Today we come to unlucky number thirteen in the fairy tale symbol series! And while for the past month we’ve discussed symbols related to The Little Mermaid, like sea foam and witches, today we’re visited by the Big Bad Wolf.
The wolf is a familiar character in fairy tales, especially tales that are trying to explicitly teach us something. Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf–in each of these, the wolf serves as a scary punishment for something: not doing what you’re told, not working hard, not telling the truth. If you think about it, it’s a little funny that we use the wolf as the enforcer for those social norms, since even today we often consider wolves the epitome of wild. I suppose the lesson is that if you’re too “wild,” it will come back to bite you–literally.
Wolves have been a part of human lore for centuries, going back to the ancient Romans and Egyptians. Traditionally they were associated with power or masculine energy–and, it must be said, sexuality. (“Wolf whistle” is an enduring example.) And though today wolves are scarce, they loomed large in the lives of our ancestors. The encyclopedia of mythical creatures sitting on my shelf lists no less than thirteen different types of spectral wolf or dog, ranging from the Black Dog of Scotland to Fenrir and Cerberus to the Heaven Dog of China.
To be honest, wolves were also one of my favorite animals when I was a kid (a distinguished list that also included horses and orcas). And–why, exactly, am I talking about them today, if October was supposed to be Little Mermaid-themed?
Because today is the surprise release date for Cry Big Bad Wolf! 🙂 I created the Fairy Tale Symbol series to celebrate the first three novels in the Alchemical Tales series, and I’m ending the series with a bonus fourth novel. Cry Big Bad Wolf, a cozy mystery take on tales like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, is set in Belville during Halloween. So really, how could I not release it this weekend? 😉
You can find Cry Big Bad Wolf in ebook anywhere or on my website (where it is on sale over this weekend!). And HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🙂
Selected Sources
Basic history of the wolf in folklore came from Nozedar’s The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols (2008), along with Lindahl, McNamara, and Lindow’s Medieval Folklore (2002). That list of mythical wolfs/dogs I mentioned can be found in Conway’s Magickal Mystical Creatures (2019).
