The Mythology
of Wolves


No other animal has
inspired collective mythology
to the extent that the wolf has.
And while it is now essentially
impossible to determine the
origins of our reflexive fascinations
and historical obsessions with wolves,
there is evidence that Neolithic man
was no less intrigued by wolves
than most people are today.

Most people will never see
an actual wolf in the wild,
but those who have seen even
a captive wolf are impressed ..
and even their captured images
move us - which we seem to be
primally compelled to possess
in photographs and to render in
paintings and sketchings that
have their ancient counterparts -
being sprinkled through the
whole of human history ..

and not always reverentially,
but evidence nonetheless of the
emo-mental captivations and an
intrinsic preoccupation with wolves
which has endured for two million years.



The mystique of the wolf lingers still, and what it is
exactly about wolves that has always inspired such
intense and spontaneous reactions from humans, is
difficult to pin-down or accurately describe; being much
easier to acknowledge than it is to define. The aspects
of wolf lore aren't merely a mental phenomenon. They
extend to the preternatural, or perhaps it's just simply
primal, down deep in our psyche, a tattoo on our
souls, like the etchings on so many cave walls.

Reverence is self-evident in the abundance of wolflore,
but at the same time ..   these are not the only tracks
that wolves have made and left in the human psyche.

Down through the Ages, wolves have also displayed
an ability to stir and instill mortal fear and legendary
hatred   - justified or not -   which sadly surpasses
the visible and the perceptable legacy of veneration
which is rooted instead in reflexive awe and respect.

The wolf is both the subject and the victim of all our
varying mythologies .. and consequently, along paths
marked by their interactions and active personification
with our own dual nature, good & bad, they have journeyed
with us down through time, now nearly in the den of Oblivion.







© Narrative authored by
(C) Copyright 1994

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