There are many theories as to what or who may have inspired the myth of werewolves. Some scholars say the existence of some wolf-creature mythology was unavoidable in Europe because wolves were seen as one of the most fearsome predators of that time.
Others believe the fear of werewolf transformation could have simply been a misinterpretation of a medical condition. There are two diseases in particular that seem to be reasonable explanations for these stories – porphyria and hypertrichosis.
Porphyria is a condition that makes its sufferers extremely sensitive to sunlight and is characterized by reddish teeth, anxiety, seizures, and psychosis. Supporters of this theory claim people may have been frightened by those afflicted with porphyria because they would have only been active at night – making them prime suspects for werewolf transformation.
Others disagree with this analysis. While porphyria has all the expected symptoms of those guilty of werewolf transformation, it doesn't explain why werewolves are described as resembling a wolf in physical form. Instead of porphyria serving as the cause of the alarm, they believe hypertrichosis is the cause of werewolf hysteria.
Hypertrichosis is a condition in which the afflicted person has excessive hair growth. This excessive hair could have cause afflicted individuals to appear like werewolves if they were seen at night. Others argue that this isn't plausible because the rarity in which this disease occurs makes it unlikely that it could have been found with the same prevalence that werewolves were reported.
There are some that think werewolf transformation tales could have arose from the spread of rabies. Those who support this theory point to the fact that victims of rabies can pass the disease on to others if they bite another individual.
Regardless of how the tales of werewolf transformations came about, werewolves will remain as one of the most infamous folk tales that grew to become a global phenomenon.
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Werewolf Facts
Kurt AdamI made this in middle school, most of this info comes off of other websites, so I'd recommend looking for the og sites... Facts about werewolves that include age of shifting, birth, side effects, coat colors, pack ranks, mating habits and spells tha...
