{"id":3679,"date":"2016-03-19T17:30:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T23:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/?p=3679"},"modified":"2016-03-19T17:30:54","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T23:30:54","slug":"guest-post-were-the-lamanites-werewolves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/guest-post-were-the-lamanites-werewolves\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Were the Lamanites Werewolves?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s post comes from Siegfried Goodfellow and is reposted with permission. It’s bizarre, wonderful, and kind of brilliant.
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Werewolves, Lamanites, and Grendel : Oh My!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

an investigation into possible crosscurrents between<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Germanic mythology and Mormon folklore<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Germanic mythology provides a comparative perspective from which to take a fresh look at what the Book of Mormon has to say about the Lamanites, a tribe of difficult opponents who act as adversaries to the more virtuous Nephites. In particular, Germanic mythic documents about werewolves attest to a time in the beginning ages of this earth when human beings became corrupted and produced a race of half-men, half-monsters. This becomes our starting point for reexamining the nature of the Lamanites.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Chapters 121 \u2013 122 of\u00a0<\/span>De Origine Actibusque Gothorum<\/i><\/span>, Jordanes tells us that a certain\u00a0<\/span>rex Gothorum,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0“King of the Goths”,\u00a0<\/span>repperit in populo suo quasdam magas mulieres, quas patrio sermone “haliurunnas” is ipse cognominat, easque habens suspectas, de medio sui proturbat longeque ab exercitu suo fugatas in solitudinem coegit errare. Quas spiritus immundi per heremum vagantes quum vidissent et earum se complexibus in coitu miscuissent, genus hoc ferocissimum ediderunt, quae fuit primum inter paludes, minutum, taetrum atque exile quasi hominum genus, nec alia voce notum nisi quod humani sermonis imaginem assignabat,\u00a0<\/i><\/span>“discovered in the midst of his people certain female sorcerors who in the ancestral speech are called “haljurunnas” [death-whisperers (ie.,\u00a0<\/span>cursers<\/b><\/span>)], and suspecting the presence of evil in them, he drove them out of the community, driving them into exile a long way off from his army, and forcing them to wander in the lonely wilderness. When foul and evil spirits saw them wandering through the wastelands, they mingled with their embraces in sexual intercourse, giving birth to\u00a0<\/span>ferocious\u00a0<\/b><\/span>offspring, who live especially in the swamps, a<\/span>diminished, foul, offensive, ugly, swarthy, and poor<\/b><\/span>\u00a0(or\u00a0<\/span>emaciated<\/b><\/span>)\u00a0<\/span>kind of human being<\/b><\/span>, with different kinds of voices not recognizable unless one assigned it a certain likeness to human speech.” (Translation from my\u00a0<\/span>Alda Aldr,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0a thorough documentation of the \u201cAges of Men\u201d compiled across Germanic mythic documents.)<\/span><\/p>\n

The key word here is\u00a0<\/span>taetrum,<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/span>meaning\u00a0<\/span>hideous, abominable, ugly, offensive, foul, shocking, loathsome,<\/b><\/span>\u00a0as well as\u00a0<\/span>minutum,<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/span>meaning<\/span>diminished.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The great Norse eschatological poem\u00a0<\/span>Voluspa<\/i><\/span>\u00a0tells the tale of how an evil sorceress brought curses and enchanted men into the forms of monsters, disrupting the Golden Age at the beginning of time.<\/span>\u00a0Voluspa<\/i><\/span>\u00a022 :\u00a0<\/span>Hei\u00f0i hana h\u00e9tu, hvars til h\u00fasa kom, v\u00f6lu velsp\u00e1, vitti hon ganda, sei\u00f0 hon hvars hon kunni, sei\u00f0 hon hugleikin, \u00e6 var hon angan illrar br\u00fa\u00f0ar\/ \u00fej\u00f3\u00f0ar,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0“Heid was she called, when she came to houses, that prophetess of fraudulent visions, she bewitched monsters\/serpents\/wolves, she enchanted whomever she could, she bewitched their minds with strife, ever was she the sweet-savor of ill women\/nations”. Note how Jordanes\u2019 account and\u00a0<\/span>Voluspa\u2019<\/i><\/span>s account naturally harmonize. In\u00a0<\/span>Voluspa,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0Heid has particularly warped \u201cill women\u201d, while in Jordanes, there are female sorcerors who become responsible for producing foul offspring. In\u00a0<\/span>Voluspa,<\/i><\/span>\u00a0it speaks of the sorceress Heid enchanting whomever she could and bewitching them into wolves and other sorts of monsters, such that strife and conflict became their only way of life.\u00a0<\/span>Volsungasaga<\/i><\/span>\u00a0has an account of these kinds of werewolves.<\/span><\/p>\n

