Behind the Lore: Worgen
by JR Cook - 12 years ago show comments
Once merely aggressive mobs to be used only as kill quest fodder, the Worgen became a playable race with the release of World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion. The Greymane Wall, erected during the Third War by Genn Greymane to isolate the human city of Gilneas from the strife of the rest of Azeroth, was destroyed after The Shattering, giving players their very first glimpse into the forgotten kingdom and its people.
Much of the history of the Worgen race has been retroactively altered since their addition as a playable race; originally, they were stated to be twisted monsters from an alternate dimension who flooded into Azeroth through rifts caused by significant magical disturbances. The mage Arugal conducted experiments to produce a small number of human/worgen hybrids to serve as a type of super-soldier for Dalaran’s armies, but was mortified to find that they quickly turned on their wizard handlers. Consumed by regret and guilt, he retreated to Shadowfang Keep and began to see himself as a sort of father to the worgen, horrifically transforming the citizens of nearby Pyrewood Village into his “children.” Veteran players may recall this location that was guarded by friendly human NPCs during the day, but turned to aggressive elite mobs at nightfall; this was Arugal’s curse.
Introducing Worgen as a new race, though, meant that their lore would need to be fleshed out to match the depth of those already in the game. Cataclysm rewrote their history, now speaking of their wild brethren as cursed members of the ancient Druids of the Scythe, worshippers of the wolf spirit Goldrinn. Through mystical rituals and invocations, they were once able to shift freely between their night elf — remember, we are dealing with the druids of old — and wolf forms, but whether due to ignorance or an overwhelming lust for the raw, animalistic power they received in their alternate bodies, eventually found themselves forever lost to these savage instincts. Other druidic sects of the era banded together to lock their dangerous brethren within the sacred tree Tal’doren, deep within The Blackwald, lest they destroy the world around them. There they remained for many years until their release by overconfident meddlers, allowing them to spread throughout the Eastern Kingdoms and, with the Greymane Wall no longer standing in their way, infect citizens of nearby Gilneas with their ancient curse. The newly-damned Gilneans now spend their days searching for a complete cure to their condition, although their experiments and research have led to some progress already; they can now shift forms at will, as the Worgen of old once did.
Many core aspects of Worgen lore are similar to those found in the most popular werewolf mythology, where lycanthropy is spread by receiving a bite or scratch from the infected individual, and those afflicted will find themselves transforming into horrible, mindless beasts with an unquenchable thirst for blood and flesh by the full moon’s light. In the case of the Worgen, the metamorphosis seems spurred on not exclusively by the lunar cycle, but by nightfall itself. The method of transmission is the same, with the source being either a viral-type infection or a curse, depending entirely on the literature being referenced. Though most werewolves in modern lore are unable to completely control their shifting, the werewolves created by author Stephenie Meyer for her infamous Twilight series can harness their abilities to change at will (extreme anger, however, can provoke an uncontrolled metamorphosis). The Gangrel clan of White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade table-top roleplaying game may not be strictly human, but are also able to transition into various animal forms on command, perhaps the most popular of which is the guise of a wolf.
