The Wulver of Shetland

The werewolf is considered by many to be a fearful creature portrayed in films as a violent, ferocious, and even manic beast. In contemporary media, the werewolf is triggered by the changing of the moon, a shape shifter between man and wolf.
 
These tales make stories of the Wulver of Shetland all the more intriguing. Unlike the horror character of werewolf folklore, the Wulver is believed to be a kind-hearted and generous being. Up until the twentieth century there were regular sightings of the Wulver, reported to be half man and half wolf. In contradiction to the changing nature of the traditional werewolf, the Wulver was in a permanent state of being described as having a man's body with thick brown hair and a wolf's head. The ancient Celt’s believed the Wulver to have evolved from the wolf, representing an in-between state between man and wolf. Often the Wulver would be sighted fishing and sitting on stones now fondly referred to as the 'Wulver’s Stane'. Believed to be a very patient it is said that he would wait many hours to catch a fish.

Nuremberg Chronical (Schedel'sche Weltchronik), page XIIr. 
Digital Source: Beloit College

In her book, Shetland Traditional Lores, Jessica Saxby writes:

The Wulver was a creature like a man with a wolf’s head. He had short brown hair all over him. His home was a cave dug out of the side of a steep knowe, half-way up a hill. He didn’t molest folk if folk didn’t molest him. He was fond of fishing, and had a small rock in the deep water which is known to this day as the “Wulver’s Stane”. There he would sit fishing sillaks and piltaks for hour after hour. He was reported to have frequently left a few fish on the window-sill of some poor body.

The Wulver was said to live in cave on Shetland, and while he kept a distance from his human neighbours is considered to be charitable and offer aid to those in need. Stories tell of him helping lost travellers by guiding them to nearby villages, and leaving fish outside the homes of the poor and needy. Far removed from the ferocious character of the werewolf, folklore suggests that the Wulver would pose no risk to people, as long as they posed no risk to him, and on the contrary providing help to those in need.
 
Although sightings of the Wulven have lessened in the twentieth century the folklore of a kind-hearted half man, half wolf being from Shetland live on.