N\u00fa er \u00fea\u00f0 eitthvert sinn a\u00f0 \u00feeir fara enn \u00e1 sk\u00f3ginn a\u00f0 afla s\u00e9r fj\u00e1r en \u00feeir finna eitt h\u00fas og tvo menn sofandi \u00ed h\u00fasinu me\u00f0 digrum gullhringum. \u00deeir h\u00f6f\u00f0u or\u00f0i\u00f0 fyrir\u00a0<\/i><\/span>\u00f3sk\u00f6pum<\/b><\/i><\/span>\u00a0\u00fev\u00ed a\u00f0 \u00falfahamir hengu \u00ed h\u00fasinu yfir \u00feeim. Hi\u00f0 t\u00edunda hvert d\u00e6gur m\u00e1ttu \u00feeir komast \u00far h\u00f6munum. \u00deeir voru konungasynir. \u00deeir Sigmundur f\u00f3ru \u00ed hamina og m\u00e1ttu eigi \u00far komast og fylgdi s\u00fa n\u00e1tt\u00fara sem \u00e1\u00f0ur var. L\u00e9tu og vargsr\u00f6ddu.\u00a0<\/i><\/span>(<\/span>Volsungasaga\u00a0<\/i><\/span>8.) “Now it happens that one time they were faring into the forest to win themselves wealth when they found a house and two men sleeping in the house with big golden rings. They had words of unshaping (ill fate : a\u00a0<\/span>curse<\/b><\/span>) over them such that<\/span>\u00a0wolf-skins\u00a0<\/b><\/span>hung in the house over them. Every tenth day they were able to come out of\u00a0<\/span>the skins<\/b><\/span>. They were the sons of kings. Sigmund and Sinfjotli<\/span>\u00a0went into the skins and were not able to come out,\u00a0<\/b><\/span>and followed that nature they had before, and they<\/span>\u00a0let out a wolf’s voice\u00a0<\/b><\/span>(howl).”<\/span><\/p>\n

What was that “nature”?\u00a0<\/span>finnur Sigmundur sj\u00f6 menn og l\u00e6tur \u00falfsr\u00f6ddu. Og Sinfj\u00f6tli heyrir \u00fea\u00f0, fer til \u00feegar og drepur alla. …Og er Sinfj\u00f6tli hefir eigi lengi fari\u00f0 um sk\u00f3ginn, finnur hann ellefu menn og berst vi\u00f0 \u00fe\u00e1 og fer svo a\u00f0 hann drepur \u00fe\u00e1 alla.<\/i><\/span>\u00a0(Ibid.) “Sigmund found seven men and let out the wolfs-howl. And Sinfjotli heard that, and went at once and killed them all … And when Sinfjotli had fared but a short ways into the forest, he found eleven men and fought against them and it fared so that\u00a0<\/span>he killed them all<\/b><\/span>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

They are\u00a0<\/span>cursed<\/b><\/span>\u00a0with\u00a0<\/span>wolfskins<\/b><\/span>\u00a0out of which\u00a0<\/span>they cannot escape,<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/span>which make them\u00a0<\/span>ferociously savage<\/b><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>bloodythirsty, able to kill dozens of men.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Now compare the account in the Book of Mormon to these unnatural werewolves, cursed to live in dark, wolfish skins. The Book of Mormon is claimed to be the collected chronicles of an offshoot of the Jewish people who left Jerusalem for America, but it was translated or transliterated or in some special way interpreted by Joseph Smith, a young man who was from a family of cunning men and treasure-seekers. In fact, the means with which he interpreted the gold or brass plates he claimed to have found was with a seer stone. We should therefore see this \u201ctranslation\u201d as more of a spiritual process akin to a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>scrying operation,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0that would have activated the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>archetypes<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0implicit in his folkloric mind. As his folkloric cultural tradition ultimately came out of Europe, a Europe replete with werewolf tales, we must at least consider the possibility these may have formed unconscious archetypal backdrops to his spiritual interpretation process.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

