ood.html
Meaning
Myths
Movies
Books
11/28/2003
English 2148
Fall 2003
Katie Vogt
Chris Caldwell
Miriam Gomez
Meredith Fussell
Monique Wilson
Lycanthropy: Whats in a word?
The word lycanthropy comes from two different Greek words: lykoi, wolf and anthropos, man. It is defined as the mental state of a man or woman where he/she thinks of his/herself as an animal, particularly a wolf, also known as lycanthropic disorder. The person does not actually change from human to animal form. A defining characteristic of lycanthropy in myth and legend is the transformation from man to beast (Wolfe, 2003). The changing of form can be forced by the presence of a full moon. The many ways to become a werewolf include witchcraft, blood infected from the bite of another werewolf, or the Lycaeonia curse. The Lycaeonia curse turns a person into a werewolf because he or she has performed harm on someone else (Wolfe). Werewolves are perceived to be beasts that hunt during the night for others to make them werewolves or for prey to feed upon. Today, however, lycanthropes, or weres (short for werewolf or werecat) are people who believe they were reincarnated as a human but were wolves in their past lives. Some live in forests and make friends with other lycanthropes. The forest is a channel devoted to lycanthropy, wereism, and shapeshifting and also a place for those who have newly come to terms with their being something other than human (Anderson).
There have been many myths and legends surrounding werewolves for centuries, but over time some of the stories that were originally told to amuse people were replaced by truthful accounts and real suffering. It appeared that people believed in the myth of the werewolf. In France alone, between 1520 and 1630, about 30,000 individuals were labeled as werewolves and some of the unfortunate ones underwent criminal investigation and torture. Here is a collection of some of the French werewolf trials that have been recorded.
In 1573, werewolf attacks became more apparent. After finding several half-eaten children, the authorities of the town Dole in Frenche-Comte province put a price on werewolves heads. Two months after the injunction, an alleged werewolf named Gillas Garner was arrested. His victims were nine to twelve-year-old children. He slaughtered them with his paws and teeth. To satisfy his appetite, he ate flesh from their thigh, legs and belly. The stories of his crimes and sentencing him to death still survive and have become a folk song.
The trial of two French peasants in 1521 got wide spread notoriety. Pierre Burgot and Michael Verdum were the convicted werewolves. Nineteen years ago when Burgot was desperately trying to gather his storm-frightened sheep, he met with three mysterious horsemen dressed in black. One of them assured him the future protection of his sheep and gave him some money. In return, the stranger just wanted Burgot to obey him as the Lord. Accepting the proposal Burgot agreed to meet again. In the second meeting the so-called Lord announced the full conditions of the deal: Burgot must renounce God, the Holy Virgin, the Company of Heaven, his baptism and also his confirmation.
As years passed, Burgot became reluctant to maintain the pact. Then Michel Verdum called him and demanded him to strip naked and rub magic ointment on his body. When Burgot obeyed the order, he found his arms and legs had become hairy, his hands reshaped into paws. Verdum changed his shape also and together they ran through the surrounding countryside. They committed various crimes, tearing a seven-year-old boy to pieces, killing a woman and abducting a four-year-old girl. The unfortunate girl was fully eaten by two of them. When they were caught, they were duly put to death. Their picture was hung in the local church as a reminder of all the evil deeds that men could commit under the influence of Satan.
There are many individuals today who believe they are werewolves, and some of the lycanthropes have been studied and treated by psychologists and psychiatrists. The November 1975 issues of The Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal reported in details on several recent cases of lycanthropy.
In the first case, the twenty-year-old patient, referred to as Mr. H, was convinced that he was a werewolf. A drug user, he told his doctor that while serving in the United States army in Europe, he had hiked into a forest near his post and ingested LSD and strychnine, the latter a deadly poison that acts as a stimulant when taken in tiny quantities. Both substances are pharmacologically similar to some of the ingredients used by shape shifters in the past. They had an instant and potent effect on the young man, who claimed to have seen fur growing on his hands and felt it sprouting on his face. Soon he was overcome by a compulsion to chase after, catch, and devour live rabbits. He wandered in this delusional state for several days before returning to the post.
