The Lycans can feed on anything : V - Skyrim

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 6:40 pm

Lycan(thrope/thropy) is a term used to identify any were-creature, not just werewolves. Another example of how Underworld seems to have "set the standard" so to speak. Lycan is simply a shortening of the word, but it doesn't mean werewolf only.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Lycanthropy

damnit uesp, you're not helping here. lycanthrope means "Werewolf," that is the real translation (well, it actually means wolfman, but same thing) and it is the same in TES. no one in TES actually uses the word (to my knowledge, at least) and it would be a misnomer if it is actully said about anything but a werewolf

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:22 pm

damnit uesp, you're not helping here. lycanthrope means "Werewolf," that is the real translation (well, not what it exactly says but thats what it means) and it is the same in TES. no one in TES actually uses the word (to my knowledge, at least) and it would be a misnomer if it is actully said about anything but a werewolf

Lycanthropy is most commonly referred to werewolves, but any type of were beast is considered a lycanthrope. TES lore and our lore aren't the same, therefore they shouldn't be held to the same standards. TES doesn't acknowledge the word "Therianthropy" which in our lore is the more accurate term for a shapeshifter of any variety. As far as I know, TES simply labels them all as lycanthropes.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 2:01 pm

In Daggerfall, Wereboars are referred to as lycanthropes iirc, and there is a quest that also puts wereboars in the category of lycanthropy. Therianthrope is a word I've never seen used in TES lore/games, so I think it's safe to say that a TES lycanthrope is any were-beast.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:49 pm

I want to feed off internet trolls. Hehe.

Giants seem like they would be prey that a werewolf could hunt if it was feeling so insane, it had to die. I can't see a werewolf being able to take a giant.

I hunt giants with my werewolf and it's not that difficult. Just make sure you don't get hit and pounce those meatpiles.

I've always found it weird that werewolves can't feed on falmer by the way. They are considered humanoids right ?

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:28 pm

Lycan(thrope/thropy) is a term used to identify any were-creature, not just werewolves. Another example of how Underworld seems to have "set the standard" so to speak. Everybody seems misinformed due to thet movie, that Lycanthropy/Lycanthrope (Lycan in short) is Werewolf only. Lycan is simply a shortening of the word, but it doesn't mean werewolf only.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Lycanthropy

Sorry but uesp is wrong lycanthropy as other have said means "wolf" "man" it's specific for werewolves

therianthropy is the correct term it loosly translates was "beast" "man" and refers to the change into any animal

Fun fact the idea that lycanthropy is a medical diagnoses for a hokerr that thinks he/she is an animal is incorrect the term is zoanthropy.

I only mention this because I believe we were talking about folklore in general.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:31 am

Sorry but uesp is wrong lycanthropy as other have said means "wolf" "man" it's specific for werewolves

therianthropy is the correct term it loosly translates was "beast" "man" and refers to the change into any animal

Fun fact the idea that lycanthropy is a medical diagnoses for a hokerr that thinks he/she is an animal is incorrect the term is zoanthropy.

No. In OUR terminology, you would be correct. Show me one shred of evidence where they (TES) call other were-beasts a therianthrope? I know the terminology, but it does not apply to TES. Daggerfall referred to wereboars as lycanthropes, which is evident if you've ever played any quests related to them. Therefore, the term "Lycanthrope" in TES terminology, is any were-beast. The term "Lycanthrope" in our terminology is that of werewolves.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:27 am

As I just edited in it seems I have gotten confused I belived we were talking about folklore in general rather then TES specific.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:06 pm

Lycan's serve hircine who hunts mortals
Lycan's hunt mortals to gain more power
They do depend on mortal blood to fuel their rage
Animal blood wouldn't work

Soooooooooo animals are suddenly not mortal? All mortal means is able to die. So they do fall under that category, and FYI Humans are technically animals.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:47 pm

I believe that you should be able to hunt animals for a reason, however it should not be able to extend your hunt as only humans can sustain your form the only use for this would be to regain some health. Keeping in your beast form shouldn't cause to much of a fuss as using the ring of Hircine will give you unlimited Beast transformations. :biggrin:

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:45 pm

I believe that you should be able to hunt animals for a reason, however it should not be able to extend your hunt as only humans can sustain your form the only use for this would be to regain some health. Keeping in your beast form shouldn't cause to much of a fuss as using the ring of Hircine will give you unlimited Beast transformations. :biggrin:

I thought it was only 2 per day.....

