The Making of a Space Wolf

[Night Runner]

The Making of a Space Wolf – A Publication History

 

As I was going through old GW publications looking for an pre-3rd edition article entitled 'The Lion and the Wolf', I stumbled upon some old Space Wolf fluff that I decided to share with you. I summarized it in chronological order according to publication date and submitted here.

 

I have only listed and quoted from publications that are wargaming based and I have intentionally left out all information regarding this topic from the William King novels since they are not really canon.

 

Well, as you can tell from the title, the subject of this rant is the making of a Space Wolf from mere mortal to superhuman warrior of the Imperium and this overview kicks off with the first edition of 40k.

 

Warhammer 40,000 – Rogue Trader (1987)

During the first edition, the Space Wolves were very similar to every other chapter, but Space Marines were not the superhuman bio-gene-enhanced warriors of today. They were the superhuman elite, but the concept of Primarch gene-seed had not yet taken root. A Space Wolf would basically undergo intense training and indoctrination, coupled with ‘bio-chem and psyco-surgery’ to harden, strengthen and toughen mind and body. The black carapace is mentioned but no other special organs.

 

Diverting out of topic for a tad, there are no pictures of Space Wolf models in the 1st edition rule book, but there is a picture of a Space Wolf (along side other marines chapters) as well as a feature on the Space Wolf fortress monastery. Interestingly, Leman Russ is mentioned and referred to simply as the ‘founder’, but not Primarch. Also, their home-world was called Lucan and not Fenris. The chapter leader – Enoch - was known as ‘Lord Lucan’ and the Space Wolves in general were considered warrior monks!!! (To be fair all Space Marines back then were considered warrior monks. That is how GW wanted them to pass as, but they did not always seem to act or look that way from the material published).

 

Chapter Approved – Book of the Astronomican (1988)

 

This publication doesn’t mention anything about the transformation into a Space Wolf, but in a campaign article entitled ‘The Wolf Time’ there are pictures of Lord Enoch and Commander Storm of the Space Wolves clearly showing fangs. Is this a concept prelude to what latter would develop into the curse of the Wulfen? Genetic instability of the Canis Helix? Who knows? But one can see a very wolfy theme developing.

 

For instance, in the article, the early Space wolf units had different names: Grey Hunter were called ‘Howlers’; Long Fangs were ‘Snarlers’; Blood Claws were ‘Tearers’; and Scouts were known as ‘Trackers’. The article quotes Leman Russ mentioning ‘The Wolf Time’, when he will return for the final battle. All this smacks of concept beginnings.

 

I’m diverting once again but I’d like to quote the Space ‘Wolf Battle Litany’ at the time:

 

WE are the wolf that stalks

The stars in the sky

 

And swallows the star-fire

 

We hide amongst the night

When light is gone

 

The Light is within us

 

We run the ruin of fire

In the darkness

 

Foes burn in our passing

 

I left all capital letters as they were printed and there were no punctuation marks.

 

Warhammer 40,000 Compendium (1989)

The compendium contained an article entitled ‘Legiones Astartes’, where for the first time a detailed description of the transformation process was given; phase by phase, including the names and functions of all the extra organs that turn a man into a superhuman.

 

The ‘Legiones Astartes’ sheds some light for the first time on gene-seeds. Although the concept of Primarchs was still not fully developed and by consequence their gene-seeds did not appear in this article, it still defines 19 different gene-seeds each corresponding to a different organ needed to create a Space Marine (biscopea, secondary heart, neuroglottis etc).

 

Later on in this article you will read about other gene-seed implanted into Space Wolves. The gene-seed in this article are probably the same gene-seed referred to later on to stabilize the Canis Helix and restore a Space Wolf’s sanity after the ‘Test of Morkai’ (The Blooding).

 

Peculiarly enough the Space Wolves are also mentioned briefly with respect to their fangs. According to the ‘Legiones Astartes’ article some chapters ritualized certain aspects of the process: the Space Wolves were an example. During Phase 17, when the initiate is around 17 years, the Betcher’s gland is implanted under the lower lip beside the salivary glands. As you all know this allows the Space Marine to spit acid and at the time rendered the marine immune to most poisons. As a form of initiation the Space Wolves removed the initiate’s human canine teeth and replaced them with longer fangs. Therefore initially, they were not due to genetic inheritance but to custom. The paragraph is accompanied with a drawing of a bald Space Wolf with fangs that would make a Long Fang pluck his beard with envy.