Placed on the tranquilizer chlorpromazine, Mr. H was weaned away from drugs and received adjunct therapy for some nine months, during which he continued to hear disembodied voices and to experience satanic visions. Claiming to be possessed by the devil, he insisted he had unusual powers. Tests indicated his delusions were compatible with acute schizophrenic or toxic psychosis. He was treated with an antipsychotic drug, and when he improved sufficiently, he was referred to an outpatient clinic. After only two visits, however, he had stopped taking the medication and left treatment. Subsequent efforts to contact him failed.
Another werewolf patient, thirty-seven-year-old Mr. W, was admitted to the hospital after repeated public displays of bizarre activity including howling at the moon, sleeping in cemeteries, allowing his hair and beard to grow out, and lying in the center of busy highways. Unlike Mr.H, Mr.W had no history of drug or alcohol abuse. He had once been a farmer and considered of average intelligence, which was found in an IQ test administered when he served in the United States Navy. Now, he was seen not only as psychotic but also as intellectually deficient, with a mental age of an eight to ten-year-old child. Because of the patients increasing dementia, the doctors performed a brain biopsy. Their findings revealed an abnormal physiological deterioration of cerebral tissue, known as walnut brain. Mr.W was diagnosed as having chronic brain syndrome of unknown origin. When placed on antipsychotic drugs he showed no further symptoms of lycanthropy. Seen later on an outpatient basis, he exhibited quiet, childlike behavior.
Werewolves in Film
In the past years people have been fascinated by the supernatural and folklore, including werewolves. Because of this, executives in the movie industry have catered to this audience by making numerous movies that deal with lycanthropy and shapeshifters. The first werewolf movie on the silver screen was actually a silent film that was only twenty-five minutes long. The silent film The Werewolf was released in 1913. This was far before the genre of werewolf movies had started to take off. The movie was about a young Indian girl who was cursed by her witch mother to occasionally become a werewolf and prey on the white men. Not long after this movie, other movies in the werewolf-horror genre began to come forward. In 1935, Universal Studios released Werewolf of London, starring Henry Hull. This was the first movie of this kind, but never the less a movie that started a trend. Other movies that followed were:
ø The Wolf Man. 1941. Starring Lon Chaney. This was the second werewolf movie for Universal Studios. Bela Lugosi starred as the werewolf that initially bites Mr. Chaneys character. In this movie, viewers are introduced to the idea that a full moon causes transformation. We also get the idea that pure silver is a way to kill a werewolf. Both of these ideas come to us by way of Universal screenwriter Kurt Siodmak.
ø Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man. 1943. Starring Lon Chaney again along with Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein. Chaneys character returns from the grave to seek out the Frankenstein familys cure for lycanthropy only to get caught up with a less than friendly Frankenstein.
Lon Chaney continues in a long run of werewolf movies. Others include Return Of The Vampire, in which Lugosi plays a Dracula-like character, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. All of these movies range in years between 1943 and 1948.
More modern movies include:
ø I Was a Teenage Werewolf. 1957. Starring Michael Landon (pre Little House on the Prairie).
ø The Curse of the Werewolf. 1960. Starring Oliver Reed.
ø Face of the Screaming Werewolf. 1960. Starring Lon Chaney. This was Chaneys last portrayal of a werewolf on film.
ø Mark of the Wolfman. 1967. Starring Paul Naschy. Naschy and Chaney are the only two actors that made playing werewolves their career. Chaney starred in six films and Naschy stopped at thirteen. Some of Naschys films are as follows: Nights of the Werewolf, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf.
ø The Legend of the Wolf Woman. 1976. This is the first film listed that has a female as a werewolf. The plot, a homicidal woman is possibly a werewolf.
ø The Beast. 1977. Certainly a more risqu© movie in this genre. This film was made over seas in England. It is short of being soft porn and has some pretty explicit scenes in it. The first fifteen minutes shows horses copulating. Certainly not a movie for all audiences.
ø The Howling. 1980. A classic werewolf movie and the first of many to follow. This movie is credited for stunning state of the art make up effects of its time.
