The Book of Were-Wolves

In Short

This work is a comprehensive nineteenth-century investigation into the global phenomenon of lycanthropy, combining ancient folklore, classical mythology, legal trials, and early medical psychology. Sabine Baring-Gould systematically examines how the fear and reality of the werewolf manifested across different cultures and eras. He moves from Scandinavian sagas and medieval legends to gruesome French trial records and clinical discussions of homicidal mania. By framing supernatural shapeshifting as a blend of cultural myth, legal terminology, and severe mental illness, the text remains a foundational reference for historical folklore and true-crime horror.

The Story

The inquiry opens with an exploration of ancient origins, tracing lycanthropy through classical authors like Herodotus, Virgil, Ovid, and Pliny, along with early Arcadian legends of human sacrifice and metamorphosis. Baring-Gould then pivots to Northern traditions, analyzing Norse literature and the Scandinavian sagas. He demonstrates how concepts like the hamr (an assumed body or shape) and eigi einhamir (not of one skin) allowed individuals to possess beastly powers or project their souls into animal form. Through sagas such as Völsunga and Eyrbyggja, he illustrates how sorcery, glamours, and wolf-skin dresses were believed to transform men into violent predators, while legal terms like vargr blurred the line between actual wolves and human outlaws cast out from society.

Transitioning into the Middle Ages and early modern era, the narrative catalogings regional accounts across Europe, from Livonian lycanthropists to Courland were-wolves and French loup-garous. Baring-Gould examines horrifying case studies from the late sixteenth century, detailing the infamous trials of Pierre Bourgot, Michel Verdung, the tailor of Châlons, and Giles Roulet. These individuals confessed to decoying, murdering, and consuming children while believing themselves transformed into wolves. A major centerpiece is the case of Jean Grenier, a young boy who attacked rustic villagers and confessed to cannibalism under the influence of a mysterious forest spirit, ultimately being sentenced to monastic confinement where he exhibited feral behavior until his death.

As the study advances into world folklore, Baring-Gould surveys transformation tales from Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia, India, and Abyssinia, noting how different societies linked the werewolf to vampires, devils, or outcasts. He then seeks the natural causes underlying these myths, pointing to innate human cruelty, severe mental hallucinations induced by magical ointments, and morbid cravings for blood. This psychological turn culminates in detailed historical biographies of monstrous human predators, most notably Gilles de Laval, the Maréchal de Retz. The book meticulously details De Retz’s horrific trial at Nantes, where the nobleman confessed to murdering over a hundred children after reading Roman histories of imperial cruelty. The arc concludes by showing how medical science gradually replaced witch-trials, reclassifying lycanthropy from demonic shapeshifting into a severe, tragic aberration of the human mind.

How It Unfolds

Tracing the classical roots Baring-Gould begins by examining ancient Greek and Roman literature, identifying early accounts of transformation in the writings of Herodotus, Petronius, and Ovid. He explores how early civilisations explained sudden madness or feral behavior through divine curses and mythical shape-shifting.

Unearthing the Northern sagas Turning to Icelandic and Scandinavian lore, he analyzes concepts such as hamr and the violent berserkir who wore animal skins. He shows how legal definitions of outlaws (vargr) gradually merged with wolf myths in the popular imagination.

Documenting medieval horrors The focus shifts to late sixteenth-century Europe, where the author presents transcripts and trial records of accused lycanthropists. Harrowing accounts detail individuals like the tailor of Châlons and Jean Grenier, who committed horrific acts of violence and cannibalism under wolfish delusions.

Searching for natural causes Baring-Gould transitions from myth to pathology, arguing that lycanthropy stems from brain aberrations, hallucinogenic salves, and innate human cruelty. He examines historical monsters, including Gilles de Retz, demonstrating how sadism was masked by supernatural superstition until modern medicine intervened.

The People

• Katla and Geirrid: In the Eyrbyggja Saga, Katla is a cunning woman who uses magical glamours to hide her son Odd from searchers, transforming him visually into a distaff or a boar-pig. Her rival Geirrid sees through the illusion using a seal-skin bag to neutralize Katla's evil eye, leading to Odd's execution and Katla's stoning.
• Jean Grenier: A impoverished young French beggar brought to trial for attacking villagers and devouring children on the sand-dunes. He insists he roamed the woods as a wolf through a pact with the "Lord of the Forest," but his sentence is commuted to monastic confinement, where he lives out his brief life on all fours in a severe mental decline.
• Gilles de Laval, Maréchal de Retz: A wealthy French nobleman and military comrade of Joan of Arc who retreats to his estates and embarks on a monstrous campaign of child murder. Driven by a sadistic desire to emulate ancient Roman emperors, he kills dozens of young victims before being brought to trial, confessing his atrocities, and receiving a death sentence.
• Swiatek: A Polish beggar whose theft of livestock exposes a horrifying home life where he and his family murdered and consumed numerous travelers. His case illustrates the raw, depraved reality of human cannibalism divorced from romanticized wolf legends.

In Its Own Voice

"Having assumed some bestial shape, the man who is eigi einhammr is only to be recognized by his eyes, which by no power can be changed."

This observation highlights how Scandinavian tradition maintained a lingering thread of human identity within the most drastic supernatural transformations.

"I read the charming history of Tiberius, Caracalla, and other Cæsars, and the pleasure they took in watching the agonies of tortured children."

Gilles de Retz reveals during his trial how historical texts ignited his latent, sadistic desire to inflict cruelty upon the innocent.

"Startling though the assertion may be, it is a matter of fact, that man, naturally, in common with other carnivora, is actuated by an impulse to kill, and by a love of destroying life."

The author asserts his central thesis that behind every werewolf myth lies an innate, dark capacity for violence present within human nature.

What It's Really About

Beyond the sensational accounts of beasts and monsters, the book investigates the dark corners of the human psyche and the evolution of human legal and medical thought. Baring-Gould argues that the myth of the werewolf is a cultural mechanism designed to explain real-world human atrocities, severe mental illnesses, and inexplicable sadism. By tracing language, legal definitions of outlaws, and superstitious fear, he demonstrates how society projects its deepest horrors onto supernatural beasts. Ultimately, the work asks how humanity defines the boundary between civilization and savagery, showing that the true beast is not a creature of magic, but a unchecked breakdown of human empathy and sanity.

Why Read It Today

This text remains an engrossing read for anyone fascinated by folklore, true crime, and the history of medicine. Baring-Gould writes with scholarly precision and a clear, measured voice that avoids cheap sensationalism while remaining intensely engaging. Readers will experience a vivid journey through medieval courtroom drama, archaic Icelandic sagas, and chilling historical crime reports.

While the book is immensely rewarding, modern readers should be prepared for its uncompromising Victorian directness regarding historical horrors, including detailed descriptions of violence, child murder, and cannibalism drawn straight from legal transcripts. Furthermore, the inclusion of unedited Scandinavian poetry and Latin trial excerpts requires a patient approach. What stays with you long after reading is Baring-Gould's sober realization that the most terrifying aspect of the werewolf myth is not the magic skin or the full moon, but the very real human capacity for monstrous cruelty.