Kendrew Research

Topics I could cover

- Wolf physiology

- Werewolves

- Something to do with Dragons — maybe snake or lizard physiology (I did this earlier with Xowick but I could do this again?)

- Archery and the components of compound bows

- Rapid fire archery

- Breaking down the Lone/Alpha wolf myth?

- Flaming arrows/physics of fire

- Quick fire archery

That’s pretty much it I think? Time to start researching!!

SeregedelReal (2011). Archery - Fast Shooting (Murmansk). [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1o9RGnujlkI [Accessed 5 Apr. 2023].

“Initially I named this technique "kinzhalnaya" (Adjective from a word "kinzhal"(dagger)) because a dagger it is possible to beat faster than a sword, but, thus, you are more close to the opponent. Then I have learnt that in Russian "kinzhalniy" is the special military term meaning: Operating, made at very short distance.”

— SergedeReal, video description, 2011

“I watched this again and realized two things.

she's firing back handed, which eliminates the need to turn the hand after nocking the arrow.

and shes firing with a cant to her bow which also increased her firing speed.

Most archers (myself included), shoot from the inside of a bow and have to rotate our hand after nocking the arrow because we shoot with our palms toward our face.”

— @hm3drake35, YouTube comments of the vidro

Whilst this video is old, the archer still appears very skilled and it’s a great showcase of faster firing archery. The booming noises of the arrows impacting the wall really highlights the power of a bow, as well as her mechanical precision in her reloading and firing. I could definitely use this if I wanted to to study the different phases and gestures in Grayson’s archery. George has already recommended me another video on, which I’ll check out now. Still, a good start!

Anderson, L. (2015). Lars Andersen: A new level of archery. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEG-ly9tQGk [Accessed 15 Mar. 2021].

Here was the video George recommended, and I’ll make my notes first whilst they are still in my head before I move on.

- idea of using forgotten/traditional archery techniques over modern archery ideas

- Debunks the idea of an overhead quiver as a myth due to the lack of mobility they provide—instead prefers the idea of a quiver by the hip and holding the arrows in the bow hand or even the draw hand (holding 3 or more arrows at a time in the draw hand and getting more from the quiver). This method can be seen in historical imagery and texts and is discussed as an idea that “provides greatest power and precision

- Grabs enemy arrows and fires them back quickly

- Manages the insane feat of splitting an incoming arrows mid air— this source definitely needs fact checking as it seems to good to be true

- Focusing on making archery as simple as possible and as natural as throwing might be

- Shows off firing at a variety of distances and start points, as well as firing on the move or while jumping

- Interesting technique of moving the bow whilst firing to provide more force to the arrow, as well as firing the bow from legs and feet

- Modern archery is focused more on precision firing and Hollywood archery, whereas this is focused more on what traditional archers would actually use

- The also talk about having the arrows on the right side of the bow rather than the left to ensure arrows could be loaded and fired at speed—something I could definitely take into account. The arrows on the left side ensures greater precision as it allows you to aim down sights, but the idea of target shooting wasn’t as common as it is now as targets would often be moving

- He says that he hasn’t really done much speed archery with a “war bow” (sounds like a larger bow), as he was 50 years old at time of publication

- In the description they also discuss idea of tensile strength, which is important to note as I’m not sure what level of tensile strength bow I want Kendrew to fire

- They do mention the fact that the splitting arrow thing was a considerable amount of luck involved, and that the arrow they were firing at was bamboo with a metal tip whereas theirs was aluminium

Whilst he didn’t seem that reliable, a video he posted later on talked about how he had changed his mind on archery and that he no longer believed it was instinctual, that instead it was a very practiced and learned behaviour. I’ll cite that video here:

Anderson, L. (2023). I was wrong - instinctive archery does not exist! [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RHpi69mTDos [Accessed 5 Apr. 2023].

