The Strategy of the Were-Wolf Dog

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"The Strategy of the Were-Wolf Dog" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Home Monthly in December 1896. [1]

Willa Cather American writer and novelist

Willa Sibert Cather was an American writer who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918). In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I.

Home Monthly was a monthly women's magazine published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 19th century.

Contents

Plot summary

The day before Santa Claus goes off to give presents out to children around the world, the White Bear says he suspects the Were-Wolf Dog to be around, but Santa tells him not to sit up as he will need energy for the following day. During the night, the Were-Wolf lures the reindeers into coming out of their stable to see the stars by the sea. There, he tricks them into walking on ice floes which go down, and they all die but Dunder. The latter runs to White Bear's to inform him of what happened. The two characters go to the ice hummock to ask the other animals if they can help them carry the presents tomorrow as they have no reindeers left. Only a seal agrees, but it is too old and slow to do the job. The reindeers finally relent.

Santa Claus legendary, folkloric figure, who is said to deliver presents to children on Christmas Eve

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved children on Christmas Eve and the early morning hours of Christmas Day. The modern Santa Claus grew out of traditions surrounding the historical Saint Nicholas, the British figure of Father Christmas and the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas. Some maintain Santa Claus also absorbed elements of the Germanic god Wodan, who was associated with the pagan midwinter event of Yule and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly procession through the sky.

Polar bear Species of bear native largely within the Arctic Circle

The polar bear is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is a large bear, approximately the same size as the omnivorous Kodiak bear. A boar weighs around 350–700 kg (772–1,543 lb), while a sow is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water, and for hunting seals, which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time on the sea ice. Their scientific name means "maritime bear" and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present. Because of their dependence on the sea ice, polar bears are classified as marine mammals.

Werewolf mythological human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature

In folklore, a werewolf or occasionally lycanthrope is a human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction and especially on the night of a full moon. Early sources for belief in this ability or affliction, called lycanthropy, are Petronius (27–66) and Gervase of Tilbury (1150–1228).

Characters

Major themes

Literary significance and criticism

In a letter to Mildred R. Bennett, Elsie Cather, Willa's youngest sister, admitted that the story was one made up by Willa and her brothers Roscoe and Douglas to entertain the younger children on family gatherings. [2]

Adaptations

The story was adapted by Tom Pomplun for Christmas Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Nineteen (2010).

<i>Graphic Classics</i>

Graphic Classics is a comic book anthology series published by Eureka Productions of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Graphic Classics features adaptations of literary classics by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe, with art by top professionals, many of whom hail from the underground or alternative comics world. Created and edited by Tom Pomplun, the series began publication in 2002.

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References

  1. ↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 November 1970, page 471
  2. ↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 November 1970, 'Introduction' by Mildred R. Bennett, page xxvii
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