The Four Wise Wolves

The four wise wolves is an old myth surpassing written history, originating within greengrave in the western glade. The myth speaks of four wise wolves that rely on each other to hunt, and represent the four stages of hunting.

Summary

It's said that the four wise wolves are a pack of wolves that roamed greengrave in its infancy. These wolves were the biggest and strongest, and from the wilds, a witch bestowed each of them a giftt; Spring was gifted great ears that could hear the gasp of a rabbit miles away. Summer whom had a scarred eye was gifted excellent sight that could even see the souls of people, even through solid matter. Autumn was gifted an earth shattering bellow, as a sign of a hunt anew. And the last wolf; Winter was gifted with great speed and great strength to outrun and overpower any prey. These four wise wolves would then go on to become a very dangerous pack which would then be slain by the very witch that gave them their gifts

Historical Basis

It's said that the myth originated from the inherent fear colonizers had when entering greengrave for the first time. The wildlife was plentiful and very dangerous, and among them; wolves were always the wisest. You can trick any creature, but a wolf is smart, and a wolf is strong. It was said that colonizers suffered many deaths at the hands of wolves, even parties of more than 10 would be left with few survivors after devestating wolf attacks. So it's believed that to spread the awareness of wolves, hunters would try to learn and then warn each other about how to avoid the hunt

Spread

The myth is common-place among most settlemants, barring that of blackhawk, being so far from the forests. While the myth is nothing more than a bedtime story weary mothers tell their children to make sure they behave, it has reached most corners of greengrave and references to the tale can be found in many places.

Variations & Mutation

Through the passage of time, there have been many variations of the old myth. Some minor, some not. One of the most common discrepencies between tellings is about the second wise wolf; Summer. Some depict him as a wolf with a scar over his right eye, while others say it's his left. Through a constant debate, some believed that he had a scar over both eyes, and the misunderstanding came from how you viewed him. If he saw you with his right eye, your fate is sealed and you will soon hear the call of the hunt. However, if he saw you with his left eye, the hunt wouldn't start and you'd have a chance to escape. This is because Summer is a kind wolf who can see the souls of the living. If you were pure of heart, he would turn a blind eye, to which the other wolves would blame his bad eye. But if your heart was black and cold, he would see you, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Some think the term 'to turn a blind eye' originated from this variation. Other depictions refer to the wolves as the four injured wolves, whom were all brothers. The tale goes that the four wolves were each very hungry one rest, so Spring had tricked the other three into sneaking into a witch's hoble. They had eaten all her food until they were fat and tired, sleeping soundly within the witch's abode. The witch had been gone for many a moon and of course found the four wolves, and was so angry that she had cursed each one. Spring was left with only his sight, Summer could only hear, Autumn could only speak, and poor Winter had his ears, eyes and throat ripped out by the witch for daring to stand up to her. They had escaped with only their lives. In order to survive, they bit down on the tail of the wolf in front of them in the order of their names.

Cultural Reception

Typically the wolves are viewed as a warning to the threat of wolves and the wisdom they have gained after generations of trial and error; the perfect hunter. However, others see them in a different light, mostly hunters. Some hunters praise the four wolves, as they're a necessary evil and that hunting is just another fact of nature. One must not only have the skill to find and capture prey, but the will to take the life of a being that couldn't deny its fate. Overall, the myth is commonly known and everyone may have a slightly different tale to tell.

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