![]() ![]() For example in 1589, a German man named Peter Stubbe claimed to own a belt of wolfskin that allowed him to change into a wolf: His body would bend into a lupine form his teeth would multiply in his mouth and he craved human blood. Neither of these rare conditions turns anyone into a werewolf, of course, but centuries ago when belief in witches, vampires, and magic was common it didn't take much to spawn werewolf stories.Ĭlinical lycanthropy is a recognized medical condition in which a person believes himself or herself to be an animal, and indeedthere are rare cases where people have claimed to be werewolves. One is hypertrichosis, which creates unusually long hair on the face and body a second condition, porphyria, is characterized by extreme sensitivity to light (thus encouraging its victims to only go out at night), seizures, anxiety, and other symptoms. There are several medical conditions that can mimic the appearance of a werewolf and may have contributed to early belief in the literal existence of the creatures. The main difference was, of course, that the werewolf changed into human form at some point. Overall, there was little difference between the killings and activities of wolves and werewolves: both would hunt at night, attacking sheep or livestock, and sometimes humans. Not so long ago, belief in werewolves was common. ![]() Today, werewolves are known to be mythical creatures found in fiction instead of lurking in the dark woods, but that was not always the case. ![]()
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