human state by wearing new clothes, eating human food, hearing a church bell (among Ukrainians), or bathing in a bathhouse (Smolensk Governorate). Some beliefs held that former werewolves permanently retained, especially if the transformation process was disrupted, fur on parts of the body, even under the tongue,{{Sfn|Novichkova|1995|p=112}} wolf paws, a tail, a mouth, eyes, or fangs, large conjoined eyebrows, red eyes (Grodno Governorate),{{Sfn|Tokarev|2012|p=45}}{{Sfn|Shein|1902|p=257}} wolf-like curved palms or feet, or a wild gaze. Wounds received in wolf form remained after returning to human form. In one Ukrainian folktale, a werewolf who returned to human form appeared much older than expected, as each week in wolf form counted as a year.{{Sfn|Ivanov|1900|p=295}}
Among Poles, Lusatians,{{Sfn|Wollman|1926|p=134}} Slovenes,<ref name="Kropej4" />{{Sfn|Češarek|2015}} and in Rivne Oblast,{{Sfn|Vinogradova|2010|p=542}} there is occasionally a belief in werewolves as half-human, half-wolf beings (cf. Bugul Noz, Lougarou), with a wolf-like upper body or only head. According to a Polish legend, Jesus deprived these beings of bipedalism as punishment for attempting to eat a human.{{Sfn|Slupecki|2011|p=143}}
In the Old Russian forbidden book ''Charovnik'', it is stated that the ability to transform into a wolf is necessary for transforming into a bear. In Zakarpattia, it was believed that a werewolf transforms into a wolf for one month and a bear for the next.{{Sfn|Ivanov|1900|p=418}} N. A. Krinichnaya suggests that this duality is due to the fact that, in a tribal system, the bear clan could belong to the phratry of the wolf. According to South Russian and Ukrainian beliefs, werewolves, besides wolves, typically transform into black dogs and cats.{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008|p=45}} In folk beliefs, a dog is somewhat equated with a wolf but also opposed to it; for example, in folk tales, the dog's form is paired with the wolf's in contests between a shape-shifting hero and their antagonist.{{Sfn|Krinichnaya|2004|p=669}}
== Lifestyle == [[File:Alfred_von_Wierusz-Kowalski_Der_Wolf.jpg|left|thumb|300x300px|Alfred Wierusz-Kowalski. Lone Wolf. 1913]] Beliefs about the behavior of werewolves vary.<ref name=":12" /> In most cases, it was believed that they retained human intelligence, but there are stories in which a former werewolf remembers nothing of what happened in wolf form, as if they were unconscious.<ref name=":5" />
Sorcerers and witches typically transformed into wolves at night and returned to human form in the morning.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":14" /> The purpose of their transformation into wolves is not always specified by the storyteller, often simply stated that they "run as wolves",{{Sfn|Vlasova|2008}} but when a purpose is mentioned, it usually involves attacking livestock, intimidating, or killing people, (sometimes even those who sleep at home).<ref name="нович2">{{Cite book |last=Novichkova |first=Т. А. |title=Русский демонологический словарь |publisher=Peterburgsky Pisatel |year=1995 |isbn=5-265-02803-X |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=114–117 |trans-title=Russian Demonological Dictionary |chapter=Волкодлак}}</ref> Additionally, "knowledgeable" people transformed into animals to move across terrain more quickly. A mother in wolf form might prevent her son from attending a party.<ref name="СДЭСО2" /> Among Ukrainians, there were beliefs that Zaporozhian Cossacks could transform into wolves,<ref name=":15" /> especially character actors, such as Ivan Sirko (c. 1610–1680),<ref name="Пилипчук">{{Cite journal |last=Пилипчук |first=Я. В. |year=2014 |title=Ментальность и идеология кыпчаков |trans-title=Mentality and ideology of the Kipchaks |url=https://www.academia.edu/4516945 |journal=Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi |volume=20 (2013) |pages=133 |issn=0724-8822 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720171138/https://www.academia.edu/4516945/Пилипчук_Я.В._Ментальность_и_идеология_кыпчаков_Archivum_Eurasiae_Medii_Aevi._Vol._20_2013_._Wiesbaden_2014._С._129-165_Mentality_and_ideology_of_Kipchaks_in_Russian_ |archive-date=July 20, 2023 |access-date=August 3, 2025}}</ref> and other chieftains.<ref name=":15" />
Those born as werewolves transform into wolves at specific times of the day, often at night,<ref name="ЕССКУ">{{Cite book |last1=Kotsur |first1=V. |url=http://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Kotsur_Viktor/Entsyklopedychnyi_slovnyk_symvoliv_kultury_Ukrainy.pdf |title=Енциклопедичний словник символів культури України |last2=Potapenko |first2=O. |last3=Kuibida |first3=V. |publisher=FOP V. M. Havryshenko |year=2015 |isbn=978-966-2464-48-1 |edition=5th |location=Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi |pages=209–210 |language=uk |trans-title=Encyclopedic Dictionary of Symbols of Ukrainian Culture |chapter=Демонології української символіка: Вовкулака / Л. Е. Довбня |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126112403/http://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Kotsur_Viktor/Entsyklopedychnyi_slovnyk_symvoliv_kultury_Ukrainy.pdf |archive-date=November 26, 2019}}</ref> and/or during certain times of the year. Ukrainians believed that a werewolf is a wolf for one month and a human for another, or that they transform into a wolf on Saint George's Day (May 6 or April 23 in the Julian calendar), and back into a human on Saint Nicholas Day (December 19 or December 6).<ref name="ЕССКУ" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Voropai, O. I. |url=http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0000506 |title=Звичаї нашого народу : етнографічний нарис : [у 2 т.] |publisher=Ukrainian Publishing House |year=1958 |edition=reprint, 2010 |volume=1 |location=Munich |pages=11 |language=uk |trans-title=Customs of Our People: Ethnographic Essay: [in 2 vols.] |chapter=Звичаї — скарб українського народу |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310065927/http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0000506 |archive-date=March 10, 2022}}</ref> Alternatively, the reverse transformation occurs on Easter or Christmas Eve (January 6 or December 24). Poles believed transformations occurred on specific holidays: Saint Nicholas Day (December 6), Saint Lucy's Day (December 13), Christmas (December 25), Epiphany (January 6), Easter, Corpus Christi, Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), and Our Lady of the Herbs (July 2). In some regions (Ukrainian Carpathians, Slovakia, and to a lesser extent Polesia), transformations were linked to lunar phases (full moon, new moon, or waxing/waning moon).<ref name="Орава">{{Cite book |last=Valentsova, M. M. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/396--19782006 |title=Славянский и балканский фольклор: Виноградье. К юбилею Людмилы Николаевны Виноградовой |publisher=Indrik |year=2011 |isbn=978-5-91674-165-0 |editor=A. V. Gura |location=Moscow |pages=162–163 |trans-title=Slavic and Balkan Folklore: Vinogradye. In Honor of Lyudmila Nikolaevna Vinogradova |chapter=Демонологические представления Оравы |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318000321/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/396--19782006 |archive-date=March 18, 2016}}</ref> It was generally believed that such werewolves, unable to control their behavior, hunted livestock and people. They might even attack their loved ones. Tales were widespread about a werewolf husband unsuccessfully attacking his wife, who later recognizes him by a piece of her dress stuck in his teeth.<ref name="верх2">{{Cite book |last=Plotnikova, A. A. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/396--19782006 |title=Славянский и балканский фольклор: Виноградье. К юбилею Людмилы Николаевны Виноградовой |publisher=Indrik |year=2011 |isbn=978-5-91674-165-0 |editor=A. V. Gura |location=Moscow |pages=145 |trans-title=Slavic and Balkan Folklore: Vinogradye. In Honor of Lyudmila Nikolaevna Vinogradova |chapter=Народная мифология в закарпатской Верховине |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318000321/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/396--19782006 |archive-date=March 18, 2016}}</ref> Among the Gorals in Slovakia, a fairy tale was recorded about a werewolf father who eats all his daughters except one, who escapes through cunning and later marries a king. Ukrainians believed that werewolves, when in human form, do not attend church, observe customs, or greet others.<ref name="ЕССКУ" /> According to Ukrainian and Slovak beliefs, they have sexual relations with witches, resulting in vampires. Among Eastern Slavs, it was believed that such werewolves become vampires after death, so their mouths were sealed with a coin.{{Sfn|Ivanov|Toporov|1988|p=243}}<ref name="bal" />
In various regions, it was believed that werewolves became active during the Twelve Days of Christmas,<ref name="нович2" /> and on Kupala Night. They mingled with other revelers and freely entered any home. In Vologda Governorate, it was said that during Christmas games, they posed difficult questions to girls, though the consequences for not answering were not specified. In Smolensk Governorate, stories described werewolves in human form attending a party and killing girls. Werewolves could also attack girls performing Christmas divinations.<ref name="нович2" /> Poles believed werewolves could rape women. In Transcarpathia, it was said that werewolves roamed villages at night, howling terrifyingly, peering into windows, and banging on doors. According to some beliefs, werewolves ate human flesh and drank human blood. In Polesia, there was a belief that they undressed a person before eating them. Polish folk etymology interpreted the word "wilkołak" as "a wolf craving (''łaknący'') human blood" and derived werewolves from those cursed by Jesus for loving only meat, eventually craving human flesh.<ref name="сап">{{Cite book |last=Sapkowski, A. |title=Нет золота в Серых Горах |publisher=AST |year=2002 |isbn=5-17-011011-1 |location=Moscow |translator=E. Vaysbrot |trans-title=There Is No Gold in the Grey Mountains |chapter=Бестиарий Анджея Сапковского: Волколак}}</ref> Retaining human intelligence in wolf form, they could pick locks, lead wolf packs, and devise complex plans to attack people. Ukrainians believed werewolves could cause epidemics. In Lublin Voivodeship, it was thought that werewolves dug up freshly buried corpses.<ref name="wil" /><ref name=":13" /><div style="font-size: 85%; float: right; clear: right; margin: 0em 0em 1em 1em; padding: 0.5em; border: 1px solid; width: 318px;"> "Werewolves" feed exclusively on plant-based food. Wandering through forests and roads, they carefully collect edible scraps and crumbs discarded by people, not shying away from the bones of edible animals.<...> Only on days of breaking the fast do "werewolves" eat meat obtained through predation, but not in their native or nearby village, only in distant places.<...>
