Werewolf is a folk creature that is present in the Brazilian folklore, although its appearance refers to Europe. is known to be a man who transforms into a wolf on nights with a full moon and goes out in search of victims in order to feed on their blood, or simply kill them. This legend is known worldwide, and here in Brazil there are numerous regional variations of it.
Also access: The legend of Brazilian folklore that speaks of a very mischievous being, the saci!
The werewolf legend
The werewolf legend is known practically all over the world. She defines him as a being, part man, part wolf, who was cursed with the lycanthropy (the act of turning into a wolf). The one who is cursed turns into the werewolf on the nights of the full moon. Some variations of the legend say that lycanthropy was the result of a man's pact with the devil.
Once transformed into a werewolf, the person goes frantically looking for victims to kill them. Modern popular culture has spread the idea that the werewolf is vulnerable only to
bulletinsilver or sharp objects also made of silver. So, the only way to kill him would be through objects made of this metal.Modern popular culture has also spread that the werewolf curse can be transmitted hereditarily, that is, from father to son, and that those who are bitten by him, and survive, also turn into werewolves in a short time later.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
Where did the werewolf come from
The werewolf legend appeared in Europe, and the oldest existing accounts of this being have led scholars to conclude that its origin is in the Ancient Greece. There are different versions in the Greek tradition, but one account speaks of a king named lycon, who reigned in a region called Arcadia and was punished by Zeus after trying to kill him.
This was because Licaon was known to perform the sacrifice of human travelers who visited his domains. Zeus then disguised himself as a traveller, went to Arcadia, and was received by Licaon at a dinner (the latter planned to kill him shortly). The king of Arcadia offered human flesh to Zeus, who, enraged, punished him by turning him into a wolf forever.
The werewolf's Greek origin even gave the legend its name, as this being is also known as lycanthrope, by having lykos the meaning wolf, and anthropos, of man (in free translation). Finally, there are some studies that show that the wolf was an animal that was worshiped in antiquity, and this cult (and the legend) ended up being transmitted to Pomegranate.
In Rome, in addition to having a wolf cult through a festival called luperkalia, the feast of the wolves, there was also the story of a man who changed into a wolf, and there he was called versipelia. As the Romans conquered a vast amount of territories, the belief in the man who changes into a wolf spread, mainly across Europe.
The expansion of the legend made it take on new characteristics, and in each location it ended up being known by different names. In Christianized places, this being has become a cursed sinner, that he had in the werewolf's curse a kind of penance, until he was forgiven of his sins.
If in Greece he was known as a lycanthrope, and in Rome as a versipelion, in other parts of Europe he received the following names: loup garou, in France; werwolf, among the Saxons, oboroten, for the Russians; werewolf, in the Iberian Peninsula etc. Even in Africa and Asia, the werewolf legend became known, although it has different characteristics on these continents.
Also access: See eight superstitions related to Friday the 13th
Portuguese influence on the werewolf legend
Naturally, the werewolf legend came to Brazil through the Portuguese, during the period in which they colonized Brazil. In our country, the legend arrived and took on different characteristics in each region.
In Portugal, it was believed that the werewolf was a very thin man, with long ears and a large nose. It was said that he could be a cursed man for being predestined to the curse, as well as this could be a penance for sins committed.
There was also a relationship between the legend and the moral aspect, as it was believed that the child born of incest would be a werewolf. In the case of predestination, the first male child born after the birth of seven daughters was believed to be a werewolf. Once transformed into that, the being would go in search of cemeteries and people to feed.
In Portugal, the werewolf could also be known asHall or late, and there they came to believe that women could also transform themselves into this being, being called pear or lobes, according to the folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo.|1|
Also access: The legend about the curupira, a protector of the forest
werewolf in Brazil
Here in Brazil, as we mentioned, the werewolf legend arrived through the Portuguese, and some studies concluded that there was no such legend among indigenous peoples. The closest thing to that were legends that believed that men or women could change into some forest animals.
This legend in Brazilian folklore ended up acquiring elements present in its Portuguese version. Thus, it was common to believe that the werewolf was the man born after a mother had seven daughters, although versions of the legend say that if seven male children were born, the eighth child would also be a werewolf.
At the North from Brazil, the werewolf was the man who was in poor health, and whoever was anemic it would eventually become him. Once transformed, it feeds on the blood of other humans to make up for the poor diet like one of them. The transformation took place on Thursday to Friday nights.
At the SouthIn turn, the fact that turned the man into a werewolf was incest. In Brazil, there was no record in folklore of the belief in the transformation of women into werewolves. In our folklore, only men become werewolves.
Another belief related to the werewolf in Brazil is that, in the interior of São Paulo, it was believed that this being tried to invade houses to eat the children. Many believed that the werewolf went after, especially, unbaptized children.
What did the legends say about the werewolf cure? It was generally believed that this being could be healed if he was seriously injured with certain objects. One of these objects was a bullet bathed in candle wax from an altar, in which three Rooster Masses or three Sunday Masses had been celebrated.
Grades
|1| CAMERA CASCUDO, Luís da. Geography of Brazilian Myths. São Paulo: Global, 2012, p. 157.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
