From: z_coolidgejs@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.horror.werewolves
Subject: Re: Questions about werewolves
Date: 17 Dec 92 14:34:56 CST
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

Here's another list of answers to the questions that came up....

>  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)...

Get this.  My first werewolf movie as far as sparking interest was Teen Wolf. 
It is not a very serious flick, nor a one accurate to legend, but it's a
personal favorite anyway.  It started my lycanthropy, so to speak.

> 1.) When does the transformation take place?

     In Europe, werewolves usually changed at will.  Some of them used sorcery
to change.  Any person could become a werewolf by following certain rituals,
such as wearing a belt made of wolf skin or the skin of a hanged man.  Full
moon was one legend that Hollywood grabbed and popularized.  As a general rule,
any legend known to the common person about werewolves will probably be an
obscure one that Hollywood pumped up--silver bullets, spread by bite, ...
     I would be quite interested in knowing more about Native American werewolf
legends.  Anybody on this list know any?

> 2.) Is it true that if a werewolf is seen by a human during the change 
> (s)he stays in wolf form forever?

     This is one of the many minor legends that an author found that made a
good story.  Believe it or disbelieve it as you wish.

> 3.) What is wolfsbane for?

     Aconite (aka wolfsbane) is in some recipies for ointments of
transformation.  It produces a tingling sensation when rubbed on the skin. 
Belladonna is another common ingrediant, which affects the heart rate.  Mix in
opium and some hallucinogens, and you will undergo the change, according to
legend.  I think one can see how this legend came about...
 
> 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.

     I think the author made that one up.  As far as additional protection from
werewolves, the only thing I can think of offhand is detection.  Be wary of
people with convergent eyebrows, long second fingers, or pointed ears.  I'll
have to look up a lot of other distinguishing traits.  But then again, can you
really trust me?--my eyebrows meet.

 > 5.) What are the ways , the werewolf can choose his/her victim?

     The pentagram thing came from The Wolf Man, probably as an extrapolation
of the link between werewolves and witchcraft.  Witches can, I believe, command
werewolves in wolf form--often to kill.  I never heard the one with the kiss
before.  Most of the European legends depict werewolves as the agents of the
Devil.  The Devil picks some of the victims, and the werewolf can take out
anyone else he or she--usually he in Europe--wishes.
     Again, I am interested in Native American legends.  I am tired of
werewolves getting linked with the Devil all the time--it really makes it
difficult to obtain credit at banks or visit religious festivities! :)

> 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?

     The werewolf in human form had better be ready to defend himself!  Unless
there are special limitations that your particular set of legends (whichever
legends you decide to believe), then it is basically a contest, I guess.

> 7.) What happens when a werewolf fails in the hunt of his/her victim.

     I think it is something the authors just happened to do simultaneously. 
As far as I know, there is no compulsory killing rule (other than the commands
of the Devil, groan).  The way I see it, werewolves are highly carnivorous,
need fresh meat, but have a hard time finding fresh meat other than human meat
because humans chase away everything else larger than a squirrel or dog.  Real
wolves do not have an innate desire to kill or maim--they are animals doing
what they must in the wilderness to survive.  If werewolves are indeed innately
evil, it is not because they are part wolf but instead because they are part
human.  (I personally don't believe that anything is innately good or evil, but
that is just me.)

> 8.) How about the state of the human conscience during and after the
> hunt?

     Some people willingly become werewolves (through pacts with the Devil,
groan again) and thus have no ill feelings about what they do, unless they
didn't realize what they were getting into.  Often the case in stories,
however, the werewolf as a human feels aweful (see the previous followup).

> 9.) It seems to be clear that lycantrophy is like AIDS-- it spreads with
> each blood-contact.

     Again, an obscure legend that Hollywood pumped up.  None-the-less, it is
one that I rather like.  A little while earlier our list discussed the idea of
lycanthropy as a virus.  We agreed that if it were, it would not be a naturally
occuring one because it would be far too complicated.  This makes for great
stories about alien intervention or alchemists who were having fun.

> 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"...
> --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?

     I got the impression that H would remain undead until ALL werewolves
everywhere were dead.  If this impression were true, then David Gardner was the
last in line--the last werewolf ever.  (I howl in rememberance. 
AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!)
     Again, I think the scriptwriters made it up.

     Disclaimer: I could be wrong about what is legend and what is made up.  I
am not perfect.  (I don't even live entirely in the real world:)

Jon Coolidge, .sigs are out on Christmas vacation.

By the way, if you have a birthday coming up on the 25th and you aren't Christ,
then you could be a werewolf.  Check out more obscure legends at your local
video store.  While you're there, look for The Company of Wolves.  It is in my
opinion the best werewolf movie ever made.  A little weird but quite true to
the legends (of Europe, anyway.  It's the final countdown dadadoodoo.  Dum dada
dootdootdoo dum dadadoodoo dum, dadadut dut da...)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.werewolves