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Mirjam Mencej (Ljubljana, Slovenija)
THE CHRISTIAN AND PRE-CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF THE MASTER OF
THE WOLVES
Abstract:
In the paper the authoress examines the legends about the Master of the wolves in
Slavic and other Europen folklore. She first shows interpretatio christiana of the Master of
the wolves and then tries to unveil also pre-christian layers and the mythological background
of the tradition connected with this mythical being.
Key words:
Christianity, Prechristianity, Master of Wolves.
In 1961, Lutz Röhrich published a paper on the Master of the Animals (Herr der Tiere) in the
European folk tradition. In the paper he argues that in European folk legends and tales we
can find a series of folk beliefs in some kind of a master of the animals. These legends are,
according to him, one of the most ancient layers of European legends, and had come to
Europe from the Mediterranean basin, more precisely from the Cretan-Minoan cult of
Artemis (Röhrich, 1961: 343-347). One of the masters of the animals briefly mentioned in
the paper is the Master of the Wolves, known in the Slavic tradition.
The majority of Slavic peoples (and some non-Slavic ones as well) are indeed familiar with
the folk tradition of a some kind of a ruler, commander, leader, or master of the wolves,
sometimes also called the Wolf Herdsman. In this paper I'll try to examine the pre-Christian
strata and the mythological background of the tradition connected with this mythical being,
especially, but not exclusively, within the Slavic tradition. Parallels with some other
European folklore traditions will also be considered.
The tradition of some kind of a Master of the Wolves can be found in various segments of
ancient rural folklore, recorded by scholars mostly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries –
in legends and beliefs, and proverbs.
There are many various legends about the Master of the Wolves, but most often one
encounters variants of the legend
1
with
an identical
, characteristic plot
: a man sitting in a tree
in a forest sees the Master of the Wolves, who is giving out food to the wolves or sending
them in all directions to search for food. The last in line is the Lame Wolf. Since there is no
more food, the Master of the Wolves says he can eat the man watching from the tree. The
wolf
–
either immediately or after various twists of the plot
–
actually succeeds in eating the
man in the tree.
Among part of the southern Slavs (Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians) the legends and beliefs
about the Master of the Wolves are also connected with numerous commandments,
prohibitions and customs associated into the so-called “wolf holidays”. Legends about some
type of Master of the Wolves can also be found in written form among the majority of
southern and eastern Slavs, partially also among the Poles, and among the Estonians, the
Gagauz in Moldavia, in Latvia, Romania and in an incomplete form even in France. His
function, as can be established from the legends and beliefs, is to lead the wolves and
1
I have managed to collect 51 Slavic variants, and one Estonian, one Romanian, one Latvian, one Gagauz and
one French variant of this legend. For a brief survey of majority of the mentioned Slavic legends about the
Master of the Wolves see Polivka, 1927. The legend is not included in the Aarne – Thompson index, nor is it
included in Thompson's motif index. For detailed information on the sources of all of the legends see Mencej,
2001. Due to the limited place I was not able to include all the data into the present article.
determine what they may and may not eat. The same function (with emphasis on what the
wolves may not eat) was obviously ascribed to the person or being to whom the people
turned in incantations (prayers and blessings) in the hope that that person would defend their
livestock against wolves and other wild beasts,
2
therefore we can suppose that both genres
together reflect the entirety of the same tradition.
The image of the Master of the Wolves, as we shall see, exhibits numerous pagan elements,
and the saints, such as St. George, St. Martin, St. Sava, St. Nicholas, St. Michael etc. who
most frequently appear in the role of the Master of the Wolves are obviously later Christian
substitutes, the
interpretatio Christiana
of some pre-Christian mythical person or being who
appeared in the role of the Master of the Wolves. Scholarly opinions are divided as to the
identity of this pagan being: the Russian researcher Afanas'ev e.g. suggested that St. George
in the role of the Master of the Wolves is the successor to the God of Thunder (cf. Afanas'ev,
1865 (1994), I: 707-712; 1869 (1994), III: 528-532). The Serbian ethnologist Veselin
Čajkanović, who focused his discussion on St. Sava, who often appears in the role of the
Master of the Wolves, defined the latter as an ancient Serbian nomadic chthonic deity, who
supposedly originally appeared in wolf form (as a lame wolf) (Čajkanović, 1994/I: 451-462,
1994/III: 32-36; cf. also Zečević, 1969). In the opinion of Czech J. Polivka, the original
mythical being from the pre-Christian era should be the Forest Spirit (Polivka, 1927: 175-
176). Lutz Röhrich classified the Master of the Wolves under the general category of
“masters of animals” who could appear in anthropomorphic or partially or completely
theriomorphic guises, while the legends and beliefs, i.e. legends in connection with him were
supposed to have originated in hunting culture (Röhrich, 1961: 347-349).
