Far be it from moi` to confuse anyone with the facts, but here goes.
(From the National Wildlife Federation's website)
Depictions of Wolves in History: A Cautionary Tale
Wolf Truth: Wolves are rarely seen in the wild.
Human Interpretation:Wolves are secretive.
Wolf Truth: Wolves hunt in packs.
Human Interpretation:Wolves are cunning, sly and devious.
Wolf Truth: Wolves howl.
Human Interpretation:Wolves are evil.
A large part of the body of folklore most familiar to us espouses the evil, cunning, untrustworthy nature of wolves. In Little Red Riding Hood, one of the Grimm Brothers' most famous tales, the wolf is blamed for eating Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother before devouring the little girl herself. Luckily a nearby woodsman was there to cut open the wolf's belly and free Grandma and Red Riding Hood. But that the story has even earlier roots shows that the Grimm Brothers were not responsible for igniting a new anti-wolf fervor. In 1697, more than a hundred years before the Brothers Grimm wrote their version of the Rotkäppchen tale, a Frenchman named Charles Perrault wrote the story called Little Red Riding Hood, in which the young girl is eaten by the wolf. There was no woodsman to save the day that time.
Wolves have been the central characters in Western folklore for centuries. Aesop, a Greek slave who lived some time around the 6th century, wrote many fables featuring humans and animals. All of his fables offered a moral lesson. In more than one of his stories, the wolf is portrayed as the animal most likely to trick others. In other tales, the wolf is the embodiment of a bad characteristic. In one such tale, a devious, greedy wolf dresses as a sheep to lure an unsuspecting lamb from the flock. The wolf showed us that not just appearances but also wolves themselves can be deceptive and over the years, we've all learned "not to trust a wolf in sheep's clothing."
And what about the boy who cried wolf? In this story, a young shepherd repeatedly sounds the alarm that a wolf has entered the flock and the townspeople come to drive the wolf away, only to discover that the alarm was false. Eventually, they stop responding so when a wolf really does enter the flock, sheep are killed. While the wolf himself was not a key player in this fable, the popular perception that wolves and lies are synonymous has stuck.
Wolves have not always been seen as bad animals, however. Before the middle ages Europeans held overwhelmingly positive views of the wolf. The German hero Siegfried supposedly had a female wolf as a foster mother, an Irish legend tells of a young king raised by a wolf pack who was able to reclaim his throne when he reached adulthood, and the ancient Celts had a wolf cult that believed wolves to be the companions of the gods.
Perhaps most famous of the tales of this type is the story of the founding of Rome. According to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, were ordered killed by their greedy uncle. Their lives were spared by the executioner, however, and they were placed in the Tiber River. They were eventually found by Tibernius and given to a she-wolf who nursed them. Years later, the brothers built a city, and after an argument, Romulus killed his brother, named the city Rome and crowned himself King.
In the 10th Century, attitudes towards this animal began to shift drastically and depictions of the wolf as a cunning, bloodthirsty predator became increasingly common. Between 1600 and 1800, legends about man-eating wolves were abundant throughout Europe. The best known is the tale about a pair of wolves that killed humans in the French town of Gèvaudan in the mid-1700s. Of the dozens of supposed victims of these wolves, most were children. By 1766 two wolf-like animals in the area were blamed for these deaths and killed. During the next thirty years however, the French went on to slaughter two thousand more wolves. But were wolves the real killers? Present day wildlife experts examining the recorded physical information about the accused animals concluded that they were not wolves, but dogs or perhaps wolf-dog hybrids.
When the European settlers crossed the Atlantic and settled in the New World, they brought that fear and misunderstanding of wolves with them. Although there has never been a verified account of a wild wolf attacking and killing a human in North America, wolves are still feared and, as a result, have been persecuted nearly to extinction.
Perhaps the fear stems from lack of human understanding of the way wolves live. Wolves are shy around other creatures and are rarely seen by humans but very social within their own groups. They live and hunt in packs because it is an efficient way to care for all pack members. Wolves do howl, but they also bark, whine, yelp and growl. And when the wolf told Red Riding Hood of his nose, "All the better to smell you with," he wasn't kidding! Wolves have an amazing sense of smell which warns them when danger is present, alerts them when food is nearby and notifies them when they are about to venture into the territory of another wolf.
Some of this misunderstanding certainly has roots in our folklore as well. Often, the wolves in these stories are portrayed as having human characteristics, such as the devious wolf Little Red Riding Hood encounters in the woods. People sometimes mistake these human characteristics for those of the wolf itself. It is only through continued understanding that we can begin to debunk these myths and see the wolf in a clearer light.
The best known is the tale about a pair of wolves that killed humans in the French town of Gèvaudan in the mid-1700s. Of the dozens of supposed victims of these wolves, most were children. By 1766 two wolf-like animals in the area were blamed for these deaths and killed. During the next thirty years however, the French went on to slaughter two thousand more wolves. But were wolves the real killers? Present day wildlife experts examining the recorded physical information about the accused animals concluded that they were not wolves, but dogs or perhaps wolf-dog hybrids
There was a movie loosely based on this incident--which I saw-(Which name escapes me entirely ) a couple of years ago. In France they eventually killed the animal responsible. Some zoologists think from the description that it was a hyena. How you ask did a hyena end up in the middle of France??? In those days up and coming nobility had their own menageries of wild animals -importing them form Africa and the India's-they feel this was an escapee.
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rascal
Gosh wb, that sure clarifies things.
The sign posts were in the scriptures all along....sigh
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Sushi
Far be it from moi` to confuse anyone with the facts, but here goes.
