Wulver

The wulver is a kind of humanoid wolf creature that is part of the folklore of the Shetland islands off the coast of Scotland.[1]

History

The wulver was generally cited to be benevolent[2][3] although other accounts stated that they became violent if provoked.[4] They were friendly to locals otherwise however and were known to share fish they caught with them.[5][3] They were usually described as looking like furry people with the head of a wolf.[2][3] Other accounts claim they were never human to begin with.[5]

Jessie Saxby, in Shetland Traditional Lore writes:[6]

The Wulver was a creature like a man with a wolf's head. He had short brown hair all over him. His home was a cave dug out of the side of a steep knowe, half-way up a hill. He didn't molest folk if folk didn't molest him. He was fond of catching and eating fish, and had a small rock in the deep water which is known to this day as the "Wulver's Stane". There he would sit fishing sillaks and piltaks for hour after hour. He was reported to have frequently left a few fish on the window-sill of some poor body.

After researching folklore traditions gathered primarily from Gaelic areas of Scotland,[7] an authority on congenital disorders, Susan Schoon Eberly, has speculated the tale of the wulver may have a basis in a human being with a medical condition; she suggests it may be Hunter syndrome.[8] Although this approach has been critiqued by some as not overly useful with it being claimed that due to the lack of description given to the Wulver and other mythological creatures as well as the nature of oral tradition changing descriptions over time.[9]

References
  1. Bane, Theresa (2013). Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology. McFarland. p. 346. ISBN 978-1-4766-1242-3.
  2. Allardice, Pamela (1990). Myths, Gods and Fantasy: A Sourcebook. Prism Press. p. 224. ISBN 1853270520.
  3. Briggs, Katherine Mary (1976). A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. Pantheon books, New York. pp. 445–446. ISBN 0-394-40918-3.
  4. Narváez, Peter (1991). The Good People: New Fairylore Essays. Garland Pub. p. 243. ISBN 9780824071004.
  5. "Six ancient myths from the Scottish islands". The Scotsman. 7 July 2016.
  6. Saxby, Jessia (1932). Shetland Traditional Lore. Grant and Murray. p. 141.
  7. Black, Ronald (2005). The Gaelic Otherworld: John Gregorson Campbell's Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands.
  8. Eberly, Susan Schoon (1988). "Fairies and the Folklore of Disability: Changelings, Hybrids and the Solitary Fairy". Folklore. 99 (1): 58–77. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1988.9716425. JSTOR 1259568.
  9. Schmiesing, Ann (2014). Disability, Deformity, and Disease in the Grimms' Fairy Tales. Wanye State University Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8143-3841-4.


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