Louella Presents: A Female werewolf might be called... (Patreon)

The word "werewolf" has its roots in Old English, where it first appeared as "werwulf" around 1000 AD. The term is derived from the combination of two Old English words: "wer," meaning "man," and "wulf," meaning "wolf." Thus, the literal translation of "werewolf" is "man-wolf."

Interestingly, Old English had a separate term for a female werewolf: "wīfwolf." This word was formed by combining "wīf," meaning "woman" or "wife," with "wulf." The existence of a gender-specific term suggests that the concept of female werewolves was acknowledged in early English folklore.

The myth of the werewolf, or a human transforming into a wolf-like creature, has been present in various cultures for centuries. In Old Norse, the term "vargr" was used to describe an outlaw or a wolf, and the phrase "to become a vargr" meant to become an outlaw. This concept may have influenced the development of the werewolf myth in medieval Europe.

The term "lycanthropy," which refers to the supposed ability to transform into a wolf or the belief that one can do so, comes from the Greek words "lykos," meaning "wolf," and "anthropos," meaning "human." This term further reinforces the long-standing fascination with the idea of human-wolf transformation across different cultures.

Today, the term "werewolf" is used universally to describe both male and female human-wolf shapeshifters in popular culture, literature, and folklore, while the Old English term "wīfwolf" has fallen out of use. Nevertheless, the existence of this gender-specific term offers an intriguing glimpse into the way werewolves were perceived and described in early English history.