The lifestyle of "werewolves" differs from that of ordinary wolves. Thus, "werewolves" howl toward the east or their villages when they go to sleep or wake up—this is their prayer; in the morning, they wash by rubbing their muzzles on dewy grass, following habit, and in early spring, they dig the earth with their paws—plowing".<ref name=":16">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160416224617/http://libarch.nmu.org.ua/handle/GenofondUA/3716 Простонародные приметы и поверья, суеверные обряды и обычаи, легендарные сказания о лицах и местах] / Собр. в Витебской Белоруссии Н. Я. Никифоровский. Витебск: Губернская Типо-Литография, 1897. pp. 67–70, 264.</ref> </div>Those forcibly transformed into wolves, according to some beliefs, suffer from fear and despair, miss human life, and wish to become human again. They do not attack livestock or people, only targeting the one who curse them. They cannot return to human settlements, so they live in dens, roam forests, howl like wolves, but retain their human essence, human intelligence, and the ability to understand human speech. They stay close to settlements and their homes, (Masurians believed only a werewolf could enter a settlement during the day),<ref name="Wollman" /> look at people pitifully, and even cry, seeking help, though attempts to contact humans usually fail. A common motif involves a werewolf asking a human for help after getting a thorn in its paw. According to other beliefs, werewolves only kill livestock but do not eat it, or they are forced to serve wolves, attacking livestock on their orders and giving them the spoils. It was believed that a werewolf cannot eat carrion and/or raw meat, attempting to cook the latter over the embers of recently extinguished fires. Such a werewolf eats roots, wild berries, steals food from shepherds, and from cellars, consumes barely edible items like harnesses, shoe soles (Vitebsk Governorate),<ref name=":16" /> or rotten stumps (Gomel Region),<ref name="SDFS2" /> or only licks trees or sticks touched by humans. Sometimes people, especially relatives, feed them. In some areas, such as the Russian North, it was believed that eating raw meat would make a werewolf remain a beast forever.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":5" />
However, other beliefs held that werewolves, though reluctantly, had to adapt to eating raw meat. It was often thought that werewolves are always solitary, not associating with real wolves, as wolves mock them or might attack them if they detect a human scent.<ref name="Pełka2" /> In Vitebsk Governorate, it was believed that werewolves wash with dew by rubbing their muzzles on grass, dig the earth in spring like peasants, make pillows from branches and stones, and howl-pray toward the east or their village. There are stories where a werewolf integrates with wolves, is accepted into their pack, and hunts with them, sometimes even leading it.<ref name="НДП2" /> In Polesia, it was believed that a werewolf could understand wolf speech immediately after transformation and communicate with wolves, while Ural Cossacks thought this ability came after eating raw meat. Wolves could teach an inexperienced werewolf forest life; in one Ukrainian legend, Saint George orders them to do so. Ukrainians considered Saint George the patron of both real wolves and werewolves. In a Western Polesia tale, a former werewolf helps a wolf pack avoid a planned hunt. Belarusians believed that if a pregnant woman became a werewolf, she would still give birth to a human child, but if she became pregnant in wolf form, the child would be a werewolf who, after the mother's curse ends, would become human but with a bad character.<ref name=":16" /><ref name="SDFS2" /> In Brest Region, it was thought that such a she-wolf comes to people to give birth, lying on a porch and asking to be let in through a window, hiding under a stove or bench. Stories also told of a woman turned into a wolf who returned home to nurse her child. According to South Slavic beliefs, an enchanted werewolf becomes a wolf only at night, shedding its wolf skin during the day. Hutsuls believed a sorcerer could control enchanted werewolves. There are rare tales where a werewolf behaves entirely like a wolf. Overall, werewolves exist between human and animal worlds, belonging to neither. In some cases, even regaining human form brought no relief, as loved ones might have died or friends forgotten them. In some Polish stories, a former werewolf, realizing their irrelevance to humans, becomes a wolf again. Psychological changes could occur, such as a desire to eat their child, dementia, reclusiveness, anger, and hostility. Some stories describe a werewolf, regaining human form, taking revenge on their enchanter with the help of a "knowledgeable" person, turning them into a beast.<ref name="НДП2" /> [[File:Wolf_(Damaskinos_Stouditis,_XVIII).png|thumb|213x213px|Wolf. Drawing from the 18th-century illustrated manuscript of Damaskinos Stouditis's ''Collection on the Properties of Animals'']] People's attitudes toward werewolves varied depending on whether their transformation was voluntary. Sorcerer werewolves were viewed negatively, feared, and people sought to protect themselves and punish them for witchcraft.<ref name="wil" /> It was believed that werewolves feared the cross, and in some Polish regions, pitchforks. In Smolensk and Voronezh Governorate, people prayed to Saint Bucolus for protection.<ref>Korifinsky A. A. [https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C_(%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)/%D0%A4%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9 Февраль-бокогрей] // [https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8C_(%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%84%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9) Народная Русь: Круглый год сказаний, поверий, обычаев и пословиц русского народа.] <abbr>М.</abbr>: Издание книгопродавца М. В. Клюкина, 1901. P. 131.</ref> Poles and Ukrainians believed that Saint Nicholas or Saint George allowed werewolves to attack only evil, dishonest people, or sinners. To prevent a werewolf attack at night, it was advised to sleep with an unbuttoned shirt collar, cross the pillow, place a religious book nearby, cross the bed three times, and pray. Women were to sleep in a head covering (cap or headscarf).<ref name="нович2" /> In Volhynia, during Apple Feast, upon hearing a wolf's howl while going to church, it was believed to be a werewolf; to protect their household, people sprinkled consecrated poppy seeds underfoot and said: "Pooh, pooh, Mother of God, restore human form to the one who cries out and seeks your help". There are known cases of mob justice against suspected werewolves and rare instances of trials against alleged werewolves. Enchanted werewolves were met with sympathy, and people tried to help them regain human form. Innate lycanthropy often absolved werewolves of responsibility for their actions in the eyes of the people. E. Wilczyńska, based on Polish material, concludes that the fewer wolves in a region, and thus the less harm they caused to households, the better the attitude toward werewolves.<ref name="wil" />
Slavs considered werewolves responsible for eclipses. Werewolves that devour the moon and sun and put away clouds are mentioned in the Nomocanons: the Serbian (Ilovitsa) of 1262<ref name="Лома">{{Cite journal |last=Loma |first=A. |year=2013 |title=Свети Сава и облакогонци |trans-title=Collection of Works of the Institute for Byzantine Studies |url=http://www.byzinst-sasa.rs/srp/uploaded/PDF%20izdanja/ZRVI%2050-2.pdf |journal=Зборник Радова Византолошког Института |language=sr |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=1042 |doi=10.2298/ZRVI1350041L |issn=0584-9888 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322171651/http://www.byzinst-sasa.rs/srp/uploaded/PDF%20izdanja/ZRVI%2050-2.pdf |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |access-date=August 3, 2025}}</ref><ref name="пот">{{Cite book |last=Potybnja |first=A. A. |title=Символ и миф в народной культуре |publisher=Labyrinth |year=2000 |isbn=5-87604-107-6 |editor=Toporkov A. L. |series=Collected Works |location=Moscow |pages=305 |trans-title=Symbol and Myth in Folk Culture}}</ref> and the Russian of 1282:<ref name="нович2" /> "Those chasing clouds from settlements are called werewolves; when the moon or sun perishes, they say: werewolves ate the moon or sun".<ref name="Лома" /><ref name="пот" /> Similar references exist in Old Czech sources. Echoes of this may persist in Slovenian ("sonce jedeno") and Russian ("the grey wolf catches stars in the sky") expressions. Similar beliefs about werewolves devouring celestial bodies persisted in the Balkans<ref name="Георгиева">{{Cite book |last=Georgieva |first=I. P. |title=Българска народна митология |publisher=Nauka i Izkustvo |year=1993 |isbn=954-02-0077-6 |edition=2nd revised and expanded |location=Sofia |pages=204–205 |language=bg |trans-title=Bulgarian Folk Mythology}}</ref><ref name="гол">{{Cite book |last=Голант |first=Н. Г. |url=http://www.kunstkamera.ru/lib/rubrikator/07/978-5-88431-287-6/ |title=Материалы полевых исследований МАЭ РАН |publisher=MAE RAS |year=2015 |isbn=978-5-88431-287-6 |editor=E. G. Fedorova |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=130–131 |trans-title=Field Research Materials of MAE RAS |chapter=Мифологические представления влахов Восточной Сербии (по материалам экспедиций 2013–2014 гг.) |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420054106/http://www.kunstkamera.ru/lib/rubrikator/07/978-5-88431-287-6/ |archive-date=April 20, 2016 |issue=15}}</ref> and the Ukrainian Carpathians into the 20th century, though under this name, among South Slavs and Romanians, it referred to a serpent-like creature,<ref name="Георгиева" /><ref name="гол" /> or sometimes just a wolf among the latter.<ref name="Георгиева" /> When devouring, the injured celestial bodies redden as if bleeding.<ref name="Георгиева" /><ref name="гол" /> Among Hutsuls, a legend held that werewolves eat the moon because it bears the images of two brothers, one of whom killed the other over a land dispute, from whom werewolves descend. Slovenes believed eclipses occur when two werewolves fight each other. However, werewolves devour celestial bodies slowly, allowing them to recover. In Northwest Bulgaria, it was believed that only a hole remains of the moon.<ref name="Георгиева" /> To drive away the demon and allow the celestial bodies to recover, people had to make loud noises.<ref name="Георгиева" /> Parallels to the motif of a wolf devouring the sun can be found in Germanic mythology.<ref name="Лома" />
