Abstract
In this paper, I propose to contextualise the popular perception ofthe "fairy tale wolf" as a window into a normative past, by focusing on responses to this animal in Britain and southern Scandinavia from the 8th to the 14th centuries, drawing on archaeological, artistic and written sources. These responses are subsequently juxtaposed with the socio-ecological context of the concept of the "fairy tale wolf" in early modern France. At a time when folklore is being increasingly incorporated into archaeological interpretation, I suggest that alternative understandings ofhuman relations with animals must be rooted in specific ecological and social contexts.
Highlights
Aleks Phtskowski, Depat tment ofArchaeolo~y, Uni versity of Cambridge, Dorvning Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
Incorporating elements of local folklore, Egbert's poem is a carefully framed exemplum of the saving power of baptism (Ziolkowski 1992:573) and very unlike the typical warning folk tale with its fatal ending (Velay-Vallantin 1998:277).On another level, it is an exemplum of divine omnipotence over all creation —of which wolves are a part (the poem concludes with the line "God, their creator, soothes untamed souls" —which could refer to both the wolves and the baptised (Ziolkowski 1992:558-9), expressed in the prophecy of Isaiah (11:6).The use of wolves to represent divine omnipotence occurs throughout medieval, northern-European literature, for example, in England the wolf of St Edmund, and in Scandinavia the wolf miracles of St Magnus and St
Despite the best efforts of biologists and conservationists, the "fairy tale wolf" is unlikely to disappear in the near future
Summary
I propose to contextualise the popular perception ofthe "fairy tale wolf" as a window into a normative past, by focusing on responses to this animal in Britain and southern Scandinavia from the 8'" to the 14'" centuries, drawing on archaeological, artistic and written sources. In pre-Christian Scandinavia and the British Isles, the selective use of the wolf, along with other predatory animals, in visual expressions on a range of material culture can be linked to the construction of socio-cosmological identities These identities appear to have been expressed in the material culture of relatively specific groups, for example, wolves on three early Pictish stones may represent collective identity (Cummins 1999:191),as do the shared motifs on the personal regalia and arms of 7'" century aristocracies at Sutton Hoo, Vendel and Valsgärde (Fig. 3). In addition to identifying rabies and provocation as major causes of wolf attacks, the survey suggested key environmental factors which may in certain circumstances have contributed (ibid:36-37): Scarcity or absence of wild prey species
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