From: "Gareth Jelley" 
Subject: Re: (urth) the book seminar
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2003 23:45:46 -0000

From: "Fernando Q. Gouvea" 

> - Does anyone know why Wolfe chose the spelling "Werwolf"?


This article may be of interest:

'Hellhounds, Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld'
http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/hellhnds.htm

It is from a website called 'At The Edge' which describes itself as
exploring "new interpretations of past and place in archaeology, folklore
and mythology."

The article seems quite heavy on the word-formation and etymology front, and
brings back memories of my Old Norse and Old English studies... But it is
23:43 here, and my eyes water at the web page :o) I'll have a look at it a
bit later.

Basically, though, it seems to confirm my thought that the word has been
used for its closeness to the German form, and thus, probably, for its
proximity to the Old Norse \ Old English \ Germanic roots of the word...

However, what I don't know, is where the extra 'e' came from: why is the
English 'Werewolf' spelt the way it is...

Mmmm.

Best,

G.
gjelley@btopenworld.com
http://members.lycos.co.uk/cavor - updated 14\02\02
http://www.livejournal.com/users/scribeoflight - updated frequently



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