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Slide Notes

Slide 1: Title Page

This is my time-machine presentation on Searching for the Werewolf

Slide 2: Introduction

The Werewolf is a prominent figure in modern cinema and literature and is returned to again and

again. For my essay I intend to trace the Werewolf right back through its timeline, from its origins

right to the current day so that I can find where the contemporary werewolf and the cultural

perception of them came from.

Slide 3: Key Ideas

Tracing the modern werewolf through time Ill focus my essay on these Key stages of the

development of the werewolf.

Classics and MythologyStarting with Ovids Metamorphosis King Lycaons punishment from

Zeus. One of the earliest examples of metamorphosis (made Zeus eat human flesh so Zeus killed all

his sons and turned him into a Wolf).

His vesture separates in shaggy hair, his arms are changed to legs; and as a wolf he has the same

grey locks, the same hard face, the same bright eyes, the same ferocious look. quote from Ovids

Metamorphoses describing Lycaons transformation and shows how the wolf was perceived

culturally during the era.

The Turkish (Asena, a she-wolf, nursed a baby who was the solitary survivor of raid on a Turkic village

by Chinese Soldiers. All of Asenas issue thereafter were half human, half wolf. From these hybrids the

Turkic people were born.) and the Japanese (Ainu people believe that they origin from a wolf-like

creature and a goddess.) cultures that both believed their origins to be from a mother wolf.

Early on the wolf having found its way into multiple cultures as a maternal figure.

The Norse people, who feared the wolf as a prolific hunter and a representative of death. Fenrir was

an equivalent of a Devil (at the time of Ragnark he would kill the Norse primary god Odin).

At this stage...

The female wolf is seen as a maternal figure, one that can produce many offspring and care for

them. Whereas the male wolf, though highly regarded is seen as dangerous and associated with

death. Wolves are regarded as something other than an animal. Early on they are distinguished as

almost human or being linked with human behaviour albeit more primitive ones.

Fables and Fairy-taleFairytales depict the wolf as deceitful and predatory. Fables are usually a

metaphor, acting as lessons for youth. Wolves become metaphors for sexual predatory males. Red

Riding Hood is a fable that appears in many cultures and is altered slightly but the wolf remains a

constant.

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a rhyming moral at the end warns young women to watch out, because a man can be a wolf,

popularizing the use of that term, still common today, to mean a seducer. From Red Riding Hood

Uncloaked by Catherine Orenstein

Wolves are being given human-like attributes, still more so then most other species. The wolf

remains a male and has become anthropomorphised fully in that he can speak and is highly

intelligent but hes still primitive in his desires. In Freudian terms he represents the Id. Uncontrolled

and primitive.

Film1913: The Werewolf18 min silent film. Other silent wolf films the 1941 brings Wolf-Man.

Theres a long fascination with werewolves in Sci-Fi cinema for a long time. The werewolf tends to

stay to the fairytale interpretation of a murderous, and predominantly male sexual predator

controlled by the Id.

Ill be comparing The Company of Wolves 1984 as a retelling of little red riding hood as it brings in

a combination of werewolf ideas with the Freudian theories.

TVEddie Munster was the first TV werewolf. Appearing in American satire series The Munsters.

Bringing us right up to the present in modern TV. Ill be looking at Being Human 2008 series

showing the modern cultural perception of werewolves. The culmination of all stories, beliefs and

lore. Being Human shows both male and female werewolves and relating the curse as being

equivalent to anger management issues people who lose control... again being controlled by the Id.

George was this punctilious, house-proud, anal character who with suffered with anger and liked to

keep his life compartmentalized. Quote from an interview with writer Toby Whithouse.

The series uses the werewolf legend as a metaphor much as they were in folk-lore except they

represent more complex ideas now about human nature.

Slide 4: Cultural Context

So culturally the wolf represents different things at each stage...

Cave paintings: Humans distinguish themselves as a species.

Classics and Mythology: Wolves are prominent in many cultures and are seen as the female creator

or the male demons.

Werewolf and Witch Trials: With the takeover of Christianity as the leading religion in Europe old

Pagan beliefs became out-lawed.

Fables and Fairy-tale: the wolf becomes a metaphor and is anthropomorphised into a cunning,

sexual predator. This is present across all cultures in Europe and theres a long obsession wi th the

tale of Red Riding Hood slightly altered but the key ingredient of the wolf remains.

Age of Enlightenment: After the Theory of Evolution and the new surge in science research and

theory the world is less superstitious and searches for new reasons and meaning. Freuds Structural

Model of the Psyche gives the idea of the primitive, uncontrollable Id. A possible explanation of

what the werewolf stands forHumans inner instinct.

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Film and TV: A culmination of all the past. With no cultural barriers all lore, folk-lore, myth, history

and theory becomes jumbled together and explored through new story-telling mediums.

Slide 5: Whos Who

Ovid: 43 BC AD 18 A Roman poet who wrote Metamorphoses which tells the History of the world,over 15 books, from Creation to Julius Caesar.