Overall, whilst I still think I need to look at some more direct information on bows, these two videos help show some of the techniques and ideas around archery, especially quick fire archery. I want to be careful here not to get toooooo drawn into endless archery research, but it’s still something useful to have done some research on for Grayson. Next I think I’ll look at the equipment a modern archer uses to see if maybe these can be translated into a fantasy setting.

Wolf Haven International. (2016). Physiology. [online] Available at: https://wolfhaven.org/conservation/wolves/physiology/.

It was a bit difficult to find the exact date for this website since no publication date was listed, but I went on the way back machine and found that the last time the page was updated was in 2016, thus the date.

According to their website, Wolf Haven International is an international teacher organisation to look after captive and displaced wolves, so they’re probably gonna know their stuff about wolves. They also claim to be accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the American Sanctuary Association. The first of those global organisations doesn’t have a controversies section on their Wikipedia page, so that good enough for some Wolf Facts I guess?

- Wolves pursue a wide variety of prey across different terrains, meaning their bodies have to be suited to this niche.

- Very powerful legs and lean (but still muscular) bodies

- Very narrow chests and “splayed outward” forelegs means that their front and back legs move in the same track as each other, making them much more able to cover a lot of ground

- Feet are large and “well padded”, meaning that they can move across lots of different terrain easily

- Incredibly strong jaw strength — number referenced was “1500 pounds of pressure per square inch”

- Can go many days without eating food— live in a feast or famine food cycle

- Very opportunistic in hunting, will focus on the weak old and young when they hunt

- Incredibly strong sense of smell from incredibly long distances

- Incredibly excellent hearing

Whilst it’s not a large source, it’s still pretty useful in terms of getting a basic grounding of Wolf biology. They do definitely seem to have all of the features that would make them ideal predators able to hunt over large distances. Certain adaptations would be more useful to a hunter like Kendrew, meaning that his physiology will take the most useful aspects of wolves and put them into his design. I might pull a little more from this website as they seem to be a decent source, meaning I could use it to learn more about wolves.

Overly Sarcastic Productions. (2021). Halloween Special: Werewolves. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4mm0KyaovhY [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

OSP is a channel I’ve watched for some time that covers both history and tropes in pop culture, and having watched this video before it is a pretty good intro into the world of werewolves as seen in various stories throughout time. I’m going to rewatch it just to remind myself of some of the specific stories of werewolves, as at the moment I’m not drawing from any one story in particular when creating Kendrew.

- they go over the tale of Lycaon and the really early versions of werewolves in ancient mythology

- Common theme of people being turned into wolves for nine years and then turned back — seen as a test of character as they can only turn back if they don’t eat people

- Being turned into a Wolf is often a punishment by Zeus :(

- Interesting idea once Christianity becomes popular that werewolves might not be able to exist as they wouldn’t be able to transform if god wasn’t okay with it as god is supposed to be the only thing that can transform people. It leads to conflict about whether werewolves are real

- The church claims the idea that people can’t turn into wolves, but instead that people dream that they are wolves so much that these dream projections become real (however, this wasn’t that important to normal people)

- They go over the basic Christian Middle Ages concept of werewolves, in that the wolves maintain sentience (due to the mind being sacred? according to the video), they can’t transform on their own without god allowing it, and that the usually can’t change back

- A theme also comes up around 7 years here instead of 9 in the different stories they mention

- Apparently there are a few heroic werewolves, which is cool

- They show a difference between the Christian Middle Ages and the other Middle Ages tales around werewolves

- None of the ideas so far have brought up the notion of a half man half wolf, which is pretty interesting as it may be a more modern thing, and that werewolves can be more positively framed

- Commonly these wolves have self control and can even talk when in wolf form, which is much more different from modern werewolves

- ‌they bring up the origin of the witch-hunt and how werewolves were also occasionally a target of these hunts. However, a lot of people didn’t believe in werewolves due to the stuff mentioned about Christianity earlier, so they weren’t really a main focus