 

White Dwarf #156 (Dec 1992)

 

This is the first time the Space Wolves as we know them appear on stage. The Norse/werewolf theme is fully developed and it was one of the happiest days of my life. The original pain wracking process from which Space Wolves are created is highlighted in great detail. I will go over it thoroughly since it doesn’t differ much from latter publications.

 

The process is divided into several phases, notably: ‘The Questioning’, ‘The Feasting’, ‘The Blooding’ and finally ‘The Return Home’. Before any of these phases occur, the aspirants, as they are called, must be selected. As we all know it is one of the duties of the Wolf Priest or as they are called for the first time: the Choosers of the valiant.

 

In this issue it is explained that the inhabitants of Fenris unwittingly aided in the choosing of aspirants by forming the local youth in war bands called ‘Wolfbrothers’ in order to fight or defend the village from other clans or marauders. During the battle, the Wolf Priest can be seen on high ground observing and sometimes may come down after the battle to take the bravest Wolfbrothers, even on the point of death and disappear in a flash of light or taken away by flying ships.

 

This is not the only way Wolfbrothers are chosen. Sometimes Wolf Priests are drawn to stories of great feats and courage, like the slaying of a sea dragon or the harpooning of a white whale (not kidding). They can also enter the long halls cloaked in wolf pelts where they challenge the strongest and most boastful to tests of strength and drinking (this is where some of us might have a chance). Those that make the grade are never seen again.

 

This is where ‘The Questioning’ begins. According to WD #156, when the aspirant awakens they find themselves in the Great Hall in the Fang surrounded by Space Wolves. The Wolf Priest that chose them is nowhere to be seen. They are asked why they think they are worthy to be one of the Emperor’s chosen and if their answer is worthy they are bombarded with more questions, each more menacing than the first. If the aspirant quails, the test has failed and they are taken to become thralls or bondsmen because they cannot return home after seeing the interior of the Fang. If the aspirant rises to the challenges made and shows no fear they are taken to a cold chamber to meditate while the Wolves discuss whether to take the aspirant to the next stage or place him with the bondsmen. Only 1 out of 10 makes it through this initial stage.

 

The second stage is called ‘The Feasting’. If chosen the aspirant is led to a dark chamber and laid upon a bloody slab where the Wolf Priest implants the sacred gene-seed and the extra organs. When the aspirant awakens the second time he finds himself back in the Great Hall, welcomed with roars, applause and laughter. He is forced merrily to eat and drink until he is dead drunk and his stomach is on the verge of rupturing. His last memory is being put to sleep in a soft bed. At this point the aspirant thinks he is in a warrior’s paradise.

 

The third stage is ‘The Blooding’. When the aspirant awakens, again, he is butt-naked in the cold somewhere in the wilderness of Asaheim. All he has is a knife of meteoric iron. The Wolf Priest that selected him is standing before him. He points the aspirant in the right direction (maybe wishing him luck) and disappears.

 

As you all know the gene-seed has already begun the transformation. The purpose of the feast was to give the aspirant enough protein for the activation process to begin, while the ale contained ‘trace chemicals’ to fuel the change.

 

I won’t go into colorful descriptions of what the gene-seed does to the aspirant, but it is sufficient to say that he is in tremendous excruciating pain that threatens his sanity. His body mass grows by 80%, bones fuse, and he becomes feral and wolf-like as he searches and hunts for food to sustain the process. This is the worse period of the transformation. Hunger drives him mad and he craves blood and raw flesh. If he cannot overcome his urges brought about by the inherent flaw in the gene-seed, he turns into a Wulfen, and we all know what that is.

 

The fourth stage is called ‘The Returning’. If the aspirant survives the first few days, then his sanity returns and he perceives the world with heighten perceptions and senses. He is stronger, faster and more resilient than a man can ever be, but the dangers are not over. Besides starvation and exposure, he must make his way back through a land haunted, so to speak, with monsters: dragons, blood eagles and worst of all - the rightly feared Fenrisian wolves.

