"Hail, hail, hail, great Wolf Spirit, hail
A boon I ask thee, mighty shade,
Within this circle I have made.
Make me a werewolf strong and bold,
This could potentially be a good overvoice - maybe a chant by an estranged old man? We were also looking at the history of the werewolf and how it came about, supposedly in the medieval period people lived in fear of these creatures and used to find countless lifeless bodies along the roads as they travelled. Supposedly most people were terrifed to get from A to B. a quote from the website is:
Brief History
Some people during middle ages believed that the werewolf was the projection of a demon, which made its victims appear as a wolf in his own eyes and to those around him. For others, the werewolf was a direct manifestation of the Devil. Early seventeenth century French author Henri Bouguet believed, as did a great many people of that day, that Satan would leave the lycanthrope asleep behind a bush, go forth as a wolf, and perform whatever evil might be in that person’s mind. According to Bouguet, the Devil could confuse the sleeper’s imagination to such an extent “that he believes he had really been a wolf and had run about and killed men and beasts.”
So what do they look like?
What characteristics do they have?
What kind of transformation takes place?
In human form they had bushy eyebrows that met over the bridge of the nose. Their blood-red fingernails were long and Almond shaped, often the nails are a yellow colour, to symbolise ill health/ disease/ infection.
The mouth and eyes were always dry and thirsty. Long and narrow ears were laid back on heads. Their skin was rough, scratched and hairy with yellowish, pinkish or greenish cast. In addition to such physical features, the werewolf also displayed certain psychological traits.
They generally preferred the night and solitude, had an inclination towards visiting the graveyards and were known to dig up corpses and feast upon them.
To sucessfully portray a werewolf, we have to understand and recognise the key characteristics of a werewolf.
A werewolf in wolf form has:
- the exact same appearance as a wolf, expect it has no tale. (The idea of being tail-less is thought to origionates from the belife that witches who take the form of animals can be discovered by not having a tail.)
OR
- A super human and super wolf body.
Super Human
Often huge in size, around 7ft tall when standing on its back legs, and with huge upper body strenght, at least 4 times the strenght of an average male. The ablitly out run all of it's prey.
Super Wolf
An extreem sense of smell, especially for blood, similair to that of a shark, (the ability to smell blood from a long distance, 3 miles) and outstanding vision. It also had the ability to stand on it's back legs, but run at super speed on all fours.
The transformation was achieved by any of the following methods:
Curse: An ill fated man could become victim of witchcraft or fall under curse of evil spirits. The person then would involuntary turn into werewolf.
Bitten by Werewolf: Another common believe was that any one could become one if saliva of a werewolf could find a way to blood stream; might be from bite or scratch.
Putting on Wolf Skin: Most easiest way of becoming werewolf; however, there have been debates concerning effectiveness of the method. An evil minded person could put on hide of a dead wolf and become a werewolf. In case the complete skin was unavailable, a belt or girdle of wolf hide would supplement it.
Occult or Devil Worshiping: An wicked person can start worshiping the Devil and surrender his soul to it. The Devil then would grant him the power to become an werewolf. In some cases it could be any evil spirit answering to devotion.
Magic Salve or Ointment: A good number of recorded cases mentions a potent salve or ointment with which werewolf would rub their bodies for transformations. The compositions of those ointments were different, but generally contained plant ingredients like nightshade, belladonna and henbane. Pig fat, turpentine and olive oil were used as solvent for them. Later when the distillation of spirits was perfected, alcohol served the purpose.
Rituals: Evidence of ceremonial rituals are often mentioned in the werewolf cases. The rituals were mainly any combination of the voluntary methods of becoming a werewolf. First the afflicted man would locate an isolate place and trace a big circle on the soil. On the center of that circle he made a fire and prepared his magic ointment. ( After rubbing his body with the ointment, he would wear the wolf hide and concentrate on prayer to the Devil. At the end of the process the man turned into a wolf and ran in quest of prey.
A wicked person can start worshiping the Devil and surrender his soul to it. The Devil then would grant him the power to become an werewolf. In some cases it could be any evil spirit answering to devotion.
Many modern authors have suggested that werewolf (and vampire) legends may have been origionally created to explain unsolved serial killings. This theory is very plausable as some modern serial killers have similarities associated with werewolves, such as cannibalism, mutilation, and cyclic attacks.
Why were wolves chosen as the excuse for death?
Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe at the time. Strangely, different kinds of werewolves are found across the globe to match different clutures!
- werehyenas in Africa
- weretigers in India
- werepumas ("runa uturuncu")
The terror alike of young and old.”
