Wolf-The Call of the Wild

WOLF – THE CALL OF THE WILD
 By Andrea Haugen
From her book, The Ancient Fires of Midgard

One of the animals that has left the strongest impression in the human
psyche is undoubtedly the wolf. The lupine has always been recognised
as the symbol of freedom, the image of the wild man and the wild
woman – our wild nature within.

Mythology has always paid special attention to the wolf. Two loyal wolves accompanied Odin. In Roman mythology, a female wolf raised the twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. It was women that first bonded with young wolves and made them tame. The North American Indians have many tales of humans having special encounters with a wolf. Indeed, several tribes even claimed to be related to the wolf. The wolf is, after all, a predator, and our ancestors have always feared its savagery. People never liked the wolf stealing food from them, either.

However, the big bad wolf as we know him from fairytales and horror stories has been created by the Church. Since the wolf represents our own natural instincts, the wolf became a demonic creature, an
earthly ambassador of the hounds of hell. No other animal suffered the same amount of undeserved persecution as the wolf, perhaps with the exception of the cat, which was even burned at the stake! Church records state several incidents where individuals were ripped apart and eaten by wolves. Strangely enough, all the alleged victims were good Christians and at the time of attack, they were walking either to or from the church. No evidence has ever been found to support these claims of wolven attacks (I got this information from a documentary on wolves by the National Geographic Society). Wolves are in fact very shy and usually keep their distance from humans.

The wolf has been regarded as the natural enemy of sheep. And, with sheep being the chosen symbol for the followers of Christ, this might be another reason why the wolf is so demonised. People hated and feared the wolf so much that they attempted to practically eradicate them. Was the hope that killing off every last wolf would rid them of their own wolf within?

The wolf is certainly not “evil”. The wolf is very intelligent and loyal to its kind and deserves to live by its own instincts.

Over the last few years, the wolf has begun to grow in numbers once again (much to the despair of angry Scandinavian sheep-farmers).

Hopefully, this is a sign that people have become more aware of nature.



Serenade Of The Last Wolf
He runs into the night
Finding a place to hide
Why do they hunt him again?

His heart, it beats so fast
No sound, they moved on at last
Timidly he wanders his way

He only came for some food
Maybe even company
Sometimes he feels so alone
He is the last one of his kind
All his companions have died
Man signed their fatal destiny

His dreams tell him of ancient times
Of wolves and men running side by side
How delightful freedom must have been

Wild woman’s mate and totem beast
Idolised he was, but suddenly all changed
When the men with false dogmas came

You call him the evil beast
But you are the real evil beast
You who damned nature’s dear child
He cries his sorrow to the moon
A tear shines through the misty gloom
Can’t you hear the last wolf ’s serenade?

Alone he sits by the lake
His image in the lake his only friend
Can’t you hear the last wolf ’s serenade?