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#canon was translated by Professor Tolkien with his own stereotypes of both monsters affecting the translation
tanoraqui · 1 year
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concept: in western human culture in modern Earth as we know it, vampires are traditionally associated with elegance, suavity, and “civilized” powers such as money, intellect, and high social class, with their monstrousness often hidden until shockingly revealed; while werewolves are often assigned the opposite: savagery and brutality, untamable wildness, the mindless strength of tooth and claw…
BUT CONSIDER: in Middle Earth, werewolves are known to have been created by Sauron, aka the demigod of Panopticon-enabled Fascism and also Deceptive Seduction…so maybe the tropes are reversed? In Middle Earth, werewolves are associated with, if not elegance, then neatness and orderliness. They hunt in organized packs, there is graceful economy of movement to their terrible violence, a werewolf in full human form or full wolf form will be charming right up until it lunges for your neck, or even while its fangs sink in…werewolves like precious metals and works of craft almost as much as dragons… Whereas vampires are savage, wild, ugly and twisted things that roost in high places and leap hungrily down onto unwary travelers. They have at best a low, animal cunning suited to concealment and ambush.
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