The Complete Idiot's Guide to Werewolves (33 page)

 

As for potions, there were a few that claimed to cure lycanthropy. Unfortunately, after looking at the ingredients, one would likely come to the conclusion that these potions were written by people who considered death to be a valid cure. Nearly all of these potions contain at least one (usually more) highly poisonous or toxic ingredient that is more likely to
kill
anyone who drinks them than they are to cure anything. As a result, the details of these potions will not be provided in this text for the sake of safety.

Could curing lycanthropy really be this simple? Well, according to some lore … yes! According to a number of stories and myths, curing lycanthropy can be as simple as calling the werewolf by his or her human name. Unfortunately, the details about doing this are a little sketchy. For example, they don’t explain whether or not just saying the afflicted individual’s first name alone will do the trick. It is entirely possible that the person’s last name will be needed as well. Perhaps the person’s full given name is necessary. The stories are also unclear as to whether or not the name must be said while the person is still in wolf form (though one would imagine it would since it would stand to reason that many people would refer to the person by a human name when he or she is in human form). In using this method, it would be best to err on the side of caution.

Some lore explains that, similar to the “name” method, lycanthropy may be cured by simply informing afflicted people that they are a werewolf (because apparently they aren’t already aware of it?). There is one story of such an occurrence that is told (in various but fairly similar versions) throughout regions of northern Europe.

There was once a man who had been afflicted with lycanthropy his entire life. However, he seemed to have learned to live with it fairly well since he managed to acquire a wife and home in his lifetime. One evening, however, he found himself still on the road home (driving a wagon with his wife sitting right beside him no less) as the full moon began to reveal itself in the darkening sky. He halted the wagon and handed the reins to his wife. The man got down and explained to his increasingly disconcerted wife that she was to wait with the wagon until he returned. He instructed her that, if any animal were to approach, she was to snap at it with her apron … and nothing more. Having given her these directions, the man disappeared into the woods.

 

Shortly after, the wife heard howling. Suddenly a werewolf (or, in some versions of the tale, just a wolf) charged from the woods and attacked her. She did as her husband had instructed and began to snap the werewolf’s snout with her apron. Though the werewolf tore a chunk of the apron with its sharp fangs, the woman continued to fight. These strikes eventually seemed to bring the werewolf (her husband) back to his senses somewhat. Remembering himself, the werewolf ran back into the woods and again disappeared.

Moments passed before the woman’s husband again emerged from the woods. He was completely disheveled, his clothes torn and hair a mess. From his mouth dangled the torn piece of fabric from his wife’s apron. Seeing this, the wife cried out, “My husband! By God, you are a werewolf!” To which he replied “Thank you, my dear wife. I am finally free.” From that day forward, it is said that the man never again experienced transformations of lycanthropy. Luckily, it would appear that his wife was willing to let “dead dogs lie,” so to speak.

 

Chapter 16

How to Kill a Werewolf

There is a long-held belief in western pop culture that there exists but one way to kill a werewolf. However, this is not the case. In fact, depending on which parts of werewolf lore you believe (or perhaps it would be better to say, that you believe enough to bet your life on), there are a number of ways for dispatching a troublesome lycanthrope. Of course, in the rare case that you find yourself in the presence of a werewolf while equipped with the proper tools to fight it, your chances of surviving the ordeal uninfected are still slim to none. To be honest, if you ever do find yourself being stalked or chased by a werewolf, your best chance for survival is to run … and run fast. Remember, you don’t have to be the fastest runner in your group (unless you were crazy enough to come alone). You just can’t be the slowest.

For those who are uneducated in such matters, the silver bullet has long been considered the sole method for killing a werewolf. Of course, most of us have probably wondered the same thing at least once—if this is true, then how did people kill werewolves before the invention of firearms? The truth is that any weapon, such as a sword, stake, or dagger, made from pure silver should be effective against a werewolf. According to most legends, only by using pure silver will your weapons have the proper effect. A blade that is only partially made from silver may not be as effective (and is not really the kind of thing one would want to gamble on). The older werewolf lore claims that silver is magical, symbolic of purity, or a blessed/sacred element. Most modern lore suggests that silver, for whatever reason, prevents the werewolf’s wounds from regenerating until the weapons are removed. So take a mental note. If you are lucky enough to put down a werewolf, don’t pull the blades out (at the very least, don’t do so until you have properly disposed of it). One of lycanthropy’s strongest gifts is the ability to regenerate
very
quickly. If a weapon is removed from a wound prematurely, then (depending on the severity of the wound) the werewolf could recover in a matter of seconds.

Of course, you may not be too keen on the idea of going toe-to-toe with a beast that is so very significantly larger, stronger, and faster than you. If so, then you might want to invest in some silver bullets. Unless you already own a specific firearm in which you plan to use them, it would be prudent to have several different types of silver rounds made in the most commonly used calibers—.38, 9mm, and .45 calibers, for example. This way, you are more likely to have rounds that will fire from whatever assorted firearm that “just so happens” to come into your possession.

Though its use has never been mentioned in werewolf lore, it would stand to reason that silver buckshot fired from a heavy-gauge shotgun would also be effective. Since shotguns spray a multitude of shot pellets at your target, less experience, training, and accuracy is required. Shotguns are “point-and-click” weapons, so to speak.

 

Despite silver’s effectiveness in antiwerewolf ammunition, it is important to take note of something. In film, silver bullets are often portrayed as a “one hit = kill” weapon. Most accepted werewolf lore does not support this idea. Just hitting the werewolf with a silver bullet will not do the trick. A vital organ must be damaged enough in order for the werewolf’s other body functions to shut down. The heart and the head would be the best targets for this. Hitting a werewolf in a nonlethal area such as the leg might be enough to slow the beast down, but it’s unlikely to kill it.

Nearly all of werewolf lore is in agreement that silver is effective for antiwerewolf weaponry. When it comes to mercury, however, this is not the case. This point of conflict seems to stem from an uncertainty as to how this idea originated. You see, in centuries past, mercury was referred to as “quicksilver” and was considered to be the same as silver, only in a liquid form. Since silver was effective, this may have led to the mistaken conclusion that mercury would be as well. Since there has never been a single documented case (in werewolf lore or otherwise) of mercury being successfully used to combat werewolves, you might not want to rely on this one.

 

Mercury isn’t exactly the best material for weaponization. Of course, it can be combined with silver. However, since most information supports the idea that
pure
silver should be used, it might not be a good idea to rely on a weapon made from a combination of it and mercury.

 

On the flip side of this debate, some argue that it could be that quicksilver/mercury was actually used first. Since it was thought to be a liquid form of silver, this school of thought reasons, it was assumed that silver was also effective. However, this idea seems far less likely.

Most people are familiar with the belief that a stake through the heart is the best way to kill a vampire. According to some lore, however, this can also be an effective weapon against werewolves. In contrast to the vampire method, however, very specific wood types are supposed to be used. Most lore seems to agree on wood from only three tree types—ash, cinder, and (of course) silver trees.

 

Unlike with silver weapons, the wooden stake method requires that the werewolf’s heart be thoroughly pierced. Similar to methods involving silver weapons, the stake should not be removed …
ever.
As with mercury, not everyone agrees that this method would work. In all honesty, it’s not your best bet for survival. Piercing a werewolf through the heart with a wooden stake would require the wielder to be way too close to the werewolf. In such a close-quarters scenario, it is far more likely that you would be mauled, killed, or worse … infected with lycanthropy.