The wolf is a common motif in the foundational mythologies and cosmologies of peoples throughout Eurasia and North America corresponding to the historical extent of the habitat of the gray wolf , and also plays a role in ancient European cultures. The modern trope of the Big Bad Wolf arises from European folklore.
The wolf holds great importance in the cultures and religions of many nomadic peoples, such as those of the Eurasian steppe and North American Plains. One of the earliest written references to black wolves occurs in the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh , in which the titular character rejects the sexual advances of the goddess Ishtar , reminding her that she had transformed a previous lover, a shepherd, into a wolf, thus turning him into the very animal that his flocks must be protected against.
The wolf is a national symbol of Chechnya. This is reflected in Iron Age Europe in the Tierkrieger depictions from the Germanic sphere, among others.
The standard comparative overview of this aspect of Indo-European mythology is McCone [ 7 ]. According to legend, the establishment of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius began when the grand duke Gediminas dreamt of an iron wolf howling near the hill. Lithuanian goddess Medeina was described as a single, unwilling to get married, though voluptuous and beautiful huntress. She was depicted as a she-wolf with an escort of wolves.
In his book From Zalmoxis to Genghis Khan , Mircea Eliade attempted to give a mythological foundation to an alleged special relation between Dacians and the wolves: [ 8 ]. At that time, he will have grown so large that his upper jaw touches the sky while his lower touches the earth when he gapes.
