Dire Wolves

### Summary:

Dire wolves were originally a real species alive around 13,000 to even 250,000 years ago and expected to be extinct around 10,000 years ago. They were mostly larger than the normal grey wolves we see today. Some people believe that they cannot be counted as wolves for this reason. The national park service states that the first species found of dire wolves were in Indiana around 1854. While dire wolves were real originally many people believe they have come back around since the time of extinction. This includes many videos and sightings in northern Ireland of something they refer to as the "Giant Wolf". Many people have different names for this cryptid depending on the area these include werewolf and dogman. This is seen in the article "There’s New Footage of a “Giant Wolf” Roaming Montana" which states that "The theme of terrifying canine cryptids recurs in many mythologies, such as the werewolves of Europe or the dogmen of North America".

### History:

They were originally from the Americas and thought to reside somewhere near where we have California although the remains of this animal can be found in many places around America. They were thought to be bred with normal wolves although in recent studies they have been disproven in breeding with normal grey wolves. The first skeleton found of the dire wolves was found by a man named Joseph Leidy when he was researching the grounds of Indiana in the 1850's he was also the man that came up with the name "Dire Wolf" when he also found a similar skeleton in Nebraska. This can be seen in the quote "The first dire wolf fossils were found in 1854 from the Ohio River in Indiana. American Paleontologist, Joseph Leidy, named this species in 1858 from these fossils along with some others from Nebraska" (Dire Wolf National Park Service). The original dire wolf is thought to be extinct around the time the ice age occurred killing off many species. Since then many people believe they have seen the creature in and around Northern Ireland.

### Legends:

The legend of the dire wolf mostly lies in northern Ireland, they are thought to be seen by hikers going through heavily wooded areas. There are two stories I could find on this animal the first one happened in 2012 when a couple of hikers saw and filmed what they believed to be a pack of wolf-like creatures running around in the woods. The second sighting was in 2015 when a man thought he made a wrong turn in the woods and a giant wolf with shiny blue eyes approached the road and stared at him for around 10 seconds before running away. Both of these incidents occurred in Ireland and the surrounding areas. Although these are the only two accounts I could find there are many stories about the dire wolf that spread through Ireland warning people of the dire wolves that are in the woods. Both of these can be found in the Youtube video called Dire Wolf Sightings In Northern Ireland | Mysterious Animal Encounters by the Youtube channel Sichic. There is another sighting that can be seen in a TikTok video of a giant wolf in Montana, this is seen in the quote "he alleged “dire wolf” shown in the video certainly does look gigantic but it’s also difficult to judge exactly how large without much next to it for size comparison. Feeding the fuel are Native legends of these oversized beasts that roam the great northern wild expanses"(Yorgey 3). This talks about the sighting of the wolf bringing belief of the story to many people in Montana.

### Adaptations:

The two largest adaptations are The Game of Thrones, and dungeons and dragons. Both of these take the true animal and continue their journey with them being able to live on throughout the story. In the Game of Thrones Dire wolves, were believed to lead their family and have special connections this can be seen in the quote "Featured on their family’s sigil, the dire wolves were known for having a special connection to historical members of House Stark as they led the North" (Williams 1). These animals seem quite accurate to the normal dire wolves dating back to 250,000 years ago while having some aspect of powers with the connection to historical members. While in the dungeons and dragons adaptations, dire wolves stray more away from the actual dire wolf. In this adaptation, they rely heavily on hearing and smell while they also have wisdom which is known as perception skills during the game.

### My Analysis:

I like the way Game of thrones adapted the dire wolf because they didn't add much to the original animal and kept it realistic. Although they do give them a type of power of being able to connect to ancestors. I also liked how they had them interact with a certain family although they keep them as pets which seems odd to me it adds a unique point of view other than fear. If I were to adapt the dire wolf I would make them a sort of shapeshifter creature to add a paranormal element other than just a giant wolf. I feel as if it had power it would be an even better cryptid in the sense of it could be anywhere other than just in the woods. I would also tie in the elements of the game of thrones version mixed with the dungeons and dragons' durability and life span.

#### Citations

“Compendium and Rule Set Directory.” *Roll20*, https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Dire%20Wolf#content.

“Dire Wolf (U.S. National Park Service).” *National Parks Service*, U.S. Department of the Interior, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/dire-wolf.htm.

“Dire Wolf.” Edited by John P Rafferty and Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, *Encyclopædia Britannica*, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/animal/dire-wolf.

Lazzarus, Lucy. “You Heard about the Loch Ness Monster... Here Are More British Urban Legends.” *TheTravel*, Travel.com, 26 Apr. 2020, https://www.thetravel.com/weird-british-myths-legends/.

Sichic, director. *Dire Wolf Sightings In Northern Ireland | Mysterious Animal Encounters*. *YouTube*, YouTube, 4 Nov. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5D-9FeVQmI. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023.

Williams, Jordan. “Game of Thrones: The Direwolves Foreshadowed Every Stark's Fate - Theory Explained.” *ScreenRant*, 28 Aug. 2021, https://screenrant.com/game-thrones-direwolves-stark-fates-endings-setup-theory/.

Yorgey, Cassandra. *There’s New Footage of a “Giant Wolf” Roaming Montana - Exemplore News*. Exemplore.com, 13 Feb. 2023, https://exemplore.com/news/giant-wolf-montana.