Since ancient times, many peoples have associated the image of a wolf with the cult of the deity of war. The ancient Greeks in Arcadia worshiped Lycea Apollo, Lycea Zeus in the form of a wolf. The ancient Roman god of war Mars was served by warrior-priests. They were called Sacranams or Amertines, and the wolf was their totem.
The connection between the wolf and the deity of war was also reflected in the myths about two wolves accompanying the ancient German war god Odin as his "dogs" (a similar idea is also noted in Georgian mythology). The Slavic god of war and ancestor was called the Fire Wolf Serpent.
Accordingly, the warriors of the ancient Indo-Europeans themselves were presented as wolves or were called wolves (in the Hittite, Iranian, Greek, Germanic and other Indo-European traditions) and often dressed up in wolf skins. In this case, the head of the wolf was worn on the helmet, and the rest of the skin covered the shoulders and back of the wolf (for that time it was an ideal camouflage suit in the conditions of rich flora and fauna). Some units of the Roman legions also wore such a wolfskin: scouts, standard-bearers and the Praetorian Guard. Both the standard-bearers and the Praetorian Guard, as a ceremonial army, less than other units, changed the image of uniform over time (such conservatism can still be observed today with the ceremonial units of troops of different countries, such as the Papal Guard, the Queen's Guard, etc. etc.).
The sagas say that the Scandinavian wolf warriors (berserkers) were so fierce, strong and skillful in martial art that they went into battle without weapons (or rather, they used a shield and a sword only to get deeper into the enemy's ranks), fighting practically with their hands and feet. (As is known from history, the ancient Balts were worthy opponents of the Vikings). According to the Hittite text of the appeal of King Hattusilis I (XVII century BC) to the army, his soldiers should be like a "pack of wolves." A similar idea of a wolf pack as a symbol of a military squad is known in the Caucasus among the Svans. In turn, those who used their connection with the totem of the wolf and their art of the warrior, committing crimes, were considered, as evidenced by Hittite laws, ancient German legal norms, as well as Plato, the worst criminals-wolves who must be destroyed,as soon as they are caught.
The idea of transforming a person into a wolf unites many myths about the wolf. V. Zadorozhny writes: “Herodotus narrated a story about a certain Northern European tribe (neuri), whose members turned into wolves for several days every year. Many tribes in different parts of Europe suffered from such "megalomania". For example, the Balts had warriors - the servants of the wolf god, who went into battle, literally eating too much (taking drugs was part of the ritual). During the battle, such warriors in their hallucinations considered themselves wolves. Some of them were irretrievably stuck in the form of a wolf - and then the wolf-man was killed so that he would not cause damage …"
In the folklore of European peoples, echoes and beliefs about the connection of wolves with a wedding have been preserved. Here we meet both the groom, who turns into a wolf, and the sorcerer, who can turn all the wedding guests into a pack of wolves. The archaism of these beliefs is evidenced by the fact that in the European tradition the ability of the groom to turn into a wolf is associated with the ancient custom of marriage - stealing the bride. Here the connection is manifested: groom - warrior - wolf. Festive rituals, when people dressed in wolf skins, walked with a mask or stuffed wolf, among many peoples of Europe (including the Balts and among the southern and western Slavs) were timed to the autumn-winter season (when, as we know, the harvest has already been harvested, the swamps are frozen, people are much less busy with household chores). It was at this time of the year that they played a wedding and went to war. In the traditions of many European peoples, December is called the "wolf month".
Talivaldis Zemzaris wrote in the first half of the 20th century: “Analyzing the specialized literature of the 16th and 17th centuries, I came to the conclusion that the issue of wolf lags should be especially relevant in Latvia, because several serious authors (theologian Olav Magnus, physician Gasapar Peyker, lawyer Voden, Johan Fishart and others) prove the reality of wolfdogs based on reliable information from Livonia and Prussia. " They are joined by prof. K. Straubergis: “In the numerous literary works of the 16th century about witchcraft, there is especially a lot of information about the wolf-lakers of Livonia, which at that time in Europe was famous as the country of sorcerers and witches. German cosmographer Seb. Minster, in his popular Cosmography (1550), referring to his Livonian correspondent Hans Hasenteter, writes that there are many sorcerers and witches in this land,who, during interrogations in the Inquisition, often reported their ability to turn into a wolf …"
Georg Sabin, commenting on Book VII of Ovid's Metamorphoses, where he speaks of lycanthropy, states: “Commoners are convinced that some people turn into wolves and back again once a year. Herodotus also writes about such people, talking about the Neurs, the people of Scythia, and here the Prussians also have such …”In turn, the Burgundian Hubert Languet goes even further and claims that it is Vidzeme (Livonia) that is the land where, according to Herodotus, there lived neurs who supposedly could turn into wolves.
