Wolfwalkers

Wolfwalkers: Oscar-nominated animators' new 17th century feature.

The March 23rd post on the English Civil War blog mentioned an interesting animated movie. It's called Wolfwalkers and it is by an Oscar nominated animator. The film is set in Ireland during Cromwell's attempt to subdue the population through the killing of wolves. Which sounds like one of the crazier plots of one of the more out there comic book supervillains.  Unless we posit there were a lot of Irish werewolves trying to defend their land from the English invader.

Which seems like an odd premise or to be more accurate the underlying history seems damned odd. But anything with the potential of showing Cromwell as a villain always appeals to me. 

And if I needed to make an argument for Irish werewolves I could come up with a couple. 

1. Celtic tutelary spirits were often animals. Boars were common for warriors, but wolf spirits makes sense. So we posit some folks who still worship the old gods. Shamanic magic allows those who know and believe in the old ways to be possessed by the totem spirit of the wolf to become a wolf. What with the the pressures of war, famine, and invasion more people are turning to belief in the old ways and maybe even the old gods and the Wolf Clan rises again.

2. Similar to the above but we posit old bloodlines of folks. Here the Wolf Clan is an actual bloodline. Maternal of course since Irish Celts. These folks have been laying low under the Christian faith. But the Catholic turn pagan gods into Saints trick won't work with a dour and serious Puritan like Cromwell. So the scattered members of the Wolf Clan gather to fight their oppressor because they know with Cromwell it is kill or be killed.

3. Instead of a Celtic connection we go with a Nordic one. Norse Berserkers. Lots of Norse settled in Ireland. Instead of a Wolf Clan this would be a looser grouping of related families in the areas where the Norse settled like Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. Dublin seems too big city for a lot of wolfwalkers to me, but it certainly has the Viking connection.

I wrote all of the above without watching any of the previews. I didn't want to be tainted. I'll watch the videos and check out the links and post a follow up. Probably tomorrow.