Wolf Man Legend Must Be Derived From Rabies

Actually, the idea that a werewolf's bite transmits lycanthropy to a surviving victim is seen at least as early as 1935, in WEREWOLF OF LONDON , scripted by Robert Colton. The idea that a werewolf must be killed with something made of silver comes from a version of the story of the Beast of Gevaudan that also dates back to the mid 1930s. However, Siodmak did apparently originate the idea that a werewolf sees a pentagram in the palm of his next victim, and bears such a mark on his person. He also created the "old gypsy poem" used in the film.
As to the idea that the werewolf legend itself derives from rabies, it is an interesting, and I daresay, plausible notion. In 1979 author Ian Woodward, in his book THE WEREWOLF DELUSION, pointed out similarities between the symptoms of rabies and folkloric lycanthropy(as well as vampirism-which may also derive from cases of rabies infection- as I recall).These symptom include fear of water(hydrophobia) and foaming at the mouth. In particular, he focused on the familiar notion that a person can become a werewolf by the bite of another werewolf, which naturally suggested rabies. However, strangely enough, contagion of lycanthropy via a bite is not a prominent part of the lore until at least the mid 1930s. But , it seems to me that this may be explained by the fact that, in older times, people thought of werewolves as pretty much invariably killing their victims, not leaving them alive long enough to turn if bitten. It was only when Hollywood filmmakers presented the extremely rare case of a person surviving a werewolf bite that the idea of contagious werewolfery became a prominent part of the legend.
I do not suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it. - Edgar Allan Poe

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