Removing the Threat, Maintaining the Lore: Wolves in Medieval Icelandic Literature

• Main Author: Jensen, Mia
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 2021
• Subjects: wolves; medieval Icelandic culture; Big Bad Wolf; Life Sciences; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/researchweek/ResearchWeek2021/All2021/153; https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/researchweek/article/2544/viewcontent/21278_Removing_20the_20Threat_20Maintaining_20the_20Lore_20Wolves_20in_20Medieval_20Icelandic_20Literature.pdf

Wolves (Canis Lupus) have appeared as villains and antagonists in popular culture for centuries. Children grow up hearing stories of anthropomorphic wolves stalking and tormenting young girls in the woods and associating the animal with the phrase, “the big bad wolf.†In addition to fables and lore, negative wolf associations are prominent in idioms such as the wolf in sheep’s clothing or getting thrown to the wolves. These associations were created by cultures that relied heavily on livestock. However, deceitful, villainous, and demonic traits followed wolves in cultures that did not interact with the animal. This is the case with wolf representation in medieval Icelandic literature. Wolves are depicted in the Prose Edda and multiple Icelandic sagas as ravenous, sinister, wild, and sometimes supernatural creatures. Fenriswolf, the child of the precarious Loki and giantess Angrboda, is destined to begin Ragnarok, the end of the world. Multiple sagas describe ferocious, animalistic warriors dressed in wolf pelts called, Ulfhednar. The absence of wolves in conjunction with the residual fear from ancestral stories leads wolves to be seen as an exaggerated and malevolent version of the animal. Current scholarship surrounding wolves in medieval Icelandic literature addresses the source of wolf connotations, but they do not discuss the repercussions these associations still carry. Although a world apart, the monstrous depictions of wolves live on in the United States. These representations threaten modern wolves and the ecosystems they maintain. Presentation Time: Thursday, 1-2 p.m.Zoom link: https://usu-edu.zoom.us/j/83585410381?pwd=KzdEOVc1WEhjVC9ZalpXNXVPdCtqQT09