I have been looking for a it of lore surrounding Orcs and how/why they revere wolves. It makes sense for the Frostwolf Clan to revere and respect them, but wolves and wargs tend to crop up in Orcish history across all clans.
I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on this?
I play an Orc shaman, however I have an issue with how Orc males run (seriously, why so bouncy?) but I find using Ghost Wolf to travel around in gets around that. I am just trying to figure out why and how wolves are so revered in Orcish culture specifically shamanism. I suppose I am trying to rationalise in my mind turning into a wolf ghost?
Since you haven’t been given another answer, I would guess it’s just the same principle as in real life. In other words, nature people, such as shamanistic tribes and hunters, have depended on the wolf/dog for protection and survival just as the wolf has depended on them for food/survival. Life in the wild is hard. That way it has become revered.
I can’t really answer your question, but I can do shed some light to it by referring to real life history.
Dogs are an important company pet in the western world. They are used as creatures to show the status of the owner, to guard property, to help with hunts, to bet on as racing, and can even pull wagons. Just saying “man’s best friend.” in the west clearly indicate the reference to dogs.
However, in the Eastern world, dogs are often seen as unclean and impure. Although dogs are allowed to be kept to guard property, keeping dogs inside a house is often frowned upon by more conservative citizens.
The main reason, probably, why the West has a true dog culture, is that we relied on their first forefathers, wolves, to hunt next to us. Europe is a harsh country, before there was civilisation or infrastructure, the tribes relied on great hunts to survive the unforgiving winters. Taming wolves was a great answer to those problems.
Orcs, being tribal and having a hunter society, need to rely on their worgs to help them with hunts, or ride them in battle against other tribes. It’s obvious that they have great bonds with these animals as they are both hunting companion, and serve as mounts.
If there ain’t any in lore answer for your question, just think about this. Your wolf form reflects on the Orcs culture to hunt. A wolf represents individuality, freedom, self-reliance, and strength. Just think about any real life references to fill in the many gaps that is world of warcraft lore.
In addition to what’s been said here, wolves are apex, take-no-bulls#it predators, which I think also fits well with how orcs like to see themselves?
The shaman ghost wolf form, I surmise stems from wolves - as evident in this thread - being the creature that orcs revere most.
When the shaman wanted to take a spirit form to move fast in times of fire need, I don’t think there was any doubt in their minds what animal that form should be