 

If the aspirant manages to make it back to the Fang, he is greeted by Space Wolves at the gates with a tremendous roar and applause. He is welcomed back as a brother and taken before the Great Wolf to take his oath of fealty and another feast is held in his honour; before the transformation process is continued.

 

Codex Space Wolves (1994)

 

By now the 2nd edition Warhammer 40K was in full swing and one of the first codices to appear in shops was Space Wolves. To avoid repetition, I will just list the differences between the publication’s descriptions of the process.

 

The description is more or less the same, but with several differences. The first differences appear after the aspirant is chosen. The codex does not describe the tests the aspirant must face, like ‘The Questioning’, but keeps things more generic and just mentions that he must pass several that test his wits and strength, and naturally risks dying a horrible death (but that goes without saying).

 

‘The Feasting’ and ‘The Return’ are also removed from the description and replaced with the youth drinking from ‘The Cup of Wulfen’ that contains the Canis Helix (mentioned for the first time), before being taken into the wilderness to make it back to the Fang. The Canis Helix, according to the text, is the ‘first and most deadly’ of several gene-seeds that are implanted into a youth in order to complete the transformation, but no specifics are given. It says only that without the Canis Helix the other gene-seeds do not work.

 

‘The Blooding’ has been given a new name. Now it is called ‘The Test of Morkai’. The description is somewhat shorter, otherwise it is more or less the same: terribly painful physical changes, loss of sanity and the chance of falling to the curse of Wulfen. There are only two notable differences. The Wolf Priest is no longer present when the aspirant wakes up naked in the wilderness (or at least he is not mentioned) and when the aspirant arrives at the Fang he is not completely sane, but needs the ‘insertion of other gene-seed’ to restore his sanity.

 

Codex Space Wolves (2000)

 

We are now in the realm of the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40k. Unlike its predecessor, this codex lacks a detailed description of the process, but does include two very short narratives that give a different perspective to the whole transformation phenomenon.

 

The first narrative is my favourite and deals with a Fenrisian chief called Koloth. A heated discussion over the existence of the Wolf Priests erupts between two Wolfbrothers. One of the Wolfbrothers, Hartog claims he saw one and Alwor insists such things are but tales. Koloth intervenes and stops the fight, claiming to have seen a Wolf Priest when he was 7 years old fighting as a Wolfbrother. At the battle against the Brotherhood of the Axe, he witnessed the Aesir (as the Wolf Priests are referred to) take two of his Wolfbrothers on the point of death and disappear in a flash of lightening. What is interesting in the narrative is that it reveals a unique and rare insight into a Fenrisian’s mindset. Koloth, after all those years still felt a burning sense of shame for not being valiant or brave enough to be one of the Chosen. The narrative states that as Koloth finished his tale he turned away in order not to reveal the ‘agony in his eyes’. Talk about suffering in silence!

 

The second narrative (as you probably all know) is about an aspirant by the name of Hakon making his way back to the Fang during the ‘Test of Morkai’. This narrative gives us a glimpse at the trails an aspirant has to pass (or survive!) before attempting the ‘Trail of Morkai’. The first trail mentioned is called ‘The trail of the Thunderwolf’ and it seems it is fatal upon failure. The second is called ‘The trail of the Iron Wolf’ and failure to pass this test is not always fatal but can lead to serious injury. Another interesting fact is that during this period, the aspirants go through intensive training in weapon use and undergo agonizing medical procedures where the Wolf Priests insert something called ‘gene-runes’ that causes their bodies to grow, but unfortunately no specifics are given.

 

As you can tell this is in stark contrast to WD #156 where these procedures were done after the ‘Trail of Morkai’ and not before.

 

Index Astartes II (2002)

 

The Index Astartes series brings a wealth of background fluff to the world of Space Marines, but it does not go into much detail regarding the transformation process of the Space Wolves. It does however hammer on the point of how lethally potent the gene-seed is; and conforms with the other accounts that the bonding of the Canis Helix is a necessary genetic foundation for the other gene-seeds to take root and complete transformation into a Space Marine.

