the image of the modern werewolf comes from three sources: the most common is rabies, wherein a human goes stark raving mad and foaming at the mouth while growling like a wild animal. of course this disease can be contracted from an infected wolf as well as an infected dog and undomesticated wolves were much more likely to have it; the most rare  source is the disease called lycanciliosis in which genetically mutated people grow hair all over their bodies, including the face, completely covering the skin in the most extreme cases. people like this certainly resemble the wolfman of the old lon chaney jr. movies (except for claws and fangs). the most ancient source is actually depicted on a roman battle scene of the emperor trajan's victory column in rome commemorating his triumph over the dacians (the ancestors of the modern romanians and transylvanians with their vampire and werewolf legends). this scene shows the heavily bearded, wild-looking dacian barbarians advancing against the roman army carrying a streaming-maned wolf's head totem above them. the idea was probably to convey terror in their opponents that they would fight as ferociously as wolves. ironically, the roman standard-bearers of the pre-imperial army period wore wolf-head cloaks as a totem of the lupa romana, or she-wolf of rome's famous palatine hill which suckled the city's founders romulus and remus as babies.

jong, you sound like a really well informed person,is this a study ur doing or just a really detailed hobby?