== Werewolf and vampire == South Slavic beliefs connect the werewolf with the vampire (upyr),{{Sfn|Tokarev|2012|p=45}} that is, a walking corpse that kills people (in some regions, drinks their blood or crushes the sleeping), or harms them, their livestock, and property. In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, terms derived from "volkodlak" (werewolf) are the dominant names for such a character, while in Slovenia, eastern Bosnia, and eastern Herzegovina, derivatives of both "volkodlak" and "vampire" are used equally often (though in some regions, derivatives of "vampire" refer to the devil).<ref name="плот">{{Cite book |last=Plotnikova |first=A. A. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/658--2004 |title=Этнолингвистическая география Южной Славии |publisher=Indrik |year=2004 |isbn=5-85759-287-9 |series=Traditional Spiritual Culture of the Slavs. Contemporary Studies |location=Moscow |pages=213 |trans-title=Ethnolinguistic Geography of South Slavia |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321154243/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/658--2004 |archive-date=March 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Петровић">{{Cite book |last=Petrović |first=S. |title=Српска митологија. I књига. Систем српске митологије [e-book] |publisher=Prosveta |year=1999 |location=Niš |page=66 |language=sr |trans-title=Serbian Mythology. Book I. System of Serbian Mythology}}</ref> However, in some areas, the meaning of "wolf-shapeshifter" for derivatives of "volkodlak" persists.<ref name="плот" /> It is generally considered that this blending of images is secondary,<ref name="плот" /> although A. A. Potebnja once attempted to prove the original conflation of the images of wolf, vampire, and serpent among Slavs. In non-Slavic Balkan languages, the word ''volkodlak'' was also borrowed, primarily in the sense of a vampire. However, in modern Balkan languages, it is consistently used to translate Western names for wolf-shapeshifters.<ref name="новик2013">{{Cite journal |last=Novikova |first=Т. |year=2013 |title=К вопросу об этимологии номинаций образа вампира и его семантике |trans-title=On the Etymology of Vampire Nomenclature and Its Semantics |url=http://www.apsl.edu.pl/polilog/pliki/nr3/19.pdf |journal=Studia Neofilologiczne |issue=3 |pages=230–231 |issn=1897-4244 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402224146/http://www.apsl.edu.pl/polilog/pliki/nr3/19.pdf |archive-date=April 2, 2014 |access-date=August 3, 2025}}</ref>
In Slovenian mythology, the word ''volkodlak'' refers to a being that can shift between human and wolf forms, described both as a demon and as a human with supernatural abilities,<ref name="Мороз">{{Cite book |last=Moroz |first=A. B. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/865--2000 |title=Миф в культуре: Человек — не-человек |publisher=Indrik |year=2000 |isbn=5-85759-106-6 |editor=L. A. Sofronova, L. N. Titova |series=Library of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 14 |location=Moscow |pages=81–82 |trans-title=Myth in Culture: Human — Non-Human |chapter=Волк в южнославянской народной культуре: Человеческое и демоническое |access-date=August 3, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402043853/http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/865--2000 |archive-date=April 2, 2016}}</ref> acquired, for example, through a mother's curse or insult<ref name="плот" />{{Sfn|Češarek|2015|p=134–138, 146, 152}}<ref name="Мороз" /> or enchanted at a wedding.<ref name="плот" /> In the latter case, reverting to human form is difficult.<ref name="Мороз" /> These beings live in caves and pits.<ref name="плот" /> From sexual relations between volkodlaks and women, offspring may appear normal or be hairy, tailed, and with wolf-like teeth.<ref name="плот" /><ref name="Мороз" /> According to some sources, transformation into a wolf occurs at night, during which the volkodlak may attack and devour people.{{Sfn|Češarek|2015|p=134–138, 146, 152}}<ref name="Мороз" />
In Bulgarian mythology, the word ''върколак'' describes both a vampire and a human shapeshifter,<ref name="плот" /> transforming into a wolf at night or during specific times of the year. Those who incurred the wrath and vengeance of a sorcerer or witch could become it: at night, an evil spirit with a wolf skin would appear and order them to wear it; afterward, they roamed as wolves at night, reverting to human form at dawn by shedding the wolf skin. Bulgarians have legends about transformations into върколаки at weddings and about discovering a human under the skin of a killed wolf. They may also envision the vampire itself, among other forms, as a wolf. A vampire could arise from someone whose mother ate meat from animals killed by wolves during pregnancy or whose burial clothes were sewn during the "wolf days". Additionally, there are beliefs that the blood of a murdered person could turn into an evil spirit върколак that visits its native home.<ref name="Gura2" /><ref name="Георгиева" />
In Macedonian beliefs, "volkolak" means "vampire on the fortieth day", or "dead but alive, similar to an ordinary person". Macedonians believed that a volkolak could engage in sexual relations with their living spouse and conceive a child: "From a volkolak, a son, volkolache". A. A. Plotnikova notes that this term is typical, particularly for the village of Peštani, as the center of the most remote southwestern part of the Macedonian ethnic region, and is characterized by cultural parallels in Albanian mythology, as well as along the coast of the Adriatic Sea (southern Herzegovina, Dalmatia), in Bosnia, and Croatia.<ref>Plotnikova A. A [https://etno.pmf.ukim.mk/index.php/eaz/article/view/133 . Ethnological — linguistic program in the Macedonian center of «Miniature Dialectal atlas of the Balkanik languages»] (макед.) = Етнолингвстичката програма во македонскиот пункт на «Милиот дијалектолошки атлас на Балканските јазици» // EthnoAnthropoZoom/ЕтноАнтропоЗум. 2000. P. 12. ISSN 1857-968X</ref>
In Serbo-Croatian, the word ''vukodlak'' describes a vampire that typically does not resemble a wolf.<ref name="Мороз" /> However, its image includes some core werewolf traits. In Serbian mythology, it can transform into a wolf<ref name="Мороз" /> (in the Kuči tribe, it was believed all vampires could do so)<ref name="Мороз" /> or exhibit wolf-like features, such as being covered in fur or having disheveled, upright hair resembling wolf fur. There are tales of a husband transforming into a wolf and unsuccessfully attacking his wife, who later identifies him by pieces of her dress in his teeth. Additionally, vukodlaks are particularly active during winter months when rituals related to wolves were performed.<ref name="Мороз" /> In Bosnia and Croatian mythology, the vukodlak is also understood as a wolf-like mythical creature with vampire functions.<ref name="плот" /> In Montenegro, Boka, Herzegovina, and Dalmatia, a vampire was simply called ''vuk'' (wolf).<ref name="Петровић" /><ref name="Мороз" />
The connection between werewolves and vampires is also evident among Western Slavs. For example, Slovaks could refer to a vlkolak, beyond its primary meaning, as the harmful souls of witches, sorcerers, or the deceased carried out of the house head first. The influence of Balkan traditions on the werewolf image (bloodthirstiness, devouring people) is also felt in some areas of the Ukrainian Carpathians.<ref name="SDFS2" />
== Related characters == Slavic shape-shifting is primarily associated with the wolf, but there are also beliefs about humans turning into other animals,<ref name="bal" />{{Sfn|Krinichnaya|2004|p=644}}<ref name="СДЭСО2">{{Cite book |last=Vinogradova |first=L. N. |title=Славянские древности: Этнолингвистический словарь |volume=3 |pages=467 |trans-title=Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary |chapter=Оборотничество}}</ref> though these are less vividly and elaborately described than werewolf legends. Human transformation into a wolf is the primary form of shape-shifting among other Indo-Europeans,{{Sfn|Krinichnaya|2004|p=644}} and beliefs in shapeshifters play a prominent role in folk tales worldwide. However, depending on local fauna, other predatory animals may take the place of the wolf. Many similarities with Slavic werewolf beliefs are found in the views of neighboring peoples, such as the Lithuanians, Estonians, Finns, and others.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blécourt |first=W. de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGjeCgAAQBAJ |title=Werewolf Histories |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-137-52634-2 |editor=W. de Blécourt |series=Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic |location=Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY |pages=11 |language=en |chapter=The Differentiated Werewolf: An Introduction to Cluster Methodology |access-date=August 3, 2025 |chapter-url=https://he.palgrave.com/resources/sample-chapters/9781137526335_sample.pdf}}</ref>
The image of a sorcerer in wolf form is closely related to mythical leaders or shepherds of wolves, such as the {{lang|fr|Meneur de loups}} (wolf shepherd) among South Slavs, often appearing as a white wolf, a forest spirit among East Slavs, George the Victorious, or other saints, as well as shepherds.{{Sfn|Krinichnaya|2004|p=644}} Beliefs about wolf-shapeshifters are similar to those about dog-shapeshifters. Among Slovenes, werewolf legends are akin to stories about psoglavci, and the creature {{lang|sl|vedomec}} (rolling in unplowed manure, battling the household-protecting kresnik, causing solar eclipses). In Polesia, the werewolf image merges with that of the cursed: avoiding others' food, existing outside human spaces, and a "semantic of constant movement" in descriptions of their state (e.g., "they run"). In Ukrainian folk tales, there is an example opposite to lycanthropy: Saint Yurii punishes a wolf by turning it into a human, forcing it to work for three years for a beggar whose last piece of bread it ate; the former wolf becomes a skilled blacksmith and even learns to reforge old people into young ones.<ref>Shalak, O. I. Вовкулака. Шалак.100 найвідоміших образів української міфології. Під заг. ред. О. М. Таланчук. Киев: Орфей, 2002. pp. 225–231. {{ISBN|966-96200-0-7}}</ref>
