Who were the Wulvers?

‘Hameward ye’re traivellin
In the saft hill rain,
The day lang by
That ye wearied o the glen;
Nae ring upon yer han’,
Nae kiss upon yer mou –
Quaiet noo ...’ Marion E Angus

Scotland is no stranger to dark legends. One in particular has interested me for a long time and I wondered if some of you might like to hear it. Since this is my first thread, I can think of no creature I would like to share it with more.


The Shetland Isles lie off the north east coast of Scotland and are home to a strange clan. The legend of the Wulvers comes from here.
There is very little recorded history about them, but what is known is that they looked like a man who had the head of a dog, and was covered entirely in short brown hair. They could be seen fishing for hours from a ‘Wulver’s Stane’; a flat rock protruding into a loch or sea. Legend paints them as kindly beasts, sometimes leaving fish outside the cottage of a family in financial straits, or where the occupier was ill. Wulvers were considered harmless if you left them to go about their business, but could be ferocious if angered, much like their Irish cousins, the Faoladh. They are not to be confused with werewolves, however. Wulver’s had never been human and some thought they were simply wolves who had evolved differently. They were also credited with helping strangers who had become lost on a bleak, windy night, escorting them safely to the edge of a town.
Although they are portrayed as solitary creatures, sightings were reported for many years with the last being in the early 20th century. Any bones that have been found are also shrouded in mystery, with claims that anyone who possesses a Wulver’s bone will be visited by a large, black snarling dog intent on retrieving it’s bounty by any means.
And so with no tangible evidence, one can only guess as to the origins of this myth.

Were Wulvers driven to extinction or did they exist only in the imagination of the Shetlanders? And to what purpose does a mythical benevolent entity serve a community?

The Wulvers are resigned to keep their secrets safe deep in the mists of time.

If you would like further reading try
-‘Shetland Traditional Lore’ – Saxby
-Wikipedia – Wulver
-Bletherskite.net/wulvers. All of the above information comes from these sources.
Any additional information would be cherished.

reply to post by beansidhe


Never heard of this one. Thanks. Now I'll have to research this. Just one more distraction on an already distraction-filled day.

reply to post by 35Foxtrot


Tell me about it! Wulvers are the last thing I'm supposed to be doing today. But, they pushed their way forward.
Let me know if you find anything new, I'd love to hear it.

Very interesting. I have never heard of these beings. I wonder if a creature existed that they called wolvers. Could even be a variety of big foot they were talking about. How old is this legend?

It is very unrealistic to believe that modern humans were the only humanoid to exist in the past. They may have had similar genetics but different gene expression also. I am sure, knowing the history of modern humans, that they would have been targeted for destruction if they were thought to have killed someone in the community. Someone could have said that these beings killed someone to cover up the fact that he murdered the person and a whole community would go after them and kill them off....from fear that these beings might hurt them.

This information would never be written if it was found later that it was done wrongly. Only a legend would be created showing these beings existed. I can dream up many scenarios for the plausible cause of these things, none of which may be real. It pays to run scenarios in your head as long as you do not start to believe they are real, they are only possible explanations.

reply to post by beansidhe


When you wrote "strange clan," I figured I'd better Google the Shetland isles. There seems to be a lot of mystery about this area. A lot of mermaid activity, plus giants, stone rings and sea creatures. This article briefly touches on a few of the tales. www.shetlandtimes.co.uk...

Interesting post OP.

reply to post by rickymouse


Thank you for your input. Yes, that's a good point. There could have been animals called wulvers which became personified later on.
Or they could have been humanoid, bigfoot types, too I suppose. I hadn't really thought about bigfoots (plural?), but now that you say that, it seems that lots of cultures speak about almost-human beings.
It's the fact that Shetland is so remote that impresses me about their lore. It has a real inward sense of expression, an intrinsic lore that is very specific to it's inhabitants and geography.

I'm not sure when the first recorded siting was made, but off the top of my head I'm sure many were made in the 17th century, so I would guess these tales are around 400 years old, maybe more. I'll try to find out.

reply to post by Tucket


Aye, there's more than one strange clan in Scotland! Thank-you for your response, and thank you very much for that link. I'll enjoy reading that.
Shetland is a beautiful place, and it's easy to believe all these things are real when you're there.

Cool stuff, consider me distracted as well.
With my stance on doggies and their awesomeness, I'd love to meet a worgen...err wulvar.
Maybe give em treats and scratch em behind the ears.
Unfortunately, if there were wulvars, terrified mankind most likely eradicated them.

reply to post by g146541


I know, we're not very good at coping with difference are we? Humans may well have eradicated them- they're certainly not around any more. All of the stories I have heard and the few I have read talk of them as being reserved and distant. Although you could approach them, they wouldn't seek you out.
It makes you wonder about man's relationship with dogs, though and how close we have been for centuries.

Star and Flag for an intriguing thread!

I think I had one of those njuggles (the waterhorse mentioned in the OP source article). I had a Shetland pony named Socks when I was a little kid. Owing to the fact that there was no lake or other large body of water nearby, he usually opted to run through fences with me on his back. Electric fence, barbed wire fence, he didn't seem to care. Heck, one time he even went all the way down the driveway and had started down our dirt road before my dad caught up with us.

Oddly enough, he did go to the water to die. He walked out onto a frozen pond one winter and slipped and broke his neck right there on the ice.

Maybe some of the "mythical" creatures from the Old World came with the immigrants to the New World...

reply to post by DustbowlDebutante


You know, I don't feel 'right' unless I'm by the sea. Maybe it's got something to do with generations of fishermen in my family before me. Maybe it's in my blood.
Socks might have inherited some of his ancestors' spirit too.
He sounds like a good soul, a free spirit! Thanks for sharing that story with me.

reply to post by DustbowlDebutante


Hi, I came across this article which tells of a breed of Polish ponies, known for living in wetlands, which have been reintroduced to the UK to manage marshland. I wonder if the Shetland njuggles were related?

marsh ponies

It makes you wonder about the origins of these myths, as there is usually a good deal of truth somewhere in there. Which makes the Wulvers just a little bit more creepy!

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