#shetland folklore

[laurasimonsdaughter]

The elusive wulver...

In folklore werewolves aren't anywhere near as monstrous as they are often portrayed in modern fantasy. There are plenty of horror stories about them, but often they just cause misschief, of startle people, and they can even be (begrudgingly) helpful, or end up the victim of their story. You can find various examples scattered about on my blog.

But among all stories of wolf-people, the wulver from Shetland stands out as a particularly kind character. The wulver is described as bipedal, furry, but with a wolf's head, which is not unheard of for more human acting werewolves in folklore. (Although you could argue this isn't a werewolf at all, because it never was, nor will be, fully human.) Its other main characteristic is being a keen fisherman, and sharing its catch with hungry locals.

This description comes from folklorist Jessie Saxby's 1932 book Shetland Traditional Lore, and seems the wulver's only source. Briggs quotes it in my beloved Encyclopedia of Fairies (1976), but has no other information to offer. Now of course it isn't unheard of to have only one written source for very local folklore. But they are usually a little older than the 1930s and it is odd if there is no other folklore or stories surrounding it that are even a little bit similar.

So the wulver, as a folkloric creature, kind of bugged me, and I'd look into it every now and again. But! Since I did so last, an archivist at the Shetland Museum named Brian Smith has written an article on the subject! A slightly frustrated article concluding:

The wulver has its origins in Jakob Jakobsen’s place name research, and Jessie Saxby’s misrepresentation of it. There is no Shetland wulver tradition older than 1930.

His explanation that "wulver" or "wolver" was a Shetland pronounciation of the old Norse álf (fairy) used in place names like "Wolvershul" (fairy hill), sounds solid to me. And the claim that Jessie Saxby is the only one who uses it as a name for a wolf creature also seems reasonable. But it is very clear that Smith has a bone to pick with her: "Hardly a month passes without someone asking the Shetland Archives for information about the creature."

I do feel for him, but I'd like to believe that Saxby didn't invent the wulver out of nothing on purpose. Perhaps she and one of her informants got a little lost in a headcanon, perhaps she accidentally mixed in some cynocephaly folklore. Either way, the wulver is a compelling character, and a pretty term for a wolf-creature. Folkloric or not, it makes as good an addition to the modern fantasy population as perytons and dullahan.

But I do love having a plausible answer to my doubts. Read the article yourself if you're interested:

The real story behind the Shetland wulver | Shetland Museum & Archives

In recent years there has been a lot of discussion about the ‘wulver’, Shetland’s ‘kind and generous werewolf’, as someone has described him

[jackdelgado]

And last of the Celtic ones: the Wulver, from the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Unlike a lot of the wolfman myths, Wulver is apparently benign, solitary and just wants to be left alone to fish - occasionally sharing his catch with local widows #HellaWieners

[briefbestiary]

A surprisingly friendly canid fellow the Wulver, artificial creation or not, was a being of peaceful solitude. He would not strike unless struck, and often shared some of his catches with those who needed it.

[niftybucklesblog]

Maren of Skelwick, Shetland Fairylore

In Shetland’s Skelwick, Maren spun flax so fine it rivaled spider silk , her wheel humming by the hearth on a stormy night She sang an old tune to ward off Trows gnarled fairy folk who envied human craft. But one Trow, Grimni from Houlland hill heard her song as a call.

Smitten he left a silver coin by her wheel, etched with runes. Then a pearl, shells that sang, and a whalebone comb. Maren kept them, whispering thanks. On the seventh night, Grimni rasped, “Ye’ve taken me gifts—ye’re mine.”

The floor split down, she went to his moss-lit hall. #Trows danced, crowning her with fishbone But Maren clutched a rusted nail, Trows hate iron. She tricked #Grimni to fetch water drove the nail into the wall, and climbed free as the hall crumbled.

A week had passed in a night. Her gifts turned to dust, but her wheel bore Trow scratches. She hung iron above her door ever after.

Trow 🎨by Mark Bere Peterson

[frankthefishart]

Tangie – from Shetland folklore. Described as a sea-horse or mermaid-like animal it drowns & devours its prey underwater, for this one I decided to cross anatomy of horse with aspects of a predatory seal to create a speculative animal  monster that would match the myth.

[frankthefishart]

Stoor Worm – A sea Serpent from the Shetland isles, likely derived from the Norse Serpent Jörmungandr. But I thought I would draw the common sea serpent culprit instead so here is the very real Giant Oarfish. mine has some extra length though.