Widely different persons, beings and animals appear in the role of the Master of the Wolves.
We find 35 different saints in this role, although some of them appear extremely rarely (in
incantations people often call on a long list of saints whom they ask for help). In a wider
geographical area we find, in addition to figures of Christian origin such as God, the Mother
of God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost, only the following saints:
3
St. George
(who is found as the
Master of the Wolves in legends among Croats, Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgarians
and eastern Slavs; he is also turned to in incantations by Prussians in Poland, Latvians, Finns,
Germans, the German-speaking population of Switzerland, the French and Romanians; he is
known as a protector against wolves by the Greeks, while Austrians sometimes utter
incantations against wolves on his name-day);
St. Martin
(Mrata/Mina/Menas) (known as the
Master of the Wolves among Serbs and Macedonians, while according to the opinion of N.
Kuret, traces of this belief can also be found in Slovenia (cf. Kuret, 1989, II: 117); known as
a protector against wolves by the Greeks, while Austrians, Germans and German-speaking
Swiss sometimes turn to him in incantations); the
Archangel Michael
(known by Serbs and
eastern Slavs);
St. Nicholas
(who is found especially among Poles and in western Ukraine,
and more rarely also among eastern Slavs);
St. Peter
(who usually appears only in Polish
incantations and more rarely among eastern Slavs, but also in Austrian and German
incantations and incantations of the German-speaking Swiss; in one case he also appears in a
2
In my monograph The Master of the Wolves in Slavic Folklore (Mencej, 2001) I dedicated a special chapter to
demonstrating that the person to whom people turned to in incantations in the hope of protecting their
livestock against wolves and other wild beasts has the same function as the Master of the Wolves in the
legends and beliefs. Due to space limitations I have not been able to summarize it here, but I shall proceed in
the paper with the assumption that all of these levels of folklore refer to the same being, i.e. that all of the
pieces which are preserved in the different levels of folklore make up the entire tradition of that being.
3
It is not possible to list all of the saints in the space afforded by this paper, but the saints not listed
appear only sporadically, most often in incantations in which people sometimes utter a long list of
saints whom they wish to on call to protect people and livestock against wolves (and other wild beasts).
legend of the Serbian population, which was written down in Croatia).
St. Paul
appears
independently only in one of the Byelorussian legends, but otherwise he appears in a
Ukrainian legend and in all incantations together with St. Peter. The cult of
St. Sava
is known
only among Serbian populations, where he is known not only in the role of the Master of
Wolves in legends, but celebrated during the St. Sava holidays, during which the same
activities take place as during St. Martin’s day, activities which are in the same way
connected with the legend of the Master of the Wolves, except that in this case St. Sava
appears in that role. Very seldom
St. Andrew
also appears in this role.
Characteristics of the saints who appear in the role of the Master of the
Wolves
If we consider the holidays which are consecrated to various saints, and the characteristics
and attributes of these saints, we can conclude that the majority of them, especially the most
important among them, St. George, St. Martin and St. Nicholas, as well as St. Michael, are all
associated with
livestock, herdsmen, herdsmen's life, and herdsmen's holidays
:
St. George
is the saint whose holiday, St. George’s day, is considered the most important
turning point in the herdsman's year over a very wide area. Livestock are first driven out of
the barns and out to pasture on St. George's day practically everywhere in the Slavic world
and also among certain other peoples of Europe. (Even where such work is no longer done,
customs are still followed which indicate that this day was once considered the day that the
livestock was first driven out to pasture). St. George “opens up the barns” as they say in
Slovenia. This day is the most important herdsmen’s holiday of the year, in which herdsmen
play an important role, and St. George is considered in many places to be the guardian of
livestock and the patron saint of the herdsmen who have their holiday on this day – they
collected presents from the houses, and in the evening they roasted meat, danced, had
bonfires and made merry (Orel 1944: 330; Rešek 1979: 117; Orel 1944: 330-332). In Pivka
as recently as the time between the two world wars, herdsmen still took their posts mainly
from St. George’s day to St. George’s day – and on that day they switched (Smerdel 1989:
121). In Croatia, herdsmen and their masters adorn their livestock on St. George’s day, and in
many places the livestock are first driven out to pasture at that time. St. George’s day is the
herdsmen’s holiday, and on that day herdsmen are invited into houses as guests, and
especially in northern Croatia, servants and herdsmen are hired, exchanged and fired on that
day (Gavazzi 1991: 41-43). In Croatia on St. George’s day, St. George’s rounds are
especially characteristic, in which, as in the Slovene rounds, the herdsmen take part, and
receive gifts from their masters, most often in the form of eggs (Huzjak, 1957).
