The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves

by Brown Robert

  She-Wolf of Auvergne

  Auvergne is located just west of the city of Clermont-Ferrand, France. The account of the she-wolf of Auvergne rides the line between history and folklore, which is why it is included here instead of in Chapter 8.

  Certain medieval sources do cite evidence for the story having been verified. However, such sources are not always entirely reliable. Once again, the choice of whether or not to believe the tale is left to you.

  The story is believed to have been first told sometime around 1588. It says that, in the wooded regions of Auvergne, a large and savage she-wolf had for some time been making human prey out of the local hunters and woodsmen. One day, a local nobleman was inspecting his property when he came across a huntsman who was just about to embark into the woods. The nobleman admired the hunter’s bravery, having heard the stories about the man-eating she-wolf that roamed those woods. The hunter explained that he was planning to hunt the she-wolf, as he’d heard that a bounty of 125 francs had been issued on the heads of all she-wolves in the region (likely in the hopes that one of them would be the man-eater).

  Having become concerned for the safety of his wife, crops, and livestock (though not necessarily in that order), the nobleman asked the hunter if, after he’d finished the hunt, he would report back to him what, if anything, he had encountered. The hunter agreed to do so and continued to trek into the forest.

  Later on, as the hunter stalked for game in the woods, he stumbled onto a giant she-wolf. The beast lunged at the hunter, not giving him time to release so much as an arrow. The man reached to his side and drew his knife. The man and beast struggled for their lives. Seizing hold of one of the beast’s immense claws, the hunter stabbed and slashed at the attaching joint and succeeded in severing the appendage. The she-wolf, terribly wounded, fled into the woods and disappeared. The hunter tucked the severed paw away into his game pouch and made his way back to the nobleman’s estate.

  When the hunter arrived at the estate, he conveyed to the nobleman the story of his life-and-death struggle with the wolf. The nobleman asked if he might be allowed to see the giant claw that the hunter had kept as proof. The hunter reached into his pouch and removed … a woman’s left hand. For a moment, both men were dumbfounded by the sight. How, or even why, would the she-wolf’s claw be transformed into the hand of a woman?

  The hunter noticed something gleaming from beneath the blood and wiped one finger clean to reveal a shining gold ring with a number of encrusted jewels. The nobleman’s eyes went wide. He had seen that ring before on his own wife’s finger. This was her wedding ring. Doing his best to hide his reaction, he thanked the hunter for his time and sent the man away. Then he went through the estate, looking for his wife.

  The nobleman found his beloved wife in the kitchen. She was wrapping a towel around what appeared to be an injury to her hand. He commanded her to remove the towel and show him what had happened. When she did not comply, he took it off himself. He was aghast to find that her entire left hand had been severed. Having seen the evidence, he interrogated her as to what she had done. His wife soon confessed that she was the same she-wolf that had been terrorizing the woods.

  The nobleman immediately turned his wife over to the court authorities. She was tried and condemned shortly thereafter. Her sentence was execution by fire, which was carried out immediately.

  The Orissa Wolf Children

  This is another tale that rides the line between history and folklore. While it is certain that the accounts of this story are for the most part true, some of the details may have at some point been falsified. In recent years, some claims made by certain sources regarding this case have been proven false.

  According to accounts, in the year 1920, two girls were discovered living in the woods near Godamuri, India. What was most astonishing, these accounts claim, is that it was found they were being cared for by a she-wolf. A hunter claimed to have rescued the girls from the animal, and they were soon brought to an orphanage in nearby Orissa (from which their nickname comes).

  The oldest girl was thought to be eight years old and was given the name Kamala. The younger sister, thought to be around one-and-a-half years old, was given the name Amala. Accounts claim that the girls behaved like wild animals, preferring to walk around on all fours. In addition, they seemed to have developed nocturnal habits, sleeping during the days, waking around dusk, and becoming very active through the nighttime hours (much to the exhaustion of their caregivers).

  The Savage Truth

  Stories of wild children who were allegedly raised by wolves have sprung up multiple times in history. However, nearly all have been found to be cases of runaway or abandoned children who were neglected and/or abused to the point that they were not properly socialized. This is what gives them the appearance of having animal behavior. To this day, not a single claim of children being nursed, raised, or even protected by predatory wild animals has ever been proven to be true. Is it impossible? No. But nearly all animal behavior experts agree that such a thing remains highly unlikely.

  The accounts of the incident also claim that the girls preferred to eat little else but raw meat. At least one report claims that the girls could smell it from a distance and could use this ability to track it down. The girls were also said to have the eyesight and hearing of wolves and were faster, stronger, and more agile than the other children in the orphanage, many of whom they would often growl at when approached. If challenged, the girls were quick to use violent attacks. They were even said to have fought like animals, using only their teeth (fangs) and fingernails (claws).

