the book of were wolves by sabine baring gould

FOLK-LORE RELATING TO WERE-WOLVES.īarrenness of English Folk-lore-Devonshire Traditions-Derivation of Were-wolf-Cannibalism in Scotland-The Angus Robber-The Carle of Perth-French Superstitions-Norwegian Traditions-Danish Tales of Were-wolves-Holstein Stories-The Werewolf in the Netherlands-Among the Greeks the Serbs the White Russians the Poles the Russians-A Russian Receipt for becoming a Were-wolf-The Bohemian Vlkodlak-Armenian Story-Indian Tales-Abyssinian Budas-American Transformation Tales-A Slovakian Household Tale-Similar Greek, Béarnais, and Icelandic Tales.ĮNGLISH folk-lore is singularly barren of were-wolf stories, the reason being that wolves had been extirpated from England under the Anglo-Saxon kings, and therefore ceased to be objects of dread to the people. The Book of Were-Wolves, by Sabine Baring-Gould,, at This might not be a problem for the average 19th century parson, but I doubt many modern readers will have as little trouble.Overall, though, this is certainly worth checking out if you have any interest in werewolves in particular or folklore in general.The Book of Were-Wolves: Chapter VIII.

As a previous reviewer has mentioned, he also neglects to translate many of his quotations from their original languages. There's a lot of ethnocentrism amd Eurocentrism, (though he does deal with some Eastern myths and one North American tale), and he seems to take the idea of primitivism for granted when he speaks of other cultures. Since Baring-Gould was writing in the 1860's, his scholarship is somewhat dated. The result is a readable, anthropological take on the mythos that sometimes covers surprising ground.The book isn't without fault, though. He's also devoted a great deal of time to historical and judicial records that describe individuals who may or may not have believed themselves to be werewolves or who exhibited werewolf-like behavior.

He presents a wide variety of werewolf myths, then puts them in context with some discussion of their cultural and psychological antecedents. Baring-Gould adopts a pleasing style, and he's structured his arguments well. A detailed examination of the werewolf myth, first published in 1865.This was quite an enjoyable book.

The book of were wolves by sabine baring gould