One will note the recurring descriptions of the Lamanites in bold below : they were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>cursed,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0they had a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>skin of blackness<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0come upon them, they had\u00a0<\/span><\/span>dwindled<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0in size due to unbelief, were considered\u00a0<\/span><\/span>loathsome, filthy, abominable,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ferocious, bloodthirsty, wilderness-wanderers,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0who were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>greedy for riches<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0gained through\u00a0<\/span><\/span>murder, robbery, and plunder,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0because they did not care to work for themselves to produce such wealth. All of this is due to their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>iniquity,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>hardness of heart,<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>evil-doing.<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0However, despite all these characteristics, it was still prophecied that there was a chance for their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>redemption<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0whereby in time they might lose their skins of blackness and become a blessed people.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It has heretofore been assumed that \u201cskin of blackness\u201d referred to a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>change in pigmentation<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and that therefore the Lamanites might be comparable to other races with darker skin, such as Africans or Native Americans. But anyone who has studied\u00a0<\/span><\/span>werewolf folklore<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0knows that inevitably it is the donning of a wolf\u00a0<\/span><\/span>skin or pelt<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0that brings about the lycanthropic change, and indeed, the idea of \u201cshifting skins\u201d is a common motif in shamanic journeys involving some form of shapeshifting into animals. A \u201cskin\u201d therefore does not by any means refer to the natural human epidermis, but may refer to a coat, a fur, a pelt, or some other covering, particularly of a charmed or magical variety. This is confirmed not only in explicit mythology, but even in the witch trials, where some persons believed to be werewolves were brought to trial, and they testified to their own beliefs in this regard, and how they felt compelled to go on killing sprees, whether this was of cattle or even human beings. It should be noted that Black Wolves, or\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Canis lycaon,<\/i><\/span><\/span>can have\u00a0<\/span><\/span>extremely black<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0pelts. When one considers how bloodthirsty and ferocious werewolves were considered to be folklorically, and how bloodthirsty and ferocious the Lamanites were considered to be, serious consideration should be given to the interpretation that the \u201cskin of blackness\u201d was nothing other than a werewolf pelt that deformed these people and their offspring into a cursed, lycanthropic race. Nevertheless, there was a possibility they could be restored to virtue.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, in the time of Scyld (the great patriarch of the Teutonic folk, so named for that he proved a shield or protection to his people, particularly through his creation of a law code), Saxo Grammaticus reports (in Book One of his\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Gesta Danorum,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0History of the Danes) that there were people who had degenerated, becoming morally depraved and wild (<\/span><\/span>perditam<\/i><\/span><\/span>), and who had lost their sense of restraint and self-control through idle or luxurious habits, whom he caused to regrasp their virtue and worth through painstaking, industrious working of the land. (<\/span><\/span>Idem perditam et enervam vitam agentes continentiamque luxu labefacere solitos ad capessendam virtutem rerum agitatione sedulus excitabat.<\/i><\/span><\/span>) The type of man indicated here is further described when Saxo says in his time there were observed in the land\u00a0<\/span><\/span>complures … fortitudinis pugiles,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cmany fighters of great strength\u201d, whom Scyld was forced to meet in single combat. Indeed, Scyld\u2019s career as a young man was inaugurated when he confronted a gigantic bear and was able to wrestle and bind him with his belt, and Saxo tells us this was considered an augury of the course of his entire life. It may very well be that this was no natural bear, but the first encounter with one of these were-animal types bewitched by Heid. The robbers and fighters he meets up with in his career thus fall into this category. What\u2019s significant is that in Saxo\u2019s account, like in the Book of Mormon, there is some kind of hope envisioned for these people. Scyld puts them to work, obviously as thralls — also described as loathsome and ugly and strong in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Rigsthula<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0— so that they can \u201cgrasp their virtue\u201d through this worthy work, and we can see that the account that they had lost their sense of self-restraint through luxurious or idle habits matches what the Book of Mormon says, which is that the Lamanites turned to robbery and plunder because they had inordinate greed for riches, but were unwilling to work for them. The natural remedy would be to put them to work, to get them back in the habit of being productive individuals. Just as the Lamanites seem to pass their curse onto their children — yet this can be countered and overcome by virtue — so unfortunately the first generation of werewolves were unable to purge themselves of their foul nature, for there continued recidivism. Saxo says\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Primus rescindendarum manumissionum legem edidit, servi, quem forte libertate donaverat, clandestinis insidiis petitus,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201c(Scyld) was the first to annul to the law of manumission that he had (originally) spread out, when a thrall, whom he had by chance given his liberty, attacked him in a secret ambush.