Werwolves

What It's About

Published in 1912, this is Elliott O'Donnell's survey of werewolf belief and lycanthropy across Europe. He opens with the origins of the werewolf myth and how it compares with other forms of shapeshifting, then moves through the folklore of "becoming" a werewolf and the rites used to exorcise one. The bulk of the book is a country-by-country tour, covering the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Iceland, Lapland and Finland, and Russia and Siberia, drawing on trial records, local legend, and reported hauntings along the way.

Key Concepts

O'Donnell treats lycanthropy as sitting somewhere between the physical and what he calls the "superphysical" — some cases are presented as genuine bodily transformation, others as spiritual possession or projection. He weaves in real historical trials, such as those of Gilles Garnier and Jean Grenier, alongside folk tradition and his own commentary.

About the Author

Elliott O'Donnell (1872–1965) was an English author born near Bristol who claimed descent from Irish chieftains. Before turning to writing, he worked as a rancher in Oregon, a policeman in Chicago, a schoolmaster, and an actor. He went on to become one of the first celebrity ghost hunters, publishing more than fifty books on ghosts, hauntings, and the supernatural, though critics have long suggested his flamboyant style blurred the line between reported fact and invention.