Beyond its primary meaning, the term "volkolak" could refer to a mythical leader of wolves, appearing as either a wolf or a human. In the Gomel Region, a volkolak could also be understood as a creature appearing at a cemetery, neither beast nor human, with a tail and a glowing lantern (or one or two candles on its head); in other cases, it was a being with both human and animal traits. In some places, the word volkolak referred to an ordinary wolf or a wolf with specific traits: a dog-wolf hybrid, a huge wolf, a male wolf or, conversely, a she-wolf, a solitary wolf, a wolf entering a village, or an old wolf. The term was also used as an insult for unsociable, taciturn, gloomy, cruel, or excessively hairy people.<ref>Kuznetsova I. V. [http://phraseoseminar.slovo-spb.ru/kuznetsova_i_v_demonolodija.pdf Персонажи демонологии в славянских устойчивых сравнениях] // Вестник Орловского государственного университета. Сер.: Новые гуманитарные исследования. 2011. No. 6 (20). P. 143. ISSN 1997-9878</ref><ref name="НДП2" />
== In literary works == Numerous literary works by Slavic authors across various genres depict werewolfery, with the werewolf image acquiring new traits not typical of legendary traditions. The main themes include: the duality of the werewolf's body and soul, changes in worldview, adaptation to a new way of life, longing for the human condition, the blending and conflict of human and animal within one being, aggression and fear of it, circumstances revealing bloodthirstiness, and the fear of solitary individuals.<ref name=":17" /> Many modern Slavic works about werewolves are visibly influenced by stereotypical images from Western popular culture.<ref>Ammon M. [http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Nvvnufll_2013_3_3 Беларуская фантастычная літаратура ў кантэксце сучаснай міфатворчасці]. Науковий вісник Східноєвропейського національного університету імені Лесі Українки. Філологічні науки. Літературознавство. 2013. No. 3. P. 4.</ref>
The Russian-language novella ''Werewolf'' (1829) by writer Orest Somov is dedicated to werewolfery. Based on Ukrainian beliefs, it depicts a simple-minded young man who, imitating a sorcerer, transforms into a wolf, but his inexperience leads to trouble.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Musiy |first=Valentyna Borysivna |title=Миф в художественном освоении мировосприятия человека литературой эпохи предромантизма и романтизма |publisher=Astroprint |year=2006 |isbn=966-318-557-0 |location=Odesa |pages=143–146 |language=ru |trans-title=Myth in the Artistic Exploration of Human Worldview in the Literature of the Pre-Romantic and Romantic Era}}</ref> The work itself remained forgotten for over one and a half centuries, but the so-called ''Werewolf's Spell'' within it, where a sorcerer asks the moon to protect him from wolves and people, was cited in scholarly literature as a folk spell until the early 21st century, thanks to I. P. Sakharov.<ref name="top2">{{Cite journal |last=Toporkov |first=Andrey Lvovich |year=2010 |title=Русский волк-оборотень и его английские жертвы |trans-title=The Russian Werewolf and Its English Victims |url=http://magazines.gorky.media/nlo/2010/103/to8.html |journal=Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie |language=ru |issue=103 |pages=140–151 |issn=0869-6365 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026235027/http://magazines.russ.ru/nlo/2010/103/to8.html |archive-date=26 October 2013 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the Christmas story based on Polesie traditions, ''Silver Wolf'' (1901) by Alexander Kuprin, a once-sociable young man transforms into a sullen, bloodthirsty werewolf, losing human traits. The reason for the transformation is not described, only that it occurred during a war, with the author portraying war as fatally destroying the human in a person. The hero becomes alien in human society, belonging now to the world of predators.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Koryakina |first=O. V. |year=2013 |title=Мистическая фантастика в рассказе А. И. Куприна «Серебряный волк»: поэтика и проблематика |trans-title=Mystical Fiction in A. I. Kuprin’s Story “Silver Wolf”: Poetics and Issues |url=http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/misticheskaya-fantastika-v-rasskaze-a-i-kuprina-serebryanyy-volk-poetika-i-problematika |journal=Vestnik Tambov University. Series: Humanities |volume=8 |language=ru |issue=124 |pages=210–215 |issn=1810-0201 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424044026/http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/misticheskaya-fantastika-v-rasskaze-a-i-kuprina-serebryanyy-volk-poetika-i-problematika |archive-date=24 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the story ''A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia'' (1991) by Victor Pelevin, the protagonist concludes that there is practically no difference between humans and wolves: the same problems, the same relationships.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Popov |first=M. |year=2004 |title=Бестиарий. Оборотни и вервольфы |trans-title=Beastiary. Werewolves and Lycanthropes |url=http://old.mirf.ru/Articles/art142.htm |journal=Mir Fantastiki |volume=4 |language=ru |issue=8 |pages=54–59 |issn=1810-2247 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212173133/http://www.mirf.ru/Articles/print142.html |archive-date=12 December 2009 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> The author revisits the theme of werewolfery in the novel ''The Sacred Book of the Werewolf'' (2004), where werewolves symbolize people who have lost God and "become victims of their own base instincts".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kasyanov |first=A. V. |year=2008 |title=Образ «волка» в романе В. Пелевина «Священная книга оборотня» |trans-title=The Image of the “Wolf” in V. Pelevin’s Novel “The Sacred Book of the Werewolf” |url=http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/obraz-volka-v-romane-v-pelevina-svyaschennaya-kniga-oborotnya |journal=Novyy Filologicheskiy Vestnik |language=ru |volume=7 |issue=2 |issn=2072-9316 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424044904/http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/obraz-volka-v-romane-v-pelevina-svyaschennaya-kniga-oborotnya |archive-date=24 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kolmakova |first=O. A. |year=2013 |title=Мифологическая метаморфоза как культурный код в русской прозе рубежа XX—XXI вв |trans-title=Mythological Metamorphosis as a Cultural Code in Russian Prose at the Turn of the 20th–21st Centuries |url=http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/mifologicheskaya-metamorfoza-kak-kulturnyy-kod-v-russkoy-proze-rubezha-xx-xxi-vv |journal=Vestnik Buryat State University |language=ru |issue=10 |pages=123–124 |issn=1994-0866 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119113200/http://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/mifologicheskaya-metamorfoza-kak-kulturnyy-kod-v-russkoy-proze-rubezha-xx-xxi-vv |archive-date=19 January 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref>
The image of the werewolf has been frequently explored by Belarusian writers.<ref name="Ammon">{{Cite journal |last=Ammon |first=M. |year=2013 |title=Беларуская фантастычная літаратура ў кантэксце сучаснай міфатворчасці |trans-title=Belarusian Fantastic Literature in the Context of Modern Myth-Making |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Nvvnufll_2013_3_3 |journal=Naukovyy Visnyk Skhidnoevropeys'koho Natsional'noho Universytetu imeni Lesi Ukrayinky. Filolohichni Nauky. Literaturoznavstvo |language=be |issue=3 |pages=4 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> Pavlyuk Bahrym in the poem ''Play, Play, Little Boy...'' (1820s) and Olgerd Obukhovich in the fable ''Werewolf'' (1861) suggest that it is better to be a "free werewolf" than to live in captivity.<ref name="sham20002">{{Cite book |last=Shamyakina |first=Tatsiana Ivanawna |title=Міфалогія Беларусі (нарысы) |publisher=Mastatskaya Litaratura |year=2000 |isbn=985-02-0419-2 |location=Minsk |pages=16 |language=be |trans-title=Mythology of Belarus (Essays)}}</ref><ref name="duk2">{{Cite book |last=Duktava |first=L. G. |url=http://libr.msu.mogilev.by/handle/123456789/1473 |title=Мастацкая анімалістыка ў беларускай літаратуры другой паловы XX ст |publisher=Mahilyow State University named after A. A. Kulyashow |year=2009 |isbn=978-985-480-546-7 |location=Mahilyow |language=be |trans-title=Artistic Animalism in Belarusian Literature of the Second Half of the 20th Century |access-date=5 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505194347/http://libr.msu.mogilev.by/handle/123456789/1473 |archive-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> In the poems ''Lull, Lull, Little Man!'' (1907), ''The Forgotten Tavern'' (1907), ''Werewolf'' (1911), and ''Hokhlik'' (1911) by Yanka Kupala, the werewolf image is presented as "infernal, bringing death and fear".<ref name="duk2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baranowskaya |first=L. G. |title=Aktual'nyya Prablemy Vykladyannya Movy i Litaratury w Syaednyay i Vyshey Shay Shkole: Materyyaly Respublikanskay Navukoway Kanferentsyi, 30 Kastrychnika 2002 h |year=2003 |pages=156–160 |language=be |trans-title=Current Issues in Teaching Language and Literature in Secondary and Higher Education: Materials of the Republican Scientific Conference, 30 October 2002 |chapter=Сэнсавая аб’ёмнасць вобразаў ваўка і ваўкалака ў творчасці Янкі Купалы |trans-chapter=The Semantic Richness of the Images of the Wolf and Werewolf in the Works of Yanka Kupala}}</ref> It represents a person who has forgotten their roots.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mikhas Skobla |date=22 June 2006 |title=Лія Салавей: «Энцыкляпэдыя фальклёру — адбітак душы беларуса» (эфір 18 чэрвеня 2006, перадача «Вольная студыя») |work=Радыё Свабода |trans-title=Lia Salavey: “The Encyclopedia of Folklore Is a Reflection of the Belarusian Soul” (Broadcast 18 June 2006, Program “Free Studio”) |url=http://www.svaboda.mobi/a/771441.