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Anonymous.| Bartsch, Karl. | Boren, George (London Chapbook of 1590)
Colshorn, Carl and Theodor. | Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. | Haas, A.
Kuhn, Adalbert. | Kuhn, A., and Schwartz, W. | Lyncker, Karl.
Mullenhoff, Karl. | Schoppner, Alexander. | Temme, J. D. H.
The WerewolfKarl LynckerThe Hessian farmer knows and fears the ravenous werewolf even today [1854]. This is a human whose shape has been transformed by putting on a belt. The werewolf attacks everything that gets in his way, and is especially dangerous for the herds. However, there is a way to destroy the belt's magic power: If one throws a knife -- a piece of shiny steel -- over the werewolf, he will instantly be transformed into his true human form and stand there completely naked.In the vicinity of Wolfhagen there was a well-to-do woman of good parentage who almost every night would leave her house and roam the fields as a werewolf. Once a shepherd bravely approached the werewolf, as it crept into an alder thicket, its appetite sated. The shepherd, who had long pursued the werewolf, hoped to capture it. He threw his pocketknife over its head and neck, and immediately the woman was standing naked there before him. She implored him to have mercy with her and to not tell the story to anyone. The shepherd was highly surprised to see the well known woman before him, and he promised to keep the event a secret. Nonetheless, within a few days everyone knew about it.
The Werewolf: Another LegendKarl LynckerA married couple in Hessen lived in poverty. To the husband's amazement, the wife nevertheless was able to serve meat for every meal. For a long time she kept it a secret where she got the meat, but finally she promised to reveal it to him, under the condition that he not call out her name as it was happening. Together they went to a field where a herd of sheep was grazing. The woman walked toward the sheep, and as she approached them, she threw a ring over herself and instantly turned into a werewolf. She fell upon the sheep, seized one of them, and fled. The man stood there as though petrified. However, when he saw the shepherd and the dogs running after the werewolf, thus endangering his wife, he forgot his promise and called out: "Margaret!" With that the wolf disappeared, and the woman was left standing naked in the field.
The Peasant and the WerewolfKarl LynckerOne night a werewolf came upon a peasant who was driving his wagon overland. In order to break its magic, the level-headed man unhesitatingly tied his fire steel to his whip and threw it over the wolf's head, keeping the whip in his hand. However, the wolf seized the steel, and the peasant had to flee in order to save his life.
The BöxenwolfKarl LynckerIn the Schaumburg region a werewolf is called a böxenwolf. Böxenwolves are humans who are in league with the devil and who can assume the form of animals by buckling a strap about themselves. Then they cunningly attack and torment other people. They can be exposed by throwing a piece of steel over them. There is not a single village in which someone has not been seized in the back of the neck by a böxenwolf and has had to drag it, gasping for breath, for some distance.
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(c) Andrew Telezhnikov. e-mail:
