Werewolves page 6
Some modern researchers have tried to explain the reports of werewolf
behaviour with recognised medical conditions. Dr Lee Illis of Guy's
Hospital in London wrote a paper in 1963 entitled On Porphyria and the
Aetiology of Werewolves, in which he argues that historical accounts on
werewolves could have in fact been referring to victims of congenital
porphyria, stating how the symptoms of photosensitivity, reddish teeth
and psychosis could have been grounds for accusing a sufferer of being
a werewolf. This is however argued against by Woodward, who points out
how mythological werewolves were almost invariably portrayed as
resembling true wolves, and that their human forms were rarely
physically conspicuous as porphyria victims.[6] Others have pointed out
the possibility of historical werewolves having been sufferers of
hypertrichosis, a hereditary condition manifesting itself in excessive
hair growth. However, Woodward dismissed the possibility, as the rarity
of the disease ruled it out from happening on a large scale, as
werewolf cases were in medieval Europe.[6] People suffering from Downs
Syndrome have been suggested by some scholars to have been possible
originators of werewolf myths.[20] Woodward suggested rabies as the
origin of werewolf beliefs, claiming remarkable similarities between
the symptoms of that disease and some of the legends. Woodward focused
on the idea that being bitten by a werewolf could result in the victim
turning into one, which suggested the idea of a transmittable disease
like rabies.[6] However, the idea that lycanthropy could be transmitted
in this way is not part of the original myths and legends and only
appears in relatively recent beliefs.
Vampiric connections
Main article: Vampire
In Medieval Europe, the corpses of some people executed as werewolves were cremated rather than buried in order to prevent them from being resurrected as vampires.[6] Before the end of the 19th century, the Greeks believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life as vampires in the form of wolves or hyenas which prowled battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In the same vein, in some rural areas of Germany, Poland and Northern France, it was once believed that people who died in mortal sin came back to life as blood-drinking wolves. This differs from conventional werewolfery, where the creature is a living being rather than an undead apparition. These vampiric werewolves would return to their human corpse form at daylight. They were dealt with by decapitation with a spade and exorcism by the parish priest. The head would then be thrown into a stream, where the weight of its sins were thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used.[6] The vampire was also linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovakia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as one creature; Vulkodlak.[6] In Hungarian and Balkan mythology, many werewolves were said to be vampiric witches who became wolves in order to suck the blood of men born under the full moon in order to preserve their health. In their human form, these werewolves were said to have pale, sunken faces, hollow eyes, swollen lips and flabby arms.[6] The Haitian jé-rouges differ from traditional European werewolves by their habit of actively trying to spread their lycanthropic condition to others, much like vampires.[6]
In fiction
Main article: Werewolf fiction
The first feature film to use an anthropomorphic werewolf was Werewolf of London in 1935. The main werewolf of this film is a dapper London scientist who retains some of his style and most of his human features after his transformation,[27] as lead actor Henry Hull was unwilling to spend long hours being made up by makeup artist Jack Pierce.[28] Universal Studios drew on a Balkan tale of a plant associated with lycanthropy as there was no literary work to draw upon, unlike the case with vampires. There is no reference to silver nor other aspects of werewolf lore such as cannibalism.[29]
However, he lacks warmth, and it is left to the tragic character Talbot played by Lon Chaney Jr. in 1941's The Wolf Man to capture the public imagination. With Pierce's makeup more elaborate this time,[30] this catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness.[27] Sympathetic portrayals are few but notable; the comedic but tortured protagonist David Naughton in An American Werewolf In London,[31] and a less anguished and more confident and charismatic Jack Nicholson in the 1994 film Wolf.[32] Other werewolves are decidedly more willful and malevolent, such as those in the novel The Howling and its subsequent sequels and film adaptations.
The form a werewolf assumes was generally anthropomorphic in early films such as The Wolf Man and Werewolf of London, but larger and powerful wolf in many later films.[33]
The transmogrification process is often portrayed as painful in film and literature within the horror genre. The resulting wolf is typically cunning but merciless and prone to killing and eating people without compunction, regardless of the moral character of its human counterpart.
Werewolves are often depicted as immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to silver objects, such as a silver-tipped cane, bullet or blade; this attribute was first adopted cinematically in The Wolf Man.[30] This negative reaction to silver is sometimes so strong that the mere touch of the metal on a werewolf's skin will cause burns. Current-day werewolf fiction almost exclusively involves lycanthropy being either a hereditary condition or being transmitted like an infectious disease by the bite of another werewolf. In some fiction, the power of the werewolf extends to human form, such as invulnerability, super-human speed and strength and falling on their feet from high falls. Also aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be harder to control (hunger, sexual harassment). Usually in these cases the abilities are diminished in human form. In other fictions it can even be cured by medicine men or even antidotes.