\u201d In other words, Scyld had provided for these thralls working off their crimes to be eventually freed, but seeing that recidivism made those so freed to continue in their assaults and plots, he had to annul that plan for the time being. However, he did try to heal them of their deformations and injuries.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Aegros fomentis prosequi remediaque graviter affectis benignius exhibere solebat<\/i><\/span><\/span>, \u201cHe was in the habit of bringing solace to the sick and infirm, and to giving medicines to the seriously impaired out of his bounty.\u201d As Saxo also attests that Scyld paid off people\u2019s debts out of the communal treasury, it may be that this included the debts wracked up by fines for criminal behavior, and this could have been part of his original manumission program. Healing was possible, obviously, but it might take more than one generation. Similarly, over time, the Lamanites might be able to be missionized to become more virtuous.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This does not require us to posit that the Lamanites were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>literally\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>werewolves within the context of the story — although given the presence of Giants and other creatures in the Old Testament, I think we should not dismiss this possibility too quickly — but may have been a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>wolfish<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0people who\u00a0<\/span><\/span>might as well<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0have been werewolves, and who therefore could be spoken of in the metaphoric terms of a werewolf, having a pelt of blackness thrown over them. In Old Norse, outlaws were called\u00a0<\/span><\/span>vargs,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0wolves. While at one point in the distant past, this may actually have matched folkloric beliefs about lycanthropy, at the time we encounter it in the literature, it certainly had more of a metaphoric content. Similarly, if Norse\/Germanic mythology tells us there was a time when people became werewolves, does this require of us to think of this in literal terms? Of course not. It makes a better action adventure story that way, and mythology thrives on translating metaphorical or spiritual truths into action adventures that people can enjoy, particularly because such imagery is more striking and tends to stay in the memory, but the important point about Scyld\u2019s time in the ancient days is that people started acting more greedy, ferocious, and bloodthirsty towards each other, such that they were acting like wolves. (And is it possible that just as Jordanes speaks of the \u201cdiminishment\u201d of these corrupted men, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Rigsthula<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0speaks of the thralls as if they were almost humpbacked, and The Book of Mormon describes the Lamanites as \u201cdwindled\u201d, that the word might be an unconscious creative neologism from \u201cthe lame man\u201d, ie., men wounded by their sins? I put this forward as creative speculation rather than serious assertion.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Another theory that had some circulation in Joseph Smith\u2019s day, particularly amongst Baptists, was the so-called \u201ctwo seed\u201d or \u201cSerpent-seed\u201d theology, an idea that went back to the Gnostics, and is attested in some Kabbalistic writings(<\/span><\/span>The Zohar\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>also propagates this \u201ctwo seed\u201d or \u201cserpent seed\u201d theology. \u201cOn the side of Cain are all the haunts of the evil species; from the side of Abel comes a more merciful class, yet not wholly beneficial \u2013 good wine mixed with bad.”), but was championed by Daniel Parker in the early to mid 1800s. Parker was a Primitive Baptist who formed an offshoot sect, the \u201cTwo-Seed-In-The-Spirit\u201d Predestinarian Baptists. This theology held that Eve \u201creceived the Serpentine nature\u201d in Parker\u2019s words when she gave into his temptation to eat of the fruit. This reception of the \u201cSerpentine nature\u201d actually included \u201cthe Serpent\u2019s seed\u201d, the \u201cseed of Satan\u201d, that competed alongside and within her with the \u201cElect seed\u201d. Parker, in his \u201cTreatise on the Two Seeds\u201d, from which these quotes are taken, compared Eve with Mother Earth. Just as Mother Earth was made by the curse to produce thorns and thistles, poisonous matters, alongside her beautiful green coat of spring, with all her nutrifying grains and fruits, so Eve carried tares or thistles within her seed as well. He posits, basing himself on 1 John 3 : 12, where it says that Cain \u201cwas of that wicked one\u201d, that Cain was the offspring of the Serpent seed, whereas Abel was the offspring of Eve\u2019s own nature, and therefore of the Elect. He argues that there is a \u201cmanifest enmity between the two seeds\u201d, which is enacted in Cain\u2019s killing of Abel. He calls upon Jesus\u2019 parable of the tares and the wheat as referring to these two different seeds in humankind when Jesus says, \u201cthe good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one.