Zeitschriftenartikel zum Thema „Wolves – folklore“

The wolf is a predator that has a symbolic meaning in almost all Turkic peoples. Early Turkic people used the ephemeral name “bori” for wolves. Almost all Turkic peoples consider themselves as descendants of Kokbori. However, different Turkic peoples have various features in the concept of “wolf”. The system of knowledge and skills related to wolves for Kazakh people is associated with the recognition of the secrets of nature and animals from ancient times. There was formed ethno-folklore system (legends, fairy tales, proverbs) related to the cognition of man and wolf, as well as a system of names according to the types of wolves, age and color. The ephemeral name “Bori” used by the ancient Turks and the cult of bori had not lost their meaning from ancient times to the present day. Rock carvings and archeological finds determine the importance of the image of the wolf in the life and worldview of the ancient tribes inhabiting the Kazakh land. The skin was tanned and hung at home. The wolf coat (winter coat) and wolf cap (winter cap) were sewn from its skin. Heart, larynx, meat, fat, wolf soup, bile, genitals had been used in ethnomedicine for the traditional treatment of various diseases. The body parts such as skull, cheeks, teeth, haste, soles, skin were used for magical and ritual purposes. The traditional method of hunting wolves in the hunting industry was to set traps. The system of proverbs associated with the wolf reflects the peculiarities of the Kazakhs' knowledge of wolves. Field research works related to wolves were carried out in the regıon Syrdarya-Aral, the western part of the Kazakhstan, Ulytau.

British folklore reveals a history of werewolf sightings in places where there were once wolves. I draw on theories of the weird and the eerie and on the turbulence of England in the era of late capitalism in my analysis of the representation of werewolves in contemporary urban myths. Werewolves are deliberately excluded from Mark Fisher's notion of the ‘weird’, because they behave in a manner that is entirely expected of them. I contradict this by interrogating the werewolf as spectre wolf, bringing it within the realms of the weird. In examining the Hull Werewolf, I put forward the suggestion that he represents not only our belief in him as a wolf phantom, but our collective guilt at the extinction of an entire indigenous species of wolf. Viewed in this way, he can reawaken the memory of what humans did to wolves, and redeem the Big Bad Wolf of our childhood nightmares.

ABSTRACT In the tales of the Norse, there are many forms of shape-shifting. Two types stand out: bears and wolves. Some of the most famous images of the Norse themselves are bound up in images of bear and wolf shape-shifters. Yet, examining these more closely, one finds a pattern that emerges: ursine shape-shifters are more upstanding, heroic, and positive, while lupine shape-shifters are more ambiguous and ambivalent. This paper analyzes how experiences with the natural world, as well as older folklore, belief, and culture in the region, informed notions of shape-shifting and hybridization in the great Norse tales, with lasting impacts on belief for many centuries afterward.

The basic and main topic of this research paper is the cult of St. Martyr Mina, especially his ability to tame the wild beasts-the wolves. The starting point of this paper is publication, written by V. Popovska Korobar about the wall paintings from the XV century in the monastery church St. Petka in the village of Brajchino, region of Prespa in Macedonia. In this church the saint is portrayed with some fairly rare iconographic elements that out framed the usual monumental painting of that time – the saint is portrayed as a victorious handler of tamed wild beasts. Popovska Korobar supposes that this kind of interpretation is related with the saint’s life in the desert together with the wild animals, or with the description of the beast in the existing literature about her life in Egypt – the monster with a camel’s head, and she does not identify the species of the animals depicted on the wall of the church. According to our research, this type of iconography is created and based upon the hagiographic texts in combination with the folklore identity of St. Mina and according to that, we think that the wild beasts are tamed wolves.

In this paper, I propose to contextualise the popular perception ofthe "fairy tale wolf" as a window into a normative past, by focusing on responses to this animal in Britain and southern Scandinavia from the 8th to the 14th centuries, drawing on archaeological, artistic and written sources. These responses are subsequently juxtaposed with the socio-ecological context of the concept of the "fairy tale wolf" in early modern France. At a time when folklore is being increasingly incorporated into archaeological interpretation, I suggest that alternative understandings ofhuman relations with animals must be rooted in specific ecological and social contexts.

The article is devoted to the study of the transition of traditional spiritual and moral values at the stage of modernization of Ossetian society in the late XIX – early XX centuries. A decisive role in the consideration of this problem is assigned to the creative heritage of Kosta Khetagurov, who managed to ensure the sustainable development of society at the stage of transition from folklore to literature. The main object of the study is one of his most famous poems, “Sidzærgæs / Mother of Orphans”. For the first time, the connection of this poem with folklore is revealed not with the help of a historical-ethnographic, but a ritual-mythological approach. The main goal will be to study not the motif of “cooking stones”, but the motif of “holy lie”, which does not act as a secondary tool, but the central core of the plot. From a spiritual and moral point of view, the main idea of the poem will be to demonstrate the indomitable strength of the spirit of a woman, taking care of her children. The sacralization of the everyday substitution of beans for stones occurs through the correlation of this substitution with the cult of the Ossetian lord of wolves – Tutyr / Totur, who drove stones into the mouth of his wards so that they could not steal sheep from people. At the same time, it is possible to show the identity of the heroine of the poem by Kosta Khetagurov and the folk legend about Zadalesky Nana, while making a clear distinction between the level of the patriarchal family and the entire Alanic people, put on the brink of survival as a result of a historical catastrophe.

