Werewolves

by Elliott O'Donnell

Contents: what is a werewolf; werewolf metamorphosis compared with other branches of lycanthropy; spirits of werewolves; how to become a werewolf; werewolves and exorcism; werewolf in the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Balkan Peninsula, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Lapland, Finland, Russia and Siberia; werewolves and vampires and ghouls; lycanthropous brook in the Harz Mountains, or the case of the Countess Hilda Von Breber; werewolves and Maras of Denmark.

Genres: Werewolves, Nonfiction, Mythology, History, Reference, Folklore

Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Elliott O'Donnell was an Irish author known primarily for his books about ghosts. He claimed to have seen a ghost, described as an elemental figured covered with spots, when he was five years old. He also claimed to have been strangled by a mysterious phantom in Dublin.

He claimed descent from Irish chieftains of ancient times, including Niall of the Nine Hostages (the King Arthur of Irish folklore) and Red Hugh, who fought the English in the sixteenth century. O'Donnell was educated at Clifton College, England, and Queen's Service Academy, Dublin, Ireland.

In later life he became a ghost hunter, but first he traveled in America, working on a range in Oregon and becoming a policeman during the Chicago Railway Strike of 1894. Returning to England, he worked as a schoolmaster and trained for the theater. He served in the British army in World War I, and later acted on stage and in movies.

As he became known as an authority on the supernatural, he was called upon as a ghost hunter. He also lectured and broadcast (radio and television) on the paranormal in Britain and the United States. In addition to his more than 50 books, he wrote scores of articles and stories for national newspapers and magazines. He claimed "I have investigated, sometimes alone, and sometimes with other people and the press, many cases of reputed hauntings. I believe in ghosts but am not a spiritualist."

Reviews

[Wee Lassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - Wow, this book is so much more racist than I thought it would be.

[Len · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first five chapters have the most interest.

1. What is a Werwolf? The opening sentence almost kills the title: "To this there is no one very satisfactory reply." The author, who was clearly a devoted believer in most matters supernatural explains why he is right to believe as he does, roaming through history and locality and generally suggesting that, to have so many tales and reports of werewolves, proves the existence of such creatures. He points to the possibility of an early religious or ritualistic origin but then gets diverted away from shamans disguising themselves as beasts to shamans becoming beasts. Various notable referees to were-creatures are brought in, from Pythagoras to Thomas Aquinas and the Bible. I rather lost interest when he brought in "Malevolent Forces" as "the originators of all evil."

2. Werwolf Metamorphosis Compared with Other Branches of Lycanthropy. If one already finds it difficult to believe in werewolves, then the presence of "wer-tigers" in Orissa, "wer-jaguars" in Arawak, "wer-leopards" in wherever Ashangoland was, and so on, will be difficult to swallow. Mr. O'Donnell gives some entertaining stories from India and what used to be the Dutch East Indies to prove his point that were-creatures abound. However, they read like tales to be told on a dark winter's night.

3. The Spirits of Werwolves. The chapter consists mainly of a story from Estonia about the ghost of a werewolf haunting a lonely forest road.

4. How to Become a Werwolf. Forget about being bitten by a werewolf when there is a full moon, herbs seem to be the answer. Asafoetida, parsley, opium, hemlock, henbane, saffron, aloe, poppy seeds, solanum seem to be the best bet if you fancy a lycanthropic adventure. There is also a poem to chant while stirring your broth. Another way of transforming is by having a werewolf ancestor - it runs in the genes, so it seems. A story from Montenegro is provided for enlightenment.

5. Werwolves and Exorcism. The author is not a great believer in exorcisms, and silver bullets do not get a mention. The use of more herbs rather than prayer and a holy book seems to be the solution. A story from Russia illustrates the problems of ridding oneself of a werewolf.

Following those chapters are several more on werewolves through Europe: the British Isles, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia and Siberia. These chapters provide little information and form mainly a collection of scary stories about hairy things that go bump in the night and may eat you if it is not your lucky day. Overall the volume is a compendium of werewolf stories written in the style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. OK for the occasional shiver.

[Renée Zonneveld · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book to gain some insight in the legend of the werewolf in Europe. However this is not what the book gives you. It tries to argue the fact that werewolves do exist using a few stories collected from different countries in Europe. These stories are enjoyable to read if you ignore the blatant racism and sexism that is present throughout the whole book.

To be honest you might not agree with all O'Donnell is writing, but if you want to write or like stories about werewolves this book is definitely a source for inspiration. Especially if you keep in mind that is is written in 1912.

[Amanie Johal]

I bought this from a used bookstore because I was intrigued by its 1912 publication date, "nonfiction" approach, and comparison of werewolf myths across countries. I didn't know anything about the author and presumed he was a random nobody, but after a couple of chapters I decided to Google him and found out he was a famous ghost hunter during his time. Most of the chapters start with some history or folklore and end with one or more "eyewitness accounts" (a.k.a. stories) about a werewolf encounter; sometimes the author props up the veneer of personally knowing the person who experienced the story, making them firsthand accounts, but most of them are clearly folk stories he's heard.

This was interesting from a historical perspective because it's (presumably) what people actually believed in 1912. This was more interesting from a mythological perspective because some of the "facts" are things I've never seen in modern werewolf depictions. For example, a couple of the stories describe a werewolf "deity" (ie. whatever "spirit" bestows werewolf-ism on the person requesting it) as a column of red light; if this is a well-known trope in werewolf stories, I guess my media consumption isn't very varied.

