10 h 8 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the power to command wolves gives you the respect you crave—and binds you to the devil?
At the edge of a great forest near Villers-Cotterêts, Thibault makes wooden clogs and longs for more than his hard, narrow life. He wants respect and love. Agnelette holds his heart, but a dangerous offer puts his desires within reach at a price he cannot ignore.
In The Wolf-Leader, Alexandre Dumas steps into the dark woods of folk legend. A pact brings Thibault strange authority over wolves, while Isengrin, the huge leader of the pack, remains bound to the devil's will. As neighbours learn to fear Thibault, the tale asks how easily fear can pass for respect.
What you’ll discover
- A longing with teeth Follow a poor clog-maker whose hunger for love and respect leaves him open to temptation.
- The devil's dangerous offer Explore a bargain that promises power while binding the man who accepts it.
- Wolves in the night Enter forest darkness where Isengrin and his pack give supernatural power a vivid, threatening shape.
- Fear mistaken for respect Consider what Thibault gains when his neighbours fear him, and what that feeling means.
- Dumas beyond the swordplay Discover short scenes and strong images told with the directness of a winter fireside tale.
Who will love it
For readers who love folk tales, ghost stories and legends of the devil, and anyone who wants to discover Dumas beyond his adventure novels.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A poor clog-maker lives at the forest's edge
- A pact begins with a simple wish
- Power over wolves comes with a price
- How a legend is told by a master storyteller
Who’s who
- ThibaultA poor maker of wooden clogs in the forest who longs for respect and love, and is tempted by a dangerous offer.
- AgneletteThe young woman Thibault loves, whose place in his heart shapes the choices he makes.
- IsengrinA huge wolf who leads the pack and is bound to the devil's will.
- The devil's agentThe dark figure of the old legends, who offers power over wolves in exchange for a binding pact.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 4 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Der Wolfshäuptling
by Alexandre Dumas · 1857
In a French forest, a poor clog-maker is offered power over wolves through a pact that comes with a price.
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In short
The Wolf-Leader is a short novel by Alexandre Dumas, first published in French in 1857 under the title Le Meneur de loups. Dumas is best known for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A poor clog-maker lives at the forest's edge
The hero is Thibault, a maker of wooden clogs who lives and works in the great forest. His life is hard and small. He has little money, little standing, and a sharp sense of how much others have over him.
Dumas gives the forest real weight. It is the place where Thibault earns his living, where he walks alone, and where the old stories say that wolves and worse things are abroad. The woods are never only scenery. They are a living presence that watches the people who depend on them.
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What is The Wolf-Leader about?
It is a short Faustian tale about Thibault, a poor clog-maker in a French forest, who is offered power over wolves by the devil's agent and enters a pact whose price he must face.
Who wrote The Wolf-Leader and when?
Alexandre Dumas wrote it. It was first published in French in 1857 under the title Le Meneur de loups, in the same decade as many of his later romances and plays.
Who is Isengrin in The Wolf-Leader?
Isengrin is the great wolf who leads the pack and is bound to the devil's will. The name is an old one for the wolf in French medieval animal tales.
The author
Alexandre Dumas
1802–1870 · French novelist and playwright
Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was a French novelist and playwright. He was born in Villers-Cotterêts, lived in Paris, and died in Puys, near Dieppe. He wrote The Three Musketeers (1844), The Count of Monte Cristo (1844–1846), Twenty Years After (1845), and The Black Tulip (1850).
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