Shewolf

In the mountains of Auvergne, a story dating back to 1588 was told of a royal female werewolf. In the story the nobleman was gazing out of his window and upon seeing a hunter he knew asked the hunter to check with details of the hunt. While in the forest, the hunter stumbled upon a wolf. In the ensuing struggle, he severed one of the wolf's paws and placed it in his pouch.

Upon returning to the chateau with his gruesome prize, he opened the pouch to show the nobleman evidence of his encounter. What they discovered was not a paw at all, in fact, the pouch contained what looked to be a feminine hand bearing an elegant gold ring. The nobleman recognised the ring and sent the hunter away. The nobleman then went looking for his wife. When he came upon her in the kitchen, he found her nursing a wounded arm. He removed the bandage only to find that her hand had been cut off.

Finish this story

Respond to this legend by making a piece of art work, rewrite the story from another perspective, create some lyrics, write a poem, be a journalist and write a news report or think of something completely different. Research and find out about wolves, werewolves and shewolves and rewrite one of these as an urban legend.

How to Spot a Werewolf

As with witches, finding a werewolf largely seems to be a matter of looking hard enough. Some of the warning signs, according to the world's myths, are:

• Red hair

• Born on the 25th of December

• Eyebrows join in the middle

• Index and middle fingers are of the same length

• Love of rare or raw meat

• Hairs on the palms of the hands

• Hair on the inside of the skin (that seems like a tough one to check!)

• Will change back to a human if you throw a piece of iron or steel over its head when in animal form.