Like LGBTQ+ folks, werewolves combine both masculine and feminine energies. The wolf is typically a masculine archetype, but the werewolf is ruled by the moon. In most cultures, the moon is symbolic of feminine energies. Like Transgender folks, the werewolf changes form from a man into something else – whether woman or beast. The process of dressing up in animal skins and furs that is done in some cultures can also be likened to a form of “drag.” Just as the drag queen puts on the attire of women and takes on feminine traits, the person in wolf drag takes on the attire of wolves (their fur) and takes on wolfish traits.
The werewolf metaphor can be applied to LGBTQ+ folks similar to the way the Iron John story has been applied to men. As with the werewolf metaphor, the Iron John story has been applied to boys reaching puberty and also to adult men who are hiding part of their masculine natures to conform to societal roles.
Iron John is one of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. In the story, a king sends a single huntsman into the forest, but the huntsman never returns. The king then sends additional groups of huntsmen into the forest and they don’t return either. Because of this, the king decrees that the forest is dangerous and off-limits. Years later a wandering man and his dog pass through the kingdom and the man asks permission to explore the forest and try to discover what happened to the king’s men. The man finds a lake in the middle of the forest, and a giant arm reaches from the lake and drags the dog away beneath the water. The next day the man returns with a group of men, and they empty the water from the lake. When the water is drained, they find a wild naked hairy, man with iron-like skin. This is Iron John. The people lock Iron John in a cage and put him on display in the king’s courtyard. Iron John is not to be set free under penalty of death.
One day the youthful Prince in the story is playing ball and rolls his ball into the cage. Iron John picks up the ball but will not return it unless the Prince sets him free. Iron John tells the Prince that the key to the cage is hidden under the Queen’s pillow. After some degree of hesitation, the Prince steals the key and sets Iron John free. Because of the death penalty for setting the wild man free, the Prince fears for his life and escapes with Iron John into the forest. Additional adventures ensue and eventually the Prince marries a Princess and Iron John comes to the wedding transformed. He no longer has the wild hair and the iron skin. It turns out he was under a spell that was broken when the Prince set him free.
Iron John could just as easily have been a werewolf, as he represents the wild and fierce nature within ourselves. The American poet and a leader in the mythopoetic men’s movement, Robert Bly, wrote the book Iron John: A Book About Men in 1990. In the book, he analyzes the story of Iron John using Jungian psychology. Bly sees the story of Iron John as a metaphor for modern men. He believes that modern men have become soft and have allowed their inner wild man to be locked away in some deep part of their psyches in order to please society and to be accepted by women. Bly distinguishes between the “wild man” who is a positive and assertive archetype for masculinity from the “savage man”. The savage man is the shadow side of the wild man. Repressing his masculine nature leads to anger, violence, hate, and the dark side of his masculinity. The wild man is assertive, vibrant, passionate and sexual, but also nurturing, caring, loving, and fair.