Wolves in Literature

[nomadic myth]

Any books with wolf situations you know about? How were they portrayed?

I just finished My Antonia, and there is a recollection by one of the characters of life in Russia. There had been a wedding in a neighbouring village, and when the wedding party was returning to their home village they were basically slaughtered by a pack of wolves.

In Robinson Crusoe when he gets back to Europe and travels towards England from Spain by land, in order to do a channel crossing rather than a longer boat voyage, the party is ravaged by packs of wolves in the mountains between Spain and France.

In the beginning of White Fang wolves chase down a group of men crossing the wild.

However, in Never Cry Wolf, Farley Mowat lives near a pack of wolves quite peacefully for quite a while.

Of all the authors, Cather, Defoe, London, and Mowat, I believe the only person writing a "true" account is Mowat, although Defoe was big on "reporting". Mowat is probably the only author of the group to have experienced wolves first hand without prejudice.

I'm interested in reading anything else with brief sections about wolves.

 

[Dogmatix]

The Legend of Wolf Song by George Stone. It's out of publication but you could probably track down a copy. Geared to a younger reader (say middle school or so) but a beautiful read nonetheless. The story is told from the wolves perspective.

 

[DiscoDan]

I remember reading a short story in school called "the Interloper" where two enemies find themselves trapped under a fallen tree, but instead of being rescued by their men they are visited by a pack of hungry wolves.

 

[abecedarian]

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George has a great discription of wolf pack life. Its primarily a kids' book, but due to the element of the MC's forced marriage, I would be hesitant to just hand the book to a kid without an further discussion. Except for that, its a powerfully written novel.

 

[Ice]

I'm interested in reading anything else with brief sections about wolves.

Two that come to mind (that haven't already been mentioned) are The Loop by Nicholas Evans and The Sight by David Clement-Davies. The latter is written from the perspective of the Wolves themselves and with a younger audience in mind but is an enjoyable read nonetheless.

 

[zoe08]

The Loop by Nicholas Evans is very good! There is a pack of wolves in an area where there are a lot of farms. And it is illegal to kill the wolves, but the farmers want to get rid of them. A biologist comes to track the wolves. And the son of one of the biggest farmers helps her. I thought it was really good.

 

[mrkgnao]

Swedes have a thing about wolves

In Gosta Berling's saga by Selma Lagerlöf, two people in a sled are chased by a pack of wolves over a frozen lake, and save themselves by throwing a leather belt to the pack. Not sure that would help, but I think the chase could have realistically happened in 19th century outback Sweden.

Children's books:
In Bridget and the gray wolves by Pija Lindenbaum, a little girl runs away from kindergarten and finds a pack of wolves. They like having their tummies rubbed (after a good scare).
In Tove Jansson's Moominland midwinter a small dog dreams of running away with the wild wolves... a dangerous dream, it turns out.

More apocryphal mentions: The steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse; and in Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert M Pirsig, the protagonist calls himself Phaidros, which is Greek for wolf...

Then there are a lot of wolves in fantasy books of course. Leaving the werewolves aside, there are wolves in e.g. The farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb and The neverending story by Michael Ende (that wolf is more of a mythological monster, though), and I believe someone in Robert Jordans Wheel of time has a wolf thing going on.

*mrkgnao*

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

One of my friends lent me a book called Through Wolf's Eyes that I really enjoyed. It's a fantasy story--more because it's set in an alternate reality than because there was magic occuring, although there is a little bit--where the main character was the sole survivor of an expedition, and was raised by wolves until she was fifteen. Then she has to go back into the human world and get used to the way things are done there, although she brings one of the wolves as a companion. I really enjoyed the book, so I totally reccommend it.

 

[nomadic myth]

Sounds like I'm going to have to get busy shopping, and then get busy reading.

I'm very interested in the small scenes in My Antonia and Robinson Crusoe. They are insignificant sections in the novels, but nonetheless stood out for me because of their apparent sensationalism. I know wolves are wild and dangerous and meat eaters, but I don't think they are as vicious as they are portrayed in these dated pieces.

 

[Ice]

Another series that has just come to mind is Jean Auel's Earth's Children series. In the third book, The Mammoth Hunters, Ayla kills a lone wolf only to find that she was nursing cubs. She tracked down the den and found one surviving cub which she adopted. Wolf is also mentioned throughout the fourth book, The Plains of Passage