Myth and Legend:Journeys Through Time

Mythology

“She should not lock the open door
(run away, run away, run away)
Full moon is on the sky and he’s not a man any more
See the change in him but can’t
(run away, run away, run away)
See what became of her man…”
Lyrics to Full Moon by Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica

Luna, la lune, mond, Selene, Artemis and Diane. These and many more

are different names for the moon. The first day of the work week, Monday

was named for the moon, literally translated it means “Moons’ Day” or

“Day of the Moon”, just as Sunday means “Sun’s Day” or “Day of the Sun.”

To gaze at the moon was a dangerous thing as you were said to become a

“lunatic” or moonstruck and act a little crazy. The moon works with the

sun to regulate the ocean’s tides and some people believe it also

affects all living things with it’s gravitational pull. The moon also

lights up the night sky with it’s cold silver night, most brilliantly so

when it’s full and the night is clear. Why all this talk about the moon?

Why all this information about the moon and how does it figure into

mythology? Well those answers can be summoned with one word. Werewolf.

What is a werewolf really? Is it a man that changes into a wolf? A wolf

that changes into a man or is it some weird man-wolf hybrid? In

short…a werewolf is a shape changer. A being that when the full moon

rises, changes from his human form to the more primal, animalistic wolf.

Most often this change comes about two ways, technically one way but it

splits into two ways. The first way is a curse, the second is being

bitten by a werewolf, usually somebody that was cursed first and decided

to pass the curse on. Werewolves go all across the cultural mythological

world, from the Native American skin-walkers, who believed that by

wearing an animal’s pelt they gained the strength, cunning,

intelligence, courage and protection of that animal, to the Nordic

beserkers. The beserkers  were warriors that would dress in the skins of

bears and go into battle wearing nothing but these skins, believing that

they would take on the characteristics of that animal. Similar to the

Native Americans  skin-walking. The beserkers fought with an intensity

and ferocity akin to wild animals. Why the moon though? Well..the moon

it goes  back to the belief that the moon with it’s power over the

tides, caused madness in men and caused them to act more like animals

than humans when the moon was full. In a sense, the full moon tied

together man’s human nature and his bestial nature. The classic

werewolf myth is Greek in origin and really has nothing to do with the

moon or silver, which is said to be the werewolf’s only weakness.

According to Greek myth, werewolves came about when the Arcadian king

Lycaon decided he was going to trick Zeus and test his omniscience. He

decided to do this by first serving him a dish of human flesh, which

came from a “sacrificed” child…Lycaon’s own child actually and lastly

by attempting to kill Zeus while he slept. These three actions resulted

in one very harsh reaction. Zeus killed the fifty sons of Lycaon’s and

turned Lycaon into a wolf. Wolves also figure into the founding of Rome.

Rome supposedly got it’s name from one of twin brothers. Romulus and

Remus were descendants of Trojan royalty and fathered by Mars or

Hercules. Their uncle left them to die of exposure and they were suckled

by a she-wolf. They wanted to build a city and in a disagreement, Remus

was killed by his brother. All in all, werewolves are usually portrayed

as mindless, ferocious killing beasts who’s only desire is to hunt and

kill whatever comes across their path. It’s origins however, are simple;

warriors who wanted nothing more then to win the war for their side and

looked to the strength, cunning, ferocity, intelligence and protection

of the animals. Hollywood myth or old world myth, either way the

werewolf has stuck around and proven to be a rather popular horror

creature. From movies like Underworld to books like Harry Potter even

games like Werewolf:The Apocalypse, whatever genre or walk of life you

follow the werewolf is sure to be there in some shape or other.

http://nineplanets.org/days.html (different names of the moon)

http://www.mythicalrealm.com/legends/werewolf.html

http://www.werewolfpage.com/myths.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycaon_%28mythology%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf

http://darklyrics.com/lyrics/sonataarctica/ecliptica.html#6 (Full lyrics to the song FullMoon by finnish metal band Sonata Arctica)