But that’s the contemporary story — what about the real origin of werewolves, the one as ancient as the Druids of the Scythe are said to be? In short, that depends on which country the werewolf in question hails from. Today’s werewolf lore is most similar to that of medieval Europe, though they were certainly not the first to come up with the idea of “human wolves.” Homer’s well-known epic, The Iliad, was written between 1260 and 1240 BC and tells the story of a Trojan named Dolon who disguises himself in a wolf skin to evade detection while spying on Greek naval forces. Works of art from around the same era show Dolon wearing the wolf pelt and crawling on all fours like an animal hunting for prey. Other ancient European cultures also used this more-militaristic-than-magical idea of warriors clad in animal skins, including Germanic tribes who also believed in a sacred “world tree.” We won’t delve too far into that concept, since the meat of it could be better served in an analysis of the Night Elves, but it does have some relevance based on its similarity to the Worgen’s prison of old, the tree Tal’doren, and its common association in Germanic mythology with the ash tree. The same arboreal species is featured in a lesser-known Greek myth in which a member of Anthus’s family was chosen as a sacrifice of sorts by a cult based in Arcadia who worshipped a deity known as the Wolf-Zeus (perhaps a predecessor to Goldrinn’s Druids of the Scythe?). He was ordered to swim across a lake and, halfway through his journey, would transform into a wolf, spending the next nine years exiled to the wilderness where abstaining from the temptation of human flesh was his only hope of being allowed to return to his human form. Before embarking on this task, he hung his clothing in the branches of a nearby ash tree. This could also be the origin of an obscure superstition that anyone pursued by a werewolf can find safety by climbing an ash tree; yet another link in the chain draws this back into Worgen lore which states that being in the presence of one of their sacred trees can soothe the mindless rage of even their most feral brethren, meaning that theoretically a tree could save an adventurer from certain death in Azeroth, as well, if only they have the presence of mind to lead their pursuer near enough to it. No official taxonomic definition exists for the Worgen’s sacred trees, though their refugee base in Darnassus is designated as “The Howling Oak.” Despite this relative ambiguity, there is still an undeniable connection between lycanthropes and trees (no lifting-the-leg jokes, please).
Comparison of the “Howling Oak” (center) with a real oak tree (top) and an ash tree (bottom).
Their closer alignment to European werewolf legends fits nicely with similarities in building style between the kingdom of Gilneas and England during the Tudor period, though the distinctive dark wood framing on neutral-colored outer walls and peaked, shingled roofs usually associated with this style were also used in traditional German architecture.
Gilnean buildings compared to an example of traditional German architecture.
Blackwald, the gloomy forest that blankets the area between Gilneas City and the village of Stormglen, may be further inspired by Germany and its famous Black Forest, with the suffix -wald meaning “forest.” The names of other notable Gilnean cities and settlements, however, utilize many common forms and suffixes found in city names throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, such as -glen and -wich. In addition, both Germany and England feature natural formations called headlands, which are extremely high cliff-like areas of land overlooking a body of water; a quick glance at a map of Gilneas shows that here, too, are these present in the landscape.
Despite showing influences from both England and Germany, the scales begin tipping in favor of the former, rather than the latter, when the Gilnean NPCs speak. There is some debate over to the authenticity of their “English” accent, with many claiming it’s about as real as the Worgen themselves, and others insisting that it’s proper Cockney circa the late 19th century, which falls around the time of the Edwardian era that seems to have been the inspiration for the typical Gilnean taste in fashion.
Similarities between Gilnean fashion and a dress typical of the Late Edwardian period.
Greymane Manor and its observatory may also be a slight nod to the popular British sci-fi television series Doctor Who, specifically an episode from the second season of its revival called “Tooth and Claw.” In this episode, the Doctor and his companion find themselves attempting to save Queen Victoria herself from a group of fanatical monks attempting to infect the monarch with lycanthropy and create an entire kingdom of werewolves. The final dramatic battle against the infected monks takes place in an enormous observatory on the estate’s grounds. The similarities are slight and so may be nothing more than coincidence, but it should be enough to give any Doctor Who fan a moment’s pause.
During the events of Wrath of the Lich King, soldiers at the then-intact Greymane Wall were rumored to have coldly turned away terrified citizens seeking refuge from the invasion of the Scourge. This kind of isolationist policy is nothing new, as a quick perusal of real-world history texts will reveal. Several countries have, at various times, effectively closed themselves off from the rest of the world for varying reasons. In the case of Gilneas, it seems to echo the sentiment of the United States during World War I and II, when the general consensus of its leaders and the majority of its citizens was that the rest of the world’s problems were their own to deal with; they did not seek alliances with any foreign countries until they themselves were in danger. Genn Greymane, himself, had little interest in permanently joining the Alliance before his kingdom fell to the mindless worgen of the Blackwald, believing Gilneas to be too strong to ever require the services of the outside world.
If you missed Honorary Lorewalker Bunny’s inaugural Behind the Lore article, you can read it here or monitor the Behind the Lore tag to see what you’ve missed. Be sure to check back next Wednesday for a brand-new installment to see a whole new side of your favorite Warcraft races, quests, and locations!
