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This account was taken from the book "The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft" by Rosemary Ellen Guiley.

Its a little long... but VERY interesting. Thought I would share it.

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The case was tried in 1692 in Jurgensburg, Livonia, an area east of the Baltic Sea steeped in werewolf lore, and involved an 80-year-old man named Thiess.

Theiss freely confessed to being a werewolf. He testified that his nose had been broken by a man named Skeistan, a witch who was dead at the time he struck Thiess. His story of how it happened was this: Skeistan and other witches prevented crops from growing by carrying seed grain into hell. Thiess was a werewolf, who, with other werewolves, attempted to protect the crops by descending into hell and fighting with the witches to recover what was stolen. Three times a year, on the nights of St. Lucia, Pentecost and St. John (seasonal changes), the battles took place. If the werewolves delayed their descent, the witches barred the gates of hell, and the crops and livestock, even the fish catch, suffered. The werewolves carried iron bars as weapons, and the witches carried broom handles. Skeistan had broken Thiess' nose with a broom handle wrapped in a horse's tail.

The judges, naturally, were shocked to hear that werewolves, who were supposed to be agents of the Devil, could not tolerate the Devil and fought against witches.

Asked what happened to werewolves at death, Thiess replied that they were buried like ordinary folk, and their souls went to heaven--another shock for the judges. Thiess insisted that the werewolves were the "hounds of God" who served mankind, preventing the Devil from carrying off the abundance of the earth. If not for them, everyone would suffer. He said werewolves in Germany and Russia likewise fought the witches in their own hells.

Thiess refused to confess that he had signed a pact with the Devil, despite the efforts of the judges. Even the parish priest, summoned to chastise him for his evil ways, failed to sway Thiess. The old man angrily said he was a better man than the priest and that he was neither the first, nor would be the last, werewolf to fight the witches.

The judges sentenced him to 10 lashes for acts of idolatry and superstitious beliefs.


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wow that was kind of funny fighting with a prist but then the ten lashes would not be a

very fun.

nice story did the Rosemary Ellen Guiley write then encyclopedia of shape-shifters to?

that would make a good short story, (note to self: write this as a short story)
i have been reading up on supernaturail cases from the 1692 era and had to write a ten page essay on the salem witch trials(wrote twelve instead and got the highest grade ) but i was just sucking up ofcourse

I believe I've read that as well, or a variation of it. It was more of an astral projection that took the form of animals, but it's still a rare case in ancient folklore where werewolves are portrayed as good.

I'm deeply into Benandanti lore. I'm very familiar with this legend and Thiess is one of my heroes. My current character Nothing-to-Prove was "born in the caul" and she's a fifth-generation Benandanti.

The werewolf-riding-a-horse-in-the-clouds tattoo on my right arm, I interpret to be a Benandanti and that's how I describe it to people when they ask about it.

A few other points:
There were two sects of Benandanti, the ones that Thiess described and another, who guarded the pathways of the dead. Christophoros was of the latter sect.
I read another Benandanti legend that held that the werewolves who fought the witches for the harvest were armed with fennel staves, and the witches were armed with sorghum. The battle wasn't fearsome, it was more like a football game where each side got themselves all het up, blood pumping, chest thumping, trash-talkin' each other then going at it. According to what I've read, it was the Christophoroan Benandanti that carried iron staves and the Thiessian Benandanti carried fennel staves and rode on horses, badgers, goats and giant cats to battle.

I must say, this was an interesting tidbit; never heard this one before.

That is certainly interesting, vrikasatma. I never realized there was much more of a back story of events to the account than what I originally posted. Makes it that much more interesting.

Yes, I seem to recall that as well from the book I read it in.

What's great is how a book can immortalize the words of thought...
That is a nice story (allthough 10 lashes at the age of 80 could kill)...

My favorite part is where they sentence him for superstitious beliefs... He's superstitious? If I'm not mistaken, they are the ones who were trying him for being a werewolf.

Considering that he could well have been strangled and then burned, he got off (for the time) rather lightly.

He also illustrates the "Good-Guy" werewolf; someone other than the raving animal we associate with the Were's today.

There may have been some strength to his admission: in those days, people died at the old age of thirty years; literally worn out from the amount of work necessary to live...yet he was eighty, and robust enough to resist the ministrations of the so-called "enlightened" Church.

Were's are reputed to be tough, and hard to kill. He was both...
Hmmmm.....

Never thought of that. Interesting...

Oooooooo, me likey. I'll have to inegrate this into my universe.

YES>
Finally we have proof there of good werewolves from that time.
Sorry, but for the most part, the one werewolf trial that's famous is Peter Blunt, or something.
I like this one. Thanks for sharing it.
(Suck up. )
At least i don't have to take a flea bath.
( )