It is strange, yet nonetheless true,  that  amongst the most ordered  society, there  is, in times of mayhem,  a tendency  towards  unreasoned  solution.  Thus when  God fearing  men lost their way, they turned to the devil.  Witness if you will, that  preoccupation in those regions of  ancient Europe; where  the wild wolf roamed free, the belief that; by some quirk of nature; some mishap in  genetics,  there were those unfortunate; captive souls, who were neither  human nor beast.  I will be more direct,  and in a  sinister vein, suggest that, there were those, who, by the wilful curse of evil, had the powers of transmutation, from the human form  to that of the beast.

                          Take for  example, that ridiculous  preoccupation of the gothic  'psyche', which  promoted the existence of the 'werewolf'; the 'Loup Garoo';  the half  man, latent canine.  An idea, that  an affliction through the ancient line of  Lycaon, came upon  those who  stooped to eat 'the hash of human flesh', and,   ultimately  cursed by witches, within the year, they turned into a wolf. Whence did the absurd notion evolve?

                        According  to  popular legend, the wolf  has  terrorised men for centuries.   Yet,  under close  scrutiny,   it's reputation for 'brigandry'  is ill  proven.   More recent judgement,  of  behaviour, has shown the wolf to be anything but, the bloodthirsty;  maneating fiend, we once believed.  Neither is it  the most  fearsome beast of  our worst nightmares or so we are told  by learned men.

                        Yet, what of the awe with which we hold it? What of those stirring tales;  of   daring do;  grown men,  toiling across icy wastes, pursued by packs of half starved wolves?  Simply,  not  borne out by fact. The actual incidents of   arctic travellers being  attacked and killed by wolves are rare indeed and the  material  in truth,  of film maker's fantasy.  Jack London,   and Hollywood have a lot to answer for. 

                        In the  haunting  opening paragraphs  of  London's  classic 'White Fang,'  we  are shown the all  important clue. How marketable it was;  to promote the  idea,   of the invincibility, of  men,  who fought and  conquered the Northern territories. Heroes all. We see in the writings of  this first 'superstar'  author,  the  embryonic stirings,  of a  notion, that there existed  a constant blood feud between man and  wolf.                  London  promoted  the idea  very successfully,   and to his ultimate financial gain,  emphasised  a  trait fixed  deep within  his own Id, that of the 'primeval wolf dog.'  In a number  of his more popular works,  we see the preoccupation with a  constant  theme; that of wild animal turned tame through the kindness of   man.  In his short novel  'Call of the wild he reverses the roles with no less effect, and takes the reader down, to the eventual return of the housetrained dog, to   its' ancient  roots, at the head of the wolf pack.   In so doing  he  skillfully  explores an ancient fixation, with the idea,  that in truth, the destiny of man and dog are inseperable.

                         It may be that  this engrossment,   is the vehicle  from which  the fortold primitive  fear of the wolf  ensues.  It may be; that  in  exploring the relationship; between man and dog,  we uncover  a truth about ourselves, that frightens us.  It may be, that in identifying  a  perceived savagry,  endemic in the  wild  wolf, we  identify an equal savagry in ourselves.   It may be,  that when we ultimately  discover,  the savagry of the beast and that of our selves, are inseperable,  we will finally realise,  it is the revelation  in  itself, which frightens us. 

                        And, of the propositon  yet, that there were those who by fate, had succumbed to the devil  and , at given times of the month, made  the involuntary transformation  from man to wolf. From where did that belief spring? 

                        The earliest reference I can find  to the existance of  a  creature,  so afflicted,  is in the teaching of Ovid, philosopher to Lycaon;  king of the Arcadians.   Greco -- Romano legends record that Jupiter changed Lycaon into a wolf because he dared test the great God's divinity, serving him a'hash of human flesh.'  Thus, throughout  the whole of Greco Roman culture the thematic  wolf man image, reoccurs constantly. For instance,

                        The  Neuri, according to Herodotus, were  sorcerers who could transform themselves into wolves once every year.  Members too, of the family  Antaeus, who according to Pliny, took there turn; one by one,   to be transformed  into wolves, under which guize they continued for a further nine years.

                        Even the Christian religion is not without its devotees to the legend. For did not St Patrick,  according to ancient myth,  turn Vereticus;  King of the Welsh,  into a wolf. And,  was it not said?  That so seriously did the Christian church,   take the story,  of the existance of werewolves,  they did,  at the behest of the Emporer  Sigismund, see fit to convene a special ecclesiastical  council to investigate the matter. They too concluded  that indeed, the werewolf actually existed.