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Solomon Henning in his chronicle (1589) writes about the beliefs of the Kurlanders: "… the peasants must be weaned from their delusions, witchcraft, idolatry and turned to a true understanding of the essence and will of God. They are very inclined towards paganism and worship the sun, stars, moon, fire, water, streams and almost all living creatures, only this was done openly before, but today it happens secretly … it would be too long to describe all the abominations that these people do in their numerous groves and burying their dead. many times they turn into wolves and run (around) like wolfhounds, as they are called. " In turn, from the materials of the Holy Inquisition, we read: "Here, the Livs know how to conjure, and if everyone who is doing this is burned at the stake, there will be no one left to work in the field."
In 1555, the Catholic bishop from Uppsala, Olav Menson (in the Latinized version of Magnus), who fled to Rome, wrote about the wolfodlaks very widely, believing that this phenomenon is very characteristic of the inhabitants of Prussia, Livonia and Lithuania: “the class of wolves that people really are turned into a wolf - a class about which Pliny writes with conviction that these are invented fabulous creatures, in my opinion, are still found in large numbers in northern countries to this day … at Christmas night, many wolves gather in a conventional place, into which people have turned from different volosts, and on the same night with terrible ferocity they attack both people and cattle … They break into beer cellars, drink several barrels of beer, and stack empty ones one on top of the other in the middle of the hall: in this they differ from real wolves.
The Courland Superintendent Paul Einhorn wrote in his book that it cannot be denied that wolfhounds are people who, on behalf of the devil, take the form of a wolf and, running around, can harm livestock and people. Some explain this by "metempsychosis", that is, that the human soul passes into a wolf and directs its activities. The human body must remain in the same position, lying, otherwise the soul will not find its way back and will forever remain in the wolf. Others think that there is a "transmutation" - a person turns into a wolf in body and soul. Einhorn himself denies these explanations, joining the opinion that these are the tricks of the devil: who thinks that he is a wolf, although he is not a wolf, and to another it seems that he sees a wolf, although in fact he does not see him. In turn, the priest Himself. Early, opposing the Breslav doctor Johan Canold, wrote in 1725:“Not a single educated person in Courland believes that they act like wolves (harm livestock, etc.). But in their fantasies and delusions, they consider themselves wolves, while others, because of the same delusions and stupidity, also consider them wolves, and therefore they run through the forest like wolves (of course, not real). " And the protocol of the interrogation of the Inquisition testifies: "He only feels that he is a wolf, but when he sheds a wolf's skin, he immediately wakes up."but when he sheds his wolf skin, he immediately comes to himself. "but when he sheds his wolf's hide, he immediately comes to himself."
This point of view on this problem is also characteristic of the ruling circles of that time, when the wolf lags were either denied as superstition, or identified with the forces of evil. But this issue has another side, the point of view of the common people, the Latvian peasants, which until now has been little studied.
In this we can be helped by the surviving interrogation protocols at the trials against witches and wolf-claws of the 16th-18th centuries. Unfortunately, as T. Zemzaris points out, not all periods of history and not all districts of Latvia are represented equally extensively in these materials important for history, because the old judicial archives of Courland and Livonia were either destroyed in wars or abroad and are not yet available for study. But even from those fragments that were translated and published by K. Straubergs and T. Zemzaris, we can draw some conclusions.
Volkodlak is not quite ranked among the sorcerers, and, as we will see, it is even the opposite of such, although general ideas reduce them to one thing, as can be read in the descriptions of wolfdogs (Olav Magnus, witches' processes, etc.). Therefore, among the judges, the prevailing conviction (adopted by commentators) that the wolf lak is a creature - a servant of Satan. They tried to get this answer from the accused using the well-known methods of interrogation. But, in spite of the most terrible tortures, the accused rejected it, as, for example, in the trial of 1683 against Thomas Igund: “To whom did you harm? Nobody. Volkodlaki do good to people - they help those who were offended by the witches, they try to fix everything for the better. … So, they cured the stallion Kaln Peteris, who almost died … Latsis Jochim's child was already completely blue, but Thomas undressed him and healed him with his skill.
It may seem incredible, but the Latvian peasants did not consider the wolf-lags to be representatives of the forces of evil. Rather, quite the opposite!
In 1691, Tis (Matis) from Mal-pils told the court: “The Germans have their own hell. After death, wolf lags are buried like all other people; their souls go to heaven, and the souls of sorcerers go to hell. Volkodlaki do not serve the devil, but fight against him - they take away what the sorcerers have stolen; the devil hates wolfdogs and, if possible, hits them like dogs, because they are the dogs of God and bring good to people … They do not believe in the Bible teaching, they do not go to church. (Yew, who was already over 80, as evidenced by court materials, was glorified throughout the district as a witch doctor, and the peasants "worshiped him like an idol"). He has nothing to do with the devil, because he is the dog of God and takes away from the devil what the sorcerers have collected and the devil is his enemy. … He healed many … collected various herbs … gave them to drink. " P. Šmit in the collection “Latvian Folk Beliefs” gives a similar indication: “In the old days, wolves were called God's dogs, because God himself loved them very much. For this, the wolves prayed and howled songs every morning at the appointed place. And Straubergis points out that "a very specific designation for wolf lags - the dogs of God."
