Note 111 — INDEX

Names. See note 31. The development in the case of names was perhaps the same as in the case of masks (note 57), and of the werewolf superstition itself (ante p. 15, fol.); namely, a) protection against outside agencies was sought; b) growth of supernaturalism; c) element of humor.

a) See Encyc. Brit. under Lycanthropy: “Children are often named wolf, are disguised as a wolf to cheat their supernatural foes” (for similar assumption of characteristics or the nature of animals for personal advantage see note 33). See also Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, III. 1139: “The escort of wolf or raven augured victory;” and in the note: “A name of happiest augury for a hero must have been the O. H. G. Wolf-hraban (Wolfram), to whom the two animals jointly promised victory. Old names are no product of pure chance. Servian mothers name a son they have longed for, Vuk, Wolf: then the witches can’t eat him up. O. H. G. Wolfbizo was a lucky name, i. e., one bitten by the wolf and thereby protected,” like our modern curing of like by like in medicine.

b) With growth of supernaturalism came probably the development mentioned by Meringer, Indog. Forsch., 1904, XVI. 165, about the conferring of secret names, since one could harm a person by his name alone, and could summon a foe merely by mentioning his name: “Wenn man den Wolf nennt, kommt er g’rennt.” Again in XXI. 313 fol.: It was dangerous to name bear or wolf in regions infested by these animals, so people, out of fear, avoided calling the name of such animals; called the bear for example honey-eater, etc.

c) Finally, when man could better cope with animal foes, his fear of them disappeared, the elements of fearlessness and humor enter in, and such names arise as are mentioned in note 53; and such stories as that of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a wolf.