The history of the origin of the character "Albasty" and the reasons for the change which is mentioned in fairy tales and mythical legends of many nation would be discussed in this article. The peculiarities of speaking in the fairy tales of many peoples are emphasized and Albasty, who was born as a holy spirit, who protects a woman giving birth and young children and on the basis of later religious beliefs, deprived of holiness, turning into negative characters in the mythical concept. Among Kazakhs, “albasties” are similar to a dog or a fox, which stealthily steal the lungs of a woman in labor, but according to the ancient mythical ideas of the Karachais and Balkars living in the Caucasus, the albastas descended from the marriage of Narts and Emegens and grew up in a pack of wolves. They, like a holy spirit, protect women in labor and young children from the devil. In general, Albasties are a common character in the Caucasus, the Volga region, Central and Central Asia, the Middle East, etc. In the folklore of these peoples, "albasties" are considered the lord of evil, spreading disease and doing evil, and he acquired his negative features in later religious beliefs, becoming a negative character found in the genre of fairy tales and legends.

Introduction. Ursa Major is the constellation most venerated by Mongolic peoples. Goals. The article seeks to examine related beliefs traced in folklore and collected field data, reveal key mythological characteristics, and cast light upon diachronous layers in the beliefs of Kalmyks and Oirats (Western Mongols). So, the work aims at analyzing basic Kalmyk and Oirat folklore plots dealing with origins of the Great Bear in comparison to those of other Mongolic cultures; and at examining the concept of Ursa Major against the background of some calendar rites and revered mythological images with due regard of contemporary ceremonies addressed to the constellation. Materials. The paper analyzes folklore and ethnographic materials. Results. Part 1 of the article identifies main variants of mythological texts about Ursa Major (Mong. Долоон бурхан, Долоон өвгөн, Kalm. Долан бурхн, Долан одн) existing in Kalmyk and Oirat discourses, comparing the latter to myths of other Mongolic populations. It shows that basically the myths narrate about seven male characters (siblings, sworn brothers, or thieves) or an ox-man, though etymology of terms may tie the constellation (its emergence) to the archaic plot of day and night alternation as a chase of shedeer, and the solar theme at large. Part 2 further analyzes Ursa Major-related beliefs and compares the latter to some calendar rites and mythological images revered in Kalmyk and Oirat culture. The paper informs that the constellation was sometimes referred to by the Oirats as ‘Seven Maral Deer’ (Oir. Долоон марал), which implies our analysis may extend to the legend of how the heavenly hunter pursued a flock of she-deer. The Oirat oral tradition believes that both the characters of Ursa Major stories and Khukhedei Mergen the Hunter (whose chase made three she-deer turn into the three stars of Orion’s Belt therefore referred to by the Mongols as ‘Three She-Deer’, Mong. Гурван марал, Kalm. Һурвн марл) can be considered masters of the two horses tied to the ‘Golden Pole’ (i.e. Pole Star) — two stars of Ursa Minor. Oirats and Kalmyks also associate Ursa Major with thawing weather, protection of children, livestock (from wolves), and increase of its numbers, remission of sins — similar functions attributed to the White Old Man (Kalm. Цаhан аав) revered by the Oirats as the Lord of the Altai, while Kalmyks tend to view him as a protector deity of the nation, one of his manifestations being that of the Lord of the Year (Kalm. Җилин эзн). The article also analyzes contemporary Buddhist rites dealing with Ursa Major among Mongolic populations.

Comparative analysis of zoonyms, primarily the description of the national language picture of the world, is of undoubted scientific interest. After all, the comparison of any languages ​​serves as the basis for identifying three main qualities such as commonness, similarity and difference. The article analyzes one of the most ancient images of the Kazakh and Turkish culture - the zoosymbol "wolf" through proverbs. Proverbs are a kind of oral literature with the accumulated life experience of the people. They help to understand better the national identity, interests, attitudes, lifestyle and traditions of the people who created these proverbs. The study of this type of folklore gives a deeper understanding of the characteristics and relationship of different cultures.Proverbs about animals make up a large layer in the paremiological fund of different peoples and are distinguished by great thematic diversity. The main task of the entire structure of proverbs as a whole is to show the thoughts of the people in a complete, concise and clear form. Proverbs about animals are an example of archaic brevity and figurativeness. On the basis of proverbs about wolves in the Kazakh and Turkish languages, the ethno-cultural content of the zoonym "wolf" is determined, and a comparative analysis characterizes the complete preservation of the common Turkic line in the worldview of the two peoples. The article analyzes the contextual semantics of the Kazakh zoonym "wolf" and its Turkish equivalents in proverbs. The purpose of the study is to determine the features of the linguistic representation of the concept "wolf" in the Kazakh and Turkish languages ​​by means of a comparative analysis. As a result of the analysis, metaphorical meanings with positive and negative connotations were revealed. The semantic similarities and differences of proverbs associated with the zoonym "wolf" in the Kazakh and Turkish languages ​​are considered.

