Chapter 36 The corn-spirit transforms into an animal: The corn-spirit transforms into a wolf or a dog

And it begins with people imagining the corn-spirit transformed into a wolf or a dog.This idea is common in France, Germany and the countries of the Slavic peoples.For example, when the wind makes the grain heave like waves, farmers often say "the wolf is walking on the valley" (or in the valley), "the wolf in the rye is running in the field", "the wolf is in the corn", "the mad dog is walking in the corn". Guzili", "Where is the big dog".Children want to pick ears of corn or pick blue cornflowers in the cornfields, and they are told not to go, because "the big dog sits in the valley" or "the wolf sits in the valley and will tear you to pieces" , "The wolf wants to eat you".The wolf that the child was told not to mess with was not an ordinary wolf, for it was often said to be a corn wolf, a rye wolf, etc.; , "The Rye Wolf is going to take you away", etc.But the corn-spirit still has the whole shape of a wolf.Near Feichhof (East Prussia), if a wolf ran across the field, the peasants were always watching to see whether its tail was up in the air or down to the ground.If its tail is dragging on the ground, they walk behind it, thank it for its blessings, and even put a little morsel in front of it.But if its tail was raised high, they would scold it and kill it.In this instance the wolf is the corn-spirit, whose procreative power is in his tail.

Both dogs and wolves personify the corn-spirit in harvest customs.For example, in some parts of Silesia the person who cuts or binds the last sheaf is called a wheat dog or pea pug.But the grain dog concept is most prominently expressed in the harvest customs of northeastern France.For example, when a reaper, because of sickness, fatigue, or laziness, is unable or unwilling to overtake the reapers ahead of him, they say "the white dog has passed him," "he has a white bitch," or " The white bitch bit him."In the Vosges, harvesting May is called the "harvest dog," and the man who cuts the last handful of corn or wheat is called the "kill dog."In the Jura Mountains [on the border between France and Switzerland, belonging to France. ] near Long-les-Saunières in the district, the last sheaf of grain is called the Bitch.It is usually called "they will kill the dogs" when it is harvested near Van Gouden [a city in northeastern France].At Epinal it is said according to the kind of corn: "We will kill the wheat dog, or the rye dog, or the potato dog."In the Tyrolean village of Dax it is said that the person who gives the last stroke at threshing "beats the dog down".In the village of Anebergen near Stade, it is called corn pug, rye pug, wheat pug according to different grains.

The same goes for wolves.In Silesia the reapers say they are "going to catch wolves" when they gather around the field to cut the last corn.In many parts of Mecklenburg there is a particularly popular saying about the corn wolf, and everyone is afraid to reap the last handful of corn, because they say the wolf sits in it; Afraid of being the last, every woman is equally afraid of tying the last sheaf of cut corn, because "the wolf is in it."So the reapers and the binders are competing, and neither wants to be the last.There seems to be a common saying all over France: "The wolf sits in the last sheaf." Somewhere people shout to the reaper, "Beware of the wolf!" or, "He is driving the wolf out of the corn." Let’s go.” In Mecklenburg, the last handful of corn in the field is generally called a wolf, and the one who cuts this handful of corn is the “wolf who got it.” According to different grains, wolves are called rye wolves, wheat wolves, barley wolves, and so on.If the crop was rye, the man who reaped the last corn was called a wolf or rye wolf.There are many places in Mecklenburg where the last reaper has to pretend to bite other reapers or howl like a wolf to show he is a wolf.The last sheaf is also called the wolf, or the rye wolf, or the oat wolf, depending on the crop.People say of the woman who binds the last sheaf that "the wolf is biting her", "she is a wolf", "she should take the wolf out" (from the grain).They also called her a wolf; they cried to her, "You are a wolf!" and she had to bear that name by heart all year round; sometimes she was called a rye wolf or a potato wolf, according to the crop.In Rügen [a German possession] the woman who binds the last sheaf is not only called a wolf, but when she gets home she bites the mistress of the house, the housekeeper, for which she gets a chunk of meat.But no one wants to be a wolf.A woman can be a rye wolf, a wheat wolf, and an oats wolf at the same time, as long as she is the last sheaf of the rye, wheat, and oats.In the village of Bull in the district of Cologne [a German possession] it used to be the custom to tie the last sheaf in the shape of a wolf and leave it in the barn until all the corn had been threshed and give it to the farmer, who The Lord sprinkles wine or brandy on top.In the Mecklenburg village of Brunshopten, the young woman binding the last sheaf of wheat used to take a handful of wheat from the sheaf and make of it the "wheat wolf," which was two feet long and half Feet high, the wolf's legs are made of hard wheat straw, and the tail and mane are made of wheat ears.She went ahead of the reapers and carried it back to the village, and placed it high up in the hall of the farm, where it remained for a long time.There are also many places where the bundle called a wolf is made into human form and clothed with clothes.This shows a confusion between the concepts of human corn-spirit and animal corn-spirit.Usually the "wolf" is brought home in the last car with cheers, so that last car is also called a wolf.

Again, it is thought that the wolf hid in the cut corn in the barn, and was driven out when the last sheaf was struck by the flail.So in Wanzleben, near Magdeburg, after the threshing, the peasants parade in procession, leading a man by a chain, wrapped in threshed corn, called a wolf.He represents the corn-spirit who escaped from the threshed corn and was caught.In the Trives area it is believed that the corn wolf was killed during threshing.The last sheaf of straw was broken into pieces.By doing so, they thought, the Corn Wolf hiding in the last sheaf would be killed. In France, there is also the saying of the corn wolf at harvest time.As the people shout to the reapers of the last corn: "You're going to catch the wolf!" Near Chambery, people stand in a circle around the last corn in the field, and when the reaping is about to be finished, the reapers cry out in unison: "There the wolf is," cried the reapers in Finnister, when the corn was about to be reaped. "Here the wolf is, and we will catch him." They shouted: "I caught the wolf." In Guiyan, when the last millet was cut, people led a wether around the field, called "the wolf in the field".Wreaths made of grain ears and flowers are hung on the sheep's horns, and wreaths and ribbons are also wrapped around the sheep's neck and body.The All Reapers followed, singing as they went, and killing it in the field.In this part of France, the last sheaf is called a cow joulage, which is the local dialect for a wether.The emmer, therefore, signifies the death of the corn-spirit, who is supposed to be hidden in the last sheaf; but this practice confounds two different ideas of the corn-spirit—as a wolf and as a wether. up.

It sometimes seems to think that the wolf caught in the last corn, who dwells in the cottage during the winter, is about to resume his activities as corn-spirit in the spring.So in the middle of winter, when the days grow longer and spring is heralded, the wolves appear.In Poland, a man with a wolf's fur on his head is led away at Christmas; or people carry a stuffed wolf, and the person who carries it asks for money from others.Some facts point to the old custom of people leading around a person covered in leaves, called a wolf, and asking for tips as they go.