In the Balkans as well,
4
St George’s day is considered the livestock (Grbić 1909: 64) and
herdsmen’s holiday (Drobnjaković 1960: 207). On this day lambs are slaughtered for the first
time in the year, and mutton is first eaten. Among Serbs, Macedonians and Bulgarians, if we
conclude from the legends and beliefs about him, St. George is considered the patron saint of
herdsmen and herds, especially of small livestock (Atanasovska 1992: 109; Vražinovski
1998/II: 167). In Bulgaria livestock are first driven out to pasture on St. George’s day, and St.
George was considered to be the “first shepherd” (Koleva 1977: 152, 158; B'lgarsko narodno
tvorčestvo 1962: 450). In the same way, among eastern Slavs St. George is known as the
4
I use the term “Balkan” only when it is used in the source which I am citing, as the borders of “the
Balkans” are not clearly defined.
patron of domestic livestock and herdsmen, and St. George’s day is considered the
herdsmen’s holiday.
Afanas’ev cites a Russian proverb from which in his opinion the herdsmen’s nature of the St.
George’s holiday can be seen:
“Св. Юрій коровъ запасаетъ”
(St. George takes care of the
cattle), i.e. lets them out to pasture (Afanas'ev 1994 (1865), I: 706). Springtime St. George’s
day
5
is a herdsmen’s holiday; they are fêted with cakes, eggs and milk and are given gifts of
linen and money (Afanas'ev 1994 (1865), I: 708; Maksimov date unknown: 151). Russian
peasants believe that St. George is the patron of wild animals and the guardian of domestic
livestock. Many legends mention that he protects domestic livestock, helps herdsmen, and
punishes them for transgressions or negligence (Sokolova 1979: 155). On his name day the
livestock are first led from the barns out to pasture (Zabylin'' 1992 (1880): 98; Eleonska
1994: 145). Thus in the Harkov guberniya it was believed that on St. George’s day, St.
George rode a horse over the fields and took under his protection the livestock which had
first been driven from the barns out to pasture on that spring day. If the livestock were not
driven out on that day, there could be bad luck. In the village of Kabani the belief has been
preserved that if the livestock are driven out before St. George’s day, they will frequently
become ill and be attacked by wild animals (Ivanov 1907: 137-138; cited in Sokolova 1979:
156). In northern regions and in Siberia, where there was still a great deal of snow on the
ground at that time, the driving out to pasture of the livestock on St. George’s day had only a
symbolic character – livestock were driven out to pasture mainly on St. Nicholas’ day (in the
spring), however the main rituals were observed on St. George’s day. This was also true in
the Vologod guberniya (Ustyushki region), the Moscow guberniya and in Ukraine.
Byelorussians also had to celebrate herdsmen’s holidays on St. George’s day, even if the
livestock were driven out to pasture before that time (Demidovič’’ 1896: 95; Sokolova 1979:
156). Herdsmen received gifts on St. George’s day throughout almost all of Russia,
Byelorussia and Ukraine – on the first day of driving out to pasture the herdsmen’s gifts
would be eggs, in some places (in Byelorussia almost everywhere) herdsmen would make
themselves meals out of eggs (Sokolova 1979: 158; Kirčiv 1989: 103; Ilarion 1995: 284).
According to Ukrainian belief St. George is the patron saint of livestock and his name-day is
a herdsmen’s holiday, and the herdsmen’s year begins on that day (Ilarion 1995: 284). In the
Czech lands as well, livestock were first driven out to pasture on St. George’s day (Kravcov
1976: 55). St. George’s day is also considered a herdsmen’s holiday in many places in
western Europe, the day on which herdsmen first drive their livestock out to pasture, for
instance in Austria, eastern Germany, Switzerland, eastern Finland and in Estonia (Gugitz
1949: 204; Grabner 1968: 22, 37, 41; Schmidt 1955: 21; Rantasalo 1945: 13-15; Weiss 1941:
50), while elsewhere, May 1st is the most frequent day on which livestock are first driven out
to pasture.
The second major annual turning point in the lives of herdsmen, besides St. George's day, is
(from the border of the area reached by the influence of the Byzantine empire onwards) St.