\u201d Thus, Satan had brought \u201cforth a set of beings\u201d who were \u201cdirectly from the fountain of iniquity\u201d. Through this, Satan had \u201cengraved his image in their hearts\u201d, an interesting statement, as Adam and Eve had originally been created in God\u2019s image, and thus with God\u2019s image engraved in their hearts, so to speak. But here appears a competing image written right on the heart. Parker argues that these two seeds do not manifest abstractly as two competing qualities, but actually incarnate as two different kinds of people, the Elect and the Non-Elect, and those who have inherited Satan\u2019s seed – for there is a strict dichotomy here separating the two, as one inherits one or the other — are prone to idolatry, whoredom, and the sword, due to \u201cthe Serpent\u2019s fury\u201d. He references Genesis 5 : 1-3, where Cain is not listed amongst the \u201cgenerations of Adam, in the day God created man\u201d, and this list is after a genealogy of Cain is listed, implying that these are two different lines.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Parker insists on this dichotomy to the point that he argues that missionary activity amongst the Non-Elect is useless, as they cannot be turned. He even considers every sect not of the Baptists to be of the Non-Elect Serpent Seed! So in this particular theological twist, Parker is different from either the Book of Mormon, or Scyld\u2019s enthralling of the werewolves, because both of the latter believed in the possibility of redemption. But the condemnation of the multiple sects against the one true sect Parker does share in common with Joseph Smith, who, confused by the multiple denominations, sought out what might be the true teaching. It\u2019s significant to note that in contrast to Parker, in Smith\u2019s material, the \u201cbad seed\u201d are very much redeemable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But this tradition did not originate with Parker, as it had sunk down such deep folkloric seeds as to find reflection in the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0poem, where Grendel is spoken of as being of Cain\u2019s kindred.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>100-114\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>o\u00f0 \u00f0\u00e6t \u00e1n ongan \/ fyrene fremman f\u00e9ond on helle \/ w\u00e6s se grimma ga\u00e9st Grendel h\u00e1ten \/ma\u00e9re mearcstapa s\u00e9 \u00fee m\u00f3ras h\u00e9old \/ fen ond f\u00e6sten f\u00edfelcynnes* eard \/wonsa\u00e9l\u00ed wer weardode hw\u00edle \/si\u00fe\u00f0an him scyppend forscrifen h\u00e6fde \/ in Caines cynne \u00feone cwealm gewr\u00e6c \/ \u00e9ce drihten \u00fe\u00e6s \u00fee h\u00e9 \u00c1bel sl\u00f3g \/ ne gefeah h\u00e9 \u00fea\u00e9re fa\u00e9h\u00f0e ac h\u00e9 hine feor forwr\u00e6c \/ metod for \u00fe\u00fd m\u00e1ne mancynne fram \/ \u00feanon unt\u00fddras ealle onw\u00f3con \/ eotenas ond ylfe ond orcn\u00e9\u00e4s \/ swylce g\u00edgantas \u00fe\u00e1 wi\u00f0 gode wunnon\/ lange \u00fer\u00e1ge<\/i><\/span><\/span>, \u201cUntil one began to commit crimes, a fiend from hell, a cruel and fierce enemy called Grendel, a nightmare wanderer in the desolate borderlands, he who held the moors, fen and fortress, dwelling of the monster-kindred, that joyless man guarded for a time, since him fate had cut out dooms, in Cain\u2019s kindred ; that death he avenged, eternal Lord, when he slew Abel, he didn\u2019t exult in their feud, for he banished him far away, fated for his crime from mankind ; from thence terrible offspring all sprung forth, etins and elves and sea-monsters, in other words giants who struggled against God a long time.\u201d Although the official story in the Bible states that all of Cain\u2019s offspring were killed in the flood, oral stories and folklore for a long time alleged that some of them survived, and we can see here especially in this Old English tradition, that the drowned giants of Cain\u2019s kindred were transformed into sea-monsters. Other traditions have Noah\u2019s son Ham inheriting much of this legacy (and therein lies a terrible tale of slavery and seeking justification in old stories), such that Old Irish glosses on the Bible have the Formorians — the monstrous opponents of the fairy-like Tuatha de Danaan — being either the descendants of Ham or of Cain. These represent attempts to graft old heathen lore into a new Christian context. But you see the theme of the \u201cbad seed\u201d of Cain being passed down in the form of these monsters and men-become-monsters.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(*See\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voluspa<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a051 :<\/span><\/span>\u00a0fara f\u00edflmegir me\u00f0 freka allir,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cfare all the sons of the monster\/fool with the wolf\u201d, and it is said that Byleist\u2019s brother — Loki — travels with them. In fact, he\u2019s steering the ship.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Fiflmegir\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>may here mean \u201csons of the fool\u201d, the fool being Loki. They are either Loki\u2019s sons or his grandsons, if it means sons of the monstrous wolf ; in any case, they are in Loki\u2019s kin and related to the Wolf. If they are children of Fenris, they are indeed in a Werewolf clan.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Fiflmegir\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voluspa<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fifelcynnes<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0are thus identical, and all related to Fenris, who by his very name, lurks in the fens and swamps. There is a gloss on\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fifel<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0that translates to \u201cmarine monsters\u201d, which would be a good word for these monsters of the swamps. It would also connect nicely to the subaltern but authentically folkloric tradition that the Sons of Cain who survived the flood had transformed into sea-monsters.