- There’s also this idea of having werewolf warriors that follow god and turn into wolves in their dreams to fight spirits and demons? They seemed pretty cool and it did feel like Kendrew was initially part of a holy order and bloodline so maybe I could do some research into the Benendante (idk how it’s spelled they never mention it)

- Outside of the holy warriors the rest of the werewolves seem to be seen as pretty evil, with one man having been tried and executed along with his family for being a werewolf

- Also a link with people being turned into wolves with satanic trinkets granted to people by the devil

- Discusses Dracula, and that there’s a lot of overlap between Dracula and the powers of werewolves, and the link between werewolves and the moon is established in Dracula. It helps create most of the modern werewolf stereotypes

- 1940s Hollywood films establish the idea of man wolf hybrid (likely due to the difficulty of filming with wolves), as well as the weakness of werewolves to silver

- They also make the werewolves more conflicted with their man and wolf side, as well as making the wolf side much more feral (described as “Tragic Wolf Hybrids”)

- Mentions the Beast of Gevudan, which we looked at in D’eep Fry’s research

- There was a novelisation of the historical event in which the bullets used to kill the beast were made out of silver medallions of the Virgin Mary that were melted down (they claim it helps give the silver weakness more backing, which makes sense considering it’s a historical novel)

- Wolves were demonised in folk lore, which was why wolves were hunted down to extinction and demonised

- The more elusive wolves became due to the extinction campaign, leading to wolf encounters becoming sensationalised and they were demonised even further

- They mention the concept of alpha wolves, and how the man who originally coined the idea has disowned it as not being real despite the myth carrying on (instead of there being alphas, it’s more of a family dynamic)

- The public opinion of wolves has been slowly restored as people realise how important they are in ecology, leading to the way werewolves being represented changing

- The feral element of their character is still there but they now use more elements of the outdated wolf social structure based on Alpha Wolves

- Modern Werewolf depictions are a mix of all of the different elements of werewolf fiction in the past

- The film wolf walkers seem pretty cool, I should go watch it

- A large variety of different things that can be done

- There is unfortunately a lot of misinformation when it comes to folklore, meaning that you have to be pretty careful when doing research on werewolves (she was friends with a wolf scholar, which is pretty cool)

Overall, this has been a really useful source! It shows all of the different styles of werewolves that come in folklore and myth. The idea that interested me the most was definitely the notion of a holy order of warriors fighting for god as wolves. Considering that he’s carrying “The Life and Times of Roden Kendrew” on him at all times, perhaps some religious imagery would suit the character. I think that’s what I’ll research next, along with wolf pack dynamics that were briefly discussed (so that I get an understanding of how Grayson works with the rest of the group)

Damiani, M. (2022). The Benandanti: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults between 16th and 17th Centuries in Italy. [online] weirditaly.com. Available at: Weird Italy. (2022). The Benandanti: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults. [online] Available at: https://weirditaly.com/2022/01/10/the-benandanti-witchcraft-and-agrarian-cults-between-16th-and-17th-centuries-in-italy/. [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

It appears to be a tourist site about all of the weird and unusual things in Italy, which means that it should be fairly reliable for information in this??? Especially considering the fact that the Benandanti were an Italian organisation. I can’t really seem to find an “about me” page, but the source is based on a book by Carlo Ginzburg, which seems to be a fairly reliable source

- Described as an agrarian and shamanic cult that changed overtime to look more like witchcraft once the Inquisition applied more and more pressure to it

I then tried to read this rest of this source and found it way too dense and detailed in order to properly get through it, which is annoying considering how nice the Harvard citation looks. However, I did some more digging and found an interview by serious science (which are a science news group I think) on Carlo Ginzburg (the guy who wrote the source for the article I have cited above. I’ll leave the YouTube video below and see if any of the notes I make of it are useful

Ginzburg, C. (2015). The Benandanti — Carlo Ginzburg. [online] Serious Science. 20 Jul. Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uTeSWstQ2Sw [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

- he wanted to focus on the victims of witchcraft rather than the defendants

- He was inspired by fariytales he heard as a child, so went to study witchcraft victims in northern Italy

- He was also inspired by the notebooks of a communist who died in prison in fascist Italy during the war, who described “subordinate classes” in order to avoid the censorship of the regime. Carlo then made a theory that the persecution of witchcraft was an early example of class struggle. He now sees his original view and study as limited, but he found a case of a peasant woman who was kicked off her land. She was then tried for witchcraft as the land owner claimed she cursed the land.

