shape because of
the commission of sin, and condemned to pass a certain number of years
in that form. Thus certain saints metamorphosed sinners into wolves.
In Armenia it was thought that a sinful woman was condemned to pass
seven years in the form of a wolf. To such a woman a demon appeared,
bringing a wolf-skin. He commanded her to don it, and from that moment
she became a wolf, with all the nature of the wild beast, devouring
her own children and those of strangers, and wandering forth at night,
undeterred by locks, bolts, or bars, returning only with the morning
to resume her human form.

In was, of course, in Europe, where the wolf was one of the largest
carnivorous animals, that the were-wolf superstition chiefly gained
currency. In Eastern countries, where similar beliefs prevailed,
bears, tigers, and other beasts of prey were substituted for the
lupine form of colder climes.

_The Lay of Gugemar_

Oridial was one of the chief barons of King Arthur, and dwelt in
Brittany, where he held lands in fief of that monarch. So deeply was
he attached to his liege lord that when his son Gugemar was yet a
child he sent him to Arthur's Court to be trained as a page. In due
time Arthur dubbed Gugemar knight and armed him in rich harness, and
the youth, hearing of war in Flanders, set out for that realm in the
hope of gaining distinction and knightly honour.

After achieving many valorous deeds in Flanders Gugemar felt a strong
desire to behold his parents once more, so, setting his face homeward,
he journeyed back to Brittany and dwelt with them for some time,
resting after his battles and telling his father, mother, and sister
Nogent of the many enterprises in which he had been engaged. But he
shortly grew weary of this inactive existence, and in order to break
the monotony of it he planned a great hunt in the neighbouring
forest.

Early one morning he set out, and soon a tall stag was roused from its
bed among the ferns by the noise of the hunters' horns. The hounds
were unleashed and the entire hunt followed in pursuit, Gugemar the
foremost of all. But, closely as he pursued, the quarry eluded the
knight, and to his chagrin he was left alone in the forest spaces with
nothing to show for his long chase. He was about to ride back in
search of his companions when on a sudden he noticed a doe hiding in a
thicket with her fawn. She was white from ear to hoof, without a
spot. Gugemar's hounds, rushing at her, held her