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capri0mniI was watching The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, just a bit ago, and he mentioned in his monologue that the new Twilight is opening tonight...
And I remembered seeing ads for it, with werewolves in it.
And that reminded me of a Breton folktale / legend thingummy that I read in high school that had the werewolf as the romantic hero, and one of the purely human hunters as the dastardly villian.
In this story, the werewolf hero was compelled to change from fully human form to fully wolf form for the three nights that the moon was dark (so much for the Hollywood "full moon" nonsense). But he needed more than the moon's light to turn back into a human ... he needed to put his human clothes back on. Without the clothes, he was trapped as a wolf, unable to speak, etc.
He was portrayed as a good, honorable, man who was also a loving husband, who just needed to leave his beautiful wife for three nights every month.^
Anyway, the Dastardly Villain[tm] naturally had designs on this man's wife and property. He learned the man's secret, and found where he hid his clothes, and stole them. Also, the DV, somehow, managed to convince the hero's best friend (who didn't know his secret) to go on a wolf hunt...
[Ominous chords]
But the hero, even though trapped in a wolf's body, managed to communicate through wagging tail, and tongue-kisses, etc., that he wasn't actually all that wild and vicious, and the best friend took him home...
Somewhere in this part of the story (and this is where my memory of details fails me), the hero communicates exactly who he is, and hero and best friend plot to thwart the DV, and to get the hero's clothes back, so he can return to human form and his wife.
I've only read the story once, *mumble* years ago, but it remains my favorite werewolf story. I really liked that the "monster" was the good guy, and lycanthropy was just depicted as part of the spectrum of human experience that, if you have it, you just find a way to work it into your overall (successful and well-rounded) life.
*nod*
Tonight This morning, though, as I'm thinking about it afresh, I'm really intriqued magical element of the clothing. Wearing clothes doesn't prevent him from turning into a wolf, it seems,^^ but keeping them off does prevent him from turning back. A bit like the selkie's skin, perhaps.
Any ideas on the mechanics of the magic here? In case, you know, this might be a plotbunny hatching?
^Hush with the PMS jokes, from the back, there!
^^Or maybe the clothes do prevent him from turning into a wolf, but not transforming is not an option... like a whale that lives in the sea, but must surface to breathe on a regular basis.
And I remembered seeing ads for it, with werewolves in it.
And that reminded me of a Breton folktale / legend thingummy that I read in high school that had the werewolf as the romantic hero, and one of the purely human hunters as the dastardly villian.
In this story, the werewolf hero was compelled to change from fully human form to fully wolf form for the three nights that the moon was dark (so much for the Hollywood "full moon" nonsense). But he needed more than the moon's light to turn back into a human ... he needed to put his human clothes back on. Without the clothes, he was trapped as a wolf, unable to speak, etc.
He was portrayed as a good, honorable, man who was also a loving husband, who just needed to leave his beautiful wife for three nights every month.^
Anyway, the Dastardly Villain[tm] naturally had designs on this man's wife and property. He learned the man's secret, and found where he hid his clothes, and stole them. Also, the DV, somehow, managed to convince the hero's best friend (who didn't know his secret) to go on a wolf hunt...
[Ominous chords]
But the hero, even though trapped in a wolf's body, managed to communicate through wagging tail, and tongue-kisses, etc., that he wasn't actually all that wild and vicious, and the best friend took him home...
Somewhere in this part of the story (and this is where my memory of details fails me), the hero communicates exactly who he is, and hero and best friend plot to thwart the DV, and to get the hero's clothes back, so he can return to human form and his wife.
I've only read the story once, *mumble* years ago, but it remains my favorite werewolf story. I really liked that the "monster" was the good guy, and lycanthropy was just depicted as part of the spectrum of human experience that, if you have it, you just find a way to work it into your overall (successful and well-rounded) life.
*nod*
Tonight This morning, though, as I'm thinking about it afresh, I'm really intriqued magical element of the clothing. Wearing clothes doesn't prevent him from turning into a wolf, it seems,^^ but keeping them off does prevent him from turning back. A bit like the selkie's skin, perhaps.
Any ideas on the mechanics of the magic here? In case, you know, this might be a plotbunny hatching?
^Hush with the PMS jokes, from the back, there!
^^Or maybe the clothes do prevent him from turning into a wolf, but not transforming is not an option... like a whale that lives in the sea, but must surface to breathe on a regular basis.