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 3:59 pm

As I just edited in it seems I have gotten confused I belived we were talking about folklore in general rather then TES specific.

Easy misunderstanding, no prob.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:41 pm

I thought it was only 2 per day.....

The ring lets you transform unlimited times per day. Equip it, go to your powers and select "Ring of Hircone" and use it, when you're out of werewolf you can repeat the process again and again endlessly.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 7:44 am

Soooooooooo animals are suddenly not mortal? All mortal means is able to die. So they do fall under that category, and FYI Humans are technically animals.

In TES lore mortals are men, mer and the beaskfolk. Anything that's sapient, and moreover has a black soul.

If we're being pedantic then yes, animals are mortal in so much that they can die, but then they don't have a black soul - only a white one.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:41 am

In TES lore mortals are men, mer and the beaskfolk. Anything that's sapient, and moreover has a black soul.

If we're being pedantic then yes, animals are mortal in so much that they can die, but then they don't have a black soul - only a white one.

I see, still think its silly that I cant at least feed on deer to regain some health, maybe not maintain my form, but at least some health.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:06 am

I just want to feed on falmer damn it!

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:42 pm

TES might not give a general term for man-beasts, but in the book "On Lycanthropy" the author does confirm the meaning of lycanthrope is the same as ours. "Because the werewolf is the most ubiquitous of lycanthropes, the term lycanthropy has been used since ancient days to describe the disease that transforms men into half-beast, although lycanthrope only strictly should refer to men who change into werewolves. But that is semantics."

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:39 pm

TES might not give a general term for man-beasts, but in the book "On Lycanthropy" the author does confirm the meaning of lycanthrope is the same as ours. "Because the werewolf is the most ubiquitous of lycanthropes, the term lycanthropy has been used since ancient days to describe the disease that transforms men into half-beast, although lycanthrope only strictly should refer to men who change into werewolves. But that is semantics."

Oh? Hmm. In Daggerfall, many of the Lycanthrope quests were even specific to killing or being a wereboar. I don't think they would contradict themselves.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Lycanthropic_Legends_of_Skyrim

Read that, it's a book in the game currently.

I had heard the same rumors as everyone else -- that the province of Skyrim was awash in various forms of Lycanthropy. I had studied werewolves for some time, and was keen to see if these rumors of werebears were actually substantiated. I elected to pursue these studies in the warmer summer months in deference to my fragile constitution.

First paragraph.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 1:11 pm

Was the term ever used before that movie? Can you find any such reference?

I've always referred to them as lycan's or lycanthrops but most end up with a :blink:

on their face so I end up saying werewolf, the difference between a lycan and a werewolf is that a lycan can change at will where as a werewolf has no control over their transformation.

Was the term ever used before that movie? Can you find any such reference?

It's the short version of lycanthrope. It may have originated from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycaon_%28Arcadia%29 .

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:13 am

sigh

Yeah, I have fun. I guess it's just become a (minor) pet peeve of mine that too many people's entire consciousness of folklore only consists of things that were created in maybe the past ten years, the past fifteen tops. I'll take a wild guess and assume that the OP is almost certainly under 30, and there's probably a greater than 50% chance that he's not yet old enough to have graduated college. Nothing wrong with that; everybody was under 30 for a period of time - for the first thirty years of their life, to be exact.

But werewolves and vampires did exist in fiction prior to the debut of Underworld and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I promise you. Yesterday I mentioned - I think it was yesterday, my aged brain is getting foggy and the days of the week just blur together here in the old folks' home - I mentioned something about vampires not being able to cross running water, and one responder had never heard of such a thing. It's an old part of vampire folklore, along with garlic, holy water, crosses, not being able to enter homes uninvited, stakes through the heart, sunlight being deadly, and so forth. Werewolves change involuntarily with the full moon, can be killed with a silver bullet, and have an uncontrollable urge to kill.