- The case fit his theory perfectly, so he wrote an essay on it, and it seems to him “a paradigmatic case” (the perfect example). This is because it showed the clash between two different worldviews.

- However, his hypothesis was disproved when he began searching through the archives of all of the witch trials stored in Venice and found the record of an interrogation of a peasant in the late 1500s which opened with the line “Are you a benandanti”

- In the interrogation, the Benandanti are described as being “born in coals” by the peasant, and that they “leave their body 4 times a year to travel to the meadows of Josephine to fight against the witches for the fertility of the crops” (that’s one hell of a sentence)

- Benandanti described as using fennel branches as weapons against the witches in this spirit battle, and the witches are using “Sorghum(?) Sticks”

- Carlo was inspired by this, and began searching for more cases of the Benandanti

- He went about trying to understand his own reaction, which was excitement and feeling grateful for the luck he had in finding it

- He went on to find a stolen copy of the first 1000 inquisition trials of a specific region of Italy and found even more Benandanti

- Found out that the inquisition was first suprised at the Benandanti, and then tried to turn them into Witches so that they could be tried

- He found it fascinating about the differences between the beliefs of the Benandanti and the expectations of the inquisition

- He goes on to attempt to fit the Benandanti into the wider area of Europe, as they initially seemed very exceptional in their beliefs compared to the rest of the world

- He believes the whole case goes to show how diverse pop culture is and how witchcraft also includes the opponents of witches

This is a really interesting source. Whilst it definitely veers on the side of over research rather than under research, I still found it a fascinating side to explore how the opponents of witches were treated by the inquisition and how his research process changed over time. While I don’t think I’ll really use it all that much, I think it’s still pretty decent that I looked at it in the first place. I might give the sense Weird Italy source another try for more information on the Benandanti specifically, but I went back to the OSP video to find the werewolf research they originally cited, which has a tone of info and research that I can draw from. I’ll probably end up looking at both, knowing me :(

Damiani, M. (2022). The Benandanti: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults between 16th and 17th Centuries in Italy. [online] weirditaly.com. Available at: Weird Italy. (2022). The Benandanti: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults. [online] Available at: https://weirditaly.com/2022/01/10/the-benandanti-witchcraft-and-agrarian-cults-between-16th-and-17th-centuries-in-italy/. [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

Gonna give it another go and see how it shakes out :D

- Agrarian (as defined by google) is “relating to cultivated land or the cultivation of the land”

- First trial discusses is based around a person called Paolo Gasparutto who “cured the bewitched” and had claimed to “‘go wandering at night with sorcerers’”

- They mention the thing about the fields with fennel and the sorghum earlier

- Paolo was interrogated by an inquisitor, and he described witches wizards and vagabonds meeting at these spirit world gatherings and being very tired, and that they entered houses to take water and wine to quench their thirst

- The parish priest concluded that the Benandanti (also called vagabonds) were good sorcerers who were fighting the evil witches and wizards

- Paolo described as a “good Walker”

- The Benandanti weren’t worshiping the devil, they didn’t damage religious symbols, but they celebrated fighting against the witches. The movement is described as a “complex of popular beliefs mixed with known traditions”

- Eventually he was questioned on it again and Paolo denied everything but claimed to to have dreamt about fighting sorcerers in his dreams. He then slipped up and accidentally gave away the fact he knew more about it, and was thrown in prison

- Another good walkers says that he fights the witches four teams a year on the nights “between the ember days”, and that if they win the fight then there’ll be feast, and if not then there’ll be famine

- He wore “an amniotic sack” around his neck

Okay, whilst this is interesting I really need to get back to the focus of this topic as I have so much left to research. I think I’ll look at a couple pages on the huge werewolf resource page, before looking at maybe some stuff to do with dragons and definitely stuff about physics and fire. I might also look at the aesthetics of the inquisition just because the secret order aspect of Kendrew could inspire some of his clothing.

