Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

27202

Title

Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Set in 1516 Germany and 1521 Rhodes, this historical romance follows the cursed wanderer Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf, who grants youth and wealth to a dying shepherd in exchange for a year of servitude and the sacrifice of human life. Blending Gothic horror with chivalric siege warfare, the tale explores themes of redemption, the cost of power, and the resilience of the human spirit against supernatural evil.

Summary up to 500 words

George W. M. Reynolds' *Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf* opens in the tempestuous Black Forest of 1516. A ninety-year-old shepherd, abandoned by his granddaughter Agnes, encounters a mysterious stranger during a violent storm. The stranger offers to restore the old man's youth and wealth but demands a terrible price: the old man must accompany him for eighteen months as a companion to a creature cursed to transform into a wolf at sunset, the Wehr-Wolf. The old man accepts, unaware that his new name is Wagner. The stranger reveals that the old man must prey upon the human race, a condition linked to the legend of the Wehr-Wolf who transforms into a beast at sunset. The narrative shifts to the Siege of Rhodes in 1521, where the Ottoman Sultan Solyman the Magnificent attacks the Knights of St. John. During the brutal fighting, the Sultan is defeated in single combat by a young Italian chieftain, Count Francisco di Riverola, until the renegade Ibrahim Pasha intervenes. Following the siege, Francisco and his bride discover the bodies of Wagner and his lover Nisida, who have died together. Wagner had been the Wehr-Wolf; his curse was broken by his death and the repentance of Nisida. Meanwhile, the old shepherd, now restored to youth and named Wagner, is revealed to be the Wehr-Wolf himself. The novel traces the fates of the supporting cast: the Jewish prisoner Isaachar ben Solomon, who is freed and befriends Francisco; and Manuel d'Orsini, a nobleman who converts to Islam and rises to become Mustapha Pasha, a celebrated Ottoman general. The story concludes with the deaths of the main characters: the Wehr-Wolf Wagner dies with his repentant lover, the Jewish scholar Isaachar dies in poverty after his fortune is lost, and the powerful Grand Vizier Ibrahim is assassinated by a Greek slave seeking vengeance for past wrongs. Ultimately, the story resolves with the surviving protagonists, Francisco and Flora, finding peace and happiness in their family life, having witnessed the tragic consequences of supernatural curses and political ambition.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Fiction
• Horror