how the “Big Bad Wolf” symbol was born
Human beings are no strangers to merciless predators. We have roamed the earth alongside saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, rhinos, lions — without the isolation and protection we have now. The deep fear and awe of these “beasts” is sewed into our DNA.
But there is one predator who, for over a thousand years, has been evoking a different kind of fear. The fear of something sinister and demonic. Of deliberate, calculated evil. Of the Devil.
Are wolves more cruel or murderous than other predators? No. In fact, unless they are heavily provoked or starving, they wouldn’t attack a human. Wolves are highly intelligent social animals, who exhibit care, affection, and empathy in their packs. Like all carnivores, they have to kill to survive and unless they have starved for a prolonged period of time, they don’t do it gratuitously or excessively.
There is another predator on Earth who does kill gratuitously and excessively. Humans.
In the Middle Ages people in Europe “outsourced” this part of human nature to wolves. They created the “Big Bad Wolf” symbol, infused it in legends and fairytales, and packed it with their own worst impulses.
How and why did this come about?
It was a combination of two factors. Christianity and one particularly cold winter in 846 which resulted in a massive wolf invasion.
Christianity and the Link with Nature
In our long history of survival in the wild, humans developed a very conscious connection with Nature. We learned its cycles and rhythms, found meaning behind them, developed an understanding of both the friendly and hostile aspects of the wilderness. Our religions stemmed from this understanding, and for many centuries different iterations of paganism dominated across Europe.
With Christianity came, among other things, the split between Good and Evil. Ancients would see the night and darkness as an equal to the sun and the light. Christianity elevated one above the other. It demanded that people aspire only to the light, and deny and suppress the darkness.
History has shown us that human nature, like any forms of nature, cannot be cut in half like that. But in the Middle Ages, people were in the firm grip of their very literal beliefs about Good and Evil, and were still centuries away from the Renaissance when science would slowly start enriching our understanding of the world.
Dangers that human beings knew to be careful about before, now took on a more sinister quality. Forests, for example, were now seen as the natural dwelling of evil forces: from demons to outlaws. Caution, which used to come from instinct, now came from pre-defined fear.
Wolves Were Never Popular
Wolves gave people in the Middle Ages plenty of reason for fear and dislike, if not with the rare attack on a human, then with the much more consistent attacks on farm animals. Such attacks could be disastrous for the average family trying to survive off their land and livestock.
Richer people didn’t like wolves either, though they saw them more as a pest than as a threat to their livelihood. One of the most popular forms of entertainment for nobles of the Middle Ages was hunting. Wolves would encroach on the designated reservations and kill “the game” before the hunters got to it.
The killing of wolves was seen as a necessity, and was strongly encouraged by the people in power. In the 10th century, England’s King even implemented an annual tax in the form of wolf skins.
If we can describe one of the prevailing sentiments in Christian Europe of the Middle Ages, from the poorest to the richest levels of society, in a single sentence, it would be: Wolves are bad.
The Wolf Invasion
The stage was set: the people of the Middle Ages were primed to see Evil in everything that was “bad,” and they had been battling wolves for centuries.
And then, during a very cold winter in the 9th century, things reached their culmination. For a few decades, the packs of wolves had bubbled in numbers, and rulers in Europe had responded with increasing their efforts to kill them. It didn’t work. In fact, things were about to get worse.
In 846, the winter was harsh. Written accounts from this time talk about cutting northern winds lasting throughout the entire winter season and up until May. Until then, due to the relentless hunting, wolves had learned to stay clear of the open fields and keep to the forests. But now, starvation drove them out.
Dozens upon dozens of wolf packs would now hunt out in the open and descend even upon well protected villages.
Wolf Pack | Photo by Steve Arthur, National Park Service | Public Domain
Written accounts of this time, specifically from the French Gallic region, read like horror stories. Wolves tearing people apart in broad daylight. Hundreds of wolves surrounding villages “like an army,” or standing quietly by the side of the road, waiting for prey.
How much of this was true, we can’t be sure. What we know about wolves now, tells us that when they are starving they do go on rampages but not as excessive as described by people from the 9th century. Some stories talk about wolves digging up corpses from the ground, which sounds blood-chilling but very unlikely even for a starving wolf. A starving wolf would abandon the usual caution, go out in the open, and try to snatch the easiest prey. Most often that was livestock. Sometimes, elderly people and children. Devastating killings did occur, and in 846 they happened in bigger numbers. But were people truly surrounded by armies of wolf-demons, tearing them apart if they dare leave their house or else digging up the dead? Most likely not. Although, it probably did feel like it.
The wolves came from the east, which gave them an even more sinister aura. This evoked memories among the population of the barbarian attacks, which also moved from East to West. In these moments of complete terror, the Wolf became identical with the Devil.
People did try to overcome their fear, to change the symbol to something they can at least contend or communicate with. Many myths from the Middle Ages talk about saints who tame wolves or exorcise the ‘evil’ from them and make them benevolent.
However, harsh winters always brought out the wolves. In 1438, one of the coldest winters in Europe, packs of wolves even encroached in Paris. It wasn’t until people were able to completely shield themselves from the natural environment that such attacks stopped.
But did the symbol, together with the actual wolves, lose its power over the human mind? Many would categorically say “Yes.” Others would say: The symbol merely changed its form, just like a wolf changes his skin.
This piece was originally published in the magazine History of Yesterday.