Unfortunately, it wears the fact that it was written by a white man in 1912 on its sleeve. In the opening chapter, the author describes a skeptic's argument that all supernatural phenomena can be rationally explained; for the werewolf, its that cannibals are using werewolf stories to hide their crimes. He dismisses that argument with this: "Now, although such an explanation of werewolves might be applicable in certain districts of West Africa, where the native population is excessively bloodthirsty and ignorant, it could not for one moment be applied to werewolfery in Germany, France, or Scandinavia, where the peasantry are, generally speaking, kindly and intelligent people, whom one could certainly accuse neither of being sanguinary nor of possessing any natural taste for cannibalism."

I liked reading the stories and learning some werewolf mythology I'd never heard before, but the early chapters especially were a landmine of racist remarks.

[Angie Lisle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of stories about werewolves gathered from all across Europe. Unfortunately, O'Donnell feels free to insert his own personal thoughts about the supernatural throughout the text. Sadly, I think he may have really believed these ideas (some have been proven false in recent decades). If you ignore the first two chapters, and the intros of each subsequent chapter, the collection of stories is worth reading. Each story is well-told and several are stories that I haven't encountered elsewhere.

[Dion Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this Audiobook, it has a few stories, some sinister other light-hearted, and some information about the origins of werewolves folk law, which was interesting.
Some people think this book is racist, but I don't think it was intended with malice, I think it has more to do with the time the book was written.

[Kassandra Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has lots of handy information about not only werewolves, but other shape changers and ghouls. It also shows that werewolves can be more sophisticated and charming than vampires which was a pleasant surprise as werewolves are usually shown as savage beasts.

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victorian Sensationalism

Meant to seem scholarly, written in a pedantic style, this is meant to be a serious discussion of the werewolf phenomenon across Europe. It is a framework upon which lurid tales of disembowelling might be laid. I first read this as a teenager, my public library had a copy that I checked out dozens of times, but I remember it being better ... my literary tastes must not have been as refined.

[Douglas Genuske]

Like a lot of these Victorian prose, It's so dreadfully bland. Even when talking about demonic animal shapeshifters, your left with an atmosphere of 'zzzzzzzzzz'. I had the most Gothic Classical music I could find playing as well as ambient ASMR crow calls & stuff too. And yet, it eventually was like, "Bruuuuh this is like the third story of someone referring to their aunt or a stranger coming to them and behaving 'pequewyer'."

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special

I was hoping for more from this 👎 novel by Elliot O'Donnell than what counties may have had Werwolves. I would not recommend this novel. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶to novels 🔰😀2022

[Luciano Bernaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leggi la mia recensione sul blog!


IG: @louchobi

[FirstNations Bobations · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lost interest.

[RedDagger · Rating 1 out of 5]

As fiction, it's...bearable. Lots of short stories, flowery language, typical ghost-story shtick. Unfortunately, this book exists as something people treat as pure non-fiction, and it needs to be made absolutely clear that this book is not remotely factual; outside the short stories (presented as experiences from "informants") are scattered explanations of werewolves presented as non-fiction, which clearly exist as framing devices. The "factual" details in these parts are either taken from Sabine Baring-Gould's work, or simply made up.

In this view, the book is frustratingly repetitive - after introducing the motifs he likes to use, O'Donnell just keeps reusing streams, flowers, and magic circle rituals that feel like padding - even if you believe this is non-fiction!

It is also abundantly clear that O'Donnell is a guy singularly interested in ghosts, as he keeps veering back to this interest with all the talk of summoning rituals, exorcisms, and hauntings; rather than using this interest to spruce up his werewolves, it often feels like he's using werewolves to spruce up ghost stories, as if he hasn't already written enough of those.

In short, a waste of time.

[Segan Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I know about Elliott O'Donnell is that he was a famous Edwardian ghost hunter. The book is written on the premise that werewolves and other spirits are real and is a guide to the phenomenon as it occurs around the world and as occasionally witnessed by the author. It’s a very pleasant read as it’s basically a selection of international folktales and folklore. It can get a little repetitious as, spoiler alert, they all involve werewolves and sometimes very similar situations but in general they are all pretty entertaining and some of them are surprisingly dark.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like reading about werewolves, probably my favorite of the mythological pantheon that we humans have created over the years/centuries. I realized that this book has a documentary about it as it focuses on not only the history but why the werewolf legend persists. This book is in the public domain so any new insight on werewolvism obviously isn't going to be included.

[Natajia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't even make it through this.

[Forked Radish]

O'Donnell was deluded in thinking werewolves were a supernatural phenomenon. Werewolves are simply people who have been infected, directly or indirectly, with rabies via a lupine vector.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know how to classify this. It reads like an authentic investigation into werewolves. From the history of the creatures throughout Europe and Asia to ways to become Werewolves and how they differ from other transformations, the book seems to be an earnest attempt at classifying and exposing werewolves. A strange book that can be fun at times.

[stormhawk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meant to seem scholarly, written in a pedantic style, this is supposed to be a serious discussion of the werewolf phenomenon across Europe. It is a framework upon which lurid tales of disembowelling might be laid. I first read this as a teenager, my public library had a copy that I checked out dozens of times, but I remember it being better ... my literary tastes must not have been as refined.