This could potentially be a good overvoice - maybe a chant by an estranged old man? We were also looking at the history of the werewolf and how it came about, supposedly in the medieval period people lived in fear of these creatures and used to find countless lifeless bodies along the roads as they travelled. Supposedly most people were terrifed to get from A to B. a quote from the website is:
"the fear of werewolves was like a nightmare"
Brief History
Some people during middle ages believed that the werewolf was the projection of a demon, which made its victims appear as a wolf in his own eyes and to those around him. For others, the werewolf was a direct manifestation of the Devil. Early seventeenth century French author Henri Bouguet believed, as did a great many people of that day, that Satan would leave the lycanthrope asleep behind a bush, go forth as a wolf, and perform whatever evil might be in that person’s mind. According to Bouguet, the Devil could confuse the sleeper’s imagination to such an extent “that he believes he had really been a wolf and had run about and killed men and beasts.”
So what do they look like?
What characteristics do they have?
What kind of transformation takes place?
In human form they had bushy eyebrows that met over the bridge of the nose. Their blood-red fingernails were long and Almond shaped, often the nails are a yellow colour, to symbolise ill health/ disease/ infection.
The mouth and eyes were always dry and thirsty. Long and narrow ears were laid back on heads. Their skin was rough, scratched and hairy with yellowish, pinkish or greenish cast. In addition to such physical features, the werewolf also displayed certain psychological traits.
They generally preferred the night and solitude, had an inclination towards visiting the graveyards and were known to dig up corpses and feast upon them.
To sucessfully portray a werewolf, we have to understand and recognise the key characteristics of a werewolf.
A werewolf in wolf form has:
- the exact same appearance as a wolf, expect it has no tale. (The idea of being tail-less is thought to origionates from the belife that witches who take the form of animals can be discovered by not having a tail.)
OR
- A super human and super wolf body.
Super Human
Often huge in size, around 7ft tall when standing on its back legs, and with huge upper body strenght, at least 4 times the strenght of an average male. The ablitly out run all of it's prey.
Super Wolf
An extreem sense of smell, especially for blood, similair to that of a shark, (the ability to smell blood from a long distance, 3 miles) and outstanding vision. It also had the ability to stand on it's back legs, but run at super speed on all fours.
The transformation was achieved by any of the following methods:
Curse: An ill fated man could become victim of witchcraft or fall under curse of evil spirits. The person then would involuntary turn into werewolf.
Bitten by Werewolf: Another common believe was that any one could become one if saliva of a werewolf could find a way to blood stream; might be from bite or scratch.
Putting on Wolf Skin: Most easiest way of becoming werewolf; however, there have been debates concerning effectiveness of the method. An evil minded person could put on hide of a dead wolf and become a werewolf. In case the complete skin was unavailable, a belt or girdle of wolf hide would supplement it.
Occult or Devil Worshiping: An wicked person can start worshiping the Devil and surrender his soul to it. The Devil then would grant him the power to become an werewolf. In some cases it could be any evil spirit answering to devotion.
Magic Salve or Ointment: A good number of recorded cases mentions a potent salve or ointment with which werewolf would rub their bodies for transformations. The compositions of those ointments were different, but generally contained plant ingredients like nightshade, belladonna and henbane. Pig fat, turpentine and olive oil were used as solvent for them. Later when the distillation of spirits was perfected, alcohol served the purpose.
Rituals: Evidence of ceremonial rituals are often mentioned in the werewolf cases. The rituals were mainly any combination of the voluntary methods of becoming a werewolf. First the afflicted man would locate an isolate place and trace a big circle on the soil. On the center of that circle he made a fire and prepared his magic ointment. ( After rubbing his body with the ointment, he would wear the wolf hide and concentrate on prayer to the Devil. At the end of the process the man turned into a wolf and ran in quest of prey.
A wicked person can start worshiping the Devil and surrender his soul to it. The Devil then would grant him the power to become an werewolf. In some cases it could be any evil spirit answering to devotion.
Many modern authors have suggested that werewolf (and vampire) legends may have been origionally created to explain unsolved serial killings. This theory is very plausable as some modern serial killers have similarities associated with werewolves, such as cannibalism, mutilation, and cyclic attacks.
Why were wolves chosen as the excuse for death?
Some scholars have suggested that it was inevitable that wolves, being the most feared predators in Europe at the time. Strangely, different kinds of werewolves are found across the globe to match different clutures!
- werehyenas in Africa
- weretigers in India
- werepumas ("runa uturuncu")
- werejaguars ("yaguaraté-abá" or "tigre-capiango") of southern South America.
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