| lupercus in nocturne_alley @ 2003-04-02 14:37:00 |
Werewolves, Segment II: Legends and Lies
I'm very pleased by the quality of work I'm seeing from you all. Miss Granger, in particular, turned in several feet of parchment more than what I originally asked for. Very impressive, Hermione. Ten points to Gryffindor.
Also noteworthy are the combined efforts of Miss Parkinson and Miss Bulstrode. I truly appreciate the illustrations that accompanied your homework. Ten points - each - to Slytherin.
Ernie Macmillan also produced a thoughtful - and creative - essay on his theories contradicting my claims to the werewolf affliction. His careful attention to iambic pentameter did not go unnoticed. Ten points to Hufflepuff.
Finally, Miss Turpin displayed a particular wealth of knowledge with regard to the Wolfsbane Potion. This is particularly noteworthy as she has not been a particular champion of Potions, so it would seem that Professor Snape has once again successfully reached a student with his unique talents in education. Ten points to Ravenclaw.
Now, with that out of the way, we are now moving on into the history of werewolvism, particularly in Muggle history. This is a particularly violent period of werewolf lore, though by far not the worst. That is yet to come.
Onward, then.
Werewolves make an appearance in the recorded histories of just about every civilisation in the world. The first few recorded cases come from Northern Europe, and the time of the Vikings. Subsequently, werewolves spread as far as North America, to China, to Australia, and throughout Europe as a whole.
The word werewolf comes from the old Saxon word, wer, which means man, and the obvious wolf, though werewolves can be of both genders. This is not to be confused with the term lycanthropy, which is not werewolvism but a mental illness among Muggles. The victim fancies themself a wolf, but does not actually become one.
We approach werewolves first from a mythological point of view. The earliest example of werewolves in legend comes from a Muggle myth. It details a story of the Greek god Zeus, and the attempt on his life by a king called Lycaon. Lyacon's punishment was to spend the rest of his life half-wolf, half-man. Other early examples go back thousands of years to the story of Gilgamesh, Homer's The Odyssey, two great works of Muggle literature that carry mention of werewolves.
For that we turn to 16th century German Muggles. In the town of Cologne, hunters made a startling discovery when a cornered wolf changed into a man. His name was Peter Stubbe, and after considerable amounts of torture and trial he confessed to the murders of sixteen villagers. Thirteen of those were children.
While several people had been tried and executed for werewolvism before, Stubbe's case was magnified by the horrors he allegedly committed. He brutally mutilated his victims – including two pregnant women – and his own son, killing and consuming his brain. This kind of brutality was rare in those times and only enhanced by the fear of wolf attacks already present in small towns bordering thick forested areas.
In his defence, Stubbe claimed to be a wizard, and it is in his claim that we begin to see the development of suspicion and hysteria surrounding magic. Stubbe was recorded as a follower of Satan [Muggle Matters: Religion, p. 46], his wizardry dismissed as the practise of evil spirits. He was convicted and condemned, and his execution carried out in a manner as horrific as his crimes.
Stubbe was put on the torture wheel. His flesh was removed with hot pincers, then his arms and legs broken. Eventually, his head was cut off, and his carcass burned. His daughter and his mistress, as accomplices, were also executed.
However, Stubbe's death became the birth of werewolf paranoia moreso than his actions in life had. A macabre monument to his deeds was constructed in Cologne, with Stubbe's head – altered to resemble a wolf's head – mounted atop it. When spoken of, Stubbe was likened to the vicious wolf – already a thing of fear among villagers.
But what drove Stubbe to cause the mayhem that he did? Was he truly partnered with an evil spirit as the Muggles claimed? Or was he driven by a curse of instinct that he could not control? Sadly, few people thought to ask these questions, and Stubbe's affliction was left unexplained and subject to hearsay and the primitive mindset of his era. From the uncertainty of Stubbe's legacy, legend was born.
As the century turned legend became reality. In France, some 30,000 people – both Muggle and Wizard – were thought to be werewolves, and brutal trials, interrogations and executions took place, often without just cause. Anyone could be hauled before the judge and jury on accusations of werewolvism, based on such "evidence" as a wolf-like appearance [I'm Furry, You're Furry, ch. 5], nocturnal behaviour, or Animagus abilities. Common folk preferred magical explanations to wolfish behaviour in humans, such a demons or sorcerers, no doubt suggested and encouraged by the religious leaders of the time.
Other, more scientific minds – rare as they were – wrote werewolvism off as lycanthropy, a mental illness similar to schizophrenia. Treatments were researched with great cost of life – treatments such as bleeding, ritual bathing, purging, and rubbing opium into the nostrils. Obviously, these solutions were not successful, though that did not stop physicians from trying.
The result were one hundred very bloody years in Muggle and Wizard history.
This prompted the magical community to form specific deparments of government to deal with the problem. Unfortunately, while the effort to control werewolves by the wizard community did cause the Muggle hysteria to abate, this only created a similar situation within our own world that has endured to present day.
The first of these departments was organised by Great Britain's Wizard's Council in 1347, when the great Beast or Being debate took place [Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, p. x]. The Werewolf Capture and Execution Army, or W.C.E.A., was organised to contain and control the werewolf outbreak. Werewolves, upon report, discovery or capture, were destroyed immediately, usually while still in wolf form. Torture was favoured by messy, and so for more discerning wizards a simple Killing Curse was used, and bodies were burned in enourmous bonfires.
Oftentimes, werewolf executions were put on as entertainment for peasant crowds, and werewolf carcass bonfires would be the centerpieces for great festivals. Ironically, or sadistically, most of these took place on 15 February, or the Festival of Lupercalia.
Similar to the witch hysteria [Tickled By Fire, by Wendelyn the Weird] that occured both in England and the American colonies, werewolf-hunting became a favourite pastime for government officials and some elite familes. A werewolf could fetch a hefty reward of five Galleons (about seventy-five Galleons today), ten more if brought in alive. Needless to say, in times of great poverty many people could be found stalking forests at night, under the full moon, armed with wands and determined to bring in a werewolf or two and feed their family for a year.
Hunting did not always occur during full moons, either. There were ways, alleged the WCEA, to tell a werewolf even when they were human. The shape of the eyes, the length of the fingernails, the point of their ears. We know this of course not to be the case, as the human werewolf is indistinguishable from the average, unafflicted person, however at the time people did not doubt the validity of such claims when they came backed by a substantial rewards. Unfortunate humans were brought in before judge and jury to have their werewolf status determined, or caged until the full moon. Should they transform they were killed. If not they were let go, but often the captivity would prove too brutal for some and the prisoners would die before they could be proven or set free.
Real werewolves, needless to say, went deep into hiding for the next few centuries, terrified of what they were, but even more scared of being found out, tortured and killed for it. It would not be until the 20th century that life would change for werewolves, as medieval thinking gave way to modern mercy, but not without a hefty price.
We shall cover that on Friday in Segment III: The Howlocaust.
QUESTIONS:
- Argue for or against the conviction of Peter Stubbe as a murderer, using fact to support your position.
- Discuss the archaic methods for treating werewolves, and why Muggles thought they would actually work.
- Outline the Beast vs. Being debate and form an opinion on where a werewolf figures into either category.
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