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422083948/http://www.svaboda.mobi/a/771441.html |archive-date=22 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025 |publisher=Radio Svaboda |language=be}}</ref> In the story ''Werewolves'' by Alies Kazyadub, the werewolf image is full of tragedy—an enchanted werewolf is an outcast in the human world.<ref name="duk2" /> In the novella ''The Hunt for the Great Beast'' by Alies Navarych, the mythologeme of the werewolf is used in a psychological context—"a person with beastly behavior." Hiding from authorities, the protagonist retreats to the forest to live with wolves and becomes their leader.<ref name="duk2" /> Werewolves also appear in the poem ''Werewolves'' by Alies Harun,<ref name="duk2" /> the story ''The Night When the Fern Blooms'' by Yakub Kolas,<ref name="duk2" /> the story ''The Last Werewolf'' by Alies Kaska,<ref name="duk2" /> the story ''Descendants of the Neuri'' (2003) by Alies Bychkowski, and works by Olga Ipatova, Vladimir Orlov,<ref name="sham2">{{Cite book |last=Shamyakina |first=Tatsiana Ivanawna |title=Міфалогія і беларуская літаратура |publisher=Mastatskaya Litaratura |year=2008 |isbn=978-985-02-0925-2 |series=School Library |location=Minsk |pages=22–25, 234–235 |language=be |trans-title=Mythology and Belarusian Literature}}</ref> and Alexander Ryazanov.<ref name="sham2" /><ref name="duk2" /> Many Belarusian works addressing werewolfery are dedicated to the Prince of Polotsk Vseslav Bryachislavich,<ref name="sham20002" /> such as the novel ''The Werewolf's Trail (The Sorcerer's Path)'' (1988) by Leanid Daineka.<ref name="Rasadzіn2">{{Cite journal |last=Rasadzіn |first=S. Ya. |year=1991 |title=Ваўкалак i царык-воўк |trans-title=Werewolf and Sorcerer-Wolf |journal=Belaruskaya Mova i Litaratura w Shkole |language=be |issue=1 |pages=54–56 |issn=0234-1360}}</ref><ref name="sham2" /><ref name="sham20002" /><ref name="duk2" /> The misdeeds of a peasant forcibly turned into a werewolf are described in the story ''Listen to How the Leaves Fall'' (2003) (published in the collection ''No One Above Us'' (2006) under the title ''Leaf Fall'') by Belarusian fantasy writer Olga Gromyko, working in the subgenre of Slavic fantasy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Valitova |first=V. A. |year=2015 |title=Репрезентация славянской мифологии в творчестве О. Громыко |trans-title=Representation of Slavic Mythology in the Works of O. Gromyko |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/reprezentatsiya-slavyanskoy-mifologii-v-tvorchestve-o-gromyko |journal=Vestnik Leningradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta Im. A.S. Pushkina |language=ru |volume=1. Philology |issue=1 |pages=33 |issn=1818-6653 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016043215/https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/reprezentatsiya-slavyanskoy-mifologii-v-tvorchestve-o-gromyko |archive-date=16 October 2021 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref>
In Ukrainian literature, many werewolf images have also been created. In the drama ''Forest Song'' (1911) by Lesya Ukrainka, the Forest Spirit transforms a young man into a werewolf as punishment for betraying his beloved Mavka ("Now he is a wild werewolf! Let him whimper, let him wail, howl, let him thirst for human blood—he will not quench his evil torment!"). However, Mavka, seeing his suffering, sacrifices herself to restore his human form.<ref name="filon2">{{Cite journal |last=Filonenko |first=S. O. |year=2014 |title=Вовкулаки починають і програють: мотив перевертня в сучасній українській белетристиці |trans-title=Werewolves Begin and Lose: The Motif of the Shapeshifter in Modern Ukrainian Fiction |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/nzbdpufn_2014_4_39 |journal=Naukovi Zapysky Berdyansk State Pedagogical University. Ser.: Filolohichni Nauky |language=uk |issue=IV |pages=295–301 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vilchynska |first=T. |year=2008 |title=Демонолексика у поетичній картині світу І. Франка й Лесі Українки (семантико-стилістичний аспект) |trans-title=Demon Lexis in the Poetic Worldview of I. Franko and Lesya Ukrainka (Semantic-Stylistic Aspect) |url=http://ns.kspu.kr.ua/download/nauk_zapiski/2008_vipusk_75_chastyna_1_zamovlennya_5080_1.pdf#page=28 |journal=Naukovi Zapysky: U 5 Ch. |series=Philological Sciences (Linguistics) |volume=75 |language=uk |location=Kirovohrad |publisher=Kirovohrad State Pedagogical University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko |issue=1 |pages=28–29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222142743/http://ns.kspu.kr.ua/download/nauk_zapiski/2008_vipusk_75_chastyna_1_zamovlennya_5080_1.pdf#page=28 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shevchenko |first=I. |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/17946 |title=Lesya Ukrainka i Suchasnist': Zb. nauk. pr |publisher=RVV “Vezha” |year=2008 |isbn=978-966-600-359-4 |volume=4, book 2 / Compiled by N. H. Stashenko |location=Lutsk |pages=262–264 |language=uk |trans-title=Lesya Ukrainka and Modernity: Collection of Scientific Works |chapter=Сакральний художньомовний світ у драмі-феєрії «Лісова пісня» |trans-chapter=The Sacral Artistic-Linguistic World in the Drama-Fairy Tale “Forest Song” |access-date=5 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305102043/http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/17946 |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turgan |first=O. |year=2011 |title=Код звіра в семіозисі драм Лесі Українки |trans-title=Modern Literary Studies. Poetic Dimensions of the Animal Topos. Issue 8 |url=http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?C21COM=2&I21DBN=UJRN&P21DBN=UJRN&IMAGE_FILE_DOWNLOAD=1&Image_file_name=PDF/Sls_2011_8_64.pdf |journal=Suchasni Literaturoznavchi Studiyi. Poetykal'ni Vymiry Toposu Tvaryny. Vypusk 8 |language=uk |pages=594 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222091046/http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?C21COM=2&I21DBN=UJRN&P21DBN=UJRN&IMAGE_FILE_DOWNLOAD=1&Image_file_name=PDF/Sls_2011_8_64.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2015 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kobchenko |first=K. A. |year=2011 |title=Два жіночі образи української літератури: від ґендерного до символічного тлумачення (Мавка Лесі Українки та Маруся Чурай Ліни Костенко) |trans-title=Two Female Images in Ukrainian Literature: From Gender to Symbolic Interpretation (Lesya Ukrainka’s Mavka and Lina Kostenko’s Marusia Churai) |url=http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Ukralm_2011_6_25 |journal=Ukrainian Studies Almanac |language=uk |issue=6 |pages=109–110 |isbn=978-966-2213-81-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230254/http://www.irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/irbis_nbuv/cgiirbis_64.exe?I21DBN=LINK&P21DBN=UJRN&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=ASP_meta&C21COM=S&2_S21P03=FILA=&2_S21STR=Ukralm_2011_6_25 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the historical novel ''Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky'' (1961) by Mykola Lazorsky, the valiant Cossack colonel Semen Nezhivoy (1744—?) can transform into a wolf.<ref name="romashch2">{{Cite journal |last=Romashchenko |first=L. |year=2015 |title=Фольклорний компонент в українській історичній прозі |trans-title=The Folklore Component in Ukrainian Historical Prose |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Lfk_2015_18-20_27 |journal=Literaturoznavstvo. Fol'klorystyka. Kul'turologiya |language=uk |issue=18–20 |pages=229–230 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the novel ''Confession'' (1970) by Valeriy Shevchuk, an enchanted hero must endure a difficult struggle with his dark side, resisting the temptation to pass on his werewolfery to another, and preserve his humanity while in a beastly body before regaining his human form.<ref name="romashch2" /> In the novel ''Lone Wolf'' (1971) by Volodymyr Drozd,<ref name="filon2" /><ref name="romashch2" /><ref name="fen2">{{Cite journal |last=Fenko |first=N. M. |year=1998 |title=Герой-вовкулака: сучасна інтерпретація міфу (Типологічний аналіз повісті Вал. Шевчука «Сповідь» і роману В. Дрозда «Вовкулака (Самотній вовк)») |trans-title=The Werewolf Hero: A Modern Interpretation of the Myth (Typological Analysis of Val. Shevchuk’s Novella “Confession” and V. Drozd’s Novel “Vovkulaka (Lone Wolf)”) |journal=Naukovi Zapysky. Seriya: Filolohichni Nauky (Literaturoznavstvo) |language=uk |location=Kirovohrad |publisher=RVG ITs KSPU im. V. Vynnychenka |issue=XV |pages=128–137}}</ref> the motif of transformation into a wolf is used to depict the dehumanization of the author's contemporary society and the alienation of people prioritizing bourgeois values.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Manyukh |first=N. B. |title=Особливості перекладів роману «Вовкулака (Самотній вовк)» В. Дрозда російською та польською мовами |trans-title=Features of the Translations of V. Drozd’s Novel “Vovkulaka (Lone Wolf)” into Russian and Polish |url=http://eprints.zu.edu.ua/14031/ |journal=Vistnyk Zhytomyr State University Named After Ivan Franko |language=uk |issue=76 |pages=214–219 |issn=2076-6173 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416173016/http://eprints.zu.edu.ua/14031/ |archive-date=16 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tereshchenko |first=S. O. |year=2012 |title=Система мотивів роману В. Дрозда «Вовкулака» («Самотній вовк») |trans-title=Materials of the Reports of the 5th Regional Student Scientific Conference “Language and Literature as Objects of Philological Research” 21 March 2012, Kharkiv |url=http://dspace.univer.kharkov.ua/handle/123456789/6041 |journal=Materialy Dopovidey V Rehional'noyi Students'koyi Naukovoyi Konferentsiyi "Mova Ta Literatura Yak Ob'yekty Filolohichnoho Doslidzhennya" 21 Berezenya 2012 R., M. Kharkiv |language=uk |location=Kharkiv |publisher=V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University |pages=19–21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421223634/http://dspace.univer.kharkov.ua/handle/123456789/6041 |archive-date=21 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dashko |first=N. S. |year=2010 |title=Місто як світ абсурду в романі «Вовкулака» В. Дрозда |trans-title=Current Issues in Slavic Philology. Series: Linguistics and Literary Studies: Inter-University Collection of Scientific Articles |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/38301 |journal=Aktual'ni Problemy Slov'yans'koyi Filolohiyi. Seriya: Linhvistyka I Literaturoznavstvo: Mizhvuz. Zb. Nauk. St |language=uk |issue=XXIII, part 3 |pages=275–282 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428010240/http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/38301 |archive-date=28 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the historical novel ''Orda'' (1992) by Roman Ivanychuk,<ref name="filon2" /> traitors are turned into wolves under a curse; the werewolf image symbolizes evil that, growing in a person's soul, paralyzes their will and drives them to shameful acts.