[Jean Thibodeau]

Browsing through an article in a French magazine about the wolf in medieval Europe I read that the wolf and wolfpacks were highly feared in the medieval world, as well a general fear of the dark.

The glowing eyes of the wolf in the dark and an association with the devil and evil in general made the wolf hated and feared: Killing a wolf brought joy to the medieval heart according to this article. ( Will have to go back and buy the magazine.) Today scientists believe that wolves won't normally attack humans: At least that is the modern " ecologistical "
spin. Maybe medieval people were just not as enlightened as we are today ? Or maybe wolves when in large and numerous packs were much more bold, aggressive and dangerous when in competition for food with humans and would not shy away from eating the occasional peasant who got lost in the dark at night "alone " ! ( Little Red Riding Hood ! ?? )

Wolves were hunted down mercilessly and maybe the survivors were the one who learned to fear and avoid humans: Thus the modern theory that wolves don't attack humans.

In discussions with Russ Ellis about a custom scabbard for the Tritonia I just ordered from Albion I mentioned that I sort of like the wolf as a decorative motif that might be added as decoration on the scabbard. http://www.tritonworks.com/

What was surprising was that Russ mentioned that metal decorative elements using the wolf were hard to find for some reason ?

After reading this article I wonder if the wolf might have a lot of negative connotations in heraldry that I am not aware of.

Being somewhat of a sarcastic contrarian I can actually see this as a plus. And being lefthanded " sinister " I would have been considered dammed in any case or at least looked at in a very negative way: Might as well choose to revel in it and use the wolf as a symbol !

The wolf could be a good emblem for a mercenary band ?

In any case, I would like to get some feedback by those who have knowledge of heraldry to see if there is anything to my
assumptions. I am somewhat more partial to a very early heraldry before it became codified with a lot of rules and meanings and associated with specific noble families: Sort of when one was free to choose any symbol that seemed
" cool " at the time.

[Taylor Ellis]

My mother's maiden name is Musto, and Anglo/Norman name meaning "from the great well". The coat of arms for my grandfather's particular flavour of Musto is a black wolf argent on a red background.
I don't have a picture on me at the moment unfortunately.

[Sam Barris]

Different cultures see certain animals in different ways. Cats were hated and feared by the same Medieval Europeans that hated wolves, to the point that they were sometimes killed on sight as a matter of policy. Yet cats were revered in ancient Egypt.

Medieval types had a lot of bizarre superstitions, many of which centered around night, darkness, the Devil and glowing eyes. Animals like wolves caught quite a bit of negative (and undeserved) press because of it. As far as their reluctance to attack humans, I think that's just the natural caution of the species. It may have to do with human hunters, but I like to view it as professional courtesy between fellow predators.

To get good wolf motifs in European art, you'll have to go the Celtic or Norse route. Pre-Christian Europeans seemed to be rather fond of wolves, dancing in the woods at night and other things that tended to be rejected by their baptized progeny. Also, cultures with a heavy streak of defiance in them, especially if they had a history of being oppressed, seemed to appreciate wolves as symbols. There is a great Irish depiction of a wolf with one paw wrapped around a sword, a broken collar around its neck and the other paw on top of a broken crown. I have a pin of it somewhere.

But as far as the Medieval period? I think you'll find most depictions of wolves to be negative ones, unless some like minded soul took one for his sigil.

[John Cooksey]

Wolves really are not that dangerous to humans, unless they are starving. They, being clever hunters, tend to go for the old, weak and the sick (easy prey), and not large, healthy, dangerous animals (many exceptions to this rule, of course). Large bodied predatory omnivores with fire and sharp sticks are definitely off the menu. [smile]

I think the strong fear of wolves (and other natural predators) during the medieval period probably resulted partly from the dark age "siege mentality", when the hybrid Latinate cultures felt that everything outside the safe and sown was a threat. And wolves stay a long way from walled towns and sown fields, unless really hungry.
Plus, the wolf is a fairly negative totem for Germanics, being associated with the Fenris wolf, and thus easily assimilated with Dark Age Christian ideas of evil and ungodliness.

We here in NW Arkansas don't have true wolves anymore, but we do have large (60-80 pound) coyotes, which are actually (genetically speaking) wolf/coyote/domestic dog hybrids.
Genetically, of course, all dogs, wolves, and coyotes are really the same biological specias (at least as far as reproduction goes), and the difference between true wolf and large coyote is sometimes hard to determine, even for canid specialists.
I have encountered numerous large wild canids, and never felt threatened (never a true pack, though). I always enjoy their nightly serenades. [smile]
Of course, I have encountered "non-indigenous" mountain lions, too. Not got et yet.
The escaped lions from a nearby "refuge" might have been another story (or lack thereof) . . . . .

[Eric Nower]

[Helen Miller]

Interesting topic Jean. A long time ago in Spanish class I actually did a report on wolves and how Medieval Europe viewed the wolf. To make a long story short wolves were feared for superstitious reasons because people back then believed in lycanthropy or the belief in werewolves.

In regards to your heraldry question wolves were certainly used. You might want to check out some information on the Great Roll which depicted wolves. I'm not sure if it was the first use of wolves in heraldry. Any one know?

