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In mythology and literature, a werewoman or were-woman is a woman who has taken the form of an animal through a process of lycanthropy. The use of the word "were" refers to the ability to shape-shift but is, taken literally, a contradiction in terms since in Old English the word "wer" means man.〔"Werewolf" in Green, Thomas A. (Ed.) (1997) ''Folklore: An encyclopedia of beliefs, customs, tales, music, and art.'' Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, pp. 840-842. ISBN 0-87436-986-X〕 Werewomen are reported in antiquity and in more recent African folklore, where the phenomenon is sometimes associated with witchcraft, though sources often do not state the animal into which the woman has transformed and it is not necessarily a wolf. In areas where wolves do not exist, other fierce animals may take their place, for instance leopards or hyenas in Africa.〔 Werewomen are distinctive as most legends of lycanthropy involve men, though the process is not restricted solely to men,〔"Lycanthropy in Africa" by W. Robert Foran in ''African Affairs'', Vol. 55, No. 219 (Apr., 1956), pp. 124-134.〕 and if they involve women it is usually in the role of a victim. The theme of the female werewolf has been used in fiction since Victorian times, while recently the term werewoman has become associated with transgender culture and specifically the fantasy of a forced, but temporary, transformation of a man into a woman. ==Historical accounts== In sixth century Lebanon, villages attacked by werewomen were advised by a local holy man to have themselves baptised and to take collective ritual preventive measures.〔"The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity" by Peter Brown in ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 61 (1971), 80-101. (Original source: H. Hilgenfeld, "Syrische Lebensbeschreibung des heiligen Symeons" in H. Lietzmann, ''Das Leben des heiligen Symeon Stylites'' (Texte und Untersuchungen XXXII, 4) 1908, pp. 80-187.)〕 A 1591 broadside, ''Werewolves of Jurich'', printed by Georg Kress, tells the story of the terrorising of the town of Jurich by hundreds of werewolves and depicts a number of male and female werewolves being executed, including some apparently wearing nun's veils.〔 In 1615, French physician Jean de Nynauld reported in ''De la lycanthropie, transformation et extase des sorciers'' (On lycanthropy, transformation and ecstasy of witches) the case of a woodsman who had been attacked by a wolf but had managed to cut off its leg. Immediately the wolf turned into a woman who was subsequently burned alive.〔Robbins, Rossell Hope. (1959) ''The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology''. London: Peter Nevill, p. 326.〕 Lewis Spence, in his 1920 ''An Encyclopaedia of Occultism'', recorded that in Armenia it was thought that a demon would present himself to a sinful woman and command her to wear a wolf's skin, after donning which she would spend seven years as a wolf during the night, devouring her own and other children and acting generally as a wild beast until the morning when she would resume her human form.〔"Werewolf" in Spence, Lewis. (1920) ''An Encyclopaedia of Occultism''. New York: University Books, p. 426. Reprint of 1920 original.〕 In a legend from Liberia, a lazy husband asks his wife to use her shape-shifting powers to change into a leopard and capture food in order to save him the trouble of hunting. After the wife transforms, she terrorizes her husband with her claws and teeth until he agrees to start hunting again.〔"Shape-Shifting" in Lynch, P.A. and J. Roberts. (2010) ''African Mythology A to Z''. 2nd edition. New York: Chelsea House, pp. 113-114. ISBN 978-1-60413-415-5〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Werewoman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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