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Werewolf Legends
This book brings together contributions from anthropologists and folklorists on werewolf legends from all over Europe. Ranging from broad overviews to specific case studies, their chapters highlight the similarities and differences between werewolf narratives in different areas and attempt to explain them. The result of interaction between elite and popular culture, local and external influences, and nature and culture that lasted several centuries or even more, nineteenth- to twenty-first-century werewolf legends represent a kaleidoscope of the darker sides of human life.
390 pages, Hardcover
Published October 2, 2023
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May 11, 2024
An excellent collection of werewolf folklore, delving outside the periphery of the usual north-western-European home of lycanthropic non-fiction. Most chapters are essentially raiding national/regional folklore archives or translating selections from the works of one or two folklorists, so some may find this a little repetitive (that wedding party motif sure is popular), but the result is a broad study that will be essential to any fan of werewolves given how little attention these areas normally get; the extensive sourcing alone is a treasure trove for people looking to research more outside English-speaking sources.
Two noteworthy chapters are Petr Janeček's chapter giving an impassioned repudiation of werewolves as a part of Czech legend, and Deborah Hyde's closing chapter on The Beast of Barmston Drain taking a sceptic's perspective on a modern "werewolf" legend in a country with no werewolf legends (but plenty of black dogs).
I do have a minor complaint - that isn't at all unique to this book - which is the decision to always use the English term "werewolf" rather than keep the original un-translated term, since "werewolf" is a specific concept and regional varieties often don't map directly onto the same concept. This comes to the fore in the chapters on legends from southern Europe - South Slavic vukodlak, South Italian lupo mannaro, Portuguese lobisomem; things that only sometimes shapeshift, only sometimes into a wolf, and clearly exist in their own category. Add in comparisons to things that more readily map onto the English werewolf while not having a way to distinguish which one you're referring to, and you end up with something that feels clunky and inappropriate, especially when you're covering a broad variety of European legends as this book does.
Two noteworthy chapters are Petr Janeček's chapter giving an impassioned repudiation of werewolves as a part of Czech legend, and Deborah Hyde's closing chapter on The Beast of Barmston Drain taking a sceptic's perspective on a modern "werewolf" legend in a country with no werewolf legends (but plenty of black dogs).
I do have a minor complaint - that isn't at all unique to this book - which is the decision to always use the English term "werewolf" rather than keep the original un-translated term, since "werewolf" is a specific concept and regional varieties often don't map directly onto the same concept. This comes to the fore in the chapters on legends from southern Europe - South Slavic vukodlak, South Italian lupo mannaro, Portuguese lobisomem; things that only sometimes shapeshift, only sometimes into a wolf, and clearly exist in their own category. Add in comparisons to things that more readily map onto the English werewolf while not having a way to distinguish which one you're referring to, and you end up with something that feels clunky and inappropriate, especially when you're covering a broad variety of European legends as this book does.
Displaying 1 of 1 review