Description:

Written in 1865, The Book of Were-Wolves remains to this day one of the premier sources for information on cases of lycanthropy in ancient and late medieval times, as well as related cases of therio-morphism. Baring-Gould explores the myths and legends of the Berserkirs of the Scandinavian sagas, the loup-garoux of France, and the weres of Central Europe, Russia and the British Isles. In the midst of all this, he stops to tell the strange and chilling tale of Gilles de Rais. Baring-Gould goes on to give us examples of legends and tales from India, Greece, Abbysinia, and the Amerind peoples regarding the relationship of Man and the Beast. The book also hints at the relationship between weres, witches, trolls and vampires, but never goes into the the details of these relationships. Neither does it cover the shamanic aspects of the phenomenon, or it’s relationship to the ancient warrior societies. For all that, it is nonetheless a most interesting read…but not one for the faint of heart or stomach!