SOURCE: "The Severed Arm" or "The Wehr-Wolf of Limousin" (Tales of Superstition, Circa 1820) by Anonymous

DESCRIPTION: "...The wolf gave one terrific howl, and fell backwards in the form of a tall, gaunt man, in a hunting dress..."

PLOT: A knight in the court of the French king is disposed by a rival and goes to live in the Hartz Mountains as a hunter. He takes his daughter and wife with him. The wife dies, leaving the daughter alone most of the time. Ten years later the two move back to France but continue to live in poverty. Some local Frenchmen open the door on a windy night to admit a man who has cut off the arm of a werewolf. He turns out to be the rival and the arm belongs to the hunter. While heading to the chateau to rescue the daughter and find the hunter, he leaps out at them in wolf form, ripping out the rival's throat.  The werewolf is killed. The daughter shows up too, trying to stop her father, and dies too on top of the pile of corpses.

WEREWOLF FACTS: This very early Gothic tale features details that can be found in earlier and later tales: it mentions the Hartz Mountains as being a place where werewolves live (as would Marryat in "The Werewolf"), it calls French werewolves Bisclavets after the story by Marie de France. It is also one of earlier uses of the severed limb that returns to human form. Also of interest is the idea that one scratched or bitten by a werewolf will become one as well. The "doctor" is scratched by the severed arm and goes wailing he will turn into a wolf (which he doesn't). The cure for this is to be struck between the eyes with a forked stick, similar to the magic branch in deFrance's tale.

INTERESTING FACTS: The Gothic style of this story is usual convoluted intrigue of kings and young daughters but it does feature actual werewolves which is not typical. Ann Radcliffe would have explained away the lycanthropes with madness or disease.