None of this means that Bethesda is obliged to employ all the ages-old details of the folklore, of course. This isn't about how the developers work out their version of lycanthropy and vampirism. My point is just that young people seem oddly unaware of very much beyond maybe fifteen years ago. Werewolves are Lycans, because Underworld called them Lycans. Vampires have a "human form" and a "vampire form" and the vampire form has a bumpy forehead, because that's how Buffy portrayed them.

Fads will be the death of us all.

If they where true fans of the Werewolf and Vampire mythology then they would research and learn about the two. How many know that both myths have origins in mental health? The only way that the people of that time period could explain stuff like that was to find a common ground between the " supernatural " and nature, those with the mental disability where that person thinks that he/she can turn into a werewolf (lycanthropy) would have been viewed as wild beasts back before science and would have been compared to something that fits from nature, and the werewolf was born. It's a wildly known fact that a full moon can have an effect on the human body which once again adds to the werewolf myth, where as those who think their werewolves ( have the mental issue called lycanthropy ) would show more signs of wolf type behavior during a full moon.
But us older guys also need to keep in mind that myths and legends are changed with every generation, werewolves didn't always look like they do today, originally they where supposed to be a kin to wolves and the only way to know if that wolf was a wolf or a werewolf was by the fact that werewolves didn't have tails and would run on three legs so as to trick you into thinking that they had a tail. But now a day's we have the well known "Underworld " style of werewolf, so the myth has evolved into what we have today.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 2:08 pm

Yes, he does use the term lycanthrope for werebears but then later clarifies that it is "technically" a mistake to do so. I also quoted his next sentence, stating that this is simply semantics, because just like on earth that's all it amounts too. The word has evolved into a more general term than it started as.

I believe I've read that the word "Daedroth" in tamriel also changed in meaning from the singular form of "Daedra" into the name of a specific species of daedra, the crocodile-like creature.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 5:31 am

Lycan's serve hircine who hunts mortals
Lycan's hunt mortals to gain more power
They do depend on mortal blood to fuel their rage
Animal blood wouldn't work

Animals are indeed mortals...

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:37 am

Animals are indeed mortals...

Fine, you want to be specific?

Werewolves need to hunt people. They can hunt animals, but they cannot be sustained from the flesh of animals. That is their instinct, to hunt for people. Hircine doesn't pit his hounds on Solshtheim to just hunt animals. While he may do so in some cases(such as the Spirit Bear), he made it so that werewolves can survive by killing people. It is what makes it a curse to some. The blood of fallen foes can sustain them.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 8:20 am

Yes, he does use the term lycanthrope for werebears but then later clarifies that it is "technically" a mistake to do so. I also quoted his next sentence, stating that this is simply semantics, because just like on earth that's all it amounts too. The word has evolved into a more general term than it started as.

I believe I've read that the word "Daedroth" in tamriel also changed in meaning from the singular form of "Daedra" into the name of a specific species of daedra, the crocodile-like creature.

This is correct. Etymologically speaking, "lycanthrope" does derive from the Greek words for "wolf" and "man", and in that sense refers specifically to werewolves - but the term has become generalized to mean all men who change into beasts. Werewolves are the most famous such were-beasts in folklore (western folklore anyway) and so we use the term for all were-beasts, even if the beast in question isn't a wolf.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:54 pm

This is correct. Etymologically speaking, "lycanthrope" does derive from the Greek words for "wolf" and "man", and in that sense refers specifically to werewolves - but the term has become generalized to mean all men who change into beasts. Werewolves are the most famous such were-beasts in folklore (western folklore anyway) and so we use the term for all were-beasts, even if the beast in question isn't a wolf.

For more etymological goodness, the origin for lycan is derived from Lycaon, the Greek mythological king who tried to feed Zeus his [Lycaon's] son, who was then transformed into a wolf by the god.

» Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:44 pm

Now it is like they only depend on humans to maintain the transformation. They are not vampires and who need humans.

You have it backwards.

"Vampires do not consume food as we do, but they must "feed" before they may rest, and they must feed at least once every 24 hours. Unlike lycanthropes, they are not required to feed on the blood of the innocent, but may instead sustain themselves on the blood of any creature."