The Wolf Prince
He looked into the water and howled at his misery: The reflexion that should have held the face of a handsome youth with noble features showed him the truth he didn’t dare to believe – he had become a hideous beast.
The Wolf Prince is a tale of most likely Manyeong origin, though there are other versions found in Yasaki-Do, which are approximately closer to the original. It has a long oral tradition and is generally categorised as a folk tale, although it could be considered part of the Cunang lore.
Summary
A young, handsome, yet arrogant and egoistic prince is riding through the woods as he sees a beautiful maiden sleeping in the shade of the trees. He especially admires her almost divine hair and wants it for himself, so he cuts it off without hesitation just as she awakes, sees the thief and his loot with a horrid look on her face and runs away, screaming and calling her mother in despair. The prince is in the belief she was just scared by him since he is the prince and thus fled the scene.
As he is on his way back home through the woods, admiring the beautiful hair, he doesn't realise how the forest becomes thicker and darker, and he loses his path. His horse throws him off in fear and escapes, making the prince drop the hair as it is taken with the wind. A dark figure appears between the gloomy trees, and, while frightened to death, the prince demands to know who is approaching. The figure turns out to be a woman dressed all in black with a black wolf fur - Polpomoni, the Wolf Mother.
She confronts him with his misdeeds and, while frightened by her imposing nature, the prince arrogantly states that there was nothing wrong with his behaviour. Polpomoni summons frost and snow that are biting at the prince and make him nearly freeze to death to then question him whether he still stands with his view. When he stubbornly refuses to acknowledge his fault, she becomes furious and transforms him into a wolf.
Historical Basis
While it is unclear whether or not the events occured similar to the folktale, the Northern parts of Manyeong were struggling with a big wolf population in the 3rd to 5th century and it wasn't uncommon for lone travellers to get lost in the dense foggs that occur in the autumn forests. Some swamps and moors have proven to be especially dangerous and up to this date are responsible for several deaths on a yearly basis. Tales that prevent children from wandering outside in the dark were quite popular, the Wolf Prince just proved to be one of the most famous renditions that also featured Polpomoni. In the versions spread mostly in Asakumoku, the Wolf Prince had become a trickster spirit not unlike fae, still roaming the forests, seducing, tricking, threatening and occasionally killing unassuming people for their scalp since his curse cannot be lifted.
Some historians liked to trace back the the character of Moon's Wolf Prince to the famous Lost Prince, Prince Hyeonju, who got lost at a hunting party for his 20th birthday to never return. However, he is recorded to have lived in the late 6th century MOD and most likely had been fallen victim to a ploy by his cousin who later became King Jeonghun. On his dying bed King Jeonghun is said to have confessed to the murder of his cousin out of jealousy since his bride had first been promised to the younger and more talented Hyeonju, who generally was the "source of all of [Jeonghun's] misery." Another motif, most likely, was the throne that initially ran in Hyeonju's family line and now fell to Jeonghun. Thus, some are inclinded to believe that King Jeonghun himself would have been a better choice as character model.
Spread
The Wolf Prince and other tales that feature the natural spirits and animal deities are generally found in the Western Yashidal provinces. It is a very Yashidal folktale that, while not entirely unknown in other parts of the world, still is recognised as such, even though other cultures have similar tales such as The Seven-Winged Phoenix in Khehan literature, or the Žačí tale of Sabilica.
Variations & Mutation
In the Asakumo version, which is still largely told in Yasaki Province, the prince doesn't receive aid from the goddess Ihe, instead Polpomoni herself made him re-transform into a human each night and doesn't give him a chance to lift the curse entirely. This forces him to roam the forests and mountains as a nature spirit, his obsession with other people's beautiful hair stayed, however. By now The Wolf Prince is somewhat the origin story of a ruthless, cruel and at times fanatic fae-like spirit who tricks and seduces people to steal their hair - sometimes just cutting it, sometimes killing and scalping his victims, the gravity of his actions sometimes depends on the age of the audience.
Moon's version that she published within The 101 Tales of Chaewon is most likely a slightly younger version with obvious Cunang influences like the aid by Ihe. It is unclear whether this influence had been very recent to its first documentation due to the Unification of Yashida, or East Manyeong had close contact with cultures that practiced Cunang before and had already established some deities prior to Yashin's conquests. Moon's version also follows the Manyeong literary approach, which gives the tale first and foremost a proper ending as well as character development.
In Literature
The Wolf Prince was officially published for the first time in 759 in the second part of The 101 Tales of Chaewon, a collection of folk tales collected and edited by Moon Chaewon, a literary scholar with strong resentments against King Yashin's policies regarding the "new provinces" and part of the White Lotus Movement.
In Art
While the Wolf Prince hadn't been a terribly popular motif for painters and sculptors, the titular character had been in and out of fashion in the performing arts like plays, circus performances and dance theatre. Here, the Wolf Prince appears mostly in his spirit form very close to the Yasaki-version of the tale. He usually is a side character and typically poses an obstacle for the hero to overcome but not without a sacrifice. They have to outwit him or withstand his temptations but in doing so, they have to leave a token. Sometimes he holds a required item and the hero has to haggle for it and eventually paying a seemingly too high price for it. In rarer cases, the Wolf Prince is a neutral or even helpful spirit and is paid in kindness - in these instances, he tends to be disguised in his plain human form and later reveals his true identity.
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