Martin's day (up to that border, St. Dmitri’s day is the turning point, while in some places in
western and especially northern Europe, this turning point is marked by St. Michael’s day or
some other, more locally tinged holiday, such as St. Gal’s day etc.). This day is seen as the
last day on which livestock are driven out to pasture, or the day on which livestock are driven
back from the upland pastures into the valleys, or any day on which livestock could begin to
graze in all directions. In many places St. Martin’s day is a herdsmen’s holiday, as St. Martin
is the patron saint of herdsmen and livestock. Thus e.g. in Slovenia, St. Martin is the most
5
The Russian folk agrarian calendar includes both springtime and autumn feasts of the saints in the majority of
cases (e.g. St. George, St. Nicholas).
important protector of herdsmen, and judging from a written legend he also appears as a
shepherd (Benigar, 1865: 25-26; Kuret 1989, II: 28-29; Ložar-Podlogar 1972: 72-73; Hudej,
Hribernik 1954: 105). In some places on this day feasts were prepared and bills were dealt
with in regard to the year’s or at least the autumn’s pasturing, which was followed by
feasting, dancing, and in many places the herdsmen also received gifts (Turnšek 1946: 71-2;
Kotnik 1943: 76; Kuret 1989, II: 118-119; Hudej, Hribernik 1954: 110). St. Martinija
(Matrona) is considered the patron saint of livestock in Macedonia as well – according to
belief he watches the livestock (Vražinovski 1998/II: 166-167). In Greece, the 11th of
November, i.e. the same day as St. Martin’s day, is celebrated as St. Menas’ day, which ranks
as an important herdsmen’s holiday (Megas 1963: 21). In addition to the fact that St.
Martin’s day is also celebrated as a herdsmen’s holiday in many places in western Europe,
St. Martin is sometimes presented as holding a shepherd’s crook in his hand (Miles, date
unknown: 206). In the majority of western Europe, St. Martin’s day is the last day on which
livestock may be led out to pasture (Miles, date unknown: 203). In Austria, St. Martin’s day
was the day on which the pasturing season ended and on which the herdsmen collected their
pay (Fehrle 1955: 15; Grabner 1968: 21, 37, 38, 41, 45, 46; Schmidt 1955: 11). Even in
Burgerland, where the pasturing season lasted only until St. Michael’s day, the herdsmen
remained employed until St. Martin’s day (Grabner 1968: 8). In Germany as well, St.
Martin’s day is an important point in the farming year, on which the livestock are driven into
the barns and servants are exchanged and paid off (Siuts 1968: 79-81). In Switzerland, the
day on which the livestock have to be driven back into the barns is different, but St. Martin’
day is considered the last possible day (Weiss 1941: 46, 48-50). Proverbs also attest to this.
For example, in Val de Bagnes they say: “A la Saint Martin les vaches au lien” (On St.
Martin’s day fetter the cows) (Weiss 1941: 49) and “Martini, stell ini” (Martin leads the
livestock into the barns) (Fehrle 1955: 15).
In Poland, where
St. Nicholas
is considered the patron saint of wild animals, especially
wolves, he is also the patron saint of herdsmen and livestock (Klimaszewska 1981: 148;
Kotula 1976: 53, 91). It can clearly be seen from a song which is sung by boys from
Gnojnicy (near Ropczyce) while they are herding their cattle that they consider St. Nicholas a
herdsman:
»Święty Mikołaju, pasterzu dobytku!
Niceś wczoraj nie jadł,
Nie masz nic w lelitku..«
(Kotula 1976: 50)
(Saint Nicholas, herder of livestock!
Yesterday you ate nothing,
You have nothing in your belly…)
B. Uspenski listed a great deal of evidence that St. Nicholas was considered the patron saint
of livestock among
western and eastern Slavs
. Among eastern Slavs, St. Nicholas was above
all the patron of horses (while St. George was more the patron of cattle and sheep, although
in some places also of horses). In Byelorussia for instance, the first driving out of horses
occurs on St. Nicholas’ day, while the driving out of cattle and sheep occurs on St. George’s
day (cf. Uspenski 1982: 44-55). A Russian proverb states: “The winter St. Nicholas drives
the horses into the courtyard, the summer St. Nicholas fattens them up” (Čičerov 1957: 18).
The holiday of the
Archangel Michael
is also connected with the herding population and their
customs: in Slovenia, herdsmen in some places also celebrated their autumn holiday, a
turning point in the herdsmen’s year, on St. Michael’s day (Šašelj 1906/I: 199). St. Michael,
they say, closes the pasturing season, and St. George opens it. In the Balkans, livestock were
in some places driven to their mountain pastures on St. Michael’s day (Kašuba 1979: 15).
The Russian researcher Uspenski reports that among
eastern Slavs
, St. Michael also has the
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