Bloodthirsty and evil or self-sacrificing and loyal? Wolves have played a central role in myth and folktales since ancient times, and have also found a place in modern books and films.
Scene from The Jungle Book: Mowgli and his mother wolf Raksha share an intimate moment
After being extinct for a long time, they are alive today an estimated 1200 wolves in Germany's forests – and they always make the headlines. The success of protecting species is often praised, but attacks on livestock or hikers are also reported.
The return of the wolf as the dominant creature in the German forests seems to awaken people's primal fears and at the same time respect for the animal. The centuries-old fascination with the wolf is reflected in stories, myths and fairytale characters. An overview:
Lupa, the benevolent she-wolf
Almost everyone knows the myth of Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city of Rome, who were suckled by the she-wolf Lupa. The twins were born to Rhea Silvia, daughter of King Numitor of Alba Longa (an ancient city near modern-day Rome). He was deposed by his brother Amulius.
Romulus and Remus suckled by a she-wolf
The new king feared that Rhea's twins, fathered by Mars, god of war, would pose a threat to his throne. Therefore, he ordered them to be drowned in the river Tiber. The cubs survived and were found by Lupa and a woodpecker who cared for them until a shepherd took care of the children.
Fenrir
Not to be confused with Fenrir Greyback from Harry Potter (we'll get to that later), is the Fenriswolf: He was the son of the mischievous god Loki and the giantess Angrboda.
An illustration of Fenri from the Codex Regius, a late 13th-century Old Norse manuscript
The Fenris wolf, also called Fenrir, had an enormous appetite and the gods, fearing his strength and size, caught him and tied him to a tree. He was finally able to free himself and killed the father of the gods Odin, the god of war and wisdom. That is why Fenrir is considered in Norse mythology as a symbol for “Ragnarok”, the fall of the gods and giants.
And although Odin's enemy was a mighty wolf, he also had two wolf companions, Geri and Freki.
The wolf after Aesop
The Greek poet is said to have lived in the 6th century BC. There are numerous legends surrounding his life. His fables – tales with animals as protagonists who embody human characteristics – are read to this day.
In Aesop's stories the wolf often appears as an evil, scheming animal that disguises itself, for example, as a sheep or little boys attracts as prey. Hence the popular saying “the wolf in sheep's clothing”.
Japan's wolf gods
In Japan, wolves are worshiped as “Horkew Kamuy” which means “little howling god” by the Ainu, an indigenous people living on the island of Hokkaido.
The Ainu were known to raised wolf cubs as hunting companions and even mated their dogs with wolves. According to legend wolves descended from heaven to inhabit sacred mountains and forests. It was also said that an elderly Ainu woman was rescued by a wolf from a wild bear.
However, with the modernization of Japan in the early 20th century, legends and customs fell into oblivion, and wolves also became extinct in the region. Efforts are currently underway to resettle the animals.
Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf
“But grandmother, why do you have such a terribly big mouth?” asked Little Red Riding Hood. “So that I can eat you better!” said the wolf, jumped out of bed and devoured poor Little Red Riding Hood. This famous passage comes from the fairy tale of the same name. It tells the story of a girl who wants to visit her grandmother – and instead meets a disguised wolf.
Little Red Riding Hood meets the wolf
The two best-known versions of the fairy tale, which originated in the 17th century, are Charles Perrault's “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” from 1697 and the fairy tales by the brothers Grimm from 1812, which also includes “Little Red Riding Hood”.
The Werewolf
The character of the werewolf has inspired numerous writers since ancient times. Some scholars believe that the idea of the transforming predator originated in the Epic of Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh refuses to stay with a woman after she transformed her former mate into a wolf.
Werewolves also appear in Greek mythology – in the legend of Lycaon: the son of Pelasgos enraged the god Zeus by offering him a meal of the remains of a sacrificed boy. Zeus then turned Lycaon and his sons into wolves. This is probably where the werewolf's scientific name came from, “Lycanthrope”.
Transformed into “Wolf” in the movie Jack Nicholson into a werewolf
Werewolves also feature in the Norse “Saga of Wolves,” in which a boy and his father discover wolf pelts that they can turn into beasts. And people's fascination with werewolves continues to this day. Just think of the hit movies “An American Werewolf in London” (1981), Jack Nicholson in “Wolf” (1994) or more recently “Werewolves Within” (2021).
