Reading Diary Week 2: Saints and Animals

I ended up doing a half-reading of the “Saints and Animals” section of the Biblical Unit. I read the second half of stories, which included a lot of really entertaining narratives about saints, animals, and the cooperative relationships that come to exist between them. I read of Saint Gudwall, who made a home for himself on a Welsh island thanks to the efforts of some helpful fish. I learned about Saint Athracta and the stags that she summoned to help her in a time of great need. I enjoyed the tale of Saint Gile, who risked his life for his Deer friend (terrible pun, I know!) and ended up converting a pagan king to the Christian faith. The tales of Saint Francis of Assisi were also very interesting. However, my two favorite stories among the second half of the unit were ‘The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe” and "The Ballad of Saint Felix."

The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe has a very interesting premise that I would not have expected from a saint story. I’ve heard stories of boys being raised by wolves before—the story of Romulus and Remus comes to mind—but I never would have thought that there was a saint’s legend that utilized the same concept. What I liked about the story is that it takes the time to establish the bond between Ailbe and his wolf family in the early part of the narrative. Ailbe’s treatment of the wolves comes off as truly heart-felt and genuine since the author uses the tragedy that occurs near the beginning of the story to deeply invest the audience in the saint’s relationship with the wolves. Ailbe doesn’t love the wolves just because he’s a loving guy, as with some of the other saints. He loves them because they are his family, and no barrier of species would ever allow him to deny his kinship to his wolf-mother and wolf-brothers.

It's kind of like this, only there's one less human and more wolves. And the human baby ends up getting kidnapped and becoming a bishop, who eventually reunites with his wolf family and from then on has dinner with them every night. The she-wolf in the Romulus and Remus story clearly got the short end of the stick compared to Ailbe's wolf-mother (Wikipedia Commons)

“The Ballad of Saint Felix” was a fun read for me because its main character is a bit different from the protagonists in the other stories. Felix is a bit more of a trickster. When he’s being hunted by soldiers, he dresses up as a pilgrim. When he runs afoul of his pursuers, he is able to calmly tell them that he has not seen himself pass by on the road, and thus avoids death for a short time. As with many of the other stories, Felix ultimately owes his life to the miraculous aid of an animal, in the case of this story, a spider with incredibly fast web-spinning skills. Felix is a resourceful man, but even he ultimately has to depend on the miracles of nature and the kindness of others in order to survive. Out of all the Saint and Animal stories I’ve read, I think this is the one where I could have the most fun writing a variation on for tomorrow. 

Saint Felix attacked and hidden by a spider's web (Wikipedia Commons)

As a whole, I found all of these tales very enjoyable. Not only do they have interesting stories, with engaging characters and conflicts, they all consistently espouse a theme about the importance of treating people and nature in a kindly way.