                         According  learned scholars, during the middle ages, the superstition  existed throughout most of  Western Europe. Indeed it is said, that within the outlying communities of the Auvergne,  Brittany, Limousin,  and as far East  as the high forests of  Serbia and White Russia, the belief lingers on. A credence, that in those nether regions, there is a 'bogie'  who roams  the night, devouring infants at the full  phase of the moon.  A creature that will, according to myth,  take on  varying forms. Sometimes as a man; sometimes  a wolf  followed by a pack of dogs. Sometimes, so it is said,  the 'Loup Garou'  takes on the form of the most pleasing and friendly of white dogs, in which form it is at its most treacherous.  At others, it will come as a black goat, even as a black Hare, but, it is, at its most strange, when it takes on  the invisible form.

                        Nothing can  kill it, nor pierce its outer skin,  except  for a  bullet, cast by the hunter, and blessed in the chapel of St Hubert.  That will do the trick, provided of course, it is founded from the finest silver.  Only that, and that alone, will fell the beast before the waning of the moon, and  yet there are those more learned than I,  who will swear the undoing of the 'Loup Garoo',  is best  achieved by subterfuge.

                        The manner of transformation, is central to the plan. In some versions of the legend, the  afflicted , dons  the cast off skin of a dead wolf,  or a girdle made from that skin, whence the conversion to beast is achieved.  On the morrow, for it is said Werewolves cannot withstand the light of day, the beast takes off the wolf skin and hides it.  The more energetic of hunters will seek the hiding place and, having found the skin, will destroy it,  whence the Werewolf itself perishes. In some cultures, on the point of death, the werewolf becomes a 'Vampire'. 

                        In most versions of the legend, once wounded, the beast returns to the human form, but it is said the wound can be found on the correspondant part of the  body, whence discovery is complete.  It is the real stuff of nightmares, with all due  respect to the late Boris Karloff.  But, in reality  how did we come this far? 

                         Scientific evidence is scant.  There was no serious scientific challenge to the base fears of a  simple and isolated  people.  Yet those fears, have in  my view, a circumstantial  basis.    I have  two propositions.

                         I am pursueded, with good reason, that the manifest preoccupation  in Northern Europe, with a bogey, that haunts the night forests, had  a link with, the  practicable breeding range of the European timber wolf.  It seems, that in all those regions where it was endemic, there can be found similar stories, that of man turned into canine.

                         I believe it no small coincidence, that one of the best loved of childrens fairy tales, 'little red riding hood' had its origins in the dark forests of the northern  lands, as did the story of the three little pigs. Some have concluded, that the inspiration for  both, lies in the very preoccupation we  discuss. It is a moot point.  Where could there be a finer description  of the  ultimate transformation,  human to beast,  than in grandma's spectacular  transformation  into  Canine Lupis, whilst her vulnerable grandaughter  sat at her bedside. A folk tale with twist in the tail.

                         How  proud  the boast of the  hunting wolf in the tale of the  three little pigies.  You can almost hear his threat  to 'huff and puff,' to blow your house down, a tale devised for children?  Perhaps not.

                        In the middle ages the whole of Northern Europe, was ravaged by the scourge of  Rabies.  A disease, which in its later stages causes the victim to become animal like in its behaviour. Could the descriptive narrative of wolf turned from man, be the attempts of             an ignorant simple stock, to describe what was happening in the later stages of this terrible malady?  Who knows?  The simple folk tale of  a girl visiting her sick grandmother in the woodland cottage, may  be a corruption of   the fearful kindness of  female kinfolk, bringing food to  an incarcerated  relative put out in the woods to die from the dreaded   La Rage.  The wolf transformation, the final  act of the drama. 

                        It can be of no small  coincidence either, that  St Hubert of Liege,   was considered a saviour  of any seeking to protect themselves against the attentions of a werewolf. I find  upon investigation,  that throughout the whole of Northern Europe he is considered not only the patron saint of Hunters, but  equivocally the patron saint of dogs, and an antidote to  the dreaded Rabies.

                         In Victorian England , we find an equaly plausable explanation, for the legend  of the werewolf.  For was it not  R.L.Stevenson, the storyteller  without equal, who wrote perhaps, the most famous of all transformation  tales?  'The strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde,'  is in effect the Werewolf  story in a modern guise.   A  story with a twist yet again, for there are some who question if   Stevenson himself  had  suffered   in a   mild form an hallucinatory condition and  the manifest struggles of  Dr Jekyll  to control the monster within himself therefore, merely   attempts by the author  to describe his own medical condition.

                        What of the possibility, that the ancient stories of  man turned to wolf, were indeed   allusions  to a medical  condition previously described  as a transmutation, but, which we now  describe  as 'split personality'.  The reader should  judge for themselves, but whilst abroad at the dead of night, beware ye,  the turning of the moon.