ø American Werewolf in London. 1981. Starring David Naughton. Naughtons character gets a bad case of lycanthropy while in London. First movie to show werewolves on all fours.
ø Silver Bullet. 1985. Starring Everett McGill. Adaptation of a Stephen King novel. A pastor of a small town turns out to be a werewolf.
ø Curse of the Queerwolf. 1987. An obnoxious, polyester clad bigot is bitten by a transvestite werewolf bringing on a fate worse than a werewolf: a queerwolf. A humorous twist on the classic werewolf story.
ø Wolf. 1994. Starring Jack Nicholson. Nicholson stars as a writer who has seen better times. He is bitten by a werewolf, and suddenly his life takes a turn for the better. He has more energy and even attracts a new love. This is one of the first werewolf movies that the character that has been bitten actually embraces the changes that occur. On a side note, makeup for the movie was easier because artists were able to incorporate Nicholsons unique facial characteristics into the overall product.
ø Ginger Snaps. 2000. This semi-gross movie shows the gradual transformation of Ginger after she has been bitten by a werewolf.
ø Underworld. 2003. Starring Kate Bekinsale. This movie explores the ancient war between vampires and werewolves.
Werewolves in Literature
Werewolves have been in literature for hundreds of years. Most early accounts of werewolves were in the form of myths and legends. It was not until the last one hundred years that werewolves made their way into fiction books. Here is a look at literature that deals with werewolves.
Books:
Andrews, Zed. Animal Speak.
Borchardt, Alice. Night of the Wolf. Syracuse University Press, 1986.
As the powerful forces of a conquering Rome sweep across ancient Druidic Gaul, an epic battle erupts between the shapeshifter Manael, a werewolf, and Dryas, the powerful Druid priestess summoned to destroy him.
Copper, Basil. The Werewolf; in Legend, Fact and Art. New York: St. Martins Press, 1977.
Danvers, Dennis. Wilderness. 2000.
Wilderness exposes readers to the concept of werewolves living amongst them. In fact, one is living right next door to college professor Erik Summers, one he has actually met and spoken with in regard to her status as a career student. Alice White has been turning into a wolf since she was thirteen, and nobody knows but her. Wilderness is about a human trying to understand and face the reality that he previously thought impossible and the ability to accept that the woman he loves is actually something out of a nightmare. It is also about a woman struggling to find her real identity, and the fear of what she will find when she does, be it four-legged or two.
Endore, Guy. Werewolf of Paris. Citadel Underground, 1993.
King, Stephen. Cycle of the Werewolf. Hodder & Stoughton General Division, 1984.
Scenes of unbelieving horror come each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next.
Otten, Charlotte. Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1986.
Steiger, Brad and Franklin Ruehl. The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-Shifting Beings. Visible Ink Press, 1999.
In this book, you will find all the typical creatures from the folklore of the world with descriptions and historical data. There are listings for famous actors and movies that involve shapeshifting. This is a great reference book on lycanthropy.
Short Stories:
Dondiego, Ron. Night of the Werewolf.
Durant, Alan. Vampire and Werewolf Stories.
This is an anthology of short stories about vampires and werewolves.
Perrault, Charles. The original Little Red Riding Hood. 1697.
The origins of this famous folktale are traced to an oral tradition during the witch persecutions of France in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The French word for werewolf meant a supernatural being associated with witchcraft. The original version of our childhood edited fairytale version is more gruesome with beastly cannibalism.
Resources
Werewolves: The Myths and the Truths. http://members.tripod.com/alam25/
For more resources on lycanthropy in literature and film these are some helpful websites:
For a werewolf reading list: http://www.angelfire.com/goth/abennett/werewolf_files/wwread.htm
To read the original Little Red Riding Hood:
http://www.longlongtimeago.com/llta_fairytales_redridinghood.html
This website offers an extensive list of movies about lycanthropy: http://www.processionofthedamned.com/werewolf.htm
Best and Worst Werewolf movie list. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/listmania/list-browse/-/4G58I9O5U1WY/ref%3Dcm%5Flm%5Flists/103-7562808-7214207