Wolf
Despite the efforts of conservationists and a fortune spent on multifarious scientific studies, the wolf today is still seen as the enemy of man. This beautiful and once-widespread carnivore has been persecuted so thoroughly across the world that it survives only where it is offered some degree of legal protection. Hatred of wolves stems from the pastoral cultures of the ancient world, whose intrusion on, and destruction of, the wolf’s preferred isolated habitat led to the beast predating on flocks of sheep. The wolf was reviled for the same reason throughout the Middle Ages, with the added reputation for diabolism.
Wolves live off prey. They are the natural enemy of sheep, and approach flocks in the manner of a tame dog, carefully upwind from sheepdogs, and if they break a twig on their approach they bite the offending paw as punishment. They circle flocks, awaiting their chance to strike. Wolves are known for their rapacity, and so prostitutes are nicknamed ‘wolves’ because they desecrate the possessions of those who love them. Though their bite is powerful, the wolf’s strength is in its paws. They are unable to turn their heads backwards, but can live off prey, earth, and even air.
Their eyes shine like lanterns in the night, and they notoriously prey on humans. If a wolf sees a human before he or she sees it, the person is struck dumb, and must strip naked and bang rocks together to avoid being attacked. However, if the person sees the wolf first, the wolf is struck motionless, loses its natural ferocity, and cannot run. Female wolves give birth only during thundery weather in the month of May. Cunningly, she-wolves catch prey far away from their cubs and bring it back to them, so as not to draw attention to their brood.
At the tip of a wolf’s tail is a tuft of hair that can be used as an aphrodisiac in love potions. This only works, however, if plucked from the wolf whilst it is still alive, and so the wily creatures will shed it when caught in order to render it useless. When a wolf is caught in a snare or trap, it will mutilate the limb that is caught in order to escape from its captors. In Ethiopia, there are wolves which have a mane of hair which jump so high that it seems as if they are flying.
The wolf was interpreted as the supreme creature of the devil. Just as the wolf circles the sheep in the fold, so too the devil prowls around the metaphorical sheepfold of the church (as Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep’, John 10:11), hoping to afflict its members. A wolf’s glowing eyes seem beautiful to fools, just as the devil’s temptations do to the weak. The wolf cannot turn its neck, just like Satan who cannot turn his head towards penitence, because his greatest sin and flaw is pride.