The article describes the features of Kazakh-Azerbaijani inter-literary relations in the post-Soviet period, and also analyzes the works of Kazakh authors and folklore works of the Kazakh people translated into Azerbaijani. The paper notes the high intensification of inter-literary contacts between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Such an expansion of interpersonal relationships among creative figures is, of course, determined by the general state of interstate relations. In the post-Soviet period, Turkic-speaking writers, representatives of various national literatures began to feel their inner involvement in the general Turkic processes with particular clarity due to deep historical and socio-political changes and the strengthening of creative contacts. For example, such works translated into Azerbaijani as "Turkestan", "And me, you, death, lull me to sleep" ("Olum, mane agi de") Magzhan Zhumabayeva, "Kazakhstan's Way", "The Heart of Eurasia" by Nursultan Nazarbayev, "The Clay Book" by Olzhas Suleimenov, "When the Wolves Howled" by Sabit Dosanov, "Idikut" by Akhmetzhan Ashiri were highly appreciated among Azerbaijani readers. "Alash Arystary" in the Azerbaijani language shows that translators in their creative activity go not only beyond the national geographic framework, but expand the internal boundaries of the national artistic worldview. The works of the Kazakh genius confirm that the historical and cultural ties of the Kazakh and Azerbaijani peoples go back centuries. In particular, in the "Words of Edification", in the poems "Iskander", "Masut", "Tales of Azim" traces of centuries-old oriental wisdom are found. In the era of independence, the fame of classical Kazakh writers went far beyond the borders of their country. Many of them have become internationally significant personalities. So Abai as a universal cultural phenomenon at the turn of the century became an essential fact of world culture. The interrelation and literary contacts between writers of Turkic speaking countries have given rise to well-known Turkologists to talk about the concept of a single "Turkic speaking literature" and the need to accelerate the creation of a "new era".

Цель исследования – выявление особенностей песенно-танцевального творчества осетинских футбольных болельщиков, основанного на элементах традиционной культуры. Материалами послужили личные наблюдения автора за деятельностью лидеров футбольных фанатов, результаты исследований российских культурологов и социологов, посвященных осетинской народной культуре, фанатскому движению. Изучена деятельность группы осетинских болельщиков «Фаллаг фарсы бал», использующих в своих практиках элементы народного творчества. Проанализированы процессы ритуализации, ставшие частью фанатских практик и осуществляемые через маски, песнопения, танцы. Установлено, что осетинским футбольным болельщикам удалось привнести элементы народного творчества в российскую фанатскую культуру в виде синтеза привычного формата боления и одновременного использования традиционного хорового пения, элементов национального костюма и обрядовых практик. Эти особенности предопределяют появление новой формы городского фольклора. The aim of the study is to identify the features of Ossetian football fans’ song and dance performances based on elements of traditional culture. The materials were the author’s personal observations of the activities of the leaders of football fans, the results of research by Russian culturologists and sociologists on the Ossetian folk culture and the fan movement. The research methodology is based mainly on the structural-functional approach. The activities of the group of Ossetian football fans, Fallag farsy bal, who use elements of folk art in their practices, have been studied. The elements of traditional culture used by modern Ossetian football fans (disguised masks, national musical elements, ritual and labor folk songs, reoriented to football themes) are analyzed. The use of masks at a football match is a kind of ritual aimed at getting the support of higher powers for the sake of the victory of their team. The author studies a version of the song adapted to the football theme, which accompanied the folk ritual dance Chepena; provides authentic traditional texts and a modified modern version created by the fans of the Ossetian club Alania; considers the interpretation of the ritual congratulatory song “Soi” composed by Ossetian football fans; indicates the presence of the Ossetian folk labor song “Khosdzæuttyzaræg” (song of mowers) among the performed folklore works; draws an analogy between the leader, who directs the actions of the fans at the match, and the manager (“radgæs”), who gave instructions to participants during the performance of traditional Ossetian dances; notes the semantic connection of the image of the manager with the cult of Tutyr, the patron saint of wolves in the Ossetian tradition. The author has established that Ossetian football fans managed to bring elements of folk art into the Russian fan culture. Among the features of the song and dance practices of Ossetian football fans, the author points out: (1) the use of the potential of traditional culture in fan practices, (2) the sacralization of actions in support of the team taken by the fans in the stands during the match, (3) the synthesis of the usual format of fan activity and the simultaneous use of traditional choral singing and elements of the national costume. The author believes that the use of songs, dances, music and chants based on works of folk culture as a means of expressing fan identity is an organic development of folk art among urban youth, becoming a new form of urban folklore.