<ref name="romashch2" /> In the novella ''Cursed Treasure'' (2001) by Volodymyr Arenev, a werewolf-dual-souled being faces the risk of losing their human soul entirely to a wolf form after the death of their human body but retains it through faith in God, good deeds, and self-sacrifice.<ref name="fen2" /> Werewolves also appear in works by Stepan Alexandrov (verse story ''Vovkulaka'', 1842),<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=South Russian Literature|author=Franko, Ivan Yakiv|volume=XLI|pages=300–326}}</ref> Taras Shevchenko, Mykola Vynhranovsky, Vasyl Slapchuk, Tetyana Malyarchuk,<ref name="filon2" /> Vladyslav Ivchenko (story "Fatal Beauty and the Biggest Wolf in the World," 2013), Vyacheslav Vasylchenko (novel ''Hypocrites, or the Gospel of the Werewolf,'' 2012), and Andriy Kokotyukha (novel ''Full Moon'', 2014).<ref name="filon2" />
In Polish literature, werewolves are mentioned in works by Bernard of Lublin (''Life of Aesop the Phrygian'', 1522),<ref name="Łuczyński2">{{Cite journal |last=Łuczyński |first=M. |year=2011 |title=Sarmata i demony. Obraz demonologii ludowej w polskiej literaturze przedromantycznej |trans-title=Sarmatian and Demons. The Image of Folk Demonology in Pre-Romantic Polish Literature |url=http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4-s229-241/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4-s229-241.pdf |journal=Pamiętnik Literacki |language=pl |issue=4 |pages=235–237 |issn=0031-0514 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920191817/http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4-s229-241/Pamietnik_Literacki_czasopismo_kwartalne_poswiecone_historii_i_krytyce_literatury_polskiej-r2011-t102-n4-s229-241.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> Mikołaj Rej (''On the Werewolf'' from the collection ''Figliki'', 1570),<ref name="Łuczyński2" /> Januarius Sowizralius (1612), Baltyzer from Kalisz County (1615), Stanisław Trembecki (1774),<ref name="Łuczyński2" /> Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1787),<ref name="Łuczyński2" /> Jan Nepomuk Kamiński (1821), Ignacy Głowinski (''Letters of Żegota Kostrowiec'', 1848), Kajetan Koźmian (1858),<ref name="Łuczyński2" /> Maciej Bogusz Stęczyński (1860), and others. Jan Barszczewski wrote about werewolves in the novel ''Szlachcic Zawalnia'' based on Belarusian folk beliefs (1846).<ref name="sham2" /><ref name="duk2" /> In the novella "Serpent's Crown," characters hesitate to shoot at wolves, recognizing them as enchanted people.<ref name="EMLB2">{{Cite journal |last=Shamyakina |first=Tatsiana Ivanawna |year=2009 |title=Элементы міфалагізму ў літаратуры Беларусі XIX ст |trans-title=Elements of Mythologism in 19th-Century Belarusian Literature |url=http://elib.bsu.by/handle/123456789/5586 |journal=Vesnik Belarusian State University. Seryya 4, Filalohiya. Zhurnalistyka. Pedahohika |language=be |issue=2 (August) |pages=48 |issn=0372-5375 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417224146/http://elib.bsu.by/handle/123456789/5586 |archive-date=17 April 2016 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref> In the novella "Werewolf," the protagonist transforms into a wolf after drinking a potion given by a musician at the wedding of his beloved, who was married to a wealthier man. However, he overcomes his beastly instincts, and his good intentions prevail, allowing him to regain his human form.<ref name="EMLB2" /> In the novel ''Krzyżowcy'' (novel, 1935) by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, crusaders tell each other terrifying stories about encountering werewolves on their journey. In the novel ''Jedwiżka and Her Suitors'' (1962) by Marek Sadzewicz, a horrific man-eating werewolf appears in the characters' dreams, symbolizing savagery and cruelty. Among modern Polish works featuring werewolves are, for example, ''The Witcher series'' (since the 1980s) and ''The Reynevan Saga'' (2002–2006) by Andrzej Sapkowski, the story ''Witch and Wolf'' (2003) by Jarosław Grzędowicz, the story ''Beasts'' (2007) by Magda Parus, the novella ''Beast'' (2007) by Marek Świerczek, and the story ''Short Ballad of Transformation'' (2009) by Paweł Paliński.<ref name="Olkusz2">{{Cite journal |last=Olkusz |first=K. |year=2010 |title=Zwierzęta jako monstra we współczesnej polskiej fantastyce grozy |trans-title=Animals as Monsters in Contemporary Polish Horror Fantasy |url=https://depot.ceon.pl/handle/123456789/7470 |journal=Literatura Ludowa |language=pl |issue=July–October, 4–5 |pages=92–93 |issn=0024-4708 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714130339/https://depot.ceon.pl/handle/123456789/7470 |archive-date=14 July 2020 |access-date=5 August 2025}}</ref>
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
== See also ==
== References == {{Reflist|40em}}
== Bibliography ==
=== General sources in Russian === * {{Cite book |last=Afanasiev |first=A. N. |title=Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature: An Attempt at a Comparative Study of Slavic Traditions and Beliefs in Connection with the Mythical Tales of Other Related Peoples. In 3 vols |publisher=Published by Soldatenkov, Kozma Terentievich |year=1868 |volume=3 |location=Moscow |pages=[https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=VarUAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA525 525–532], [https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=VarUAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA549 549–553] |chapter=Sorcerers, Witches, Ghouls, and Werewolves |chapter-url=http://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/148091/3/Afanas'ev_-_Slavyanskie_kolduny_i_ih_svita.html}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Great Russian Encyclopedia |url=https://old.bigenc.ru/world_history/text/1926142 |volume=5 |pages=634 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103220521/https://bigenc.ru/world_history/text/1926142 |archive-date=2023-01-03 |ref=БРЭ |article=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Vlasova M. N. |title=Encyclopedia of Russian Superstitions |publisher=Azbuka-Classica |year=2008 |isbn=978-5-91181-705-3 |edition=15000 |location=Saint Petersburg |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ivanov |first=P. V. |year=1886 |title=Some Notes on Werewolves and Related Topics (Ivanov) |journal=Kievskaya Starina |issue=6 |pages=356–364}} * {{Cite book |last=Ivanov |first=P. V. |url=http://starieknigi.info/Knigi/JU/Yubilejnyj_sbornik_v_chestj_Vsevoloda_Fedorovicha_Millera_1900.pdf |title=Jubilee Collection in Honor of Vsevolod Fyodorovich Miller, Published by His Students and Admirers |publisher=A. V. Vasiliev Typography |year=1900 |series=Proceedings of the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography, Vol. XCVII; Works of the Ethnographic Department, Vol. XIV |location=Moscow |pages=292–297 |chapter=Werewolves (Materials for Characterizing the Worldview of Little Russian Peasants) |archive-date=2016-08-27 |access-date=2025-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827162216/http://starieknigi.info/Knigi/JU/Yubilejnyj_sbornik_v_chestj_Vsevoloda_Fedorovicha_Millera_1900.pdf |url-status=dead }} * {{Cite book |last=Krinichnaya |first=N. A. |title=Russian Mythology: The World of Folklore Images |publisher=Academic Project (Moscow publisher); Gaudeamus |year=2004 |series=Summa |location=Moscow |pages=640–704 |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |last=Levkiievskaya |first=E. E. |title=Myths of the Russian People |publisher=Astrel, AST |year=2000 |edition=10000 |series=Myths of the Peoples of the World |location=Moscow |pages=408–414, 508–509 |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |year=1988 |title= |encyclopedia=Mythological Dictionary |last1=Ivanov |first1=V. V. |volume=1 |pages=242–243 |last2=Toporov |first2=V. N. |article=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last1=Vinogradova |first1=L. N. |title=Folk Demonology of Polesie: Publications of Texts from the 1980s–1990s |last2=Levkiievskaya |first2=E. E. |publisher=Languages of Slavic Cultures |year=2010 |isbn=978-5-9551-0446-1 |series=Studia philologica |volume=I: People with Supernatural Abilities |location=Moscow |pages=478–558, 622–624 |chapter=Werewolf / E. E. Levkiievskaya}} * {{Cite book |last=Novichkova T. A. |title=Russian Demonological Dictionary |publisher=Saint Petersburg Writer |year=1995 |isbn=5-265-02803-X |edition=4100 |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=114–117 |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |title= |encyclopedia=Slavic Demonological Dictionary |last1=Gura |first1=A. V. |volume=1 |pages=418–420 |last2=Levkiievskaya |first2=E. E. |article=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Tokarev |first=S. A. |title=Religious Beliefs of the East Slavic Peoples of the 19th–Early 20th Century |publisher=Librokom |year=2012 |isbn=978-5-397-02283-5 |editor=Kovalev, S. I. |edition=2nd |series=Academy of Fundamental Research: Ethnology |location=Moscow |pages=43–47 |chapter=Beliefs about Animals}} * {{Cite book |last=Shein |first=P. V. |url=http://elib.bsu.by/handle/123456789/1278 |title=Materials for Studying the Life and Language of the Russian Population of the Northwestern Region: in 3 vols. |publisher=Typography of the Imperial Academy of Sciences |year=1902 |series=Collection of the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Vol. LXXII, No. 4 |volume=III: Description of Housing, Clothing, Food, Occupations; Pastime, Games, Beliefs, Common Law; Sorcery, Witchcraft, Folk Healing, Disease Treatment, Remedies for Misfortunes, Beliefs, Superstitions, Omens, etc. |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=253–257, 485, 488 |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Historical Encyclopedia |volume=VII |pages=42–43 |article=Werewolf}}
