Material Object

The main artefact of this exhibit is a miniature that’s from Topographia Hibernica, written by Giraldus Cambrensis, also called Gerald of Wales. In this story, there is a monk who is travelling in the woods with his fellow travellers. A large wolf suddenly appeared and begged the monk for help, the wolf man creature spoke well and had good manners (BL Royal MS 13 B. viii, f.18r.). Although the monk was shocked, he accepted his plead and followed him back to help his comrade. When the monk arrived, he saw another wolf who was sick and was about to die. But then, the second wolf transformed back from her wolf form and was shown to be an old lady. The monk was speechless, then the wolves explained that they were from a place that a man and a woman will be exiled and turn into wolf form every seven years. The monk then gave the old lady her last rite, and she turned back to her wolf form. The wolf thanked him and said that he would guard his friends for the night. The miniature depicts this scene as there are two wolves and one monk, the man wolf is seen standing on the left and the old lady wolf is seen lying in a hollow tree, the monk is seen giving rite to the old lady wolf. The wolves are submitted to the monk as they have their tails tucked in, their fur is a greyish blue color. The monk is wearing a greenish-colored robe with a brown covering on top. He is holding a circle-looking object in front of the old lady wolf in this scene. This miniature and the story of where it is from shows the respectful and well manner of the werewolf, despite their fearsome forms, they still are willing to seek help from the monk regarding their spiritual well beings. Just like Bisclavret, these werewolves still hold their respectable and religious natures from their human forms.

The second secondary artefact is a miniature showing a wolf sneaking up on a shepherd, his dog, and his herd. The wolf is black, his tail staying flat along his body, looking at the sheep with his mouth open, showing his wolf teeth as a sign of violence. The dog is brown, standing on the roof of the sheep pen with his tail stood up, and is looking at the wolf, realizing his presence and showing his teeth as well to assert hostility. The shepherd does not seem to notice the wolves’ presence; he looks like he is taking a nap on a rock, completely oblivious to the fact that his herd and he are about to be attacked. Finally, the sheep all look worried and are able to tell the wolves’ presence; their fate can only be protected by the dog on the roof.

This manuscript talks about how the encounter with a wolf might affect a man: if a wolf sees a man before the man sees the wolf, the man will lose his voice, but if the man sees it first, the wolf can no longer be fierce (Aberdeen Bestiary, c. 1200). It shows the style of the wolf’s attack, which is often sneaking up to their prey and thus gaining an element of surprise over them. It also notes the importance for humans to be wary of their surroundings, so that they do not become victims to wolves if they let their guards down. This is fascinating because it shows wolves, and by extension, werewolves, are viewed as creatures of mystery in medieval times. The manuscript also touched on the allegorical interpretation of wolves and werewolves, which marked them as symbols of the devil, representing evil and temptation. This is more evidence of the deep connection between wolves and medieval religious teachings and how they perceived them. Overall, this manuscript connects the literal and metaphorical aspects of wolves and is able to apply these mythical ideologies to real-life occurrences.