The nineteenth–twentieth centuries’ frontier, and onto the nineteen-thirties, is the period when the literature and the folklore of the Celtic and Scandinavian counties were brought into Russia. In this way Nikolaj Goumilev, the author of the drama “Gondla”, translates “Countess Kathleen” by W. B. Yeats and writes his own drama “Morny’s beauty” influenced by some recurring themes of the Irish sagas. The drama-poem “Gondla” is also based on the Irish comparanda, namely on the history and the sagas of the echtrae-cycle of tales. The story takes place in Iceland in the eleventh century; Gondla, the Christian, the son of the Irish king, converts the Icelanders into Christianity. Goumilev himself mentions the sagas about “the hump-backed prince Condla” abducted by a fairy as the source of his drama. The saga of Connla the Fair, or Echtrae Chonnlai, is known to him from the work by H. d’Arboi de Jubainville Cours de Littérature Celtique, as well as, possibly, from the private conversations with A. Smirnov, the first Russian translator of the Irish sagas. The story of Connla contains some widespread folk motifs (cf. S. Thompson’s Motif-index), such as F 302 Fairy mistress, or rather F 302.3.1 Fairy entices man into fairyland. The motifs in question are closely related to those of the Swan-maiden (F 302.4.1 – Fairy comes into man’s power when he stills her wings, and D 361.1 – A swan transforms herself at will into a maiden). The swan-plots are of great importance for Goumilev’s “Gondla”, since the main characters of the drama, Gondla and Lera his fiancée (both Irish) are compared there to the swans persecuted by the wolves (the pagan Icelanders). The motifs are particularly prominent in the case of the Irish folktales and legends. The swan-plots from the Celtic and Slavonic folktales and legends are closely related in “Gondla” to the fairy-tales by Andersen, such as The Marsh King’s Daughter, The Ugly Duckling, The Swan’s Nest and The Wild Swans. The plot of the last fairytale is close to that of the Irish legend about the king Lir’s children transformed into swans (Oidheadh Chloinne Lir). In the same time, this plot is close to the fairy-tale type AT 451 – The maiden who seeks for her brothers and AT 451* – Sister as mysterious housekeeper. The story of this type, with the brothers transformed into swans and a swan maiden as the mother of the swan-children, is literary fixed in the twelfth century in the novel Dolopathos sive de Rege et Septem Sapientibus. The main character of Goumilev’s drama is the poet, the ruler and the priest who baptises Iceland at the same time. As such, he illustrates one of Goumilev’s favourite ideas: the poets must govern the world, as the druids used to do in the distant past.

The article presents an experience of systematization and decryption of images of the harbingers of the Great Patriotic War from the oral stories of the Russian-speaking population of Russia. Considering the signs of war as elements of collective folk memory of crisis situations, the author solves the problem of identifying the main differentiating features for the development of future typology and of deciphering these images and related folk ritual practices and the constant alternation of periods of prosperity and disaster. Adhering to the methodology based on the understanding that typological schemes of cultural elements in folklore and ethnography should be based on folk ideas about their most important properties (i.e., on folk typology), the author suggests using two main features as differentiating signs of images-signs of war: the symbolization of the violation of the norm (in the direction of diminution or overabundance) and the place of the violation (the celestial sphere, the earth, channels of communication between them). Thus, the status of a sign could automatically acquire any image first recorded in the sky due to the sacralization of the heavens themselves in the folk tradition. Most of these images can be interpreted as warning signs of the coming war (comets, new stars, pillars of light); many of them are associated with the theme of confrontation and struggle (fighting riders, roosters, troops), they, in fact, reproduce the picture of the future. As for the earth sphere, most of the signs associated with it symbolize the violation of a certain norm, correlated, according to the author, with the popular concept of the fate (including the common fate), which is violated in the direction of loss or, conversely, abundance, and therefore (to resolve the crisis) must be updated and re-shared in the course of special rites. Finally, part of the images-signs of war in folk stories is associated with the so-called communication channels between the earth and celestial spheres (wells, springs, streams). Violations occurring in this system (channels are either “clogged”, or, on the contrary, functioning with excess) lead to violations of the norm - the fate in the sphere of the earth (in the direction of material abundance), and in the sacred (in the direction of its impoverishment). Images of naked women and wolves appearing to travelers on the road can also be considered as symbols of such violations. Identifying the semantics of these images, the author also shows the implementation of the ideas embodied in them in folk ritual practices aimed at “overcoming” the war and its consequences associated with the concept of the fate, its collective renewal, new redistribution and collective responsibility. It is also shown that the oral stories especially actualize Christian motives (deviation from the faith, service to the devil's forces) related to the large-scale destruction that took place in the religious life of the country in the pre-war period and the people's understanding of its consequences.