Have you tried the book Heralds and Heraldry in the Middle Ages? I think it's from Oxford Press, you can get it in the public library. It's been awhile...

[Wolfgang Armbruster]

[Russ Ellis]

Yes it's a mystery to me as well, all sorts of animals are used in heraldry, escallops, tridents, bears, hounds, griffins, leopards, lions, unicorns, even rabbits and hares. Wolves one would think would have been as common as anything else and period artwork was not lacking:



However I've noted a notable lack of things suitable for medieval adornment as far as wolves go. Why? I'm not sure I've a couple of theories... 1) I'm not searching for the right things. 2) Modern manufacturers are to busy focussing on things like lions and dragons????

[Russ Ellis]

Another one for fun this one is an eagle...



All sorts of interesting things can be found in old bestiaries...

[Jean Thibodeau]

Helen;

Thanks for the information and I haven't been very interested in the minutia of heraldry so far: One of the neglected aspects of my historical readings.

If you still have that report it might make an interesting feature article if reworked a bit for use here: Borderline off topic but maybe you could P.M. Nathan about it if you are open to " volunteer " to become a contributor.

If you have some interesting material on this or other historical subjects there is no harm in asking if it would work here

General note to everyone Nathan doesn't bite: If he can or cannot use something he will tell you and it can be fun !
Don' t be shy. I know it took me a month to get up the nerve to offer a contribution: Fear of commitment.

Back to heraldry: I guess my reluctance in getting interested is that in it's present form heraldry seems very very structured and has evolved into almost a language were everything you choose has very specific meanings.

Cobbling together some symbols, bars, colour without some knowledge should produce some very funny results when seen by experts in heraldry. With early period stuff I perceive more room to create your own symbols having personal meaning. But even then choosing a wolf, a boar, dragon or eagle probably had what are for me a complete " No Knowledge Zone ".

Hmmmm ..... A basic Heraldry for Dummies feature might be very useful.

[D. Rosen]

A whole catalogue of international civic heraldry FEATURING WOLVES!

http://www.ngw.nl/themes/wolven.htm

[James Holczer]

In medieval and renaissance Europe, wolves were looked upon not only as competitors but as evil emissaries of the devil. It was the church that was responsible for demonizing creatures such as the cat and the wolf. Because a supersistious populace fearful of the minions of the devil, is a populous that would more than likely turn to the church for protection. I don’t think many people today realize just how important the salvation of your immortal was to the people of medieval Europe. The belief in the after life dominated their everyday living and fear of going to hell was very, very, real to them. We all know that the Catholic Church of medieval Europe was expert at exploiting these fears. The church used the general populace’s fear of going to hell to hold sway over the entire Christain population of Europe. This way they could wrestle a measure of control away from the European kings and monarchs. At least that’s what popular history tells us.

As for the Heraldry aspect, think about it. In a world were excommunication was considered a fate worse than death, would you want your families crest associated with a creature that the church claimed was evil? Probably not.

[R. D. Simpson]

[Joe Fults]

Wolves may have been viewed as dangerous because maybe, long ago, they were dangerous. These are animals that can take large prey and there is no reason to assume that humans were always off the menu.

It is not accidental that many species were removed by our ancestors.

When Ohio was settled, very detailed records were kept at county level that were eventually published as county histories by the Ohio Historical Society (years ago). Sometimes these can be found and they are great references. There are accounts of predators taking people in these records (probably because they are were considered exceptional).

The accounts regarding wolves specifically are rare and usually occur in hard winters, but they are documented. Individuals or small groups of people without firearms were considered to be especially vulnerable to wolves in the winter. Attacks on livestock are much more commonly noted, which if you think about a subsistance agrarian economy, can be just as bad as an attack on a person.

Although this is pure speculation on my part, I think man exerted heavy selective pressure against predators that did not fear man, at least in the US. Killing the most fearless and agressive members of a given species, and general population reductions, might explain why so many predators are less feared by man today (I'm sure understanding makes a difference too).

*Edited to fix some spelling and sentence structure.

[James Holczer]

[Sam Barris]

[R. D. Simpson]

[Addison C. de Lisle]

Funny, I asked Russ the same question about the availablity of wolf metal accents before I decided to make my own scabbard. I may yet rechange my mind...

I am not going to address the church motives topic, as it is off-topic and may not turn out well, no matter which side "wins" the argument.

[Greyson Brown]

I don't have any knowledge of what it is supposed to mean, and I can't believe it took me so long to remember, but I just realized that I do know the Davis (of Kent county, as dealt with in The Davis Geneology by Arthur Fox-Davies) coat of arms to be Ermine, a wolf salient Sable. Which is to say, a black leaping wolf on an ermine field. May not really be what you are looking for, but it might give you a starting place.

-Grey

[Kel Rekuta]

A lot of Ontario SCAdians are into the wolf motif as part of the regional identity. I know Kes Smith at Fettered Cock Pewters has made a number of different molds for them. There is at least one offering at the bottom of this page. http://www.fetteredcockpewters.com/page_belt_mounts.htm

Kes is great to deal with. She's been making this kind of thing a long time. She probably has other things which will work for your scabbard project.

Cheers!