The Wulver is a unique and relatively benign figure in Scottish folklore, particularly from the Shetland Islands. Unlike many shapeshifting wolf-like creatures in folklore (such as werewolves), the Wulver is generally not considered malevolent or a threat to humans.
Appearance[]
The Wulver is described as a humanoid figure with the head of a wolf and a hairy body, essentially a wolf-man. It's often depicted as being completely covered in short, brown hair, with a wolf's head but retaining a human-like stature. It's not a shapeshifter; it's permanently in this form.
Behaviour[]
Crucially, the Wulver is benevolent or neutral, not evil. It is said to live a solitary life in caves (specifically, a cave called "Wulver's Stane"), usually near water, and minds its own business.
Sightings[]
A supposed modern sighting of the Wulver is said to have occurred in the Hebrides, southwest of Shetland, in the 19th Century. The witness, Andrew Warren, claimed that his grandfather had dug up a human skeleton with a wolf's head, and that after the skeleton was taken back to his house, the creature itself appeared outside the window. The next day, Warren's grandfather reinterred the bones. Similar stories, including an almost identical account from Merionethshire, Wales, are told of "earthbound" werewolves in Europe.
Explanations[]
Doctor Susan Schoon Eberly suggested that the legend of the Wulver may have a basis in a human being with a medical condition such as Hunter syndrome. Even if such a hairy man was living in the Shetland Islands, seeing as his last sighting was in the 19th Century, he must have passed away sometime during the 20th Century.
Sources[]
- Shuker, Karl ShukerNature: WULVERS AND WOLFEN AND WEREWOLVES, OH MY!! - TALES OF THE UNINVITED karlshuker.blogspot.com