Статья посвящена исследованию осетинского фольклора об ус-бирæгъ (ведьмах, ассоциируемых с волчицами) и его связи с охотой на ведьм как феноменом европейского Возрождения. Анализируются причины появления и развития феномена "охоты на ведьм" через средневековые исторические источники, процессы и психологию. Рассмотрен феномен аутодафе через средневековую литературу и библию, а также случаи применения похожих методов казни до инквизиционных процессов. Первый случай сожжения ус-бирæгъ на территории Северной и Южной Осетии зафиксирован Д.В. Сокаевой. В ходе собственных полевых исследований был выявлен случай убийства с использованием огнестрельного оружия женщины-волчицы в с. Кора-Урсдон. Был проанализирован образ волка в различных религиозных традициях (зороастризм, христианство, скандинавское язычество), и высказано предположение о синтезе аланской культуры в ходе исторического взаимодействия с представителями этих религий в разных регионах Европы. Высказываются предположения о зороастрийском следе в сюжете легенды о девочке-чародейке (записанной Дж. Шанаевым в 1869 г.), которую пытались сжечь с использованием колючек. В ходе исследования выясняется, что с образом волка, бытовавшего в культуре германских племен, аланы познакомились в эпоху Великого переселения народов. Вводится в научный оборот мысль о том, что об инквизиции аланы узнали через ясов, которые жили в Венгрии в период правления Габсбургов, на который приходится высокая активность антиведовских процессов. Предпринятое исследование способствует раскрытию новых аспектов взаимодействия аланов с западноевропейской культурой. The article is devoted to the study of Ossetian folklore about us-biræg (witches associated with she-wolves) and its connection with witch hunts as a phenomenon of the European Renaissance. The reasons for the emergence and development of the phenomenon of “witch hunts” are analysed through medieval historical sources, processes and psychology. The phenomenon of auto-da-fé is examined through medieval literature and the Bible, as well as cases of the use of similar methods of execution before the inquisition processes. Based on the case of burning of us-biræg in the territory of North and South Ossetia, first recorded by D.V. Sokayeva, our own field research was carried out and a new case of the murder of a female wolf was identified in the village Cora-Ursdon using a firearm. The image of the wolf in various religious traditions (Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Scandinavian paganism) was analysed, and it was suggested that Alan culture was synthesized in the course of historical interaction with representatives of these religions in different regions of Europe. Suggestions have been made about a Zoroastrian trace in the plot of the legend about a girl-sorceress (recorded by J. Shanaev in 1869), who was tried to be burned using thorns. During the study, it turns out that the Alans became acquainted with the image of the wolf, which existed in the culture of the Germanic tribes, during the era of the Great Migration of Peoples. The idea is introduced into scientific circulation that the Alans learned about the Inquisition through the Yases, who lived in Hungary during the reign of the Habsburgs, which saw a high level of activity in anti-witchcraft processes. The undertaken research helps to reveal new aspects of the interaction of Alans with Western European culture.