 

Another interesting point that is introduced is a brief explanation as to why the Canis Helix is so deadly. Apparently, the gene-seed contains a ‘number of acids that are not synthesized by the human body’ and this is what causes the loss of sanity that an aspirant must overcome in order to conquer the curse of the wulfen.

 

Codex Space Wolves (2009)

The latest Space Wolves codex dedicates an entire page to the physical formation process, entitled ‘Rites of Initiation’. Basically nothing has changed since 'Index Astartes II' in 2002. In fact, some phrases and expression are taken word for word from previous publications.

 

The only new thing mentioned is during the ‘Test of Morkai’ when the body of the aspirant is undergoing terrible changes. Apparently, besides bones fusing, mass increase and bestial insanity; now ‘thick hair sprouts from across his body’ as well!

 

As a Conclusion

 

That is all I could find from official published sources. If anyone knows of other official sources that contain snippets of information that are not mentioned here, please let me know about them. If anyone finds any mistakes or inaccuracies I’d appreciate it if you post them as well and I will edit the article to keep it accurate.

 

That’s all then. For those who already knew this stuff thanks for your time and to those new to the Space Wolf mythos I hope you found it interesting.

 

NR

[Marek Grimfang]

Bravo. Good Read.

 

I remember getting the Compendium and Book of the Astronomicon. The Astronomicon was lost shortly after I leant it out to someone.

 

Do you have any pics from that book of the Space Wolves?

[slmellon]

this may be a dumb question, but why are the space wplf books not canon? other than the ranek thing?

[Grey Mage]

Because almost nothing in BL is canon at the moment?

 

In any case... Id say you should submit this to the librarium.

[Oldenhaller]

I can think of a nuymber of pictures of space wolves from compendium which appear in the space marines army list section. There's the obvious desert camo markings looking at approaching orks but then additionally you can see that the librarian (i think) and the captain are also wolves from the shoulder markings suggesting a shift in organisation also

 

~O

[Blckbuster]

because some people don't like them aparantly

[nurglespuss]

Lol, yeah thats about right ;)

 

A very good read (makes me feel old but still very good), :lol: it should be added to the top of the SW forum, along with a 'classic' pic of each era, as a mini history lesson.

 

EDIT: ooooh on re-read though, i may contend this point

(To be fair all Space Marines back then were considered warrior monks).

I don't entirely agree, assault marines (as evidenced by descriptions/and art work especially) were absolute, viscious psychos, sent in first, because they were mental enough to do so! Doesn't sound too monkish to me....

[Geirulfr Frostmoon]

Good read indeed! And thanks for sharing it with all of us.

It was interesting to see how Space Wolves had evolved through time to the way they were.

[Night Runner]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, I really appreciate it. I'm not a writer, so when I wrote this up I tried my best to make it as light and as entertaining as possible without making it look silly. I hope I did it justice. Anyway, it's nice to know that members are reading this.

 

About the pictures, I was going to post some but thought I'd better not because I don't want to irritate the moderators since the material is GW copyrighted. If the moderators don't mind and they give me the go ahead I will.

 

@Nurglesuss: You may contend, disagree and argue to your hearts content, at least were I am concerned. I welcome it and encourage it and never get offended, angry or frustrated. In fact your doing me a kindness and forcing me out of the usual catatonic stupor I'm in all day by stimulating me into a good conversational argument. B)

 

With regards to your point of contention, I would agree with you, they did not seem like warriors with a monkish attitude to me either, but that is how GW wanted them to pass as back then. At least that is what is written. Whether they succeeded or not is open to debate, but that was not the point of the article since I was digressing in that paragraph just to make the article a bit interesting. But I will modify the passage since I think your point is valid.

 

@simellon: I read those books a while back and don't remember all the details, but I remember that William King followed the background loosely, but I still think he is a great writer. For example, IIRC during the Test of Morkai, he confronted a wulfen and not a Blackmane besides other things. So I really did not feel like reading several chapters just to list all the difference that he introduced. But if anyone is interested in doing it, they can post it here and I will be more that happy to add it.

