In folklore, the silver bullet is supposed to be the only kind of bullet for firearms that is effective against a Werewolf, witch, or some monsters.
Contents |
In folklore
- The idea of the werewolf's supposed vulnerability to silver probably dates back to the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan, in which a gigantic wolf is killed by Jean Chastel wielding a gun loaded with silver bullets.
- In the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale of The Two Brothers, a bullet-proof witch is shot down by silver bullets, fired from a gun.
- In some epic folk songs about Bulgarian rebel leader Delyo, he is described as invulnerable to normal weapons, driving his enemies to cast a silver bullet in order to murder him.[1]
- Silver bullets also act as a calling card for The Lone Ranger in his adventures. The masked man decided to use bullets forged from the precious metal as a symbol of justice, law and order, and to remind himself and others that life, like silver, has value and is not to be wasted or thrown away. In the 3rd episode, his friend, who will be making his bullets for him, mentions killing bad guys with the bullets and the Lone Ranger explains that he won’t shoot to kill; he will let the law dispense justice. The silver bullets will be as symbols of justice. Whether he actually used silver bullets in his guns varies depending on story and medium. In the radio series, the Lone Ranger used only lead bullets as weapons, while the silver bullets were used symbolically. In the 1981 feature film The Lone Ranger used silver bullets in his guns as he was told that silver was far more solid than lead slugs and provided a straighter shot.
Idiomatic usage
The term has been adopted into a general metaphor, where "silver bullet" refers to any straightforward solution perceived to have extreme effectiveness. The phrase typically appears with an expectation that some new technology or practice will easily cure a major prevailing problem.
Physical damage/Ballistic Effectiveness
Contrary to the legend that a silver bullet is vastly superior over a lead bullet, the opposite is true. Lead has greater density than silver which results in greater mass for a given volume of metal. This confers greater inertia on the lead bullet and results in increased kinetic energy.
Lead is more malleable than silver and as a result the bullet takes advantage of rifling, which spins the bullet in order to provide a better trajectory. A soft lead bullet will grip the rifling, allowing it to spin. A hard silver bullet won't be able to grip the rifling, and therefore spin significantly less. Also due to the malleability of lead, when a lead bullet enters a body, the soft lead flattens out and tears a large hole through tissue. The silver bullet is more likely to retain its shape as it passes through a body which would result in a much smaller hole, making it less likely to cause lethal bleeding or to strike a vital organ.
See also
References
- ^ Стойкова, Стефана. "Дельо хайдутин" (in Bulgarian). Българска народна поезия и проза в седем тома.. Т. ІII. Хайдушки и исторически песни. Варна: ЕИ "LiterNet". ISBN 978-954-304-232-6. http://liternet.bg/folklor/sbornici/bnpp/haidushki/58.htm.
External links
- More on the confusion between silver bullet and magic bullet here
- Another site on Silver Bullets
- Casting Silver Bullets
- Lone Ranger Go Away. Classic 1964 Article