Latgale is the essentially most different and most peculiar Latvian region from the perspectives of language and culture and their interaction with the cultures of other nations. Hence, this article attempts to reveal how the images of werewolves in Latgalian folklore and the means of their expression used in traditional tales differ from the rest territory of Latvia. The aim of the article is to understand the use of this relatively little studied mythical image and the features of their characters in Latgalian folklore. Previously, the author studied the features of werewolf depictions in Latvian folklore in general, and also compared it to Lithuanian folklore. The main source used in the research are five tales of werewolves, which can be found in an electronic version of Pēteris Šmits’ collected fairy tales and tales on http://valoda.ailab.lv/folklora/pasakas/saturs.htm, recorded in the dialect of the Eastern part of Latvia. Different dictionaries and encyclopedias, for example the „Interpretative Dictionary of the Latvian Language” („Latviešu valodas skaidrojošā vārdnīca”) (http://www.ailab.lv/Vardnica/), the „Dictionary of Latvian Etymology” (“Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca”), the „Encyclopedia of Mythology” (“Mitoloģijas enciklopēdija”), and the „Dictionary of Foreign Words” (“Svešvārdu vārdnīca”) were used to describe the symbolical and etymological meaning of a werewolf image. The main methods used in the paper are semiotic and comparative. The semiotic method is used to explain the symbolical meaning of the werewolf image and the semantics of the word. The comparative method is used to compare the comprehension and interpretation of the werewolf image in the tales written in the Latvian and Latgalian languages, as well as to compare the structure of these tales and the use of artistic means of expression. As the result of the research, it is possible to conclude that the Latgalian tales of werewolves show features that both agree with and differ from tales of other regions. However, the means of expression in the Latgalian tales of werewolves are rather different from texts written in other regions. One of the major differences is the language which the tales are written in, as well as emotionally expressive elements in the colloquial speech of the narrators, such as the lexis of the region, dialectisms, similes, hyperbolization, and russicisms.Just like in the majority of tales from other regions, special introduction and conclusion formulas are used. The introduction formula takes the listeners into the world of fairy tales and magic, and the conclusion fromula brings them back into reality. In addition, the use of particular toponyms to gain the effect of credibility is quite common. The motive of shapeshifting wedding guests in a number of Latgalian tales is more characteristic and more common in Lithuanian folklore, but not in the folklore of other Latvian regions. Only in one of the analyzed tales a person turns into a werewolf of his own free will. What’s more, he is not a Latgalian, which subtextually implies dislike and prejudices against an alien, which is relatively typical of Latgalian folklore in general. Also, a special shapeshifting formula – a curse – is found in one tale only. Few techniques are mentioned for retrieving human form – jumping over another shot werewolf’s skin, eating a piece of bread given by a human, or cross-cutting a wolf’s skin. Among these methods the bread technique is the most common also in the tales from other Latvian regions. Also, it should be noted that the word „werewolf” is mentioned in one tale only and an expressive description of a werewolf’s appearance is missing. This probably means that this character was not very popular in Latgalian folklore, which is also proved by the small quantity of these texts. Only one tale is narrated by a man, whereas male narrators are predominant in the other regions. In addition, in some Latgalian tales there are relatively distinguished features of patriarchy, relationships between the rich and the poor, and a peculiar sense of humor for this region and its means of expression. Having conducted the research of the tales of werewolves it is quite safe to assert that the narrator’s place of residence and the region that he/she comes from has a relatively essential meaning in the choice of folkloristic motives. The social and cultural environment, the language, and mutual relations are those preconditions that form a person’s weltanschauung, perception of life and basic values. With their special mentality, emotionally colorful means of expression and an exciting, different language, the Latgalian tales are for sure distinctive from the other ones and are very important for Baltic folklore in general.

At Monkys Uriy, a late 16th–17th century fort on the Bolshoy Yugan River, in the taiga zone of the Ob basin, Western Siberia, bones of wild animals (reindeer, elks, brown bears, and wolves) and those of domestic dogs were found in residential areas together with artifacts. We describe ten ritual accumulations of bones, species composition, that of skeletal elements, fragmentation types, and the age of animals. Seven accumulations of bones were found at residential quarters. Six of them contained complete or partial skeletons of reindeer and cranial bones of an elk. These accumulations may indicate construction sacrifi ces and those marking childbirth. Three bone accumulations found outside the residence area include bones of a dog and a brown bear, evidently sacrifi ced during funerary rites. Ethnographic and folkloric evidence suggests that such sacrifi ces were practiced by the Yugan Khanty as late as the 19th and 20th centuries and had been rooted in ancient traditions of Ugrians and Samoyeds.

People’s views and values for wild animals are often a result of their experiences and traditional knowledge. Local folklore represents a resource that can enable an understanding of the nature of human-wildlife interactions, especially the underlying cultural values. Using archival searches and semi-structured interviews, we collected narratives about the ibex (Capra sibirica) (n = 69), and its predators, the wolf (Canis lupus) (n = 52) and the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) (n = 43), in Ladakh, India. We compared these stories to those of a mythical carnivore called seng ge or snow lion (n = 19), frequently referenced in local Tibetan Buddhist folklore and believed to share many of the traits commonly associated with snow leopards (except for livestock depredation). We then categorized the values along social-cultural, ecological and psychological dimensions. We found that the ibex was predominantly associated with utilitarianism and positive symbolism. Both snow leopard and wolf narratives referenced negative affective and negative symbolic values, though more frequently in the case of wolves. Snow leopard narratives largely focused on utilitarian and ecologistic values. In contrast, snow lion narratives were mostly associated with positive symbolism. Our results suggest that especially for snow leopards and wolves, any potentially positive symbolic associations appeared to be overwhelmed by negative sentiments because of their tendency to prey on livestock, unlike in the case of the snow lion. Since these values reflect people’s real and multifarious interactions with wildlife, we recommend paying greater attention to understanding the overlaps between natural and cultural heritage conservation to facilitate human-wildlife coexistence.

