Ability to physically transform in mythology, folklore and speculative fiction
"Shapeshift" redirects here. For the Swiss company, see
ShapeShift.
Tsarevna Frog (or The Frog Princess), by Viktor Vasnetsov, tells of a frog that metamorphoses into a princess.
Louhi, Mistress of the North, attacking Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back in 2003 when she was trying to steal Sampo; in the Finnish epic poetry Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot. (The Defense of the Sampo, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1896)
"The giant Galligantua and the wicked old magician transform the duke's daughter into a white hind." by Arthur Rackham
Loge feigns fear as Alberich turns into a giant snake. Wotan stands in the background; illustration by Arthur Rackham to Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existent literature and epic poems such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad. The concept remains a common literary device in modern fantasy, children's literature and popular culture. Examples of shapeshifters are vampires and werewolves.