WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Werewolf, Part 2 - Name of the Wolf

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammon. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. As

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<v Speaker 2>we discussed last time, the origins of werewolf traditions may

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<v Speaker 2>trace back to our prehistoric ancestors and the gradual domestication

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<v Speaker 2>of the wild wolf, an act that may have made

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<v Speaker 2>us better hunters and better watchers of the dark. At

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<v Speaker 2>different points in human history, we saw shades of the

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<v Speaker 2>wolf in our own animal nature, just as we also

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<v Speaker 2>saw shades of human intelligence, cunning, and society in the

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<v Speaker 2>ways of the wild wolf. This is not, however, to

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<v Speaker 2>say that the werewolf specifically is a universal concept. Shapeshifters

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<v Speaker 2>and animal human hybrids exist in virtually all human cultures,

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<v Speaker 2>but the werewolf naturally requires some familiarity with the species

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<v Speaker 2>Canis lupus, particularly the Eurasian wolf. Now, I want to

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<v Speaker 2>stress that yes, the wolf's range includes North America, and

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<v Speaker 2>they certainly do factor into the rich traditions of various

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<v Speaker 2>indigenous North American tribes. But these traditions, including the off

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<v Speaker 2>sited skin walkers, are rather distinct from the werewolf concept

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<v Speaker 2>as we know it today. We may come back to

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<v Speaker 2>discussion on this topic later on. Let's start with the

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<v Speaker 2>term werewolf or the Germanic wewolf. This we can trace

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<v Speaker 2>back to the writings of English Benedictine monk Bishop Wolfstan,

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<v Speaker 2>and this would have been very early in the second

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<v Speaker 2>millennium CE. While most famous for being the last pre

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<v Speaker 2>conquest English bishop, his service began a mere four years

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<v Speaker 2>prior to the Norman conquest of ten sixty six. Wolfstan

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<v Speaker 2>did in fact warn the English of the threat posed

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<v Speaker 2>by the quote with frakoverwulf, this being a threat to

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<v Speaker 2>the Church's flock. As Daniel Ogden explains in The Werewolf

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<v Speaker 2>in the Ancient World, the usage here is broad and

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<v Speaker 2>don't get excited, but it certainly doesn't refer to actual

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<v Speaker 2>werewolfs now. As Ogden explains, the traditional interpretation of the

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<v Speaker 2>word werewolf saw it as a combination of the Latin

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<v Speaker 2>vere or man with wolf a man wolf, But he

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<v Speaker 2>stresses in his book that the commonly accepted theory today

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<v Speaker 2>is that where derives from the Anglo saxon war meaning

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<v Speaker 2>stranger or outsider, the were wolf is an outsider wolf,

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<v Speaker 2>and this might, too, he argues, connect to Norse ideas

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<v Speaker 2>of wolf and outlaw. In fact, he cites a thirteenth

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<v Speaker 2>century Danish tradition that saw convicted thieves hanged beside the

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<v Speaker 2>corpse of a wolf to fully convey the dead man's

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<v Speaker 2>criminal nature to common citizens passing by. Of course, these

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<v Speaker 2>ideas is line up with the way where wolves have

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<v Speaker 2>often been presented dangerous outsiders, threats to law and ruling landowners,

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<v Speaker 2>and if we think seriously about the animal itself, a

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<v Speaker 2>lone wolf that is not part of a social pack.

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<v Speaker 2>Male lone wolves in reality, are generally only temporarily alone,

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<v Speaker 2>moving from one social group to another or back into

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<v Speaker 2>the same group they just left. But in some cases

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<v Speaker 2>this may also constitute an individual infected with rabies a

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<v Speaker 2>most dangerous creature. Indeed, the termlyanthropy, however, is much older,

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<v Speaker 2>first employed by the second century CE physician Marcellus of Side,

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<v Speaker 2>who employed the term like anthropia to describe medical conditions

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<v Speaker 2>that we would now Ogden describes define as different forms

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<v Speaker 2>of mental illness. Marcellus's description continued to echo through ancient

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<v Speaker 2>medical writings and as Nadine Metzger summarizes in twenty fourteen's

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<v Speaker 2>Battling Demons with Medical Authority public in the journal History

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<v Speaker 2>of Psychiatry, These lichenthroats were described as otherwise harmless, melancholic

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<v Speaker 2>individuals who suffer from extreme dryness, hang out in cemeteries,

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<v Speaker 2>and mimic the behaviors of wolves and dogs. Modern interpretations

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<v Speaker 2>have considered a number of actual ailments that might have

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<v Speaker 2>underlined this broad diagnosis, rabies, porphyria, neurological dysfunction, and epilepsy.

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<v Speaker 2>Some additionally make a case for some manner of true

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<v Speaker 2>clinical lycanthropy. For ancient physicians, however, it was nothing that

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<v Speaker 2>a little fasting or the consumption of a wolf's.

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<v Speaker 3>Heart wouldn't cure. The term lycanthropy would remain a purely

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<v Speaker 3>medical term, while other Latin words more specifically described shape

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<v Speaker 3>shifting beings. That is, until ninth century CE, historian Theophanes

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<v Speaker 3>the Confessor described agents of the Byzantine emperor as licanthropes,

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<v Speaker 3>a manner of wordplay here to invoke the Greek myth

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<v Speaker 3>of life can wordplay that would be repeated by George

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<v Speaker 3>Hammertolos aka George the Monk later that same century, and

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<v Speaker 3>this ogden contends sets the word werewolf on the trajectory

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<v Speaker 3>that we enjoy today. It's interesting that we've long seen

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<v Speaker 3>this duality of magic and medicine, of the rational and

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<v Speaker 3>the superstitious in our werewolf media, As Matt Schimkowitz explores

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<v Speaker 3>in a twenty twenty five av Club article titled film

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<v Speaker 3>Trivia FactCheck, original The Wolfman's Script kept the Werewolf at bay,

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<v Speaker 3>the nineteen forty one Universal horror classic film, was originally

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<v Speaker 3>intended to leave it ambiguous as to whether the film's

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<v Speaker 3>Lawrence Talbot suffered from a monstrous curse or a distortion.

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<v Speaker 2>Of the mind.

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<v Speaker 3>The nineteen forty six film She Wolf of London, as

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<v Speaker 3>well as the nineteen seventy six Italian grindhouse favorite Werewolf Woman,

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<v Speaker 3>both employ the idea of werewolf delusion rather than literal transform. Finally,

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<v Speaker 3>I want to come back to Bishop Wolfstan here. His

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<v Speaker 3>name has nothing to do with werewolves, being rather a

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<v Speaker 3>family name that meant Wolfstone in the sense of strength

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<v Speaker 3>and resilience. But as Brad Steiger points out in nineteen

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<v Speaker 3>ninety nine's The Werewolf Book, a much later German tradition

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<v Speaker 3>recorded I believe in the nineteenth century told of a

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<v Speaker 3>wolf stone erected over the grave of a slain werewolf,

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<v Speaker 3>keeping the monster at rest but also becoming a focal

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<v Speaker 3>point for the paranormal. Join us next week as we

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<v Speaker 3>continue this journey through the world of the werewolf in general.

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<v Speaker 3>You can tune in for additional episodes of The Monster, Fact,

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<v Speaker 3>The Artifact, or Anomalius Dupendium each week. As always, you

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<v Speaker 3>can email us at contact at Stuff to Blow Your

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<v Speaker 3>Mind dot com.

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