Monday, July 15, 2013

Werewolf 101

"For starters, we found out TV and movies had it all wrong. I had no problem with silver,  and my Changes happened whenever, not just during the full moon. Then there was the big one. I wasn't bitten or scratched by another werewolf. As far as we could tell, I was born one."
-- from Chapter One of Welcome to Harmony.

Everything people associate with werewolves -- Changing during the full moon, being vulnerable to silver, and becoming a werewolf after being bitten or scratched by another werewolf -- most people I've talked to think this is part of some centuries-old folklore. 

Truth is, none of this existed before the 1941 movie, The Wolf Man. All of the traits I described came from the imagination of that movie's screenwriter, Curt Siodmak. 

The first werewolf myth/legend goes back to the ancient Greeks. King Lycaon served his slain and dismembered son to the god, Zeus, as a test to see if Zeus was truly omniscient. Zues, enraged, punished Lycaon by turning him into a wolf.

From Lycaon, we get lycanthropy and lycanthrope, the "technical" term for werewolf. This myth is also supposed to speak to the "bloodthirsty nature" of wolves and how they're supposed to be vicious man-killers. That's not true. Wolves are actually shy and fearful of humans. Casting them in the role of monsters stems from ancient man's competition with them for  land and livestock. 

As far as ways of becoming a werewolf, there's a list as long as my arm. You could don a magic wolf pelt, rub a magic ointment on your skin, or a combination of the two. Usually, you were given these by an evil witch or the Devil himself. You could also drink rainwater from a wolf's paw print or bathe in a watering hole where wolves were known to drink. 

There are stories about people being born a werewolf like the main character of Welcome to Harmony, Dillon Howell. Their birthdays just happened to be on Christmas Eve, and they were punished for this blasphemy by being turned into werewolves.

For my werewolves, I simply decided to have them be a race that has lived alongside humanity. Not exactly original, I know. But the idea of having them be the descendants of a nature spirit known as the Great Hunter, who came to Earth in the form of a wolf and mated with a she-wolf? As far as I know, no one's done that yet -- Then again, I could be wrong. (It wouldn't be the first time either.)

Also, since I mentioned werewolves' supposed vulnerability to silver (bullets), silver is a soft metal and would not make an effective bullet. 

In Welcome to Harmony, my werewolves (or lupoi, as they prefer to be called), are heroes. They protect the town of Harmony just like a wolf pack would protect its territory from outside threats. The tradition of the heroic werewolf dates back to the 12th century and the Viking saga, Volsunga. In it, the heroes, Sigmund and Sinfiolti, are a father and son who escape from an evil king by donning magic wolf pelts and turning into wolves.   

Heroic, or at least benevolent, werewolves can also be found in the stories Guillaume de Palerme and Bisclavret. There are also the Benandanti, a fertility cult in Italy, that were said to change into wolves and battle witches that threatened to destroy the local crops. I also read about a Native American tribe in Wisconsin, whose legends include stories of Wolf-Spirits who lived among men and protected them from evil. 

That's enough for now. I'll be back in a week or so with -- Werewolves: Do They Walk Among Us?

Oh, before I go, in addition to being available for sale on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, Welcome to Harmony is now available on Smashwords.com too and should soon be available for purchase from the Apple iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, and other online outlets too. Yay! I'll post on Facebook.com/Harmony1855 and on Twitter (@Harmony1855) the moment I hear. 

On my Facebook page, I've also posted the covers for the next two Harmony books, Gwen Gladstone and Bloodline

Bye, for now.

DT