=== Sources in other languages === * {{Cite book |title=Belarusian Mythology: Encyclopedic Dictionary |publisher=Belarus |year=2004 |isbn=985-01-0473-2 |location=Minsk |pages=70–72 |language=be |chapter=Werewolf / Solovei, L. M.}} * {{Cite book |last=Bondarenko |first=A. O. |url=http://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Bondarenko_Anton/Kult_voina-zvira_u_militarnykh_tradytsiiakh_na_terytorii.pdf |title=Cult of the Warrior-Beast in Military Traditions on the Territory of Ukraine: Dissertation for the Degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences: 07.00.05 |publisher=Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv |year=2015 |location=Kyiv |language=uk}} * {{Cite book |last=Georgieva |first=I. P. |title=Bulgarian Folk Mythology |publisher=Science and Art |year=1993 |isbn=954-02-0077-6 |edition=1070 |location=Sofia |pages=204–206, 224–225 |language=bg |chapter=In the World of the Dead. Vampire. Master of the House. Navi: Vampire: Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Gnatuk |first=V. M. |title=Ethnographic Collection. Vol. XXXIV. Materials for Ukrainian Demonology, Vol. II, Issue 2 |publisher=Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society |year=1912 |location=Lviv |pages=XIII—XIV, 266–267 |language=uk |chapter=Remnants of Pre-Christian Religious Worldview of Our Ancestors: Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |last=Koval |first=U. I. |title=Folk Beliefs, Superstitions, and Omens. Guide to East Slavic Mythology |publisher=Belarusian Agency for Scientific, Technical, and Business Information |year=1995 |isbn=985-415-005-4 |location=Gomel |pages=30–32 |language=be |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |title=Myths of the Homeland: Literary and Artistic Edition |publisher=Belarusian Encyclopedia |year=1994 |isbn=5-85700-162-5 |editor=Vasilevich, V. A. |location=Minsk |pages=15–21 |language=be |chapter=Werewolf / Trans. excerpts from works by Shpilevsky, P. M., Lyatsky, E. A., Bogdanovich, A. E., Nikiforovsky, N. Ya., Serzhputovsky, A. K., Shein, P. V., Vasilyeva, A. Ya., Yanchuk, N. A.}} * {{Cite journal |last=Popov R. |year=1985 |title=On the Werewolf in Bulgarian Folk Beliefs (Historical Roots and Place in Folk Culture) |journal=Proceedings of the National Historical Museum: Collection |language=bg |location=Sofia |publisher=Science and Art |volume=5 |pages=215–229}} * {{Cite book |title=Ethnography of Belarus: Encyclopedia |publisher=Belarusian Soviet Encyclopedia |year=1989 |isbn=5-85700-014-9 |editor=Shamyakin, I. P. |location=Minsk |pages=104–105 |language=be |chapter=Werewolf / Pilipenko, M. F. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/9827-1/page/104}} * {{Cite book |last=Baranowski |first=B. |title=In the Circle of Ghouls and Werewolves |publisher=Łódź Publishing House |year=1981 |isbn=83-218-0072-6 |location=Łódź |pages=147–156 |language=pl |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |last=Brückner |first=A. |url=http://docslide.pl/documents/bruckner-aleksander-mitologia-slowianska-i-polska.html |title=Slavic and Polish Mythology |publisher=State Scientific Publishing House |year=1985 |isbn=83-01-06245-2 |location=Warsaw |pages=272–279, 284–288 |language=pl |chapter=Contemporary Folk Beliefs; Ghouls and Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |last=Černy |first=A. |title=Mythical Beings of the Lusatian Sorbs |publisher=Published by M. Hórnik and E. Muka |year=1898 |volume=2 |location=Budyšin |pages=424–427 |language=sr |chapter=Wjelkoraz}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ito I. |year=1981 |title=The Werewolf Belief among the Slavic Peoples |url=https://minpaku.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=4496&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1 |journal=Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology |language=ja |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=767–796 |issn=0385-180X}} * {{Cite book |last=Kropej |first=M. |url=https://www.academia.edu/7119416 |title=Supernatural Beings from Slovenian Myth and Folktales |publisher=ZRC Publishing in association with the Institute of Slovenian Ethnology at ZRC SAZU |year=2012 |isbn=978-961-254-428-7 |editor=Transl. by N. S. Dular and V. Batagelj |series=Studia mythologica Slavica. Supplementa |location=Ljubljana |pages=196–198, 245 |language=en |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Máchal |first=J. |url=https://archive.org/details/bjeslovslovansk01mcgoog |title=Slavic Mythology |publisher=J. Otto |year=1907 |location=Prague |pages=18–20 |language=cs |chapter=Views on the Soul in Slavic Folk Tradition: The Soul in Life |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/bjeslovslovansk01mcgoog#page/n23/mode/2up}} * {{Cite journal |last=Manugiewicz |first=J. |year=1930 |title=Wolf and Werewolfism |url=http://centralnabibliotekapttk.pl/ziemia//Szukaj.php?numer=&data=&tytul=Wilk+i+wilkołactwo&autor= |journal=Ziemia |language=pl |volume=XV |issue=15 |pages=459–463}} * {{Cite journal |last=Margul T. |year=1981 |title=Motifs of Werewolf Belief |journal={{ill|Lud (journal)|lt=Lud|pl|Lud (czasopismo)}} |language=pl |volume=65 |pages=55–90}} * {{Cite book |last=Pelka |first=L. |title=Polish Folk Demonology |publisher=Iskry |year=1987 |isbn=83-207-0610-6 |pages=201–205, 213–214 |language=pl |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite journal |last=Rawita-Gawroński |first=F. |year=1913 |title=Werewolves and Werewolfism |url=http://centralnabibliotekapttk.pl/ziemia//Szukaj.php?numer=&data=&tytul=Wilkołaki+i+wilkołactwo&autor= |journal={{ill|Ziemia (yearbook)|lt=Ziemia|pl|Ziemia (rocznik)}} |language=pl |issue=33. — pp. 534–535; No. 34. — pp. 550–552; No. 35. — pp. 566–569}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ridley |first=R. A. |year=1976 |title=Wolf and Werewolf in Baltic and Slavic Tradition |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |language=en |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=321–331 |issn=0092-2323}} * {{Cite book |last=Slupecki |first=L. P. |title=Warriors and Werewolves |publisher=PWN Scientific Publishing House |year=2011 |isbn=978-83-01-16590-1 |edition=3rd revised and expanded |language=pl}} * {{Cite journal |last=Wiesthaler |first=Fr. |year=1883 |title=Werewolf and Vampire with Special Reference to Slavic Mythology |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-7JR2OPYE |journal=Ljubljanski Zvon |language=sl |issue=7. — pp. 145–149; No. 8. — pp. 497–505; No. 9. — pp. 561–569; No. 10. — pp. 633–641; No. 11. — pp. 697–706; No. 12. — pp. 761–771}} * {{Cite book |last=Wilczyńska |first=E. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281494604 |title=Wolves and People. A Small Compendium of Wolfology |publisher=gk Grupakulturalna.pl |year=2014 |isbn=978-83-934011-4-7 |edition=250 |pages=237–254 |language=pl |chapter=Transformations of the Werewolf in Polish Folklore |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281494604}} * {{Cite journal |last=Wollman |first=Fr. |title=Vampire Legends in the Central European Region |journal=Czechoslovak Ethnographic Bulletin |language=cs}}
{{Hidden begin|title=Specific sources in Russian}} * {{Cite journal |last=Balushok |first=V. G. |year=2001 |title=Wolf and Werewolf in the Slavic Tradition in Connection with Archaic Ritual |journal=Ethnolinguistics: Problems of Language and Culture |volume=13 |pages=215–226 |issn=0860-8032}} * {{Cite book |last=Valentsova |first=M. M. |url=https://www.academia.edu/15787386 |title=Ethnolinguistics. Onomastics. Etymology: Materials of the III International Scientific Conference, Yekaterinburg, September 7–11, 2015 |publisher=Publishing House of Ural State University named after A. M. Gorky |year=2015 |isbn=978-5-7996-1524-6 |editor=Berezovich |edition=E. L. |location=Yekaterinburg |pages=45–48 |chapter=Ethnolinguistic Commentary on the Etymology of Slavic ''*vlkodlak'' |chapter-url=http://elar.urfu.ru/bitstream/10995/38335/1/et_2015_14.pdf}} * {{Cite book |last=Ivanov |first=V. V. |url=http://www.inslav.ru/resursy/elektronnaya-biblioteka/616--9 |title=Balkan Readings 9. Terra Balkanica. Terra Slavica. In Honor of Tatyana Vladimirovna Tsivyan (Moscow, February 6, 2007) |publisher=Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences |year=2007 |isbn=978-5-7576-0198-4 |edition=Пробел |location=Moscow |pages=70–79 |chapter=Balkan Names of "Vurdalak" and Their Origin}} ** {{Cite book |last=Ivanov |first=V. V. |title=Areal and Genetic in the Structure of Slavic Languages. Materials of the Round Table |publisher=Probel |year=2007 |isbn=978-5-98604-099-8 |editor=Vyach. Vs. Ivanov (ed.), P. M. Arkadiev (comp.) |location=Moscow |pages=7–16 |chapter=On the Relationship of Inherited ("Genetic" in the Linguistic Sense) and Areal in the Structure of Slavic Languages |chapter-url=http://philology.ru/linguistics3/ivanov-07.htm}} [abridged version of the same text] * {{Cite book |last=Ito |first=I. |title=Comparative and Contrastive Studies in Slavic Languages and Literatures: Japanese Contributions to the XIth International Congress of Slavists: Bratislava, Aug. 31 — Sept. 7, 1993 |publisher=College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo |year=1993 |location=Tokyo |pages=117–138 |chapter="Werewolf" and "Wolf Shepherd" — Two Common Slavic Folklore Motifs Related to the Wolf Cult}} * {{Cite book |url=http://libarch.nmu.org.ua/handle/GenofondUA/3716 |title=Folk Omens and Beliefs, Superstitious Rituals and Customs, Legendary Tales about People and Places |publisher=Gubernskaya Typography |year=1897 |editor=Nikiforovsky, N. Ya. |location=Vitebsk |pages=67–70, 264}} * {{Cite journal |last=Toporkov |first=A. L. |year=2010 |title=Russian Werewolf and Its English Victims |url=http://magazines.gorky.media/nlo/2010/103/to8.html |url-status=dead |journal=New Literary Review (Journal) |issue=103 |pages=140–151 |issn=0869-6365 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026235027/http://magazines.russ.ru/nlo/2010/103/to8.html |archive-date=2013-10-26 |access-date=2025-07-08}}
