Werewolf in Slavic mythology

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In Slavic mythology, a werewolf is a human-shapeshifter who temporarily takes the form of a wolf. Werewolves were often described as ordinary wolves, though some accounts noted peculiarities in appearance or behavior that hinted at their human origin. Werewolves retain human intelligence but cannot speak. According to folk beliefs, transformation into a wolf is the most common form of shapeshifting among Slavs. The concept is ancient and appears to varying degrees among all Slavic peoples, with the most detailed accounts among Belarusians, Poles, and Ukrainians. In Russian folklore, the character is often simply called a shapeshifter, sharing clear similarities with the werewolf. South Slavic traditions sometimes conflate werewolves with vampires. It was believed that sorcerers could transform into wolves by reciting spells and performing actions such as leaping, stepping over, tumbling through, or passing through magically imbued objects, or draping them over themselves. To revert to human...

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