В настоящей статье на лексикографическом материале, на материалеосетинского Нартского эпоса реконструируется образ тотемного предка нартов –волка. Внимание также уделяется характеристикам волка в дохристианский и пост-христианский периоды. «Тотемность» волка доказывается на антропонимическом,топонимическом, фольклорном уровнях и на уровне связи волка с системой верований.На языковом материале с анималистическим компонентом бирæгъ «волк» рассматри-вается система ценностей осетин. In this article on the basis of lexicographic material, on the material of the OssetianNart epic, the image of the totem ancestor of the Narts, the wolf, is reconstructed. Attention isalso paid to the characteristics of the wolf in the pre-Christian and post-Christian periods. The«totemness» of the wolf is proved at the anthroponymic, toponymic, folklore levels and at the levelof the wolf's connection with the belief system. On the basis of linguistic material with animalisticcomponents «wolf», the system of values of the Ossets is established.

The concept of the “other” is starting to get a little worn out, as it has been used extensively. Despite this it still is a clarifying term to be used when we talk of things that we tend to marginalize. The concept is largely built on fear, for it is that which we find distant, different and threatening that we name the “other”. We construct others because of fear and then fear them because of their otherness. (Cohen 1996). One forgotten group of “others” are animals. Of course, we don’t always see the animals as others, and maybe are heading more into the direction of seeing similarities instead of differences between them and ourselves. Still, the animals are often seen as our opposites. It is through the animal that anthropocentric cultures have defined “humanity”: we are what animals are not (see Clarke & Linzey 1990). One differentiating thing is their “wildness”, and it is often the cause of fear. Unlike us supposedly “cultural” creatures, we like to see (biased as ever) the animals as irrational and instinctual beings that threaten our control. Together with wildness also the “unknown” nature of animals makes us fearful, for the silent animals (especially when lurking in the waters or forests) remain beyond our reach. This fear has given birth to animal monsters that have been meddling with our imagination for centuries: the folklores tell about wear wolves, hell hounds and dragons that brave nights have to kill so that human cultures can flourish, the Bible suggests that the fallen angle is a dragon and the anti-christ a “beast”. Especially in the Middle Ages animals were often seen as demonic beings not to be messed with. (Salisbury 1997; Serpell 1986, 46). It does not seem like a big leap to claim that sometimes we see the animal as the silent, immoral, instinctual, material and even evil enemy that needs to be destroyed so that human rationality, morality and spirituality can prevail. The animal monster has not gone anywhere. They still live in the media, in the horror films and in the urban stories. Natural nasties The animal monsters became increasingly popular in the 70’s horror film. Andrew Tudor has called the genre “eco-doom” and refers to the animal monsters as “natural nasties” (Tudor 1989, 48-62). In his opinion the increased number of animal monsters can be tied to the fear of ecological catastrophe. I’d like to add the growing attention to animal rights issues and animal welfare. All of a sudden the superior status of humans was being critically examined, and animal monsters were one way to deal with the fear of loosing the old safe position. Tudor points out that at the same time also paranoia and helplessness were being emphasised: it was in the presumably safe environment that monsters all of a sudden emerged from, and the heroes were no longer quite as strong in protecting the society against them. This could be linked to the awareness of environmental and animal welfare issues: it was the supposedly controlled area that was attacking humanity. The most famous example of “zoohorror” (perhaps a better term for specifically animal monster horror) is of course Jaws (Spielberg, USA 1975). In the film an idyllic small town with happy holiday enjoyers is attacked by a seemingly psychopathic shark. Through out the film the difference and otherness of the shark are emphasised, and it is described as an instinctual “eating machine”. The humans trying to fight it are morally upright people who care for the community, the shark on the other hand is an aggressive killer who’s only motive seems to be to eat as many people as possible. The otherness is underlined with the way the shark is constructed. He remains out of sight for the majority of the film, neither the swimmers or the viewers get to see it. When it is seen for brief few seconds it is shown as a bodily spectacle of a fin, grey glittering body and – of course – huge jaws. Tudor calls these kinds of monsters “alien”, but I think a better term in this case would be “physical”. The monster lacks all personality and its motives are nonexistent. It becomes known only through its body and aggressive actions: it is constructed as an acting body. Otherwise it remains hidden, causing fear with its invisibility and absence. This goes well together with the idea that the animal is the opposite of humans – where as the humans in the films are intentional, rational and moral heroes the animal remains an instinctually acting violent body that is unseen, unknown – and frightning. Pets gone bad As said, it is the wildness and uncontrollability of animals that often causes us to view them as “others” and make us fear them. This is most evident with wild animals, but also present when it comes to domesticated animals. Domestication has often been understood as a process of improvement, of bringing animals from the natural state into culture that is supposed to be somehow “higher” (Thomas 1980; Harris 1996). Domestication also makes it possible to take control over animals (Passariello 1999). The threatening wildness disappears, and animals are made tame creatures that follow our control (of course, this is not always the motive behind domestication). Still, the wildness