OVERLAY REPORT

The title of the 1922 film *Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror* serves both as a legal necessity and a thematic anchor. While the film is an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s *Dracula*, the choice of the word "Nosferatu" instead of "vampire" or "Dracula" deeply informs the movie's plot and atmosphere. ### 1. Significance of the Title in Relation to the Plot The word "Nosferatu" carries a distinct medical and folkloric weight that distinguishes Count Orlok from the more "noble" or "charming" vampires seen in later cinema. * **The "Plague-Bearer" Connection:** Etymologists often link the word to the Greek *nosophoros*, meaning **"disease-bearing"** or **"plague-bringer."** This is the central pivot of the film's plot: unlike Stoker's Dracula, who is a seductive predator, Count Orlok is an emaciated, rodent-like creature who physically brings the Black Death to the town of Wisburg. He travels with coffins filled with "unhallowed earth" and a literal army of rats, which the townspeople mistake for the source of a natural plague. * **The "Bird of Death":** In the film's lore, the word is equated with the **"Bird of Death"** (*Totenvogel*). This ties into Orlok’s avian appearance—his hooked nose, talons, and stiff, jerky movements—and reinforces the theme that his presence is a herald of mass mortality rather than just an individual threat to the protagonist. * **Legal Necessity:** The most practical significance is that F.W. Murnau and Prana Film did not have the rights to *Dracula*. They changed the title to *Nosferatu* (a term Stoker used once in his novel, citing Emily Gerard’s Transylvanian folklore) to avoid copyright infringement—a plan that failed when Stoker’s widow, Florence, sued and nearly had every print of the film destroyed. ### 2. Direct References by Characters Because *Nosferatu* is a silent film, characters do not "speak" the word, but they—and the audience—interact with it directly through the **intertitles** (dialogue and narration cards). * **The "Book of the Vampires":** The title is directly referenced via a prop within the movie. Early in the film, the protagonist Hutter finds a small book at a Transylvanian inn titled *The Book of the Vampires*. An intertitle shows the text he is reading: > *"Nosferatu – Does this word not sound to thee like the midnight call of the **Bird of Death**? Take care in saying it, otherwise the images of life will fade to shadows..."* * **Historical Origin:** Another intertitle from the same book provides a "historical" context that Hutter (and later his wife, Ellen) reads: > *"...and it was in 1443 that the first **Nosferatu** was born. That name rings like the cry of a bird of prey. Never speak it aloud..."* * **Ellen’s Discovery:** The plot reaches its climax because of this direct reference. Ellen reads the book and discovers the specific prophecy required to kill a "Nosferatu"—that a "woman pure in heart" must distract him until the sun rises. She consciously references the creature's nature as she prepares her self-sacrifice to end the plague he brought to the city. ### Summary of Detail | Aspect | Detail | | :--- | :--- | | **Etymological Meaning** | Likely "disease-bearing" (*nosophoros*); fits Orlok bringing the plague via rats. | | **In-Universe Epithet** | "The Bird of Death" (*Totenvogel*). | | **First Mention** | Hutter reads it in a forbidden book at an inn in the Carpathians. | | **Narrative Warning** | The film warns characters (via the book) never to "speak it aloud" because the name itself is a curse. |