OldTimeRadio said:
Might we be putting the cart before the horse here, especially since the lycanthrope "myth" apparently stretches back to far remoter times?
It would if I did what you think I'm suggesting, but I'm not!
Could the Norse and the Saxons have worn wolf heads to convince their more-superstitious military enemies that they were indeed werewolves or wolfmen?
I've actually found the article I was alluding to: it's by Claire Stubbs in FT195. It's coming from the angle of Black Shuck attacking churches. The suggestion is that during the Anglo-Saxon period the narrative of the Black Dog takes a more 'hands on' and violent approach. Linguistic references to
wulf,
wyllf and
wearg;
wulf also meant a cruel person - and a
wulfheort meant a particularly cruel person: a wolf-heart. Other references include
wulfesheafod (wolf's head) meaning outlaw and that outlaws were hung from
wulfesheafod-treow (wolf's head tree). Similarly explaining how
wearg meant wolf as well as criminal, villain, scoundrel, monster, evil spirit &c.
It also ties all this in with the Viking
ulfhednar who wore wolf skins &c.
Whilst I'm not suggesting that this is the origin of the werewolf by any means in either this or my earlier post, I thought the connection between the language and description was worth noting and commenting on.
Remember that the Nazis in early 1945 attempted, though with an almost total lack of success, to organize "Werewolf" divisions from the tattered remnants of the Hitler Youth, who'd fade into the general population of post-War Germany and then carry out a war of attrition (and worse, much worse) against the occupying Allies.
I also thought of those as I was writing but it was going too far from the idea I was suggesting.