“Latvian folk beliefs” says: “Whoever wants to become a wolf lak must go to the forest before sunrise on Janis (summer solstice), find a fallen oak tree, plunge two knives, undress naked and make three somersaults between the blades.” It seems to me that in this belief one can clearly see the parallels with the initiation rituals of young warriors …
"To become a wolf lak, a person needs to go to a quiet, secret place where a stranger cannot wander … transformation into a wolf lak occurs in different ways, of which the main thing is crawling under a tree, the top of which bent to the ground and took root" (Could this be As you know from history, for example, in medieval Japan such places were used by formidable scouts and saboteurs - "wolves among people" - ninja.) "A wolf lak can be a woman or a man." "A wolf lak needs a special clothes. … They wear the skin of a goat or other animal."
Del-Rio, who also wrote a lot about wolfhounds, reported: “Sometimes he (the devil) gives a man a wolf skin, which he must keep in the hollow of a tree. Sometimes he gives the wolf lags the image of a wolf, while they use ointments and verbal formulas. So the fact that those wounds that they received as wolves remain on their body even after turning back into a human was not at all surprising. After all, the haze of the image of a wolf, which the devil let loose, slowly dissipates, and the wound remains on the body … When a person is ripe, the devil gives him a wolkodlak belt. And the ancient Germans believed that the werewolf had a special belt (schmachtrilmen) … (Interesting coincidence: in East Asian martial arts systems, the instructor confirms the skill level of a fighter by giving him a belt corresponding to that level of color).
Protocols: "… Otherwise, a wolf lak is a person who temporarily turns into a wolf. … A wolf lak has human eyes. … If you beat him, then he will suffer in a human form. If you hurt him, the wound will remain for life. wounded so that it bleeds, he immediately becomes a man. " Volkodlak "runs like a wolf on all four, while he feels much stronger than usual." So, ending the citation of the protocols, Straubergis sums up the following: "Wolf claws are not sorcerers at all, and although they consider themselves wolves and imitate the actions of wolves, in fact they are and remain people."
From the “Latvian folk beliefs”: “When the wolves stop howling, they choose a sovereign from among the elders, who lets each wolf know where to go to look for food, what to do on that day or night, and everything else”; "In order for a newcomer to be initiated into wolf lags, he had to do the following: cut his little finger with a dagger and sign with blood." In turn, from the court records, we learn: “The wolves, like the wolves, had their leaders who knew everything. They took care of their subordinates, gave them instructions on how and where to become human again. " "Volkodlaki usually move in groups of 20-30 individuals each"; “They come from different volosts in an organized way”; “Volkodlaks also have their own meetings. There is a large rock on a small island in the Brasla River. Under the stone is the meeting place of the wolf lags. … One usually stands on guard with a sharp pole instead of a sword. "Usually wolf-lakers gathered together at the summer and winter solstices, which can no doubt be associated with pagan rituals.
So, the organized and similar to the military structure of wolf lags is very clearly manifested.
Let's resort to the help of Olav Magnus: “Between Lithuania, Samogitia and Kurland there is a wall in the ruins of an old castle, where once a year several thousand wolf-lags gather and test their dexterity by jumping over this wall. Those who cannot jump over the egu wall, as is the case with the overweight, are beaten by the commanders with whips. … among them there are many nobles. (I would like to remind you that at that time most of the nobility of Lithuania and part of the nobility of Livonia came from the best families of the indigenous people).
From the court records we learn that: “The wolves understood the language of animals, but they themselves could not speak it. They, like the wolves, were led by the leader ("forest father"). Without his knowledge, no one dared even touch a mouse. At different times they ate differently and not always meat "; “Sometimes wolves were not allowed to eat meat. For one month they ate strange sweet bread that falls from the sky … for the next month they only swallow the wind”(isn't this fast with breathing exercises?); “Where wolves howl, God feeds them. One peasant found this place on the trail and there is a strange white bean. This was the bread that God used to feed the wolves. After eating this, he became unusually healthy and vigorous for nine days. Likewise, wolfhounds can live for nine days without food and not feel hungry."
In Europe, simultaneously with the destruction of paganism and the emergence of large regular military formations in all-metal armor, the formidable wolf warriors of the ancient pagans gradually disappeared, leaving only humane echoes of themselves in sagas, myths and chronicles. However, interest in this topic is not lost even now. One of the most famous trials of the wolkodlaks in 1637 in Riga was against Janis Kuschis from Lielupe. By an interesting coincidence, the first who, four years ago, expressed the idea of the closeness of the concepts of "wolfodlak" and "pagan warrior", was another Janis Kuschis, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, lieutenant colonel and commander of a special forces battalion of the Latvian armed forces.
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