(From the National Wildlife Federation's website)
Depictions of Wolves in History: A Cautionary Tale
Wolf Truth: Wolves are rarely seen in the wild.
Human Interpretation: Wolves are secretive.
Wolf Truth: Wolves hunt in packs.
Human Interpretation: Wolves are cunning, sly and devious.
Wolf Truth: Wolves howl.
Human Interpretation: Wolves are evil.
A large part of the body of folklore most familiar to us espouses the evil, cunning, untrustworthy nature of wolves. In Little Red Riding Hood, one of the Grimm Brothers' most famous tales, the wolf is blamed for eating Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother before devouring the little girl herself. Luckily a nearby woodsman was there to cut open the wolf's belly and free Grandma and Red Riding Hood. But that the story has even earlier roots shows that the Grimm Brothers were not responsible for igniting a new anti-wolf fervor. In 1697, more than a hundred years before the Brothers Grimm wrote their version of the Rotkäppchen tale, a Frenchman named Charles Perrault wrote the story called Little Red Riding Hood, in which the young girl is eaten by the wolf. There was no woodsman to save the day that time.
Wolves have been the central characters in Western folklore for centuries. Aesop, a Greek slave who lived some time around the 6th century, wrote many fables featuring humans and animals. All of his fables offered a moral lesson. In more than one of his stories, the wolf is portrayed as the animal most likely to trick others. In other tales, the wolf is the embodiment of a bad characteristic. In one such tale, a devious, greedy wolf dresses as a sheep to lure an unsuspecting lamb from the flock. The wolf showed us that not just appearances but also wolves themselves can be deceptive and over the years, we've all learned "not to trust a wolf in sheep's clothing."
And what about the boy who cried wolf? In this story, a young shepherd repeatedly sounds the alarm that a wolf has entered the flock and the townspeople come to drive the wolf away, only to discover that the alarm was false. Eventually, they stop responding so when a wolf really does enter the flock, sheep are killed. While the wolf himself was not a key player in this fable, the popular perception that wolves and lies are synonymous has stuck.
Wolves have not always been seen as bad animals, however. Before the middle ages Europeans held overwhelmingly positive views of the wolf. The German hero Siegfried supposedly had a female wolf as a foster mother, an Irish legend tells of a young king raised by a wolf pack who was able to reclaim his throne when he reached adulthood, and the ancient Celts had a wolf cult that believed wolves to be the companions of the gods.
Perhaps most famous of the tales of this type is the story of the founding of Rome. According to Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus, sons of the god Mars, were ordered killed by their greedy uncle. Their lives were spared by the executioner, however, and they were placed in the Tiber River. They were eventually found by Tibernius and given to a she-wolf who nursed them. Years later, the brothers built a city, and after an argument, Romulus killed his brother, named the city Rome and crowned himself King.
In the 10th Century, attitudes towards this animal began to shift drastically and depictions of the wolf as a cunning, bloodthirsty predator became increasingly common. Between 1600 and 1800, legends about man-eating wolves were abundant throughout Europe. The best known is the tale about a pair of wolves that killed humans in the French town of Gèvaudan in the mid-1700s. Of the dozens of supposed victims of these wolves, most were children. By 1766 two wolf-like animals in the area were blamed for these deaths and killed. During the next thirty years however, the French went on to slaughter two thousand more wolves. But were wolves the real killers? Present day wildlife experts examining the recorded physical information about the accused animals concluded that they were not wolves, but dogs or perhaps wolf-dog hybrids.
When the European settlers crossed the Atlantic and settled in the New World, they brought that fear and misunderstanding of wolves with them. Although there has never been a verified account of a wild wolf attacking and killing a human in North America, wolves are still feared and, as a result, have been persecuted nearly to extinction.
Perhaps the fear stems from lack of human understanding of the way wolves live. Wolves are shy around other creatures and are rarely seen by humans but very social within their own groups. They live and hunt in packs because it is an efficient way to care for all pack members. Wolves do howl, but they also bark, whine, yelp and growl. And when the wolf told Red Riding Hood of his nose, "All the better to smell you with," he wasn't kidding! Wolves have an amazing sense of smell which warns them when danger is present, alerts them when food is nearby and notifies them when they are about to venture into the territory of another wolf.
Some of this misunderstanding certainly has roots in our folklore as well. Often, the wolves in these stories are portrayed as having human characteristics, such as the devious wolf Little Red Riding Hood encounters in the woods. People sometimes mistake these human characteristics for those of the wolf itself. It is only through continued understanding that we can begin to debunk these myths and see the wolf in a clearer light.
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waterbuffalo
Yeah, I thought it was good, too, Rascal. He's a good writer, me thinks.
Thanks, Sushi. That's interesting.
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WordWolf
Sushi,
I was debating whether or not to mention that
it was probably a desert-jackal described in the verses,
since the gray (timber) wolf wasn't indigenous to Palestine
that I'm aware of.
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excathedra
i like that word jackal
i was a mindless spineless sheep baahhhh
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excathedra
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Sushi
Oh, and another thing.
It is my understanding, wolves mate with one partner for life. This would indicate to me, they are better at living our ideals than we are.
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templelady
There was a movie loosely based on this incident--which I saw-(Which name escapes me entirely
) a couple of years ago. In France they eventually killed the animal responsible. Some zoologists think from the description that it was a hyena. How you ask did a hyena end up in the middle of France??? In those days up and coming nobility had their own menageries of wild animals -importing them form Africa and the India's-they feel this was an escapee.
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