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Grendel lives\u00a0<\/span><\/span>on nicera mere,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cin the sea-monsters\u2019 sea\u201d, in a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fenfreo\u00f0o,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cmarshy sanctuary\u201d,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>w\u00f3d, \u201c<\/i><\/span><\/span>wading\u201d,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of m\u00f3re under misthleo\u00feum,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cover the moors under the misty shelters\u201d. Being of the fens and swamps, he in turn connects to the foul, offensive offspring of the Heliurunna witches spawned in the swamps in Jordanes\u2019 account. In fact,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0speaks of \u201cdeath-whisperers\u201d or \u201chel-runes\u201d in direct relation to Grendel, attesting to a linguistic continuity, but not a conscious allusion, to the Heliurunnas in the Jordanes\u2019 text.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf 161 – 165 : seomade ond syrede sinnihte h\u00e9old \/ mistige m\u00f3ras men ne cunnon \/ hwyder helr\u00fanan hwyrftum scr\u00ed\u00fea\u00f0. \/ Sw\u00e1 fela fyrena f\u00e9ond mancynnes \/ atol \u00e1ngengea oft gefremede,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cHe [Grendel] hung about and plotted, and in perpetual night held the misty moors ; men do not know whither death-whisperers (helrunan) go when they wander. So many crimes that foe of mankind, the terrible lone-walker, oft committed.\u201d Here we have the swamps, the runes of hel, the predatory relationship. Fens or swamplands have specific implications in Germanic myth, because that is where the Great Wolf, or the Werewolf of Werewolves, the Fenris Wolf, gotten on Loki by Angrboda-Gullveig (Heid) comes from, and for which he is named. His name might be translated \u201cWolf of the Swamp\u201d. This in turns connects to folkloric werewolf activity, because people accused of being werewolves in the witch trials, who openly admitted to a self-belief in this regard, spoke of having to pass through some kind of wetland to go down into hell on their ecstatic journeys. That wetland might be a swamp or a river or even a sea, but the idea of there being a wet place that must be passed through in a journey between worlds is common to many of these testimonies. Grendel\u2019s mother is spoken of in the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0poem in ways very reminiscent of Heid, and probably represents either the same figure in a different guise, or a very similar cognate figure, and thus Grendel by association is drawn into the circle of beings around Fenris, and thus takes part, at least by proxy, in the werewolf phenomenon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And like a wolf, Grendel is extremely bloodthirsty and violent. He\u2019s a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>m\u00e1nsca\u00f0a manna cynnes,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cterrible scather of mankind\u201d,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>grim ond gra\u00e9dig,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cgrim and greedy\u201d,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>r\u00e9oc ond r\u00e9\u00fee,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201csavage and terrible\u201d, capable of seizing and preying upon thirty men at a time — just as the werewolves in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Volsungasaga<\/i><\/span><\/span>have the ability to take out dozens of opponents at once. He is\u00a0<\/span><\/span>w\u00e6lfylle,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cfull with the abundance of slaughter\u201d, and skilled in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>g\u00fa\u00f0cr\u00e6ft,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cwar-craft\u201d. He<\/span><\/span>gefremede \/ mor\u00f0beala m\u00e1re ond n\u00f3 mearn fore,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201ccommitted disastrous murder, and never regretted it\u201d, for\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fa\u00e9h\u00f0e ond fyrene w\u00e6s t\u00f3 f\u00e6st on \u00fe\u00e1m,<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cfeud and crime was too strong with him\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beowulf 151 – 156 : Grendel wan \/ hw\u00edle wi\u00f0 Hr\u00f3\u00feg\u00e1r heten\u00ed\u00f0as w\u00e6g \/ fyrene ond fa\u00e9h\u00f0e fela miss\u00e9ra, \/ sing\u00e1le s\u00e6ce sibbe ne wolde \/ wi\u00f0 manna hwone m\u00e6genes Deniga, \/ feorhbealo feorran, f\u00e9a \u00feingian,\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u201cGrendel contended a long while against Hrothgar, inflicting enmity, crimes and feuds for many years [in fact, over ten years!], continuously fighting, he willed no kindness with any man of Danish kin, nor withdrew from life-harm, nor settled with payment.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Grendel fits hand in glove with Jordanes\u2019, Saxo\u2019s,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Voluspa<\/i><\/span><\/span>\u2019s, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Volsungasaga\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/span>s traditions, the bloodthirsty savage from the wolfish fens who partakes of a corrupted lineage. This folkloric strata continued at the peasant level through European history, as the witch trials concerning werewolves continued to attest. Often invoking the wolf pelt, such men who believed themselves werewolves saw themselves as subject to this transformation for various lengths of time, which subjected them, whether good or not — because some werewolves claimed to be on the side of good (which might connect them in archaic days to Odin\u2019s wolves rather than Heid\u2019s wolves) — to various ferocious behaviors, particularly attacking cattle and other domestic animals. All of this forms a matrix out of which it is possible Smith unconsciously drew upon when he was interpreting the material that eventually became The Book of Mormon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It may be that these two strands of mythic tradition, the Germanic and the Mormonic, may have no inherent relation to each other, although again attention should be given to the connective tissue of folklore as inherited by a cunning-man family such as the Smiths in the possible unconscious and archetypal interpretation of the plates Joseph Smith was working with ; but in any case, even if there is no inherent relation, it may still very well be that at an archetypal level, these two strands illuminate each other and fill each other out. Instead of being seen in racial terms, the Lamanites ought more constructively to be seen as a lineage of men who gave themselves over to the monstrous, and suffered from terrible deformities, but whom, in time, hold a promise of redemption. Similarly, the thralls in Norse tradition represent the remnant of a group of people transformed to werewolves who became predators upon their fellow tribespeople, and who the great archetypal lawgiver Scyld made to work off their crimes, and who may, someday, be finally redeemed of the inner traces of their original curse. The themes of corruption, recidivism, and eventual hopes of restoration run throughout the long arc of these stories.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the attestations in the Book of Mormon :<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Nephi 12:23: “And it came to pass that I beheld,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>after they had dwindled\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>in unbelief they became\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a dark<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and<\/span><\/span>\u00a0loathsome<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and a<\/span><\/span>\u00a0filthy\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>people, full of<\/span><\/span>idleness<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and all manner of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>abominations<\/b><\/span><\/span>.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2 Nephi 5:24: \u201cAnd<\/span><\/span>\u00a0because of their cursing\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>. . . they did become an idle people,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>full of mischief and subtlety<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey<\/b><\/span><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Enos 1:20 : \u201cAnd I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>their hatred was fixed<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and they were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>led by their evil nature\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>that they became\u00a0<\/span><\/span>wild<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ferocious<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>blood-thirsty\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>wandering about in the wilderness\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did\u00a0<\/span><\/span>eat nothing save it was raw meat<\/b><\/span><\/span>; and they were\u00a0<\/span><\/span>continually seeking to destroy us<\/b><\/span><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mosiah 10:12: \u201cThey were a wild, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ferocious<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>blood-thirsty\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>people, believing in the tradition of their fathers. . . .\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Alma 17:13\u201314: \u201cAnd it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken. And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>wild and a hardened and a ferocious\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>people; a people who<\/span><\/span>\u00a0delighted in murdering\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>the Nephites, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>robbing and plundering\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>them; and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver<\/b><\/span><\/span>, and precious stones; yet they\u00a0<\/span><\/span>sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering,\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>that they might not labor for them with their own hands.\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Helaman 3:16: \u201cAnd they have been handed down from one generation to another by the Nephites, even until they have fallen into transgression and have been\u00a0<\/span><\/span>murdered, plundered, and hunted, and driven forth, and slain,\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>and scattered upon the face of the earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites, becoming\u00a0<\/span><\/span>wicked, and wild, and ferocious<\/b><\/span><\/span>, yea, even becoming Lamanites.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Mormon 5:15: \u201cAnd also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered, and shall become\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a dark, a filthy, and a loathsome people<\/b><\/span><\/span>, beyond the description of that which ever hath been amongst us, yea, even that which hath been among the Lamanites, and this\u00a0<\/span><\/span>because of their unbelief\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>and idolatry.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2 Nephi 5 : \u201c20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words\u00a0<\/span><\/span>they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord<\/b><\/span><\/span>. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

21 And he had caused\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the cursing to come upon them<\/b><\/span><\/span>, yea, even\u00a0<\/span><\/span>a sore cursing, because of their iniquity.\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>For behold,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0they had hardened their hearts\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome<\/i><\/span><\/span>, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord\u00a0<\/span><\/span>God did cause\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span>a skin of blackness\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span>to come upon them.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be\u00a0<\/span><\/span>loathsome<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

24 And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

25 And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1 Nephi 12:23: \u201cAnd I beheld, after they had\u00a0<\/span><\/span>dwindled in unbelief\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2 Nephi 30 : \u201c6 And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>their scales of darkness\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save\u00a0<\/span><\/span>they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jarom 1 :6 : \u201cAnd they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>they loved murder\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>and would\u00a0<\/span><\/span>drink the blood of beasts<\/b><\/span><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jacob 3 : \u201c5 Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their\u00a0<\/span><\/span>filthiness<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>the cursing which hath come upon their skins<\/b><\/span><\/span>, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father\u2014that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be merciful unto them; and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>one day they shall become a blessed people<\/b><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

7 Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children; and their unbelief and their hatred towards you is because of the iniquity of their fathers; wherefore, how much better are you than they, in the sight of your great Creator?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

8 O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that\u00a0<\/span><\/span>their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God<\/i><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

9 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that<\/span><\/span>\u00a0ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins;\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness<\/i><\/span><\/span>; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Alma 26 : \u201c 23 Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

24 For they said unto us: Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as\u00a0<\/span><\/span>stiffnecked<\/b><\/span><\/span>\u00a0a people as they are;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood<\/b><\/span><\/span>; whose days have been spent in the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>grossest iniquity<\/b><\/span><\/span>; whose ways have been the<\/span><\/span>\u00a0ways of a transgressor\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span>from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

25 And moreover they did say: Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

all translations by me<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today's post comes from Siegfried Goodfellow and is reposted with permission. It's bizarre, wonderful, and kind of brilliant.<\/span> __________________<\/span> Werewolves, Lamanites, and Grendel : Oh My!<\/b><\/span> an investigation into possible crosscurrents between<\/i><\/span> Germanic mythology and Mormon folklore<\/i><\/span>Germanic mythology provides a comparative perspective from which to take a fresh look at what the Book of <\/span> ... Read more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3679"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3680,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3679\/revisions\/3680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stallioncornell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}