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What if escaping old age means carrying a curse that puts love itself in danger?
Fernand Wagner is old, poor, and afraid of dying. His strength fades, and his past offers little comfort. Then a mysterious stranger offers him a new life. In George W. M. Reynolds's Gothic novel, the promise of youth comes with a terrible price: Wagner must live beneath the curse of the wolf.
Young again, Wagner can love and be loved. But his bargain casts a shadow over the people who enter his life. Nisida and Agnes become bound to his fate as love, secrets, and rivals gather around him. Set in Renaissance Italy, this tale blends horror and romance with a troubling question: what does it cost to escape human limits?
What you’ll discover
- A stranger's terrible offer Meet the mysterious figure whose promise answers Wagner's desperation and brings a curse.
- Youth beneath a shadow Follow a man who regains youth but cannot leave the bargain's burden behind.
- Love drawn into danger Discover Nisida and Agnes, whose lives become entangled with Wagner's troubled fate.
- The cost of longing Explore the wish to defeat age and poverty, and the debt that follows.
- Gothic thrills and romance Enter a long, melodramatic adventure where dark bargains bring love and horror together.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love storms, secret chambers, sword fights and devilish bargains. If you enjoy Gothic atmosphere and Renaissance Italy, Reynolds gives you plenty of both.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Youth comes with a hidden cost
- A locked door governs the future
- Agnes discovers her grandfather's new face
- The curse turns love into danger
- Forced obedience leads to violence
- The demon offers love as bait
- Control costs more than it gives
- Hidden things give the story shape
- Human warmth stands beside Gothic fear
Who’s who
- Fernand WagnerA poor old shepherd made young again by a cursed bargain, he turns into a wolf each month and longs to live and love in peace.
- Nisida of RiverolaA proud, fierce Florentine noblewoman who pretends to be deaf and mute for years and will do almost anything to protect her brother.
- Francisco, Count of RiverolaNisida's gentle brother, unloved by his father, who has sworn a strange oath and hopes to marry the maid Flora.
- Flora FrancatelliA shy, honest orphan serving in the Riverola household, who loves Francisco and fears his sister's anger.
- Stephano VerrinaThe bold, vain captain of the Florentine bandits, who is dazzled by Nisida and ready to dare anything for her.
- Manuel, Marquis of OrsiniA handsome, reckless gambler in love with a married countess, who finds that he has more honor than he thought.
- Isaachar ben SolomonA kind old Jewish moneylender who is robbed, threatened and falsely accused, yet keeps his humanity.
- Alessandro FrancatelliFlora's brother, who goes to Constantinople as a secretary and rises through the Sultan's court under a new name.
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Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf
by George W. M. Reynolds · 1846
A shepherd of the Black Forest trades old age for youth and takes on the curse of a wolf at every month's end.
Challenging10–20 hours to read20 languages
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“That you prey upon the human race, whom I hate, because I alone in all the world am so deeply, so terribly cursed!”
In short
What would you give to be young again? In January 1516 a ninety-year-old shepherd sits alone in a cottage at the edge of the Black Forest, his granddaughter Agnes gone, a storm shaking the walls.
Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf at a glance
- Reading time
- About 11 h 45 min9 h 20 min fast, 14 h slow
- Length
- 168,000 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- 1846by George W. M. Reynolds
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A stranger offers an old man youth
The book opens on a dreadful night in January 1516. Old Wagner mourns his missing granddaughter Agnes when a tall, wild-eyed stranger enters to escape the storm. He flinches at every crash of thunder.
He makes an astonishing offer. He can give the old shepherd youth, handsome looks, a sharp mind and endless gold. In return Wagner must travel with him until sunset on July 30, 1517, and prey upon the human race. The stranger also explains the second condition. Some doomed men turn into wolves at sunset on the last day of each month. Wagner shudders, but he is lonely and weak, and he is given no time to think.
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Details
- First published
- 1846
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 13 h 55 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Reynolds, George W. M. Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/wagner-the-wehr-wolf.
Reynolds, G. W. M. (2026). Wagner, the wehr-wolf. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/wagner-the-wehr-wolf (Original work published 1846)
Reynolds, George W. M. Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/wagner-the-wehr-wolf.
@book{reynolds2026wagner,
author = {Reynolds, George W. M.},
title = {Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/wagner-the-wehr-wolf},
note = {First published 1846}
}
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What is Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf about?
It tells of an old shepherd who is made young by a stranger and takes on the curse of turning into a wolf each month. The story follows him to Florence, where love, murder, bandits and the Inquisition tangle around him.
Is Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf a true story?
No. It is a Gothic novel by George W. M. Reynolds, first printed in installments in the 1840s. It draws on the werewolf legend and the Faust story, and sets them in Italy in the early sixteenth century.
Who is Faust in Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf?
Faust is the Count of Aurana, the stranger who makes the bargain with Wagner in the Black Forest. He is cursed himself and takes Wagner as a companion for eighteen months before they part.
The author
George W. M. Reynolds
1814–1879 · English novelist and journalist
George W. M. Reynolds was a British novelist and journalist, born in Sandwich, Kent, in 1814. He lived in France and later in London, where he died in 1879. He wrote The Mysteries of London, begun in 1844, and Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf, published in 1846–1847.
“That you prey upon the human race, whom I hate, because I alone in all the world am so deeply, so terribly cursed!”
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