I have dwelt at some length on the Northern myths relative to
were-wolves and animal transformations, because I have considered the
investigation of these all-important towards the elucidation of the
truth which lies at the bottom of mediæval superstition, and which is
nowhere so obtainable as through the Norse literature. As may be seen
from the passages quoted above at length, and from an examination of
those merely referred to, the result arrived at is pretty conclusive,
and may be summed up in very few words.

The whole superstructure of fable and romance relative to
transformation into wild beasts, reposes simply on this basis of
truth--that among the Scandinavian nations there existed a form of
madness or possession, under the influence of which men acted as
though they were changed into wild and savage brutes, howling, foaming
at the mouth, ravening for blood and slaughter, ready to commit any
act of atrocity, and as irresponsible for their actions as the wolves
and bears, in whose skins they often equipped themselves.

The manner in which this fact became invested with supernatural
adjuncts I have also pointed out, to wit, the change in the
significance of the word designating the madness, the double meaning
of the word _vargr_, and above all, the habits and appearance of the
maniacs. We shall see instances of berserkr rage reappearing in the
middle ages, and late down into our own times, not exclusively in the
North, but throughout France, Germany, and England, and instead of
rejecting the accounts given by chroniclers as fabulous, because there
is much connected with them which seems to be fabulous, we shall be
able to refer them to their true origin.

It may be accepted as an axiom, that no superstition of general