Peter Stump: Died 1589 by execution. He murdered and ate 18 people over 25 years. He confessed

to being a werewolf at his trial and consorting with the devil.

Sigmund Freud: 1856 1939 An Austrian neurologist who founded the idea of psychoanalysis. He

formulated the Structural Model of the Psyche (Super-Ego, Ego and Id).

Robert H Busch: Zoologist and Author. Has written many books that form a comprehensive study of

animals from their past to their behaviour and anatomy.

Catherine Orenstein: Author and Journalist. She is highly regarded in her field of culture, mythology

and power.

Slide 6: Historical Images

Cave Painting from Chauvet Cave in France dated as roughly 30,000 year old. Evidence of ancestors

recognising themselves as a species and recognising other species and studying them.

Lycaon changed into a wolf Engraving by Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617) Ovid's Metamorphoses Book

I, 209. Godly punishment to turn man into a beast despite the high respect for wolves in the culture.

Both demonised and loved.

Odin and Fenrir. Illustration by Helene Adeline in 1909 in Myths of the Norsemen from the Eddas

and Sagas. Fenrir is the earliest example of a demonic wolf figure. Norse Mythology, Hes gigantic

and male and at the time of Ragnark he would kill the Norse primary god Odin.

Slide 7: Contemporary Images

The company of wolves the Freudian interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood tale. The film implies

Rosaleen is going through puberty and in her dream she experiences what that means for her as a

woman. The wolf is again taking the role of a man but Rosaleen becomes one herself in the end.

Georges Transformation. The pain and torment the transformation causes shows the torment of

people with mental disabilities. Something other than themselves controlling them. Id.

Slide 8: Conclusion

- The wolf has been ever present in human culture starting from as early as 33,000 BC when man

recognises itself and other as species.

- There is an idea of maternal wolf figure that disappears in culture. It is overtaken by the idea that

wolves are demonic and masculine.

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- Wolves are often anthropomorphised and given human attributes more so than other species.

- The modern Werewolf is a combination of all the many myths, legend, folk-tales and theories from

human history culminating in the combined knowledge that exists today.

Slide 9: Bibliography and Illustration List

List of Illustrations

Fig 1: Unknown Artist, found in the Chauvet Cave, France (28,000 BC) Hyena and Leopard [Cave

Painting] At: http://www.john-william-godward.org/painting-unknow%20artist-

Hyena%20and%20panther-42515.htm Accessed on 21/03/2012

Fig 2: Hendrik Goltzius (1589)Zeus turning Lycaon into a wolf[Engraving] At:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lycaon_turned_into_wolf-Goltzius-1589.jpg Accessed on

21/03/2012

Fig 3. Odin and Fenris - (1909). By Guerber, H. A. (Hlne Adeline) In: Myths of the Norsemen from

the Eddas and Sagas. London : Harrap. This illustration facing page 334

Fig 4: The Wolf (1984) ITC: The Company of Wolves (1984) [Film Still] At:

http://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/CompanyofWolves.html Accessed on 21/03/2012

Fig 5: Georges transformation (2008) Touchpaper Productions and BBC: Being Human (2008) [Film

Still] At: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hb49h Accessed on 21/03/2012

Bibliography

Busch, Robert H. (1998) The Wolf Almanac. England: The Lyons Press

Freud, S. (2010) The Ego and the Id. England: Martino Publishing

Lenardon, R. J and Morford, M. P. O. (2006) Classical Mythology (8 Edition) USA: OUP

Ovid (8 AD) Translated: More, Brookes (1922) Metamorphosis: Book 1. Boston: Cornhill Publishing

Co.

Orenstein, Catherine. (2002) Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality and the Evolution of a fairy

tale. England: Basic Books: At:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood

&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-

Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Accessed on 14/10/2011

Whithouse, Toby. (2010) Exclusive: Writer Toby Whithouse on Being Human Being Human's Toby

Whithouse talks about what's coming up in the second season, the possibility of a Doctor Who

crossover, and werewolf nudity. By Alex Zalben At: http://www.ugo.com/tv/exclusive-writer-toby-whithouse-on-being-human Accessed on: 15/10/2011

http://www.werewolves.com/mount-lykaions-curse/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lycaon_turned_into_wolf-Goltzius-1589.jpghttp://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/CompanyofWolves.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hb49hhttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://www.ugo.com/tv/exclusive-writer-toby-whithouse-on-being-humanhttp://www.ugo.com/tv/exclusive-writer-toby-whithouse-on-being-humanhttp://www.ugo.com/tv/exclusive-writer-toby-whithouse-on-being-humanhttp://www.ugo.com/tv/exclusive-writer-toby-whithouse-on-being-humanhttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CnVa4IvSCiQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=little+red+riding+hood&hl=en&ei=qQiaTpGzOsXCtAatyMn-Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hb49hhttp://irishgothichorrorjournal.homestead.com/CompanyofWolves.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lycaon_turned_into_wolf-Goltzius-1589.jpghttp://www.werewolves.com/mount-lykaions-curse/