It's #WerewolfWednesday, and I have a story I really wanna share:
In 1691 an 80-something Livonian man named Old Thiess was called to court as a witness in a theft case. As he was sworn in, another witness laughed: "How can he swear a holy oath when everyone knows he is a werewolf?"
The judges immediately forgot about the thief and put Old Thiess on trial. He calmly admitted that yes, indeed he was a werewolf.
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The judges accused Old Thiess of being in leauge with the devil, which angered him. He insisted that it was just the opposite: werewolves were the arch-enemies of the devil, and the witches and sorcerers that got their powers from hell.
Every year, werewolves would band together on certain days (like St. Lucia's and Midsummer) and raid hell, to bring back things the sorcerers had stolen: crops, produce, souls.
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The entire transcript of Old Thiess' testimony has survived, and it is a fascinating read. He claims that the abundance of next year's crops depends on the werewolves' success on their yearly raids into hell.
He also admitted to stealing some livestock and eating it (but always roasted). The judges tried to catch him out by asking how wolves could possibly roast meat, but he came up with clever answers.
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The judges brought in a pastor to convince Old Thiess of the error of his ways, but he simply stated the pastor is "too young to know anything."
Among other things, he stated that women also belonged to the werewolf pack, and different towns / peoples (e.g. the Russians) had their own packs, all raiding hell at different times.
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Turns out Old Thiess had already been put on trial a few years earlier, when a sorcerer broke his nose during the battle in hell. He had been released without a sentence.
The judges didn't know what to do with him, so they referred his case to another court a year later. Since Old Thiess stuck to his story, he was sentenced to (a relatively mild) ten lashes.
Transcript states the locals greatly admired him.
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This was not the only Livonian werewolf trial in the 17th century - and the whole "shapeshifters fighting witches and helping people" trope doesn't only exist in Livonia.
If you want to read a whole book about this fascinating case, and other cases like it, you can find it here:
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/O/bo46813477.html
The book examines the case both from a folklore and a #resistance perspective (since Old Thiess was Livonian, and the judges were all German).
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A wild tale of werewolves going to hell in folklore. Do you get the same thing in Germany?
@Homebrewandhacking @TarkabarkaHolgy No, but I do know that the werewolves of Livonia are extra special - and the Brothers Grimm have a far less charitable account of their activities.
@juergen_hubert @TarkabarkaHolgy
Come on man... can't just leave us hanging with that... :)
@Homebrewandhacking @TarkabarkaHolgy Basically, on Christmas Day, a "limping boy" travels the land and demands all who serve Evil to follow him. If any of those hesitate, a "tall man" will whip them with a whip made out of iron chains.
They will then transform into a great pack of wolves, thousands strong, and roam the land and tear apart all animals they encounter. But it is forbidden to them to harm people.
After twelve days have passed, they will return to their human form.
https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Die_W%C3%A4rw%C3%B6lfe_ziehen_aus
@juergen_hubert @TarkabarkaHolgy
Wow... that is yeah.. quite the tonal difference! Thank you both for sharing!
@Homebrewandhacking @juergen_hubert
Not really a difference. That was the story the Germans told of the Livonian werewolves. Livonian people put on trial (by German judges) and accused of it turned the narrative into something they could get away with: yes, they shapeshifted, banded together, and raided farms. But they also raided hell to save the crops.
It's resistance and self-preservation as narrative.