Wolf & Fox

In pre-Christian Times the fox was seen as a symbol of gods, like for example, as a symbol of the god of vegetation or as a symbol of forest- and mountain-spirits. This changed in Christian Times, from where on the fox was seen as a demonic creature. The fox is a very famous figure in fables and usually is described as greedy, dishonest and tricky. At the same time of all the helpful animals in fairy tales the fox is said to be the most helpful one. Most fables tell about how the fox tricks other animals to get food, but no legends or fairy tales have been found telling about the fox attacking humans.

In one of the early East-Indian legends, the wolf is described as a sympathetic and helpful animal. There are several legends telling about female wolves nursing children, the most famous being the legend of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The Mongols viewed themselves as "sons of the blue wolf", descended through Genghis Khan from a mythical wolf that came down from heaven. For the Romans the wolf was the symbol of the god of war. Connecting the wolf with war and death was not meant in a deprecatory way, it rather referred to the death of a big warrior or chief, and warriors have been called raging wolves, so there has also been something heroic about the wolf, which could also explain the numerous personal names connected with the word wolf, like for example Wolfgang, Wolfdietrich, Wolfram