Today I'd like to take a look at a monster from North America. Stories of the Wendigo can be found in the legends of many Native American tribes across Canada and the northeastern part of the United States. Wendigo are popular in modern urban fantasy, featuring in television shows such as Supernatural and Grimm, and book series such as The Dresden Files and the Pax Arcana. Portrayals of the creature, as well as the reasons behind its existence, vary from story to story. Let's take a look at some of the original lore about the creature!
First things first: The Wendigo is a monster. It is a malevolent spirit that twists and warps someone who was once human. It has been described as possessing a soul, or as a disease which infects someone. Once taken, there is no way to restore the person to their former humanity. Killing the Wendigo is the only option.
Some Native American tribes performed mercy killings on individuals who had begun to turn into a Wendigo, killing them before they had a chance to consume a human and turn completely. These killings occurred as recently as the early 1900's, when a shaman named Jack Fiddler and his brother Joseph were arrested and tried for the murder of a woman. They claimed that she had begun to turn into a Wendigo, and that killing her was the only way to save her and to protect those around her. The brothers also confessed to having killed thirteen other Wendigo.
But where does this monster come from? It is created by a lust for human flesh. Cannibalism will turn a person into a Wendigo. In many legends Wendigo have strong ties to cold weather and to winter. During these times, food was incredibly hard to come by. If someone was trapped with no other source of food, cannibalism became the only option. Even eating someone who had already frozen to death would be enough to turn the consumer into a Wendigo.
A Wendigo is incredibly strong and fast, with enhanced vision and hearing. Some stories even say that it can control the weather. However, there is a price to pay for this power - an eternal Sisyphean struggle against starvation. The Wendigo is consumed by its hunger for human flesh. It will consume anyone it comes across; and yet, no matter how much it eats, it is never sated.
As to its appearance: In some stories the Wendigo is said to grow with every mortal meal it consumes. Because of this, Wendigo are said to be incredibly tall, around fourteen feet. However, its battle against starvation also takes its toll on the Wendigo. They are extremely thin, their skin stretched like butter over too much bread (couldn't resist the Bilbo quote, sorry!). Emaciated in the extreme, their bones are visible, their bodies hunched with hunger.
"The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Its body was unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, giving off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption."
Sounds lovely, right? Let's take a look at another description.
"It was a large creature, as tall as a tree, with a lipless mouth and jagged teeth. Its breath was a strange hiss, its footprints full of blood, and it ate any man, woman, or child who ventured into its territory. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes, the Wendigo chose to possess a person instead, and then the luckless individual became a Wendigo himself, hunting down those he had once loved and feasting upon their flesh."
I've mentioned that some Native American cultures believed the Wendigo to be an evil spirit which possessed humans and filled them with a hunger for flesh, rather than a human who became evil through cannibalism. Government and church documents from several centuries ago document this idea under the term of "Wendigo psychosis". Native American tribes told their guests about the legends of the Wendigo, leading to the adoption of the term for men who turned to cannibalism. Individuals who snapped for no apparent reason and ate their friends and loved ones are documented as suffering from this break in the mind.
How Wendigo are portrayed in modern pop culture varies drastically. Some are gaunt and lean. Some are covered in fur, and seem more similar to Bigfoot. Weather control is rarely mentioned, but books and shows do tend to show Wendigo in places which are cold. Several versions have Wendigo being former shaman who turned to a dark path and devoured a family member in order to gain their power. Cannibalism is consistent in most adaptations of Wendigo, as is the fact that they were once human. In fact, in Grimm the Wendigo appear to be normal humans...until they invite their prey over for dinner.
Though native to North America, the story of the Wendigo has spread throughout the world thanks to its portrayal in modern media. Sightings are still reported, especially around certain areas of Canada. This legend is alive and well. The Wendigo is here to stay.
I'll be back next week!
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