Hungry Like the Wulf: The Early Elegy Wulf and Eadwacer as a Werewolf Tale

The critical debate over the poem Wulf has gone on for many years but no general consensus has been made as to what exactly the poem is about except that there seems to be four characters: the speaker (presumably a woman), Wulf, Eadwacer, and the child. The translation found in The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology seems to have chosen diction that implies a love triangle in which the speaker mourns for her lost love, Wulf, as she now lives with her new husband, Eadwacer. However, this interpretation leaves holes. Who is the child? What is the meaning of the last two lines? Why would Wulf be torn to pieces? This is why I chose to use a translation by Michael R. Burch, a notable poet and scholar. In this translation, Burch uses diction that calls forth dog, or wolf, imagery which would support my interpretation that Wulf and Eadwacer is actually a tale about a werewolf. The text of the translation is attached at the end of the essay.

My interpretation of the poem is as follows:

Stanza One: The speaker was in love with Wulf, a werewolf. Her people found out about their romantic involvement and chased him away with death threats and now guard her as though she is a victim. When the speaker says “We are so different” (line 3), she is thinking about how she and Wulf can never be together because of his lycanthropy.

Stanza Two: The speaker says that Wulf is on “one island; I’m on another” (line 4) and she means this metaphorically. The speaker feels isolated from Wulf because she is a part of civilization (her island being the city she lives in) and Wulf is a part of nature (his island being the wild woods, surrounded by marshes). She claims again that “bloodthirsty men prowl” her city, demanding repentance from Wulf in the form of his death. She repeats the line “We are so different” (line 8) but this time, it might take a different meaning. The “we” in the line may refer to the speaker and people of her town: the speaker sees Wulf for his human side, while the townspeople only see the dangerous wolf side.

Third Stanza: The speaker is obviously deeply in love with Wulf, but she says her “thoughts” pursued Wulf, she did not pursue him physically. This is most likely because she is trying to keep her feelings a secret. When it rains, she imagines her Wulf in the forests alone and this brings her to tears, and her sobs are interpreted by Eadwacer as cries for help, not laments. She says in line 12 that Eadwacer’s love for her “felt good, to a point, but the end was loathsome” because deep down all she really wants is Wulf. The speaker’s desire for Wulf has made her sick emotionally and also, morally; she may be sick with herself for loving something unnatural dangerous. Wulf can only meet the speaker in brief encounters because of the dangerous nature of their relationship and the speaker claims she is left “famished” and that she desires “real meat” (line 15).  In line 16, the speaker directly addresses Eadwacer as “Heaven-Watcher,” implying his ever-watchful eye on her, and tells him their child will be a whelp, or a puppy, born to the wolf in the woods. This line implies that the speaker herself is a “wolf” in spirit and desires to bear Wulf’s children, even if it means living in the woods as an outcast. The final two lines imply the weakness of Eadwacer and the speaker’s relationship as she had never truly devoted herself to him so their relationship will be for her to break off. But they can also refer to the speaker herself: she is not whole without Wulf and does not feel like she belongs with her people (“We are so different”), which is why it is easy for her to “sever” her ties to the civilized world and join Wulf  in the woods with a “song together” (line 19), the “song” here referring to the way wolves howl to rejoin as a pack or warn others of their presence.

Wulf and Eadwacer

a translation by Michael R. Burch

Wild curs pursue him like crippled game.

They'll rip him apart if he approaches their pack.

We are so different.

Wulf's on one island; I'm on another.

5 His island's a fortress, surrounded by fens.

Here bloodthirsty men prowl, howling for sacrifice.

They'll rip him apart if he approaches their pack.

We are so different.

My thoughts pursued Wulf like panting hounds.

10 Whenever it rained and I sobbed, disconsolate,

huge, battle-strong arms grabbed and controlled me.

It felt good, to a point, but the end was loathsome.

Wulf, oh, my Wulf! My desire for you

has made me sick; your seldom-comings

15 have left me famished, deprived of real meat.

Do you hear, Heaven-Watcher? A wolf has borne

our wretched whelp to the woods.

One can easily sever what never was one:

our song together.