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After John La Farge | The Wolf-Charmer | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In Bavarian folklore a Wolfssegen was an apotropaic charm against wolves; conversely, a Wolfbann (Wolf-Bann) was a malevolent spell causing a wolf attack. The Wolfssegner, or more generally Segner, were mostly destitute elderly men who made a living by selling charms or incantations. They were mostly tolerated in the 16th century, but from the 1590s they began to be persecuted as witches. During the early 1600s, a number of Wolfssegner are tried and executed as werewolves.