Denis Hüe wrote:
>the belief in loup garou is complex : St Augustin accepts the idea of
>metamorphosis, Gervase of Tilbury tells two stories about men changed in
>wolves. Even Berchorius tells these stories, and interprets them as
>signs of God.
>Your penitential seems atypic and interesting
Burchard of Worms seems to take the Werwolf as an illusion tough! (Burchard von
Worms, Decretum XIX, 5, 151): (only in french translation, hélas!):
"Tu as cru, dit-il, ce que certains ont coutume de croire, à savoir que les femmes que le vulgaire appelle Parques existent où possèdent les pourvoirs qu'on leur attribue, soit:
à la naissance d'un homme, elles font de lui ce qu'elles veulent, si bien que cet homme peut, à son gré, se transformer en loup - ce que la sottise populaire appelle
loup-garou - ou revêtir tout autre forme."
Beeing at home, I have no other references at hand, but these passage seems to
belong to the list of "superstitiones" by Buchard which contain the Night-Flight of
the congregation of Diana as well, which will be in the very heart of the witch-belief
of the late Middle-Ages - although far from being treated as an illusion then.
("Illud etiam non est omittendum, quod quaedam scelerate mulieres, retro post Satanam
conversae [1.Tim.5.15], daemonum illusionibus et phantasmatibus seductae, credunt se et
profitentur nocturnis horis cum Diana paganorum dea et innumera multitudine mulierum
equitare super quasdam bestias, et multa terrarum spatia intempetae noctis silentio
pertransire, eiusque iussionibus velut dominae obedire, et certis noctibus ad eius servitium evocari.")
For the Werwolf, see:
Claude Lecouteux. Fées, sorcières et loups-garous au moyen âge. Paris 1992
(a book worth of discussing, but with good references nevertheless)
Greetings
Niklaus
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Niklaus Schatzmann
Toblerstr. 22
8044 Zürich SWITZERLAND
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