never completely disappears. As Steve Baker (1993) has claimed, it seems that there always is a fear of our control breaking and the animal going back to its natural stage. A nice little puppy can turn into a hellhound over night and kill the mailman. These stories make the headlines regularly causing even hysteria. The feared others can be domesticated and tamed, but they can still any time break free. The most famous example of an animal monster that causes fear because of “dedomestication” is Cujo (Teague, USA 1983). In the film a friendly family dog turns into a killer after being bit by a bat, and goes after the local villagers with amazing determination to kill everyone in sight. Another example is Man’s Best Friend (Lafia, USA 1993), where a genetically engineered Rottweiler kills all the people he considers rivals in respect to the owner. These (and many more) films construct animal monsters on the basis of our fear that something might go wrong with the domestication. The differences to the “natural nasties” are interesting. Where as wild animals are often physical monsters, domesticated animals are closer to the “anthropomorphic” (the term from Tudor 1989, 115) or “individual” monsters, for unlike wild animals, we are familiar with them. They are not hidden away like the wild animals, but remain in the viewers’ sight. They are also not as instinctual, and we can even understand their motives. Still, they are monsters that cause fear, for they have fought our cultural control and gone back into being “wild”. Psychopathic primates Where as wild animals are far away and domesticated animals close to us, primates are understood to be like us. Their cognitive skills and DNA’s have made it difficult to categorise them, and we feel a little embarrassed of how much they are like us. Still, and perhaps even because of this, they also cause fear. Planet of the Apes (Schaffner USA 1968) plays with the idea of roles being turned upside down, Link (Franklin 1985) and Congo (Marshall 1995) on the other hand show us primates as monsters. In these films the main motive seems to be to find a difference between humans and primates. Eventually it is claimed to be (when all else fails) morality. In Link a domesticated chimpanzee, who can use language, dresses in clothes and even works as a butler for a scientist, turns into a psychopathic killer when he discovers he might be replaced. In the film the scientist keeps saying humans should never forget that they are “the dominant species” and that primates “lack morality”. In Congo there is both a well behaving domesticated gorilla, and a pack of wild gorillas. The scientist, who owns the domesticated one decides to bring her back to the jungle (where she supposedly “belongs”) and has to fight back a group of monstrous wild gorillas. In the course of the film he becomes to understand that not all primates are as nice as the one he’s had, and that some are “killer apes”. The lesson seems to be quite clear: primates can resemble us, but because they lack morality they can ultimately become viscious monsters. Where as wild animals are physical and domesticated animals somewhat closer to individual monsters, primates are completely individuated – after all, they are “closest” to us. In the films the primate monsters are portrayed much like traditional human villains: we understand their motives and they remain visible to us most of the time. Monstrosity is built on individuality that lacks a crucial feature. Conclusion The existence of animal monsters depends on our understanding of what animals are. When we want to emphasise their difference, we create dualisms and classify animals under the one headline “animal”. Through this “generic animal” we can distance ourselves from animality and nature: we are individuals, they are all part of the class of “animals”, who are determined by animality and attributes that go with it (Birke & Parisi 1999). Cultural studies generally ignore the animal others. Nature and animals are mentioned as the opposites to culture and human beings (Haraway 1991), but they usually remain just that – a mention. Certain understandings of their meaning still make us tend to believe that the analyses of animals is somehow disinteresting (Baker 1993; Steeves 1999; Simons 1997). Paradoxically animals are made the opposite of human beings, and then marginalized even in cultural studies as the disinteresting “other”. Analysing what we understand “animality” to be and why we make it our opposition is crucial in seeking to find new ways to relate to animals. 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Passariello, Phylis. “Me and my totem: cross-cultural attitudes toward animals.” Attitudes to Animals: View to Animal Welfare. Ed. Francine Dolins. Cambridge: CUP, 1999. 12-26. Salisbury, Joyce. “Human Beasts and Bestial Humans in the Middle Ages.” Animal Acts: Configuring the Human in Western History. Eds. Jennifer Ham and Matthew Senior. London: Routledge, 1997. 9-23. Serpell, James. In the Company of Animals. New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986. Simons, John. “The Longest Revolution: Cultural Studies after Speciesism.” Environmental Values vol. 6, no 4 (1997): 483-497. Steeves, Peter. Introduction. Animal Others: on Ethics, Ontology and Animal Life. Ed. Peter Steeves. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. 1-14. Thomas, Keith. Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England 1500-1800. London: Penguing Books, 1983. Tudor, Andrew. Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Aaltola, Elisa. "Animal Monsters and the Fear of the Wild" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5.1 (2002). [your date of access] < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0203/animals.php>. Chicago Style Aaltola, Elisa, "Animal Monsters and the Fear of the Wild" M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5, no. 1 (2002), < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0203/animals.php> ([your date of access]). APA Style Aaltola, Elisa. (2002) Animal Monsters and the Fear of the Wild. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 5(1). < http://www.media-culture.org.au/0203/animals.php> ([your date of access]).