Turning superstition into a joke is a wonderful way to deal with such subjects. I am definitely in for a careful and creative use of the werewolf myth
I studied the ecology of Ladakh’s high-altitude wolves from 2013 to 2018 for my PhD. Whenever I talked with people about my work, whether as a part of public outreach of scientific research or just having a chat over a cup of coffee, I was rarely left without having to answer questions about everyone’s favourite topic on lupines — the werewolf.
Questions ranging from ‘Are werewolves real?’ to ‘Where are werewolves found in India?’ or ‘Have you encountered any werewolves?’ have made frequent appearances in my social interactions.
Now that Bollywood is bringing its own variant of werewolf genre cinema — Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon starrer 'Bhediya', where the lead turns into a werewolf — it has been deja vu for me ever since the trailer of the movie was released.
What is a werewolf anyway? In short, a European myth, which also carries its own historical baggage of societal damage.
Werewolf, or in more specialised terms ‘Lycanthrope’, means ‘wolf-human’. It is believed to be a shapeshifting human who can become a wolf or wolf-like creature at certain times.
The myth of wolves howling on a full-moon night further gave birth to the idea that werewolf transformation takes place during full moons. Most werewolf stories and history belong to early modern Europe — from the early 15th century to the 18th — an era marked by witch-hunting practices.
The belief in lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) is also part of widespread European folklores of witchcraft and sorcery.
An estimated 35,000-50,000 women were executed on accusations of being witches in early Modern Europe. Similarly, thousands of people were killed for suspected werewolfism in Germany, France and surrounding areas from the 16th century until the first quarter of the 17th century.
Many of the recorded persecutions of werewolves in France and Germany were of alleged serial killers. Some of the persecutions caused a peak in interest about werewolfism.
For example, Peter Stumpp of Germany was accused of turning into a wolf and eating 14 children. Similarly, Michel Verdun and Pierre Burgot of France were accused of killing several children together.
The origin of werewolf legends, however, is much older and has two major sources of origin — the mythologies of ancient Greece and medieval Scandinavia.
A 13th century Norse saga, the Völsunga Saga, refers to a father-and-son duo turning into wolves. Among the oldest references, Herodotus’ Histories (425 Before Common Era) mentions the Neuri tribe from ancient Greece transforming into wolves every year for a few days.
Then there is the story of Lycaon, the king of Arcadia in ancient Greece, who was cursed by Zeus, the king of the Hellenic gods to turn into a wolf for offering him his own son’s flesh.
Zeus curses Lycaon by Jan Cossiers
This story indicates that the werewolf legend could have originated as a moral teaching against cannibalism and human sacrifice.
The wolf is the most widely-distributed large carnivore in Europe, which has been in continuous conflict with humans. The conceptualisation of a bloodthirsty, supernatural, wolf-human creature is predictable in Europe, where wolves have been killing livestock, prized horses and occasionally even people.
The wolf took centre-stage in the European perception of fear and has been immortalised in public imagination through centuries of folklore, literature and now cinematic representation.
Similar mythical creatures and folklores have originated around other predators in different parts of the world. For example, the ghosts of dead lions are a recurrent theme in African folklore.
A tradition of werehyena folklore exists in the Arab world and North Africa, where hyenas live among people, disguised as humans. A 13th century medical text from Persia mentions ways to cure Kaftar, a half-man, half-hyena creature.
Hindu mythology and folklore also has many characters that are half-animal — Narasimha, Varaha, Ganesha, the Ashiwini Kumars and Hayagriva to give a few examples. Yet, for some reason, shapeshifting is a less-explored idea in the Indian context, and perhaps has been borrowed quite lately.
On a countrywide scale, snakes seem to be the most terrifying creatures for Indians, resulting in Ichchhadhari Naagin (shapeshifting female serpent) stories.
I remember childhood stories of black magic from Uttarakhand, where certain tribal women could turn a man into a goat or bull and keep him hidden as a hostage.
Weretiger beliefs exist in several tribal traditions in India, for example the Bhoi Khasis of Meghalaya and the Kondhs of Odisha. The transformation into a tiger may not always be physical but only at metaphysical level, where human consciousness enters a living tiger's body.
Such weretigers are sometimes believed to be malevolent while some traditions regard them as the protectors of the forests and forest people. A similar attitude is widespread for other creatures. Hence negative connotations towards any species is quite rare in mainstream mythology, with few exceptions.
Livestock forms a major portion of lupine diet among peninsular as well as Himalayan wolves, resulting in direct conflict. Rare cases of attacks on humans by peninsular wolves are also reported.
Therefore, the wolf generates a strong negative perception across its distribution range in India, corroborated by several studies on public attitude towards the wolf.
But the species is conspicuously missing from mythology and ancient literature, with only a few occasional mentions in the Rig Veda (the story of Ṛjrāśva), the Harivamsha (the chapter on Vrikadarshanam) and the Mahabharata (Bhima is known as Vrikrodara or wolf-bellied for his insatiable appetite).
In the presence of tigers, lions and elephants, wolves failed to draw a similar attention. Even in modern times, wolves and their grassland habitats are usually out of conservation discourses. And the retaliatory persecution, added with habitat loss, is threatening wolf survival in India in the background.
On a side note, while a strong negative perception exists for wolves despite their scanty presence and hardly reported cases of human attacks, their close cousins — free-ranging dogs — are on the other side of the perception scale.
There were around 1.7 million dog bites cases from India in 2021 and hundreds of those resulted in the death of the victim. Yet, such negative perceptions do not exist against dogs.
In fact, a more compassionate attitude is promoted towards free-ranging dogs, making it a clear case of misdirected emotions. But dare I speak about managing dogs on the Indian streets!
Coming back to the topic, how did the werewolf idea find a place in an already cramped-up space that is the Indian imagination of supernatural creatures like Rakshasas (demons), Dakinis (witches/banshees), Pretas (Indian version of Zombie), Djinns and many more.
Apart from modern technology, science and rationality, the colonial era also introduced us to new myths and superstitions like witches and vampires. Werewolf is another concept that has travelled the world along with colonialism as well as Western popular culture like Hollywood cinema.
For the emergence of the recent interest in this topic, I must blame Twilight, a popular movie series that depicted the werewolf concept in full glory.
There is no hiding from the fact that a section of the Indian population is still heavily steeped in superstition, misconceptions and black magic. Recent news of two women being sacrificed for black magic in a state boasting the highest literacy rate in India tells us that a lot of effort is required to eradicate such beliefs.
Supernatural phenomena and superstition-based storytelling has the potential to not only amplify such beliefs but also to strengthen negative perception towards wild animals.
However, if the filmmaker’s previous movie Stree is anything to go by, Bhediya appears to be a comical take on horror, using a ridiculous setup to deliver entertainment. Turning superstition into a joke is a wonderful way to deal with such subjects. I am definitely in for a careful and creative use of the werewolf myth.
Just to be clear again — No, werewolves don’t exist. And wolves are not bloodthirsty beasts. Let’s enjoy the movie!
Shivam Shrotriya is a research biologist at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun
Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth
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