Whence the Full Moon, Part Two

After the Roman writer Petronius, who, in his SATYRICON in 1 AD, mentioned a werewolf transformation beneath a full moon but did not explicitly draw a connection between the two events, when was the next mention of the connection, or possible connection, between lunar activity and the transformation of man into beast? In Literature, which is the only type of record we have, it wasn’t until the Middle Ages.

In the OTIA IMPERIALIA (“Recreation for an Emperor”) written by Gervase of Tilbury a full thousand two-hundred and some change years after Petronius (somewhere around 1210 AD, if you don’t math), the writer tells his readers: “One thing I know to be of daily occurrence among the people of our country…the course of human destiny is such that certain men change into wolves according to the cycles of the moon.” Boom. There it is. The first recorded link in English (if there are any in other languages, from other cultures, I don’t know of them, nor does any other Western scholar, it seems) between werewolves and the moon.

When would this modern trope next appear? In the screenplay written by Curt Siodmak for THE WOLFMAN in 1941! A thousand years separate the first and second mention, and another thousand separate the second and the third!

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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