  Amala, the younger of the two girls, died after only a year inside the orphanage. (The cause of death often differs from one source to another.) She had never learned to speak so much as a word of language. Kamala, on the other hand, lived until the age of 17, when she died of an unspecified illness. Unlike her little sister, Kamala eventually learned to speak at least a handful of key phrases. For the most part, however, she continued to behave as she always had and, without her sister, lived a very solitary life until her death.

  Prince Vseslav of Poland

  Despite having a good amount of rather weird lore surrounding the details of his life, Prince Vseslav Bryachislavich of Polotsk doesn’t appear to have been all that bad of a guy. He had a plethora of names, which included Vseslav of Polotsk, Vseslav the Seer, Vseslav the Sage, and Vseslav the Sorcerer. No matter what name you call him, this guy remains one of the most colorful (and perhaps most memorable) rulers in the land now called Belarus. Today, the country of Belarus is located on the southern borders of Lithuania/Lativa and the northern border of the Ukraine.

  The weirdness surrounding Prince Vseslav seems to have originated on the day of his birth, which is believed to have been sometime between 1031 and 1039 C.E. (A number of sources vary on this detail.) Apparently, the word somehow got out that little baby Vseslav had emerged from his mother’s womb with a caul (which simply means a part of the placenta membrane) wrapped around his noggin. At first glance, this would not seem like a big deal to most of us today. However, according to the longstanding local folklore of that time, such a birth was seen as irrefutable evidence that the child had been conceived through some enchantment or other form of sorcery. Many also believed that such a child would grow up to bear the Mark of the Beast, believed at the time to be a sign of a werewolf.

  Beastly Words

  A caul is a soft membrane that covers and protects the heads of embryos that are high vertebrates (such as primates and humans). This membrane is usually shed during delivery, slowly rubbed off and torn away as the infant travels down the tight birth canal. Many ancient and medieval cultures assigned certain omens (good and bad) to babies that were born with the caul still wrapped over their heads.

  The sorcerers who were in the service of Prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich (Vseslav’s father) at the time, however, insisted the caul was actually a positive omen, one that meant the boy’s life was going to be blessed with good for
tune. Apparently, Prince Izyaslavich liked their theory better and dismissed any talk that his son was born from any method of sorcery.

  Bark vs. Bite

  When one thinks about the situation, it is not a surprise that the sorcerers serving Vseslav’s father did not want him to believe that his son’s caul meant he was conceived by sorcery. Aside from the fact that this might have led him to suspect them of being involved, it could have potentially caused the ruler to believe that one of his sorcerers had coveted his princess … which, you might imagine, could have cost all of them their lives.

  When the reigning prince died in 1044, the young/possibly teenaged (depending on when he was actually born) Vseslav had to take the throne in order to secure his family’s hold on the region of Polotsk. It would appear that many of those who had served Prince Bryachislav remained loyal to the throne and now devoted themselves to the service of their late lord’s son. Despite being fairly young upon assuming his title of lordship, Vseslav grew up educated and proved to be a fairly competent ruler. He later commissioned the construction of a grand cathedral, dubbed the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, which was finished in 1066. The structure stands in Polotsk to this very day, seen by many historians as a monument to Vseslav’s reign, which would last until 1101 C.E.

  The Savage Truth

  His construction of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom appears to have made Prince Vseslav a very popular figure, even to some of his neighboring rulers. Though it would only last for roughly a year, Vseslav was even given the title of “Grand Prince” over the neighboring Ukrainian region of Kiev.

  Despite being a good ruler, the rumors surrounding Vseslav’s involvement with sorcery seem never to have subsided among the people or his rivals. To the people of Polotsk, however, his rumored knowledge of sorcery doesn’t seem to have been that big an issue (probably because he was a fair and just ruler). Many of the neighboring Russian rulers, on the other hand, often tried to use it against him. Some feared him because of it, while others just considered such practices blasphemy.

  The werewolf association with Vseslav reached a peak when he became father to his seventh and final son. (As you might remember, many cultures considered seventh sons to be werewolves.) Were he not a sorcerer and a werewolf, many of his rivals argued, then why would he allow himself to conceive no more or less than seven sons? Of course, these rivals often failed to mention that he also had a daughter somewhere in there. This detail would have meant Vseslav’s last son was actually his eighth child (which meant he had not chosen to have only seven).

  No matter what rumors were spread about Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, they appear to have been impotent in shaking him. Many of his descendents would perform great works for the empire. For her compassion and service to the church, one of Vseslav’s granddaughters would even be deemed the patron saint of Polotsk.

  The Reformed Werewolf of Southend

  The official police case regarding Bill Ramsey began on July 22, 1987, though his experiences with werewolflike behavior are thought to have begun long before this initial incident. Ramsey had for many years worked as a carpenter in the Southend area of London, England. It is important to note that, before this incident, the 40-something Ramsey was considered a respectable member of his community, with no history of violence or even a criminal record to speak of. But on one eventful July evening, something wild was unleashed from inside Bill Ramsey.

  That evening, Ramsey presented himself to the Southend police station. Once there, he encountered some officers in the parking lot. When they asked Ramsey why he was there, he told them he could not remember but that he thought he really needed to be locked up. While speaking to the officers, who at first thought the man was just having a laugh, Ramsey suddenly went on a rampage.

