Werewolf - Hour of the wolf.

(i) Steelzer/Triumph



                        Hour of the wolf.



    Ever since people started counting the bloody stories,
the affairs of the wolf and the werewolf are hopelessly mixed up in
human minds.

    Stories and legends telling about the cruelty of the beast are unlikely
are exaggerations - so ferocious was the wolf and terrifying
the circumstances surrounding the death of his victims.



    However, the wolf also has qualities worthy of praise:
courage, loyalty to the pack and its cubs, extremely developed
maternal instinct in females, which has given rise to many reliable
cases of she-wolves feeding human children.  Like
the legend of apes and man that inspired Edgar Rise
Burroughs for the creation of "Tarzan of the Apes", for stories about
wolves raising human children to maturity,
multiplying over the centuries, they have acquired epic proportions.



    The most famous of these stories is, of course, about Romulus and Remus,
founders of Rome, a city that bears on its coat of arms two
boys.  These twins are illegitimate children of the royal
the Vestals of Rhea Silvia, who appeared as a result of her connection with God
Mars. According to custom, such children were either left in the forest or killed,
and the twins were thrown into the Tiber. Butthey didn't drown, they washed up
the shore in the place where the she-wolf drank. Attracted by their cries, she
approached the children, and the maternal instinct prevailed
a natural animal reflex prompting her to kill
human babies.

    Instead, she fed them, and the children sucked her milk,
like newly born wolf cubs. Then the she-wolf carried them to
dry cave in the Palatine Mountains, as wolves usually do with
by their offspring.  Here she fed them again and warmed them with her
warmth. Both children were later found by the same shepherd, who
and raised them as his own.



    The legend did not say how advanced these children were, but
later modifications only undermined the credibility of the whole story.
But the absolute truth is that the she-wolves are safely
raised human children, although, of course, the child who grew up
among wolves, is unable to take the place of an equal member in
human society.



    Wolves were previously widespread on Earth, but due to
active destruction and narrowing of their habitat, their number
greatly reduced.  The Canadian timber wolf is considered one of the
the largest representative of this species and one of the most
strong and intelligent mammals. Usually hunting in a pack, he is very
dangerous, especially when hungry. There are known caseswhen wolfish
flocks put entire groups of well-armed troops to flight
hunters

    It doesn't take much imagination to imagine what thoughts
overcome a lonely traveler sitting by a tiny fire
somewhere in the icy deserts of Russia or the Canadian Arctic and
listening to the hungry howl of a wolf coming from the darkness, from there,
where the light of the fire does not reach.



    Dr Montagu Summers, English scientist writing in
occult themes, in one of his works on lycanthropy,
appeared in the 20s of our century, recognizes the mystical connection
between the images of a wolf and a man-beast, a werewolf.



    He says: "The hallmark of a wolf is its indomitable
ferocity, bestial cruelty and terrible gluttony. His
strength, cunning and swiftness are considered incredible, almost
supernatural;  there is something demonic, hellish about him. He
serves as a symbol of Night and Winter, Storm and Drang, it is dark and
mysterious harbinger of Death. In Holy Scripture the wolf is
the personification of betrayal, cruelty, bloodthirstiness."

    Dr. Summers gives a very interesting explanation why
The devil is more willing to turn sorcerers into wolves than any other
animals: this occurs due to the natural cruelty of the beast,
which destroys, devours and brings a person much more
harmthan any other predator (Man brings more
harming oneself, being a predator by nature - approx. editors).



    He adds: "Besides this, the wolf is a typical
an example of an enemy is a sheep, and the Sheep symbolizes God and the Lord
our Jesus Christ."



    In the Middle Ages, the wolf was often unfairly accused of being black
terrible things done by real lycanthropes (however,
quite often the man was responsible for the wolf);  it was only worth it
a lone wolf appears on the outskirts of the village, as soon as
Rumors began to spread. Even if this beast appeared relatively
harmless, all crimes in the area were immediately blamed on him.
As a result, some lonely old wolf would get
the reputation of a real werewolf. Only when he got shot
the peasants could understand the situation: if the destruction
stopped, it was believed that the killed animal was a werewolf.


    Such rude and biased judgment gave birth to new legends,
and a wolf with glowing eyes, sharp teeth and shaggy fur
became almost a supernatural being.

    In those distant (and not so distant) times, people were afraid of many things and they
I had to surround myself with strong walls and seek salvation in
Christianity and paganism, but the cross saved from the vampire, and
he was against the werewolfuseless.

    When winter came, the peasant really had to
fear the wolf, hunger made the beast bolder, and he could not only
come to the village, but even climb into the house and drag away the child, not
not to mention livestock.



    Stories from the time describe a terrible fate
abducted, especially those who did not die immediately.  They were
destined for a terrible painful death from the teeth of many wolves,
waiting for the victim on the outskirts of the village.



    A flock, the main structural unit, depending on local
conditions consists of 20 or even more individuals. A pack of wolves
hungry in the harsh winter, terrible in its essence, and its raids
often exceeded the most terrible legends in cruelty. Victim
a lone forester could have been caught by surprise and cut off
from the village, and a whole sleigh expedition.

    In Eastern Europe, there were cases when wolf packs overtook
such processions after miles of pursuit. First they
the leading dog or horse was taken out of the line, and when the animal
was already defeated, it was the turn of the remaining victims.



    With the advent of firearms, Wolf's stock fell sharply.
But women and children were still the wolf's prey,
collecting firewood, and lonely hunters hoping for protection
fire.   The wolf is really afraidfire, but hunger is often
fear overcomes, and then man’s primitive hope for
the fire turns out to be an illusion.

    It is therefore not surprising that stories of bloody adventures
wolves merged with legends about werewolves, and the border between
fiction and fact became indistinguishable over time.



    And the wolf, this mysterious, ever-elusive beast, walked
his dark path, indifferent to the customs and problems of people.
Let us turn to some horrific cases due to which
animals gained such a reputation that they could compete with
by the werewolves themselves.