The wolf is a common motif in the foundational mythologies and cosmologies of peoples throughout Eurasia and North America (corresponding to the historical extent of the habitat of the gray wolf), and also plays a role in ancient European cultures. The modern trope of the Big Bad Wolf arises from European folklore. The wolf holds great importance in the cultures and religions of many nomadic peoples, such as those of the Eurasian steppe and North American Plains. Wolves have sometimes been associated with witchcraft in both northern European and some Native American cultures: in Norse folklore, the völva Hyndla and the gýgr Hyrrokin are both portrayed as using wolves as mounts, while in Navajo culture, wolves have sometimes been interpreted as witches in wolf's clothing. Traditional Tsilhqot'in beliefs have warned that contact with wolves could in some cases possibly cause mental illness and death. Akkadian One of the earliest written references to black wolves occurs in the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh, in which the titular character rejects the sexual advances of the goddess Ishtar, reminding her that she had transformed a previous lover, a shepherd, into a wolf, thus turning him into the very animal that his flocks must be protected against. Caucasian The names of nation of Georgia derives from Old Persian designation of the Georgians vrkān (𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴) meaning "the land of the wolves", that would eventually transform into gorğān, term that will be finding its way into most European languages as "Georgia". The wolf is a national symbol of Chechnya. According to folklore, the Chechens are "born of a she-wolf", as included in the central line in the national myth. The "lone wolf" symbolizes strength, independence and freedom. A proverb about the teips (clans) is "equal and free like wolves". Finno-Ugric Finnish Unlike the fox and the bear, the wolf has been feared and hated in Finland for a long time. The wolf has been the symbol of destruction and desolation to the extent that the very word for wolf in the Finnish language, susi, also means "a useless thing", and the by-name hukka means perdition and annihilation. While the bear has been the sacred animal of the Finns, wolves have been hunted and killed mercilessly for a long time. The wolf has been represented as an implacable and malicious predator, killing more than it manages to eat. Indo-European In Proto-Indo-European mythology, the wolf was presumably associated with the