Stebbins, M. (2021). Fur Color(s) | Maegan A. Stebbins - Maverick-Werewolf’s Den. [online] Available at: https://maverickwerewolf.com/werewolf-facts/fur-colors/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

This is the werewolf source referenced in the OSP video, which I think was pretty boolio. They’ve got a few short fact pages that seem very well researched, so I’ll go ahead and make a few notes on them before declaring THE END to my wolf research, as it’s been way too time consuming. This one’s on werewolf fur colours:

- wolves aren’t really grey

- Individual hairs can taper into different colours, and the layering of these furs can create lots of really interesting patterns (Mexican wolf cited as a favourite)

- Colours listed on a regular grey has greys, browns, blacks, some reddish browns and some whites, and wolves can be each of these individual colours and even in GOOOOLLLDDDDD

- Wolves with more white and grey on them are older, and younger wolves have more reddish brown and brighter fur

- Black wolves are on average being bigger than white wolves

- The colours listed in folk lore are expanded to include Yellow, Red and Dark Brown too

Stebbins, M. (2021). Berserkers | Maegan A. Stebbins - Maverick-Werewolf’s Den. [online] Available at: https://maverickwerewolf.com/werewolf-facts/berserkers/ [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

- Berserkers are like Werewolves and wolf-warriors in Scandinavian culture

- They can enter a superhuman primal rage (which is where the term going “berserk” comes from), that gave them powers far beyond any normal man

- Term for werewolves and berserkers were often interchangeable as their rage made them so like a mad wolf

- One Roman description they reference was quite cool “Their eyes glared as though a flame burned in their sockets, they ground their teeth, and frothed at the mouth; they gnawed at their shield rims, and are said to have sometimes bitten them through, and as they rushed into conflict they … howled as wolves.”

- The word Berserker means “bear of shirt” which implies that they went topless into battle

- They are more wolf focused than bear focused but there are a few mentions of bear warriors. However the name “berserker” got mixed up with “bear warrior” which is what lead to them becoming more bear themed

- There’s a specific type of berserker called the ulfheðnir in the Vatnsdæla saga. The word means “wolf-shirts”

- They come up in other sagas too, showing that they generally are associated with werewolves

Overall, these two sources have been useful, but I have far over researched the wolf aspect of this story (as I’m sure George would approve of). I’m done with looking the wolves, although I still have lot of research to do just because of how many other aspects I’m going to need to draw from. Therefore, I’m gonna look at the components of a compound bow next or something easy, and then I’m just gonna do studies for the rest of the evening as I am tired of werewolves :(

James, D. (2022). How to identify the parts of a combat bow! [online] targetcrazy.com. Available at: https://targetcrazy.com/compound-bow-anatomy [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

Riser — main frame of a compound bow that everything else attaches to. It’s where you hold the bow and provide the stability for everything else to flex against. They have lots of attachment slots for other pieces of equipment to be added to

Axles — the things that the cams turn on

Cams — the things that look like wheels at either end of the compound bow.they increase your draw strength by storing energy away from the bow string, meaning that you have to pull on it less for a higher draw weight

Limbs — connects the cams to the riser and maintain the power for the shot. They flex when the string is pulled back and return back when the string is released, propelling the arrow forward. Can be made from a wide range of materials.

