The stories behind the werewolf are varied. Extremely varied. They are actually slightly different depending on what part of the world the legend came from. There are a few parts that don’t change very much. The term werewolf seems to come from Old English. The literal translation would be man - wolf.

In essence, a man that takes the form of a wolf. That in itself answers the question, Is a werewolf a transformation or possession of a wolf body? It is the transformation of a man into a wolf.

In modern culture, which translates almost exclusively as Hollywood movies, the idea of the werewolf has changed. It has changed into something entirely different than what it has been for thousands of years. Thanks to Hollywood, the werewolf has become a creature that is almost sexy.

The same kind of thing happened with the legends of the vampires. They did not tend to be sexual creatures until western authors got the story. The same goes for the werewolf. If we could go back in time to let’s say the 1300s.

If you asked the villagers in Eastern Europe about the sexiness of a werewolf, they would think you were crazy (although to be honest I don’t know that “sexiness” was a word that was used in the 1300s).

Today in pop culture, werewolves are creatures that protect people and transform at will. They change when they need to. The full moon has been taken out of the equation. It is almost like the Incredible Hulk. If they need to have a burst of adrenaline, they just turn into the wolf.

It is no longer painful and the person has full use of their human traits and intelligence. They even show emotions about humans. They are seen as protectors and nice guys. While the question may be up in the air, traditionally this is not the way that it went.

Throughout the ages the lore surrounding the werewolf was a little bit different. The person that made the transformation didn’t have any control over it. It came with the full moon. The person had no control over the beast. The transformation was extremely painful and once it happened the person was more beast than man.

They would kill family members or any other human that was close by. When they returned to human form, they would have no memory of what they did as the beast.

So whether you subscribe to the current lore about having control of the change, or the old school versions where the person had no control, the key element stays the same. It is the one fact that has remained the same throughout the years.

A werewolf is a transformation not a possession. There are some human traits left in the wolf form, and some wolf traits in the human form. Possession doesn’t enter the picture.