  First Ramsey began to growl and bare his teeth at the officers. Then he attacked. According to reports, the nearly middle-aged man lifted one officer (who was said to have been much larger than Ramsey) over his head and tossed him to the tarmac. The officer received serious injuries as a result. Soon other officers saw the commotion and came to assist in subduing the snarling man. When all was said and done, it took about six officers to hold Ramsey down and restrain him in both wrist and leg irons.

  The officers dragged Ramsey into a holding cell, which did little to calm him down. Reports claim that he began trying to shove himself through the cell’s dinner tray slot. He managed to succeed in getting one arm and his head through the slot before becoming trapped. Not phased a bit by this, Ramsey continued to snarl and growl and would claw and bite at anyone who tried to come near.

  The officers, fearing that Ramsey would further harm himself if left stuck in the tray slot as he was, decided to call in the local fire department to find a way to free him. One look at the enraged Ramsey, however, and the firemen refused to go anywhere near him. A local doctor was then called to sedate Ramsey with drugs. It took another group of policemen to hold the wild man’s arm still long enough for the doctor to inject the sedative. The reports indicate that it took more than triple the average dose for the sedative to have an effect on him.

  The following day, when Ramsey recovered from the sedative, he claimed to have no memory of the event. He was referred to a mental health facility for evaluation. At first the doctors diagnosed the man with clinical lycanthropy (see Chapter 18) and placed him on a treatment of antipsychotic drugs. However, unlike in other cases of the condition, the drugs seemed to have no effect on Ramsey’s bouts of wolflike behavior.

  Some years later, news of Bill Ramsey’s case came to the attention of the demonology/paranormal research team of Ed Warren and wife/ partner Lorraine Warren. The Warrens had made a name for themselves with their involvement in the well-known 1977 haunting case referred to as the “Amityville Horror.” The pair traveled to London and, after a few dead ends and being laughed out of a few police stations, managed to track down the Southend detective in charge of the initial case, who arranged for them to meet with Bill Ramsey. The detective himself was convinced that, whatever was wrong with the man, it was something beyond the scope of the many doctors who’d attempted to treat him. Ever since, when Ramsey would come to the police station on occasion, the officers would immediately lock him up in a confinement cell. Some of the residents had come to call Ramsey (much to the man’s humiliation) the “Werewolf of Southend” or the “Werewolf of London.” The detective hoped that perhaps the Warrens could do something.

  The Warrens conducted an initial interview with Ramsey, who informed them that he’d had bouts of wolf behavior since his childhood but until recently had not feared that he might try to harm anyone.

  Ramsey conveyed to the Warrens the tale of a childhood experience that he believed was the origin of his condition, and which he’d tried to keep a secret for most of his life. Ramsey told the Warrens that one Saturday afternoon when he was 10 years old he was playing in his backyard after helping his mother with chores. Earlier that day, his parents had taken him to see a movie about fighter pilots in World War II. Still electrified by the film, he ran around the backyard and imagined that he was a fighter pilot.

  Suddenly, the young Ramsey was struck by a surge of cold all over his body. However, the day had been warm and the sun had not yet gone down. His skin felt frozen, he felt immobilized, and his every muscle shook in fear. He then smelled a strange and terrible odor, and felt as if he might throw up. Suddenly, the mysterious stench and cold sensation faded. The boy had no idea what had just happened, but Ramsey reported that he never felt the same again. He said that this experience was the last time in his life that he would feel like a little boy. He couldn’t even play make believe anymore, which had long been his favorite playtime activity.

  As days passed, Ramsey reported that his mind was frequently bombarded with images and thoughts about him becoming a wolf. One day, as he tried to play in the backyard, his mind was saturated by such thoughts and images. When his mother called the boy to come inside for the night, Ramsey suddenly felt overco
me by a severe and uncontrollable rage. He turned at his mother and growled. He reached for a nearby fencepost and tore it right out of the ground. His mother was terrified and screamed for her husband. Ramsey’s father came out and saw his enraged son swinging the enormous fencepost and howling loudly.

  As his father tried to talk some sense into Bill, the boy yanked a string of metal fencing wire into his mouth and bit down on it. He launched away the heavy post and crouched, still chewing on the wire. To his parents’ horror, he even managed to rip the strong wire with his teeth. Bill’s father tried to get the boy to his feet, but found that his son’s physical strength was now incredibly greater than his own. He later tried to pull a fencepost as his son had, and could not. He eventually discovered that what his little boy had done with such apparent ease was actually extremely difficult, even when he had two other grown men helping him.

  Bill’s mother began to cry, and he said that this was what brought him out of his fit. Hearing her sobs made him realize the pain and fear he was causing. The young boy felt the rage fade from him, and ran to his frightened parents for comfort. For a moment, they barred the door. Realizing that their boy had now returned to normal, however, they let him inside. The three of them cried and embraced each other. They never again spoke of the incident.