Sight == adjustable lens for the bow for the user to see

Mounted Quiver == a store for arrows on the bow itself. Can be mounted upwards or sideways, and is useful for quickly firing a bow

Cable slide == a slide along the cables themselves that keeps the cables out of the way when drawing an arrow

Cable buses — pole that attaches to the cable slide to keep the cable in place

Arrow rest — the area that holds the arrow in place on the riser

Arrow shelf — similar to an arrow rest that is just above the grip instead. most archers use an arrow rest (I’m gonna have to do some studies here as I can’t really differentiate between the two)

Grip—grippy. Designed to feel ergonomically comfortable and can be changed out on any different bows

Stabiliser

- The tube thing sticking out in the front of a bow. By sticking out in front of the bow it helps resist forces that would otherwise twist the bow, keeping it stable

Sling

- wraps around your back and keep the bow on your back

Cables

- part of how the cams store energy and do not actually touch the bow

Speed Nock

- Weights added to the bowstring that decerease the oscillations in the bowstring, allowing it to fit into th cams easier

Bowstring

- bowstring

Vibration Areester

- rubber that the bowstring hits after firing to absorb the vibrations in the bow once it has been fired, making the shot quieter and thus better for hunting

D-Loop

- The area of the bowstring that the bow connects to. The bend of the D connects to a mechanical release aid as fingers can be sticky and thus won’t release the bowstring as smoothly

Peep sight— sticks out in front of the bow as a tube and aligns with the sights to allow the archer to tell where they are firing

Overall, a really useful source! It’s helped explain a lot of the weird components that I could see on compound bows but could never really explain the purpose of, which is really helpful as now I’ll be able to add them onto my own designs. I think that next I might do some research on the other different types of bows just so I can draw my favourite elements from each type, but overall I think that I’ve done some actually useful research

archerygb.org. (2023). Types of Archery | Archery GB. [online] Available at: https://archerygb.org/about/types-of-archery [Accessed 4 Apr. 2023]

This last source is from the national governing body of archery in the uk, so I figure they know their recurves from their compounds

- Hunting animals with bows is ILLEGAL and can be punished by ILLEGAL PUNISHEMENTS!!!!!!

- Recurve bows is the only kind of bow use in okypics, and is the modern equivalent of a traditional bow

- Originally made from wood, now made from laminated carbon fibre and carbon foam, as well as aluminium

- Very high power and fitted with stabilisers and sights

- Compound bows have the highest efficiency and power, and the cams and cables mean less physical strength is needed. Magnifying sights are also used

- Bare bow is shooting a recurve without accessories, and is used in field and target archery. It requires a consistent aim as there are no stabilisers

- Longbow are the traditional bow’s being made from wood for thousands of years

- Any longbows not made from wood are American flatbows

- Longbows are very lightweight due to their minimal features

- Horsebows are used by mounted archers in the Middle East and Asia, as the “limbs” (see bow definitions) are highly recurved and long meaning that they can be use easier on horseback.

And that’s it? Maybe? Useful to know the different components of a bow as well as the different types, so that way I’m able to focus on the design itself now. This research process was far far far far farrrr less efficient than the one for Thale, which is disappointing but I still have the opportunity to improve with Tor. I’m glad I left this one till last as it requires so much research that many other characters overlapping with it makes my research so much easier to do as that way I don’t have to do as much for Grayson. There’s probably something I could do on Fire and its physics but I think I’ll include that in the research for Tor as her character is much more strongly based around fire and physics so it might overlap when I do her stuff. I mostly just wanna do some actual drawing so I’m mostly just sick of writing at this point. I’ll write fully reflections in the morning—I’m too tired to do any more at this point :(

Long, P. (2021). What is the Difference Between a Longbow and a Recurve Bow? [online] foundryoutdoors.con. Available at: https://www.foundryoutdoors.com/blogs/blog/longbow-vs-recurve [Accessed 6 Apr. 2023].

One last thing in that recurve bows generally seem better than compound bows except for the fact that longbows are quieter as they don’t have the same twang to them

The Kingdom of Dusk: Work Throughout Easter Holidays

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