Fantastic literature sometimes includes the painful element to the change, but often does not. For example, J.K. Rowling maintains the painful transition between forms while Charles de Lint, Terry Pratchett, Fritz Leiber, and myriad others reach back to the non-painful medieval literary sources. Poul Anderson in "Operation Chaos" presents a modernised American werewolf, in complete control of himself and free of the traditional taints, while in "Three Hearts and Three Lions" appears a far more traditional (though not unsympathetic) female werewolf.
The 1961 Hammer film The Curse of the Werewolf, adapted from the 1933 novel The Werewolf of Paris by American author Guy Endore, in 1961 draws on traditional legends of a child born on Christmas Eve being cursed.
Vampiric connections
Main article: Vampire
In Medieval Europe, the corpses of some people executed as werewolves were cremated rather than buried in order to prevent them from being resurrected as vampires.[6] Before the end of the 19th century, the Greeks believed that the corpses of werewolves, if not destroyed, would return to life as vampires in the form of wolves or hyenas which prowled battlefields, drinking the blood of dying soldiers. In the same vein, in some rural areas of Germany, Poland and Northern France, it was once believed that people who died in mortal sin came back to life as blood-drinking wolves. This differs from conventional werewolfery, where the creature is a living being rather than an undead apparition. These vampiric werewolves would return to their human corpse form at daylight. They were dealt with by decapitation with a spade and exorcism by the parish priest. The head would then be thrown into a stream, where the weight of its sins were thought to weigh it down. Sometimes, the same methods used to dispose of ordinary vampires would be used.[6] The vampire was also linked to the werewolf in East European countries, particularly Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovakia. In Serbia, the werewolf and vampire are known collectively as one creature; Vulkodlak.[6] In Hungarian and Balkan mythology, many werewolves were said to be vampiric witches who became wolves in order to suck the blood of men born under the full moon in order to preserve their health. In their human form, these werewolves were said to have pale, sunken faces, hollow eyes, swollen lips and flabby arms.[6] The Haitian jé-rouges differ from traditional European werewolves by their habit of actively trying to spread their lycanthropic condition to others, much like vampires.[6]
In fiction
Main article: Werewolf fiction
The first feature film to use an anthropomorphic werewolf was Werewolf of London in 1935. The main werewolf of this film is a dapper London scientist who retains some of his style and most of his human features after his transformation,[27] as lead actor Henry Hull was unwilling to spend long hours being made up by makeup artist Jack Pierce.[28] Universal Studios drew on a Balkan tale of a plant associated with lycanthropy as there was no literary work to draw upon, unlike the case with vampires. There is no reference to silver nor other aspects of werewolf lore such as cannibalism.[29]
However, he lacks warmth, and it is left to the tragic character Talbot played by Lon Chaney Jr. in 1941's The Wolf Man to capture the public imagination. With Pierce's makeup more elaborate this time,[30] this catapulted the werewolf into public consciousness.[27] Sympathetic portrayals are few but notable; the comedic but tortured protagonist David Naughton in An American Werewolf In London,[31] and a less anguished and more confident and charismatic Jack Nicholson in the 1994 film Wolf.[32] Other werewolves are decidedly more willful and malevolent, such as those in the novel The Howling and its subsequent sequels and film adaptations.
The form a werewolf assumes was generally anthropomorphic in early films such as The Wolf Man and Werewolf of London, but larger and powerful wolf in many later films.[33]
The transmogrification process is often portrayed as painful in film and literature within the horror genre. The resulting wolf is typically cunning but merciless and prone to killing and eating people without compunction, regardless of the moral character of its human counterpart.
Werewolves are often depicted as immune to damage caused by ordinary weapons, being vulnerable only to silver objects, such as a silver-tipped cane, bullet or blade; this attribute was first adopted cinematically in The Wolf Man.[30] This negative reaction to silver is sometimes so strong that the mere touch of the metal on a werewolf's skin will cause burns. Current-day werewolf fiction almost exclusively involves lycanthropy being either a hereditary condition or being transmitted like an infectious disease by the bite of another werewolf. In some fiction, the power of the werewolf extends to human form, such as invulnerability, super-human speed and strength and falling on their feet from high falls. Also aggressiveness and animalistic urges may be harder to control (hunger, sexual harassment). Usually in these cases the abilities are diminished in human form. In other fictions it can even be cured by medicine men or even antidotes.
Fantastic literature sometimes includes the painful element to the change, but often does not. For example, J.K. Rowling maintains the painful transition between forms while Charles de Lint, Terry Pratchett, Fritz Leiber, and myriad others reach back to the non-painful medieval literary sources. Poul Anderson in "Operation Chaos" presents a modernised American werewolf, in complete control of himself and free of the traditional taints, while in "Three Hearts and Three Lions" appears a far more traditional (though not unsympathetic) female werewolf.
The 1961 Hammer film The Curse of the Werewolf, adapted from the 1933 novel The Werewolf of Paris by American author Guy Endore, in 1961 draws on traditional legends of a child born on Christmas Eve being cursed.