Of Wolf and Man Book

The cultural perception of wolves is suffused with misconceptions and inconsistencies. But the truth is far more nuanced. The late Barry Lopez opined that, “the wolf exerts a powerful influence on the human imagination. It takes your stare and turns it back on you.” Lopez, who died in 2020, had an extensive career and left a rich body of work. Of significant relevance to this blog is his…

“I Was Raised by the Forest” by Kat Philbin The world is dying.Yet we are aliveOutsiders, trapped between the forms of man and wolf.As humans we feel trapped and confined.Only in our lupine form do we feel free.The smell of the hunt lingering in the night air.The cities are dangerous and growing.We need to feel the earth beneath our claws.To see the unobstructed moon in the sky. The human…

Werewolves in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature Between the Monster and the Man By Minjie Su——-(2023, 227 pages, €80 excl VAT) SUMMARYAt the heart of any story of metamorphosis lies the issue of identity, and the tales of the werwulf (lit. ‘man-wolf’) are just as much about the wolf as about the man. What are the constituents of the human in general? What symbolic significance do they hold? How…

The hour approaches

Whether Gods of men or Gods of wolves, the totemic embodiment of wolves runs deep into the psyche of humanity. Emerging in multiple cultures, the Wolf and Wolf shapes are recurrent spiritual and physical themes. Humans are both attracted and repelled by the persistence of Wolves, and this dichotomy has itself persisted from deep-time pre-history until the present. There have been Wolf warriors…

In the empty spaces left behind, the Wolves prowl the wasteland. The well had almost run dry, and the whole Wolf Cult project was to be shuttered and deleted. So much time had been spent on research that other authors had independently superseded the work, and the ill-omened Black Dog stalked the project. But… wolves are survivors and this blog and this project is being renewed. The themes…

Unmasking Kivik and Indo-European Cosmology in Bronze Age Scandinavia Anders Kaliff and Terje Østigård “Pastoralism and warrior bands were essential parts of ecology and cosmology; novices were initiated into these brotherhoods as ‘werewolves’. By putting on masks or cloaks, they became ancestors and played a key role in a series of winter sacrifices linked to the agricultural cycle. “The…

“Moonlight” by Frederic Remington In this intriguing blog from ‘Howls of the Hunter’ the author “Lucogaros Noxtouiduâ”, describes a reconstructed Wolf Warrior/Werwolf concept. The Gaulish word for werewolf doniouailos is a reconstructed word from donios meaning “human” and uailos meaning “howler”. Many cultures believe that the names of things hold power and that to speak a thing’s name is to…

I’m teaming up again with storyteller Jason Buck on Oct 8th for two hours of Werewolf stories and lore. Tickets on sale now! https://tinyurl.com/TheWolfWithin

…there was a widespread belief in Eastern Europe that every soul that died under the curse of a werewolf was doomed to return as a vampire. In the 1950s archaeologists excavating a 1000 year old Cemetery near the fortified church in Brodski Drenovac, Croatia, uncovered an unusual grave. In what came to be known as Grave 32 the archaeologists found the remains of a woman that showed evidence of…

Elliot O’Donnell as mentioned previously on this blog was a notorious self promoting publisher of “folklore”. His book Werwolves first released in 1912 and regularly republished ever since contains this delightfully spurious slice of fakelore. “Lycanthropous water from Swedish lore can bring about Werewolf qualities. The water is said to differ from other water in subtle details. A strange,…

Draugr Talk - July 10 7:30pm tinyurl.com/UndeadViking

Draugr – The Viking UndeadJuly 10, 7:30pm BST. If you’ve missed my Draugr talks or even heard them before, you’ll not want to miss this extended, expanded event about the Viking undead. This time I’ll be partnering with the award-winning professional storyteller – Jason Buck. So join us on 10 July for an evening of discussion and stories, live and online (or watch later), direct to your…

Werewolves: The Occult Truth By Konstantinos The book seems to be out of print and was originally published by Llewelyn, but it’s been on my “to buy” list for years. I was pleased to discover that author, photographer and musician Katie Metcalfe had done a review 8 years ago in her blog Wyrd Words and Effigies You can also read the intro & first chapter here From the publisher“How does one…

Zyrian Trinity by Saint Stephen of Perm, painter and missionary credited with conveying the Komi peoples to Christianity This post was inspired by a Twitter conversation with Natalja Saint-Germain The ikota or sheva is relatively unknown in the west as most of the folklore relating to it has not been translated. Here are two excepts relating to this unusual form of “animal” possession. This…