Sleeping soundly through the night—without waking once—seems like a rare luxury, yet uninterrupted sleep is essential for feeling refreshed and fully productive the next day.
Many assume that simply going to bed at the right time guarantees a restful night. However, waking up between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM is a common occurrence, sometimes making it difficult to fall back asleep. But this widespread phenomenon isn’t just coincidence or bad luck—it holds deeper significance.
The Hour of the Wolf
The hours between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM have long been associated with an unsettling period known as the hour of the wolf, a term popularized by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s psychological horror film of the same name.
As Bergman described:
“The hour between night and dawn … when most people die, sleep is deepest, nightmares are most real. It is the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their worst anguish, when ghosts and demons are most powerful. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most babies are born.”
According to Professor Birgitta Steene, the title originates from Swedish folklore, where the hour of the wolf refers to the window between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM—a time believed to have heightened occurrences of both births and deaths.
This is also the moment when the body reaches its deepest state of rest, making its internal functions more vulnerable to disruption.