< p>Harry Potter fans will of course remember the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. He bit Remus Lupin, Harry's teacher and his father's friend, when he was a little boy, turning him into a werewolf. While Greyback is actively searching for his victims, Lupine is the “good” werewolf, hiding under the full moon and using his powers only for noble causes.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
The wolf has returned to Germany – and he is polarizing. Some would like to shoot him, others would like to protect him at all costs. Our image of the wolf is shaped by literature and art. There, the “big bad wolf” has been terrifying people for centuries.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
Trust no wolf
In the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood”, the wolf tricks a girl in a red cap who wants to visit her grandmother in the forest. The animal sends Little Red Riding Hood to pick flowers so that she has time to run ahead to eat the grandmother. When Little Red Riding Hood arrives at Grandmother's house, she wonders at Grandmother's figure, but does not realize that it is the wolf.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
“What a horribly big mouth you have?”
The figure in grandmother's bed may seem strange to Little Red Riding Hood, but she doesn't have much time to wonder. It is eaten with one bite. How good that a hunter is nearby. He cuts open the wolf's belly and the old woman and Little Red Riding Hood jump out alive. Then the wolf gets stuffed with stones and falls dead.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
In the end the wolf dies
Death also overtakes the wolf in Johann Wolfgang Goethe's “Reineke Fuchs”. The poem goes back to a medieval epic. Reineke Fuchs succeeds in defeating all his animal enemies – even the actually stronger wolf Isegrim falls victim to him. In the end, the cunning fox is appointed Chancellor of the Animal Kingdom by the lion Nobel, the king of the beasts.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
Wolves are equated with murderers
Ovid's “Metamorphoses” offered artists a huge choice of themes and motifs. In 1589 the copper engraving “Jupiter transforms Lycaon into a wolf” was created in the workshop of Hendrick Goltzius. Lycaon was king of the Arcadians and angered Jupiter for serving him human flesh. As a wolf, he could now continue to live out his bloodlust, was the reason for the transformation.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
Engravings were widespread
The engraving “The Hunt for Wolves” by Willem van der Leeuw is a copy of a painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was a master at depicting movement and volume in his pictures. Such reproductions were often made in the Baroque era because they sold well. They were also used to advertise the artist and his workshop.
Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
Unfounded fear of the wolf
The show shows more than thirty works of art with the wolf as a motif. Above all, prints from the 16th to 19th centuries repeated the gloomy image that we know of the wolf as an aggressive predator. The wolf is almost harmless to humans. He has been living in Germany again for almost twenty years – and has not attacked a single person since then.
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Exhibition: The wolf between myth and fairy tale
The she-wolf poses no danger
A she-wolf also appears in the mythology, which – surprise – has good intentions. Romulus (the later founder of Rome) and Remus are said to have feasted on her after they were abandoned. Her mother had been killed for reasons of power politics. But there is also a second version. In it she takes care of the children of a prostitute named Lupa – in German: she-wolf.
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Akela from “The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling let his imagination run wild in this story about an Indian boy who is raised by wolves in the forest. Based on the story of Romulus and Remus, Kipling told the story of a baby who is abandoned in the forest and found by Akela, a wolf, and his wife, who take care of the “human child”. Once the human child grows up, it must leave the forest or expose the wolf pack to the cruelty of Shir Khan the tiger. Shir Khan desperately tries to capture and kill Mowgli, and Akela falls victim to this enmity.
“Canis dirus” – the Direwolf
The series “Game of Thrones” made the prehistoric animal famous. In history, it is the symbol of House Stark, the ruling family of the North. Today, scientists assume that direwolves were not descendants of wolves, as was long believed, but relatives of the dog. These giant canids were active during the Pleistocene, around 2.5 million years ago.
Wolves and ” Shadowhounds” fight for a prey
Wendy Wolf in “Peppa Pig”
Remember the wolf in The Three Little Pigs who wanted to blow up the pigs' houses? Wendy Wolf, who appears in the children's animated series Peppa Pig, is a more kid-friendly version. Wendy's dad loves to huff and crack scary wolves and pigs jokes, but he only uses his lung power to push Wendy's swing. His mother, Wendy's grandma, also loves teaching Peppa and her friends how to howl wolf-style and “devour cakes” at birthday parties.
This list could have mentioned the Amarok, one mythical wolf in Inuit culture; It is said to hunt and eat anyone foolish enough to hunt alone at night. Or Wepwawet, a god with the head of a wolf, worshiped by the ancient Egyptians. Or many other wolf figures that have inspired people since time immemorial.
Adaptation from English: Maria John Sánchez and Sabine Oelze