In the company of wolves

What's more folkloric than the image of a wolf padding throught the forest? An image that conjures fear and fascination equally. For me the fascination began on a drive along a diversion on a forest road in Switzerland. The sharp mountain bends had to be negotiated slowly and there I saw it.The window was half open on my side and I saw the wolf clearly, just standing watching me with huge golden eyes.It was a feeling of curiosity more than fear.Later with friends in a park someone had a dog which was part timber wolf which chose to sit right next to me out of a crowd of people.For me wolves are fascinating. As is their interaction with other creatures.Such as a raven playing with a wolf and showing it where to find food.Or their clever social structure and tactics for survival. The memorable scene in company of wolves conjures up all feeling of ambiguity about these beautiful creatures.In Norse folklore wolves are often depicted as mounts. In Navaho tradition wolves are portrayed as witches disguised as wolves, named Skinwalkers.This is so similar to the transformation scene in Angela Carter's Company Of Wolves tale from The Bloody Chamber book. As in many areas where witchcraft is practised Navaho practitioners are shamans who believe in harnessing both good and evil,which is why they are revered but also feared as the evil side employs human bones and the garb is the skin of a wolf.By the way when I made the illustration for this it changed colour by itself when I uploaded it and another wolf shape appeared.Can you spot it?You may also like Turning into a wolf was fantastic’: how we made The Company of Wolves | Film | The Guardian and this lovely video clip from the original Company Of Wolves film.