On the ragged edge of the world I'll roam

And the home of the Wolf will be my home.

Robert W. Service

This  page is devoted to information about the wolf.  From myths and fairy tales to the present day, the wolf has featured in the iconography of many cultures - revered by many, hated by many - a creature that must have been the hero and villain of more literature than any other animal. Yet even today it is admitted that much is still to be learned about this elusive, intelligent being that shares so many qualities with 'man's best friend' the dog, and yet is still persecuted to the point of extinction in many countries across the world. Here are some snippets I have found in books and on the Web about the wolf together with some links that may be of interest.

The wolf was once widespread across the world and especially in Europe and the Americas where it was seen as sacred by many tribes: the Kwakiutl believe that when a hunter dies his spirit goes to the land of the wolves while the Shoshone also see death as a journey to the land of the wolf. Warrior societies such as the Oglala admired the solidarity of the wolf pack, its endurance and ability to hunt over large areas, while among the Pawnee the word for 'wolf' Skiri-ki led to one of their tribes becoming known as the Skidi so greatly did they identify with the wolf. In Native American spiritual practices the wolf is seen as a loyal teacher and guide, the fierce protectiveness of the she-wolf for her young is a quality to be admired as is the loyalty of the wolf to the pack.

        The West is where I belong, the Wolves and I, and my old friends now dead.

 May we meet again on the other side.

Blue Horse - A Lakota warrior.

An Irish tribe actually claimed ancestry from the wolf and Cormac a King of Ireland was reputed to have been suckled by a she-wolf. This fostering of human babies by wolves is a persistent myth - echoed in the famous Jungle Books by Kipling. Many Middle Eastern myths feature this cross-species fostering with Tu Kueh, the legendary founder of the Turkish nation claiming to have been raised by a she-wolf as was Zoroaster. Perhaps the most famous classical episode of this appears in the legend of Romulus and Remus  founders of Rome who were cast out to die  - and raised by a she-wolf.

The wolf howling against the backdrop of the moon is a recurrent image in many myths and legends - both moon and wolf represent psychic energy and creativity and especially feminine powers. Wolves as carrion eaters were also linked in many cultures  with death - the night and the moon adding to the image. Among the ancient Irish, two dogs were said to guard the gates of death that led to Emaina - 'Moonland'. In Norse mythology, the 'hounds of hell' were originally the wolf-dog children of Hel, the goddess who ruled the underworld - her 'hounds' ate the bodies of the dead and carried off their souls to Paradise. The pagan reverence for the wolf and its association with many goddess cults led to a backlash of hostility from patriarchal religious leaders who sought to corrupt the spiritual connection with wolves into something evil and frightening. 

In Teutonic Europe, many pagan peoples were devoted to the wolf - evidenced in the popularity of 'wolf' or 'wulf' in place and personal names: Beowulf, Athelwulf, Wolfram etc. The old Saxon sacred year began with Wolf-monath - wolf month - and the wolf skin was believed to impart power and healing while its teeth were worn as an amulet. Cults such as that of the Great Goddess Lupa and Lupa-Kali - an Oriental goddess in wolf form - had many devotees while the Amazons who worshipped the Triple Goddess had a tribe named the Neuri who were said to turn into wolves for several days each year while a similar tale is told of an Irish tribe.

In fact, in every Indo-European language can be found the words for a 'were-wolf' - originally a spirit wolf linked with shamanism  and  goddess cults. By 1000 AD this had gradually been given a more sinister meaning, as outlaw or anti Christian until, corrupted by such hostile interpretations, the image of the shape-shifting spirit became a nightmare vision of bestial transformation that has endured into modern day literature and film, still retaining its now barely understood link with the moon's phases.

Today the wolf still stands in both camps - admired and protected by some and elsewhere reviled and persecuted to near extinction. Policies of extermination are active in some parts of the world while other countries have now embarked on protection schemes to save this beautiful creature from disappearing as have so many other species from our planet. Whether or not you choose to identify spiritually with the wolf or are an admirer of its qualities of pack loyalty, intelligence and protectiveness of its family, the  wolf is a creature of this earth, as we are, with its role to play in the ecological balance of many wild areas of the earth, interacting with its environment in a multitude of ways. If you would like to know more about the wolf today check out these sites which you may find of interest:

The Wolf Society of Great Britain - working to protect the wolf in Europe and linking with organisations that support and protect wild wolves in several European countries.

Wolf Center - a similar organisation based in the United States.