I have just one question: why wolves? It seems that throughout history, there have been tales of people triumphing over evil, or even learning lessons from interactions with evil. But stories like this often have one element: the bad guys are often wolves. Ever notice the frequency with which wolves pop up in fairytales or fables, legends and fantasy epics? It is quite intriguing when you think about it. There are countless ferocious woodland creatures to include as fairy-tale villains, so why would everyone choose a single wolf?

Of course there’s the proverbial “big bad wolf” of fairy-tales. Is it feasible to assume that the creators of these stories are trying to warn their listeners about wolves? Did they have a bad personal experience with wolves? Wolves, by nature, are pack animals, rarely ever seen alone. Why would someone assume that a lone wolf would come in and devour a whole flock of sheep, chase down three pigs or eat a grandmother in order to ambush a little girl? Why not just eat the girl and then move on to the grandmother? Why is this wolf always working alone, when the task would be so much easier with a normal pack? No single wolf can round up and eat a whole flock of sheep after scaring off the shepherd boy — and what would one wolf do with three pigs? No single wolf would be so determined to risk its life for more food than it can possibly eat. The wolf needs a pack.

In fantasy novels and tales, wolves are given a more accurate, but still evil persona. Even J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had some sort of phobia of wolves. In The Lord of the Rings, wolves are savage packs under the leadership of their more intelligent brethren, the Wargs. The Chronicles of Narnia portrays wolves as a sort of evil “secret police.” In 300, the king of Sparta underwent a terrifying ordeal, fighting a monstrous wolf (again alone) in the wild as a youth. Surely there are other fearsome animals in Sparta to use? In Norse mythology, a common villain is Fenrir, a giant wolf monster who could swallow the heavens.

And, of course, there is always the case of werewolves. What possessed people to come up with further tales of wolf-like beasts? It could be a lack of creativity that causes authors to choose wolves as the bad guy every time. It could be a tradition I wasn’t told about. Maybe, back in the day, wolves symbolized something negative or superstitious so people had to be warned to stay away from them. Hence they got a bad reputation for fairy tales and legends to exploit. I don’t know; can someone please tell me?

My point here is that fairy tales are altogether unlikely. You may say “well, duh!” but I mean on a structural level. Why would someone go through all that trouble to paint wolves with a negative (and inaccurate) image? What is the person’s motive behind a story like that? A “big bad bear” would be a more likely and accurate culprit, but instead bears are usually painted as a sort of gentle giant, if painted at all. I hear stories of vicious animal attacks in the forest by bears, cougars, and even badgers and pigs. Never have I heard of an attack by a wolf, single or not. They aren’t even that fierce-looking! You must remember that all dogs are descended from wolves. Yes, all your cute little lap dogs, your elegant and beautiful show dogs, intelligent retrievers and beastly guard dogs can all be traced back to wolf ancestors. My point? I’d like to see you try and domesticate a wolverine. This has been my rant, like it or not. Thanks for reading anyways. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Wargs to slay.