I've heard this story a few times now, and every time I hear it I question it a little bit more. Swedish has cognate "ulv" which is synonymous to "varg". It's

I've heard this story a few times now, and every time I hear it I question it a little bit more. Swedish has cognate "ulv" which is synonymous to "varg". It's not used much anymore, but I think it fell into disuse fairly recently. Reading fairy tales from 1800's and early 1900's you are bound to encounter it. And alternate spelling "Ulf" is a top 50 first name in Sweden. In summary I don't think a taboo is an explanation in this case. EDIT: Oh and the word for werewolf is varulv.