Section 2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog.
WE begin with the corn-spirit conceived as a wolf or a dog. This
conception is common in France, Germany, and Slavonic
countries. Thus, when the wind sets the corn in wave-like motion
the peasants often say, "The Wolf is going over, or through, the
corn," "the Rye-wolf is rushing over the field," "the Wolf is in the
corn," "the mad Dog is in the corn," "the big Dog is there." When
children wish to go into the corn-fields to pluck ears or gather the
blue corn-flowers, they are warned not to do so, for "the big Dog
sits in the corn," or "the Wolf sits in the corn, and will tear you in
pieces," "the Wolf will eat you." The wolf against whom the
children are warned is not a common wolf, for he is often spoken
of as the Corn-wolf, Rye-wolf, or the like; thus they say, "The
Rye-wolf will come and eat you up, children," "the Rye-wolf will
carry you off," and so forth. Still he has all the outward
appearance of a wolf. For in the neighbourhood of Feilenhof (East
Prussia), when a wolf was seen running through a field, the
peasants used to watch whether he carried his tail in the air or
dragged it on the ground. If he dragged it on the ground, they
went after him, and thanked him for bringing them a blessing, and
even set tit-bits before him. But if he carried his tail high, they
cursed him and tried to kill him. Here the wolf is the corn-spirit
whose fertilising power is in his tail. 1
Both dog and wolf appear as embodiments of the corn-spirit in
harvest-customs. Thus in some parts of Silesia the person who
cuts or binds the last sheaf is called the Wheat-dog or the
Peas-pug. But it is in the harvest-customs of the north-east of
France that the idea of the Corn-dog comes out most clearly.
Thus when a harvester, through sickness, weariness, or laziness,
cannot or will not keep up with the reaper in front of him, they say,
"The White Dog passed near him," "he has the White Bitch," or
"the White Bitch has bitten him. In the Vosges the Harvest-May is
called the "Dog of the harvest," and the person who cuts the last
handful of hay or wheat is said to "kill the Dog." About
Lons-le-Saulnier, in the Jura, the last sheaf is called the Bitch. In
the neighbourhood of Verdun the regular expression for finishing
the reaping is, "They are going to kill the Dog"; and at Epinal they
say, according to the crop, "We will kill the Wheat-dog, or the
Rye-dog, or the Potato-dog." In Lorraine it is said of the man who
cuts the last corn, "He is killing the Dog of the harvest." At Dux, in
the Tyrol, the man who gives the last stroke at threshing is said to
"strike down the Dog"; and at Ahnebergen, near Stade, he is
called, according to the crop, Corn-pug, Rye-pug,
Wheat-pug. 2
So with the wolf. In Silesia, when the reapers gather round the
last patch of standing corn to reap it they are said to be about "to
catch the Wolf." In various parts of Mecklenburg, where the belief
in the Corn-wolf is particularly prevalent, every one fears to cut
the last corn, because they say that the Wolf is sitting in it; hence
every reaper exerts himself to the utmost in order not to be the
last, and every woman similarly fears to bind the last sheaf
because "the Wolf is in it." So both among the reapers and the
binders there is a competition not to be the last to finish. And in
Germany generally it appears to be a common saying that "the
Wolf sits in the last sheaf." In some places they call out to the
reaper, "Beware of the Wolf"; or they say, "He is chasing the Wolf
out of the corn." In Mecklenburg the last bunch of standing corn is
itself commonly called the Wolf, and the man who reaps it "has the
Wolf," the animal being described as the Rye-wolf, the
Wheat-wolf, the Barley-wolf, and so on according to the
particular crop. The reaper of the last corn is himself called Wolf or
the Rye-wolf, if the crop is rye, and in many parts of Mecklenburg
he has to support the character by pretending to bite the other
harvesters or by howling like a wolf. The last sheaf of corn is also
called the Wolf or the Rye-wolf or the Oats-wolf according to the
crop, and of the woman who binds it they say, "The Wolf is biting
her," "She has the Wolf," "She must fetch the Wolf" (out of the
corn). Moreover, she herself is called Wolf; they cry out to her,
"Thou art the Wolf," and she has to bear the name for a whole
year; sometimes, according to the crop, she is called the
Rye-wolf or the Potato-wolf. In the island of Rügen not only is the
woman who binds the last sheaf called Wolf, but when she comes
home she bites the lady of the house and the stewardess, for
which she receives a large piece of meat. Yet nobody likes to be
the Wolf. The same woman may be Rye-wolf, Wheat-wolf, and
Oats-wolf, if she happens to bind the last sheaf of rye, wheat, and
oats. At Buir, in the district of Cologne, it was formerly the custom
to give to the last sheaf the shape of a wolf. It was kept in the barn
till all the corn was threshed. Then it was brought to the farmer and
he had to sprinkle it with beer or brandy. At Brunshaupten in
Mecklenburg the young woman who bound the last sheaf of wheat
used to take a handful of stalks out of it and make "the
Wheat-wolf" with them; it was the figure of a wolf about two feet
long and half a foot high, the legs of the animal being represented
by stiff stalks and its tail and mane by wheat-ears. This
Wheat-wolf she carried back at the head of the harvesters to the
village, where it was set up on a high place in the parlour of the
farm and remained there for a long time. In many places the sheaf
called the Wolf is made up in human form and dressed in clothes.
This indicates a confusion of ideas between the corn-spirit
conceived in human and in animal form. Generally the Wolf is
brought home on the last waggon with joyful cries. Hence the last
waggon-load itself receives the name of the Wolf. 3
Again, the Wolf is supposed to hide himself amongst the cut corn
in the granary, until he is driven out of the last bundle by the
strokes of the flail. Hence at Wanzleben, near Magdeburg, after
the threshing the peasants go in procession, leading by a chain a
man who is enveloped in the threshed-out straw and is called the
Wolf. He represents the corn-spirit who has been caught
escaping from the threshed corn. In the district of Treves it is
believed that the Corn-wolf is killed at threshing. The men thresh
the last sheaf till it is reduced to chopped straw. In this way they
think that the Corn-wolf, who was lurking in the last sheaf, has
been certainly killed. 4
In France also the Corn-wolf appears at harvest. Thus they call
out to the reaper of the last corn, "You will catch the Wolf." Near
Chambéry they form a ring round the last standing corn, and cry,
"The Wolf is in there." In Finisterre, when the reaping draws near
an end, the harvesters cry, "There is the Wolf; we will catch him."
Each takes a swath to reap, and he who finishes first calls out,
"I've caught the Wolf." In Guyenne, when the last corn has been
reaped, they lead a wether all round the field. It is called "the Wolf
of the field." Its horns are decked with a wreath of flowers and
corn-ears, and its neck and body are also encircled with
garlands and ribbons. All the reapers march, singing, behind it.
Then it is killed on the field. In this part of France the last sheaf is
called the coujoulage, which, in the patois, means a wether.
Hence the killing of the wether represents the death of the
corn-spirit, considered as present in the last sheaf; but two
different conceptions of the corn-spirit-as a wolf and as a
wether-are mixed up together. 5
Sometimes it appears to be thought that the Wolf, caught in the
last corn, lives during the winter in the farmhouse, ready to renew
his activity as corn-spirit in the spring. Hence at midwinter, when
the lengthening days begin to herald the approach of spring, the
Wolf makes his appearance once more. In Poland a man, with a
wolf's skin thrown over his head, is led about at Christmas; or a
stuffed wolf is carried about by persons who collect money. There
are facts which point to an old custom of leading about a man
enveloped in leaves and called the Wolf, while his conductors
collected money. 6