Yeah, it’s definitely a powerful metaphor for greed. The image of something constantly starving, never satiated no matter how much it eats, miserable and ravenous and destructive is clearly not something to strive for. I was reading that in some legends Wendigo just grow in proportion to how much they consume, so they never feel less hungry, they just get bigger. Kinda reminds one of how corporations function, with a constant drive to acquire and grow, but they never reach a point of satisfaction, where they’re big enough. They just take and take as much as they’re capable of.
That’s the other difference with Windigo legends across North America. I’m Ojibway from northern Ontario and I grew up with my own variety of stories from my family about this creature. But I’ve heard of other variations from the prairies, from Hudson Bay, northern Quebec, the American midwest and around the Great Lakes region and all the stories are different and unique to their regions. Some similarities and common themes but all different. Then you mix in there the Hollywood marketing and imagery of deer skulls, loose flesh and all that scary stuff.
But I always enjoyed the core metaphoric message that this is a greedy, flood thirsty animal that was once a man and now wants to consume everything and everyone.
Yeah, it’s definitely a powerful metaphor for greed. The image of something constantly starving, never satiated no matter how much it eats, miserable and ravenous and destructive is clearly not something to strive for. I was reading that in some legends Wendigo just grow in proportion to how much they consume, so they never feel less hungry, they just get bigger. Kinda reminds one of how corporations function, with a constant drive to acquire and grow, but they never reach a point of satisfaction, where they’re big enough. They just take and take as much as they’re capable of.
That’s the other difference with Windigo legends across North America. I’m Ojibway from northern Ontario and I grew up with my own variety of stories from my family about this creature. But I’ve heard of other variations from the prairies, from Hudson Bay, northern Quebec, the American midwest and around the Great Lakes region and all the stories are different and unique to their regions. Some similarities and common themes but all different. Then you mix in there the Hollywood marketing and imagery of deer skulls, loose flesh and all that scary stuff.
But I always enjoyed the core metaphoric message that this is a greedy, flood thirsty animal that was once a man and now wants to consume everything and everyone.