From: hetyei@athena.mit.edu (Gabor Hetyei)
Subject: Questions about werewolves
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 06:30:14 GMT

Hi, 

 I am thrilled having discovered this group! It's only a few weeks ago
that I saw the first werewolf movie of my life (An American werewolf in
London) and I became extremely interested in werewolf stories. Since I have
read an anthology of short stories. These stories are fascinating, but
they seem to contradict to each other at several points. I would like
to sort out which motives are "orthodox" and "traditional", and which
ones are inventions of individual authors. Is there anyone who could
help me?

 Here are my questions:

1.) When does the transformation take place?
 In some stories the werewolf takes wolf form only at full moon, in
others this seems to happen at every sunset. I saw at least one story
where a female werewolf changed into wolf at daytime in order to attack
the guy who identified him as a werewolf. (Unfortunately, exactly before
this story the publisher of the anthology warns that the story has high
artistic values but is "incorrect" at several points...)
Is it true that besides the times when the werewolf _has_ to change into 
wolf (s)he might transform any other time at will?

2.) Is it true that if a werewolf is seen by a human during the change 
(s)he stays in wolf form forever? One story I read claims this, but in
another one a male werewolf reappears in human form in the story after
having been seen changing by one of the characters. (Unfortunately, this
is again the "unreliable" source mentioned in question 1.)

3.) What is wolfsbane for? There is an old gipsy rhyme stating that even
a pious man who has never been a wolf before, might become one when the
moon is full, and the wolfsbane blooms. On the other hand , in some
stories wolfsbane seems to have exactly the opposite role, i.e.,
protection against werewolves.  

4.) How about other protections against werewolves, besides silver or
church-blessed items? In one story I read, a hero sacrifices himself in
order to save his brother -- the chosen victim of the werewolf. He dies,
but so does the werewolf too, because -- according to the author--
nothing is mightier than a werewolfs magic powers but perfect,
self-sacrificing love. In the movie I saw, the werewolf's lover tries to
stop him , declaring her love to the wolf, but it does not work: the
wolf has to be shot. Should I consider this scene as the personal
invention of the movie director, in order to make the movie more
romantic, or are there stories where love can revert a werewolf into
human?

5.) What are the ways , the werewolf can choose his/her victim? The most
typical idea is that the werewolf sees at daylight a red pentagram on
his/her victims palm. The movie I saw is confusing again. There the
pentagram is painted on the wall of an inn. The two American tourists
ask about the significance of the sign, and they are kicked out into the
forests were the wolf attacks them immediately. hence one could think
that the next victim is always that outsider who asks about the
pentagram. But later on in the movie a doctor from London repeats the
same question, gets no answer either, but survives unharmed till the end
of the movie. 
 In another story a female werewolf chooses her victim by kissing them.
Is this "mainstream" or the authors individual invention?

6.) Provided that the answer to question 1. is that different werewolves may
transform at different times, could it happen that one werewolf
(currently in wolf form) chooses another werewolf (currently in human
form) to be his/her victim? (This question might sound weird but I saw
two stories where the werewolf dies because (s)he sees the pentagram on
his/her own palm or on an object representing him/her ...)

7.) What happens when a werewolf fails in the hunt of his/her victim. In
all stories I read, if there was a failure, the wolf died right after
it. Is this an obligatory rule, or just a tendency of authors?
Another similar question: what happens if the wolf fails to kill/harm at
all? In one story I read , the friend of a female werewolf knew that she
has to taste blood before dawn, but it was not clear, what happens if
not. Is it like starving, or causes the death of the wolf unnegotiably?

8.) How about the state of the human conscience during and after the
hunt? In the movie , the guy did not seem to remember anything he did in
wolf form. In some other stories not only it is possible for the human
to remember the acts of the wolf, but there seems even to be some
control of the human on the wolf -- eg. (s)he never attacks some special
friend...   

9.) It seems to be clear that lycantrophy is like AIDS-- it spreads with
each blood-contact. Is it really like AIDS, i.e. does it spread also via
sexual contact? Is it a rule that the offspring of a werewolf becomes
werewolf or not?

10.) I left my most complicated question to the end. In the movie I saw,
one of the both Americans is killed by the wolf, the other turns into
werewolf. The dead friend returns to the other and tells that he has to
remain "undead" (some sort of limbo state) unless "the bloodline of the wolf
is severed". In the movie this means that the friend turned werewolf has
to die first. (The wolf who had attacked them was killed by the
villagers immediately).
So it is not completely clear to me, what this "severing the bloodline"
business should mean. To wit, imagine the following (I admit , a little
bit complicated) situation:
--Werewolf A kills human H
--Humans B and C turn into werewolf because of blood contact with A.
--Human D turns into werewolf because of blood contact with B.

How long, in general, has H to remain undead?

--until A is alive ?
--until both B and C are alive?
--until any of B and C is alive?
or even
-- until any of A,B,C or D or anybody who "continues their bloodline" is
alive?


  Well, these were my questions. Hope that someone can give us some
references on them. If this happens, it might be interesting to compile
a Frequently Asked Questions file about werewolves.

				See you next full moon ;-)

					Gabor Hetyei

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