Woodwose
If modern folklore is to be believed, North America is inhabited by Bigfoot, a large, hairy creature that lives in the woods, and is very protective of its secrecy. As unlikely as that sounds, a 2017 study by Chapman University found that 16% of Americans (roughly 5.2 million people) believe in Bigfoot. The huge popularity of Bigfoot-finding shows on the Discovery and History Channels suggests that many of the other 84% were lying on the questionnaire. These statistics are quoted to demonstrate that the English version of Bigfoot, the Woodwose, was a real and terrifying entity to many.
The Woodwose, or wild man, was believed to live in the deciduous woods of England, and many other parts of Europe, much like its younger American cousin. The name is a Middle English term deriving from the Anglo-Saxon noun wudu (‘wood’) and verb wesan (‘to be’). Also like Bigfoot, the Woodwose was covered in thick fur, albeit usually decked with foliage and carrying a staff of wood. Woodwose was not very friendly, and would enthusiastically chase trespassers from their woodland. Contrarily, they were also said to be fond of kidnapping maidens from nearby villagers, who were never seen again.
The Woodwose comes from a long tradition of wild-men. Herodotus (c. 484-c. 425 BC) and Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) both discuss wild men who lived on the fringes of civilization. Both authors attest to the uncanny nature of the Woodwose: it occupied the liminal space between man and beast. This liminality is also present in medieval thought, which held that one could become a bestial Woodwose if one went mad, which derived from the Biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4), who was sent mad by God, grew a long beard, and went to live with wild beasts.
As well as an explanation for the strange sights and sounds of the much-larger forests of old England, the Woodwose also offered a handy definition of the boundary of civilization and wilderness. Like the monsters that appeared on medieval maps, the Woodwose lived far from people and served as something of a warning to those who had accidentally strayed too far from the beaten path. Their essentially-symbolic function led to the Woodwose appearing in ecclesiastical carving and misericords alongside other grotesques. In this way, the Woodwose was ‘tamed’, and across Europe was depicted in heraldry and appeared in pageant plays.
At the crux of this folk belief lies man’s primordial fear of wilderness and paradoxical fascination with it. The Woodwose embodied the dangerous side of deep wilderness and worked as the defining opposite of what was civilized and hence safe. Bigfoot researchers may mention the Woodwose as evidence for the creature’s presence throughout history, but this only proves that Bigfoot fulfills the same role in the modern world: this folk-descendent is a legendary master of the forest, an environment in which people are ill-equipped to survive, and represents mankind’s wonder at the vastness and power of nature.