CryptoAngels: Raziel
The nineteenth in a series of posts about the Archangels of the CryptoAngels project and their inspirations.
Owned by Mr.Spacely, Raziel has devoted himself to the Fera Mysterium – the mysteries of the wild – and has become distanced from his more refined brethren due to his feral nature. He is guardian to all the Multiverse’s wilderness regions and untamed life. He resides in the wilderness of Plenilune (a poetic term meaning ‘full moon’). It is a secluded region of shadows lit only by a full moon in an indigo sky. The Moon has always fascinated us, and many legends from around the world have linked it with magic, prophecy, and divinity.
Raziel leads a great wolf pack. Wolf legends occur in many cultures and are particularly prevalent in Norse mythology. Here the god Odin’s faithful companions are the wolves Geri and Freki, and he is doomed to be killed by the monstrous wolf Fenrir. A skin changer, one of Raziel’s forms is that of a winged dire wolf. This is inspired by the many legends of the werewolf, which date back to the folklore of ancient Europe and are thought to derive from the prehistoric Koryos warriors, who adopted a wolf-like nature.
Raziel is also inspired by the woodwoses – wild men – of legend. An early example was Enkidu of the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, and later they would appear in medieval art and heraldry. The Drúedain race of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is a modern literary example.