{{Hidden end}}{{Hidden begin|title=Specific sources in other languages}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ajdacic |first=D. |year=2011 |title=Werewolf (Wolf) in East Slavic Literatures |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/Mik_2011_14_4_40 |journal=Language and Culture |language=uk |volume=IV (150) |issue=14 |pages=237–246}} * {{Cite book |last=Andrela |first=L. V. |url=http://www.svalyava-vlada.gov.ua/ukr/page.php?type=list&id=243 |title=Svalyava in Tales and Legends |publisher=[б. в.] |year=2013 |location=Uzhhorod |pages=36–38, 46–47 |language=rue}} * {{Cite journal |last=Davydiuk |first=V. F. |year=1995 |title=Cult of the Wolf in Polesie |journal=Berehynia |language=uk |issue=1–2 (4–5) |pages=51–61}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ivanov |first=S. L. |year=1993 |title=Werewolf — Prototype… of a Shepherd? |journal=Native Word |language=be |volume=1 |issue=61 |pages=39–41 |issn=0234-1360}}* {{Cite journal |last=Loma |first=A. |year=2013 |title=Saint Sava and Cloud Chasers |url=http://www.byzinst-sasa.rs/srp/uploaded/PDF%20izdanja/ZRVI%2050-2.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Collection of Works of the Institute of Byzantine Studies |language=sr |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=1041–1079 |doi=10.2298/ZRVI1350041L |issn=0584-9888 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322171651/http://www.byzinst-sasa.rs/srp/uploaded/PDF%20izdanja/ZRVI%2050-2.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-22 |access-date=2025-07-08}} * {{Cite journal |last=Nimchuk |first=V. V. |year=2009 |title=New Insights on an Outstanding Ukrainian Written Monument of the 12th Century |url=http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/6072 |journal=Ukrainian Language (Journal) |language=uk |issue=4 |pages=89–93 |issn=1682-3540}} * {{Cite book |last=Novak |first=V. S. |url=http://repo.gsu.by/xmlui/handle/123456789/1677 |title=Slavic Mythology (Based on Materials from Gomel Region) |publisher=Law and Economics |year=2009 |isbn=978-985-442-716-4 |series=Humanities |location=Minsk |pages=39–49 |chapter=Werewolf |access-date=July 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813094657/http://repo.gsu.by/xmlui/handle/123456789/1677 |archive-date=August 13, 2016 |url-status=dead}} * {{Cite book |last=Potushnyak |first=F. M. |url=http://petrovtsiy.jimdo.com/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BA%D1%8B-%D0%BE%D1%81%C3%BC%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D1%8B%D1%85-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C/ |title=Sorcerers of Osi Witchcraft |publisher=Folk Library |year=2011 |editor=Petrovtsiy, I. Yu. |edition=reprint |location=Osi |pages=289–294 |chapter=Werewolf |access-date=July 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117054444/http://petrovtsiy.jimdo.com/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BA%D1%8B-%D0%BE%D1%81%C3%BC%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D1%8B%D1%85-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8C/ |archive-date=November 17, 2017 |url-status=dead}} * {{Cite journal |last=Rasadzin |first=S. Ya. |year=1991 |title=Werewolf and Wolf King |journal=Belarusian Language and Literature in School |language=be |issue=1 |pages=54–56 |issn=0234-1360}} * {{Cite journal |last=Sitsko |first=Z. |year=1991 |title=Wolves. Werewolves. Neuri |journal=Belarusian Language and Literature in School |language=be |issue=1 |pages=56–59 |issn=0234-1360}} * {{Cite book |last=Khobzei |first=N. V. |url=http://irbis-nbuv.gov.ua/cgi-bin/ua/elib.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=UKRLIB&P21DBN=UKRLIB&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=online_book&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=FF=&S21STR=ukr0001602 |title=Hutsul Mythology: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary |publisher=Інститут українознавства імені І. Крип'якевича НАН України |year=2002 |isbn=966-02-2299-8 |editor=Institute of Ukrainian Studies named after I. Krypyakevych, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |location=Львів |pages=72–81 |language=uk |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Shamyakina |first=T. I. |title=Mythology and Belarusian Literature |publisher=Mastatskaya Litaratura |year=2008 |isbn=978-985-02-0925-2 |series=School Library |location=Minsk |pages=22–25 |language=be}} * {{Cite book |last=Berwiński |first=R. W. |url=http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=67801 |title=Studies on Folk Literature from the Perspective of Historical and Scientific Criticism |publisher=Published by the author |year=1854 |volume=2 |location=Poznań |pages=50–68 |language=pl}} * {{Cite journal |last=Butler |first=F. |year=2005 |title=Russian "vurdalak" 'vampire' and Related Forms in Slavic |journal=Journal of Slavic Linguistics |language=en |publisher=Slavica Publishers |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=237–250 |issn=1068-2090 |jstor=24599657}} * {{Cite journal |last=Češarek |first=D. |year=2015 |title=Tradition of Dogheads, Werewolves, Wolf Shepherd, and Attila in the Mythical Landscape of Sodražica |url=https://www.academia.edu/18593387 |journal=Studia mythologica Slavica |language=sl |issue=XVIII |pages=134–138, 146, 152 |issn=1581-128X}} * {{Cite book |last=Kowalewska |first=D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4B3CQAAQBAJ |title=Magic and Astrology in Polish Enlightenment Literature |publisher=Scientific Publishing House of Nicolaus Copernicus University |year=2009 |isbn=978-83-231-2331-6 |location=Toruń |pages=148–160 |language=pl |chapter=Werewolves, Kin of Vampires |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4B3CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA148}} * {{Cite journal |last=Novak |first=P. |year=2011 |title=Slovenian Mythical and Folklore Creatures 'Prescribed' for Teenagers: Werewolf (in Ribnica) |url=http://ojs.zrc-sazu.si/sms/article/view/1617 |journal=Studia mythologica Slavica |language=sl |volume=14 |issue=14 |pages=331–333 |doi=10.3986/sms.v14i0.1617 |issn=1581-128X |doi-access=free}} * {{Cite book |last=Pasarić |first=M. |title=Werewolf Histories |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2015 |editor=Willem de Blécourt |series=Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic |location=Basingstoke, Hampshire — New York, NY |pages=238–256 |language=en |chapter=Dead Bodies and Transformations: Werewolves in Some South Slavic Folk Traditions}} * {{Cite journal |last=Pasarić |first=M. |date=June 2014 |title=The Body, the Soul and the Animal Other: Werewolves and Animality |journal=Croatian Journal of Ethnology & Folklore Research = Narodna umjetnost: Hrvatski časopis za etnologiju i folkloristiku |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=209–221 |doi=10.15176/vol51no110 |issn=1848-865X |doi-access=free}} * {{Cite journal |last=Snoj |first=M. |year=1984 |title=What Hides in the Word Werewolf? |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-DRKB8R7X |journal=Jezik in slovstvo |language=sl |volume=4 |issue=29 |pages=123–126}}
{{Hidden end}}{{Hidden begin|title=Collections of mythological stories}} * {{Cite book |title=Ethnographic Collection. Vol. XV. Materials for Galician-Russian Demonology |publisher=Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society |year=1903 |editor=Gnatuk, V. M. |location=Lviv |pages=175–177 |language=uk |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |title=Ethnographic Collection. Vol. XXXIV. Materials for Ukrainian Demonology, Vol. II, Issue 2 |publisher=Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society |year=1912 |editor=Gnatuk V. M. |location=Lviv |pages=85–92 |language=uk |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |title=Legends and Tales |publisher=Science and Technology |year=1983 |editor=Grinblat M. Y. and Gurski A. I. |series=Belarusian Folk Art / Institute of Art Studies, Ethnography, and Folklore of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR |location=Minsk |pages=173–180, 457–459 |language=be |chapter=About God, Saints, Folk Festivals, and Beliefs. Terrors}} * {{Cite book |url=http://old.philology.lnu.edu.ua/laboratory_folk_studies/el_books/Materialy_do_ukrajinskoji_etnologiji_Tom_11_Lviv,1909.pdf |title=Materials for Ukrainian Ethnology |publisher=Printing House of the Shevchenko Scientific Society |year=1909 |volume=XI |location=Lviv |pages=130–134 |language=uk |chapter=Materials for Hutsul Demonology: Werewolf / Recorded in Chernyk (Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast), Nadvirna District, 1907–1908, by folk teacher Onyshchuk, Anton Ivanovych}} * {{Cite book |title=Mythological Stories and Legends of the Russian North |publisher=Saint Petersburg University Press |year=1996 |isbn=5-288-01444-2 |editor=Cherepanova, O. A. |location=Saint Petersburg |chapter=Magic: Witchcraft and Divination}} * {{Cite book |title=Mythological Stories of Russian Peasants of the 19th–20th Centuries |publisher=Pushkin House |year=2013 |isbn=978-5-91476-049-3 |editor=Vlasova M. N. |edition=300 |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=524–545, 836–844 |chapter=Werewolves}} * {{Cite book |title=Mythological Beliefs of Belarusians |publisher=Law and Economics |year=2010 |isbn=9789854428550 |editor=Novak, V. S. |series=Humanities |location=Minsk |pages=41–47 |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Vinogradova |first=L. N. |title=Folk Demonology of Polesie: Publications of Texts from the 1980s–1990s |publisher=Languages of Slavic Cultures |year=2010 |isbn=978-5-9551-0446-1 |series=Studia philologica |volume=I: People with Supernatural Abilities |location=Moscow |pages=478–558, 622–624 |chapter=Werewolf / E. E. Levkiievskaya}} * {{Cite book |title=Lower Mythology of Belarusians in Contemporary Records |year=2014 |isbn=978-9855523728 |editor=Novak V. S. |series=Humanities |pages=26–28 |language=be |chapter=Werewolf}} * {{Cite book |last=Novak |first=V. S. |title=Slavic Mythology (Based on Materials from Gomel Region) |publisher=Law and Economics |year=2009 |isbn=978-9854427164 |series=Humanities |location=Minsk |pages=39–49 |chapter=Werewolf}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813094657/http://repo.gsu.by/xmlui/handle/123456789/1677|date=August 13, 2016|language=be}} * {{Cite book |title=Polish, Ruthenian, and Lithuanian Legends and Tales |year=1845 |editor=Siemieński L. |location=Poznań |language=pl |chapter=138–143, 146}} * {{Cite journal |date=1883 |title=Werewolf. From Dolence Village near Ribnica; recorded in Pekel |url=http://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-NZ09GRIY |journal=Ljubljanski Zvon |language=sl |issue=12 |pages=771–774}}
{{Hidden end}}{{Slavic mythology}}
Slavic mythology Category:Slavic legendary creatures Category:Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology