Hi all,
Oops, I seem to be running a little late with Day 6 in Wolf Facts Week. Hopefully you’ll forgive me 🙂 While Day 5 was going way back to the Vikings and Norse mythology, today we’re going a little more modern. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and since I’ve previous discussed how mythology influences my own writing, it’s fascinating for me to see when other writers do the same, especially the ‘big names’ in the industry.
Wolf fact #5
Yesterday we talked about wolves in Norse mythology, and one of the more famous myths of Fenrir. Some of the other Potter-files out there might have thought of Fenrir Greyback, and it’s no coincidence that he was named after the great wolf who was feared to one day destroy the world.
In the Harry Potter universe, Remus Lupin, is a werewolf. The name Remus coming from the twins Romulus and Remus, who are considered in legend as the founders of Rome who suckled on a wolf, and Lupin, coming from the latin lupus, which means wolf. (The poor man never had a chance, huh?) J.K. Rowling tends to a theme for giving characters names that are significant, and are often taken from mythology.
Lupin’s condition of lycanthropy, which comes from the combined Greek terms for ‘wolf’ and ‘man’, was described by Rowing as a metaphor for all those illnesses that carry a stigma, like HIV and AIDs. “All kinds of superstitions seem to surround blood-borne conditions, probably due to taboos surrounding blood itself. The wizarding community is as prone to hysteria and prejudice as the Muggle one, and the character of Lupin gave me a chance to examine those attitudes.” We see not only how Lupin can be shunned by the community, but also his own self-loathing about his condition, to the extent that he doesn’t believe he deserves to have love and a family.
I think we can all relate to that feeling of insecurity and worthlessness sometimes – I’m guessing not due to lycanthropy, but we all have things we dislike about ourselves and that we wonder if anyone will ever be able to love us for. My characters are no different, and I hope it’s one of the things that makes them relatable to.
Scarlett Legacy is on sale at Amazon now.
Take care x
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