Eva Gordon | Wolves as Archetypes in my Novels

Why is the wolf a common archetype in many myths and stories, even today? Nothing sends a chill down your spine more that hearing a wolf’s howl in the night. While at a wolf sanctuary, I spent the night in a trailer on the grounds and was privileged to hear night after night of thirty wolves in their nightly serenade. No sound is more awesome.

Today there is more of a movement to save the wolf and what was once considered a savage killer is now becoming a spirit guide for folks who need a strong archetype and for environmentalist who see the wolf as a “spokes creature” for nature. So why is the admiration and fear of the wolf so universal? My own explanation is that the wolf’s biogeography, high intelligence; and social interaction helped them enter the mythos and literature.

Wolves display common social and intelligent behavior similar to our own. They both play and have a strict social status, just as some of our cultures have. They communicate with their kind, much the same way we do, both vocally and in non-verbal ways. We have kings and presidents they have the alpha pair. Humans low in status such as slaves and peasants certainly were low on the pecking order or in a wolf pack the omega. Wolves also mate for life, which endears them to people who long to have a long and loving relationship with a mate. How romantic! What impressed me the most about the wolf sanctuary was the relationship between two wolves, Bernard and Barksalot. Bernard a white wolf had been rescued from a cruel man who gouged his eyes out, leaving the wolf blind and helpless. He was brought to the sanctuary and became friends with another rescued wolf, Barksalot, who literally became his “guide dog”. Bernard grabbed on to Barksalot’s tail and would be lead around. Barksalot would also bark to communicate with Bernard. Barking is unusual for wolves. These similarities to human behaviors let us see the good and bad in us in them.
We long to emulate their hunting prowess. Wolves use team strategy and their powerful carnassials to bring down a much larger prey. Imagine a hero that can do damage without a weapon.
The wolf is universally regarded as creatures of prophesy and omens, and have connections between the worlds of the living and the dead. The wolf is affiliated worldwide with magic, medicine, healing and transformation. In Native American culture the wolf is important archetypes. They had great respect for the wolf and often offered prayers before a hunt to the wolf spirit. Wolf spirit was also powerful medicine for shamans who traveled to the world of the dead. In the New World, there never was an attempt to eradicate the wolf from their land. In Europe just as in the New World, myths and stories about wolves are universal. Early Europeans Respected the Wolf as Protector and Teacher. From the Steppes of Asia Minor to the British Isles the Wolf and Raven were mighty totemic protector. Hecate, an Ancient Greek deity was worshipped as a goddess with three wolf heads. Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus who were fed by the she-wolf, Alcala.

Today the wolf is once again a positive force in literature and as an important part of the predator/prey relationship that keeps nature in balance.
Check out Eva’s novel as a fun winter read.
Eva Gordon
http://www.ravenauthor.com/
http://www.themysticrealm.net/author_eva_gordon.html_
Labels: Eva Gordon, paranormal, romantic, wolves
5 Comments:
Thanks for sharing this information, Eva! It's great and I learned a bunch of stuff I never realized. Wishing you the best with your book!
Dear Judith,
Glad you liked it.
An excellent post, Eva. Well done.
I think the werewolf is so provacative a creature because it was so vilified in past littiture and wolves were so villified throughout much of history.
Vampires are another figure that was always a villen in the past but in modern culture it is frequently the hero.
Witches through out history were feared, hunted and burned at the stake. Today they are heroes in books, TV and movies.
Just about any fantasy book, movie, or show will portray some clasic monster as a hero, or atleast a good supporting character.
It's always good to through a different twist into your story.
Try this fantasy novel;
"Lost In Antiquity"
It's my first novel, it's unusual enough you might like it. Just a warning, no werewolves.
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/LostInAntiquity.html
I love wolves but I do read all sorts of books from paranormal to non-fiction. I'm still a science nerd at heart.
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