dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Which wolf are they singing about?

Landscape 01: The Dog of Heaven

Just as a blue wolf may choose to show herself to you out on the steppe

So too does ethnography diligently wait

For a glimmer of creativity to emerge

And be noticed, amidst everything else (CP)

Dedicated in memory to the precious life of his son Hatagin Baasandorj, Hatagin Gotovin Akim’s book The Dog of Heaven: Truths and Myths of Blue Mongolia’s Blue Wolf [translated from the Mongolian by Hargana G. Dashdavaa. English language text edited by Ming Holden (2008) Ulaanbaator: EDO Publishing LLC.] is a joint work of Mongols. These are stories about people as well as wolves.

Please note that In my short introduction and postscript to Akim’s work, his words are rendered in italicised text.

H.G. Akim has collected the accessible stories, myths and legends about wolves and composed one manuscript which in 2008 became a published book translated for western readers into English. In all, there are thirteen such detailed narratives along with other information. To assemble this compilation of Mongol stories,, Akim travelled all over Mongolia interviewing local people who were considered highly knowledgeable on the topic of wolves. It is from these primary sources, the Mongol people themselves, that this particular collection of stories and orally translated myths has been compiled.

Hatagin Akim is an established scholar amongst his Mongol peers. The Khalkha Mongols with whom I work, unpredictably and often spontaneously express a genuine and deep respect for their ancestors. A compilation of such orally transmitted stories is, in this context, a treasure trove of local insights and wisdom.

The practical skills and insights acquired, through repetition and practice, by Khalkha Mongols who have worked with wolves, reflects an ‘indigenous intelligence’, something that that James Scott refers to as metis. (Scott, James C. 1998. Seeing Like a State pp314-315). However, the words of D. Purevdorj (Mongol poet and State Prize Winner) in the foreword to the book, through Ming Holden’s beautiful translation, put this more eloquently than I ever could:

I wonder at the genius of my ancestors, who knew to attribute animals to the earth while extolling them as heavenly. I am envious of the wolf’s skill and courage, either adroitly escaping or bravely dying in challenges to the dangers that await it at every step. A man, the King of Earth, who follows the way of the Dog of Heaven, might learn a useful lesson.

From the many well-structured narratives in this book, I have selected one that I think may be of interest to western students of contemporary Mongolian society and culture. Rather than consider this account through my own anthropological filters, I have elected on this occasion to let the story of indigenous practices by a contemporary Mongol author speak for themselves. I was particularly drawn to the creative literary device by which the issue of veracity has been addressed by Akim. Whenever one is dealing with real people and their account of events, it is important to skilfully and respectfully manage (in one’s own retelling) such matters.

The following excerpts from “The Dog of Heaven” appear with written permission of the author. No modifications have been made to researcher Akim’s original text.

No Animal Conquers its Female with as much Courage as the Wolf by Akim 2008 pp36-39.

As begin fairy tales

Before going to sleep

Before beginning a new chapter

Let’s hear another tale about the wolf

Once upon a time there were two brothers. They had one wife between them. When one of the brothers was having intercourse with the wife, he would leave a boot outside the ger as a signal to the other brother. One night the younger brother was having intercourse with the wife, and the wolf who terrorized their livestock absconded with the boot left outside the ger. The older brother also desired the wife that night, and he approached the ger, where there was no boot. He came in, where his brother was copulating with their wife, and all three of them panicked in shame. The two brothers came to the god and told the god their story. The god decided since the wolf had tormented the brothers during copulation that the wolf should be tormented during copulation as punishment. Thus began the suffering of wolves during copulation.

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The lion is in a bloody battle to the death

The tiger overcomes the leopard in a match

The elephant thrashes the leopard in a contest

Man intensely struggles with a leopard to contend

We, the lions slaughter the leopards in a match

The tiger beats the leopard in a contest

The elephant trounces the leopard in a fight

Man strenuously strains with a leopard in contention

An instigator, the jealousy of a snake it could be

And Khan Garuda leaps up above into the air

A growl, the jealousy of a tiger it could be

The blue wolf comes too from far away

Hu - hu - hu - hu…

Provoked, the snow leopard competes with it's rivals

Ten thunderbolts strike at the same time

A hundred hearts energized in the thundering roar

Simultaneously a thousand colliding thunderbolts

And too, ten thousand lightning strikes in the heavens

Hu - hu - hu - hu…

This deluge is the leopard battling in a deadly fight

The surges of the leopard scuffling in competion

The awesome leopard swats, blows to overthrow

The glistening leopard slashes in the scramble

Hu - hu - hu - hu…

With the speed of the falcon advancing

The wolf's courage at times flaring up

The strength of horses hooves, their paces pounding

The mark of Genghis Khan, an overwhelming impression

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