Wolpertinger

Wolpertinger edited from a drawing of a hare by Albrecht Dürer.

A stuffed wolpertinger on display in the Rheinfelder Beerhall, Zurich

In German folklore, a wolpertinger (also called wolperdinger or woiperdinger) is an animal^[1] said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany.

Description

It has a body comprising various animal parts — generally wings, antlers, tails and fangs, all attached to the body of a small mammal. The most widespread description portrays the Wolpertinger as having the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer, and the wings and occasionally the legs of a pheasant.

Stuffed "wolpertingers", composed of parts of actual stuffed animals, are often displayed in inns or sold to tourists as souvenirs in the animals' "native regions". The Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum in Munich, Germany features a permanent exhibit on the creature.

It resembles other creatures from German folklore, such as the Rasselbock of the Thuringian Forest, or the Elwedritsche of the Palatinate region, which accounts describe as a chicken-like creature with antlers; additionally the American Jackalope as well as the Swedish Skvader somewhat resemble the wolpertinger. The Austrian counterpart of the wolpertinger is the raurakl.

In popular culture

• Wolpertingers feature in the MMORPG RuneScape as creatures that can be summoned. It is depicted as a combination of a rabbit and a wolf.
• Wolpertingers are the main characters in the novel Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers. The novel depicts them as anthropomorphic dogs with small horns.
• Wolpertingers and Skvaders appear in "Adventure Path #61: Shards of Sin" for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game as encounters and also as new familiar options for spellcasters.
• A wolpertinger features on one of the special animal tiles in the Winter Edition of Carcassonne.
• The wolpertinger features as a monster in Here Be Monsters. The game can also be found on Facebook.
• Wolpertingers are an obtainable pet in the MMORPG World of Warcraft during the Brewfest event.
• Wolpertingers are an obtainable mount in the MMORPG Tibia.
• Wolpertinger is the German translation for jackalope in the game Guild Wars 2.
• Wolpertingers are common background creatures in the Land of a Thousand Fables adventure in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine.
• Wolpertingers are also found in Amanda Hocking's Between the Blade and the Heart as docile pets.
• In the infamously banned Pokémon fangame Pokémon Uranium, there is a Pokémon based on the Wolpertinger, named Winotinger. It evolves from Jackdeary, a Pokémon based on the Jackalope

See also

• Al-mi'raj
• Elwedritsche
• Jackalope
• Lepus cornutus
• Skvader

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wolpertinger.

• Heim, Michael; Reiser, Hans (20 December 2012). Mit dem Wolpertinger leben: Ein Verhaltensratgeber ["Living with the Wolpertinger: A Behavioral Guidebook"] (in German). Edition Lipp. pp. 1–70. ISBN 978-3874907606.
• Huber, Reginald (1 February 1999). Vom Adler bis zum Wolpertinger. Das bairische Bestiarium ["From the Eagle to Wolpertinger. The Bavarian Bestiary"] Mit sensationellen Fotos von A. & G.R. Kaut ["With sensational photos by A. & G.R. Kaut"] (in German) (Hardcover ed.). Dachau (Germany): Bayerland GmbH. pp. 1–136. ISBN 978-3892511885.
• Kirein, Peter (1 January 1968). Der Wolpertinger lebt. (Warum die Bayern mehr Haare haben) ["The Wolpertinger Lives. (Why the Bavarians Have More Hair)"] (in German). Verlag Karl M. Lipp. ISBN 3-87490-501-2.
• Schallweg, Paul (16 September 2015). Der Wolpertinger - Das bayrische Urviech ["The Wolpertinger - The Bavarian Character"] (in German). Rosenheimer Verlagshaus. pp. 1–94. ISBN 978-3475544798.
• Schweiggert, Alfons (1 January 1988). Und es gibt sie doch!. Die Wahrheit über die Wolpertinger ["And they exist! The truth about the Wolpertinger"] (in German). Pfaffenhofen (Germany): Ludwig Verlag. pp. 1–56. ISBN 978-3778733257.
• Schweiggert, Alfons (1 June 1998). Der Wolpertinger oder der gehörnte Hase. Eine ernsthafte Untersuchung eines bayerischen Phänomens ["The Wolpertinger or the horned rabbit. A serious investigation of a Bavarian phenomenon"] (in German). Ludwig Verlag. pp. 1–120. ISBN 978-3778734759.