 

@Grey Mage: I was thinking about adding it to the librarium, but I thought that the language in the article was a bit too casual. I'll have to read what's there to see how the style is and maybe modify a new version. Anyway, thanks for the pointer.

[Balroth]

@simellon: I read those books a while back and don't remember all the details, but I remember that William King followed the background loosely, but I still think he is a great writer. For example, IIRC during the Test of Morkai, he confronted a wulfen and not a Blackmane besides other things.

 

He confronted both. Only at the time, it wasn't stated in the text that the wolf was a Blackmane wolf. If I remember rightly, it was referred to as a 'feral' wolf. It was only later that it was confirmed to be a Blackmane wolf.

 

 

Incidentally I've just finished all six of the Ragnar books, and I think they're quite excellent. The Lightner ones aren't as good as the King ones by some distance, and the last book could have done with a few extra pages to tie things off properly (it felt very rushed), but they were good reads. There were some minor background problems throughout - King seemed to get confused as to which Imperial organisation did what in Wolfblade for instance (referring to the Officio Assassinorum as part of the Administratum), but it was nothing that spoiled the plot or ruined the story.

 

-B

[Lord Howland Greywolf]

Well done, Night Runner, it is worthy of any keeper of the scrolls.

 

I must agree that it is nice to see how the space wolf idea evolved in real life (rather than the fluff).

[nurglespuss]

Hey Night Runner: just to say again, i really enjoyed it, and its nice thinking of my youth again :) Great job, and I agree, the images don't always tie in with the 'image' GW portrays.

 

Good stuff :)

[Steingrimr]

A good history of it all, I feel, and a lot of background from many, many sources. Although, I think that it would have been worth mentioning Space Wolf by William King, which has a good first-person account of the process, but you have to buy the book, however.

I'd only suggest that if one were to want as full a picture as possible, in that case.

 

Otherwise, bloody good.

[Demonslayer]

Now I'm gonna have to go though all the stuff I collected, basically anything that mentioned Space wolves (it's all about the fluff), over the years just to see if anything maybe missing.

 

Any how nice write up.

 

Is there any fluff that's been written after the 4th ed, as I out of the loop just before it came in, apart from the books which I think I've got the the first 2 maybe 3, will have to find them now to.

[mr tough guy]

Thanks for the info mate,

I've just aquired a bunch of old RTB01 plastic and RT era metal marines and am planning to build an army in the RT style, still havn't decided what chapter, but one of the chapters I've been thinking of is a RT style spacewolves army. The plan would be to throw out all the current spacewolf fluff and just build an army like you would have seen back in the RT days, with chaplains, librarians and techmarines in stead of the current wolfpriest/runepriests etc.

But I was wondering when exactly the spacewolf fluff was created so I could throw it out :P

[Demonslayer]

When did 'The wolf that stalks the stars' become the chapter symbol, because all I can find from the early stuff, plus on Leman Russ is the head of a wolf?

[commander alexander]

When did 'The wolf that stalks the stars' become the chapter symbol, because all I can find from the early stuff, plus on Leman Russ is the head of a wolf?

 

If you read the poem that he so kindly included from the 1988 publication of the Book of the Astronomican, it makes a very obvious suggestion of its origins.

[Night Runner]

I apologize for not answering sooner, I was out for the day. Besides I didn't think this old thread would spark any more interest. Anyway, it's always nice to see comments.

 

@Demonslayer - Well, the first time I saw the symbol of the Wolf in the Stars, IIRC, was in WD 156. It is definitely a 2nd edition product although it was mentioned in the 1st edition as Commander Alexander said. W.R.T. material during and after 4th, if I am not mistaken, there is only the novels and Index Astartes II, besides the current Codex.

 

@Mr Tough Guy - Actually I was thinking on the same lines. I don't have the plastics anymore but I do have the old techmarines, chaplains, apothteks and several characters. There is something about the quirkiness of those RT models that I find appealing, or maybe it's just nostalgia.

 

@Srteingrimr - Thanks for the suggestion. I have the novels but couldn't be bother to reread several chapters to chronicle the process which was followed loosely by King, especially when I have so many SM novels to read. In fact, that is way I kept the article based on gaming material. Maybe I might add something in a few weeks.

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

NR