This is in the beanstalk where he's trying to explain his tail. My thoughts on that: I love his tail! After all: "It's perfectly normal..." I wanta see that tail early and often!

Again addressing the issue of whether Wolf had the Magic Bean with him all the time in prison...after reading what people discussing this question have written, I guess I have to agree it is the only probable explanation other than "hole in the plot"! (They must not search their prisoners very well, though!) Whomever said that perhaps he had planned to use it to try to get out, but hadn't had time yet to implement that plan, may have been right. This would lend support to my theory that Wolf hadn't actually been in prison very long. I wonder if maybe he had only been in there since his last cycle- and that somehow he lost control during it, which he seems apt to do. This would of course lead him into trouble, particularly if he were too close to a settlement, farming community, etc. So possibly he had been in prison a couple weeks at most.

This leads to the related topic of what he actually did to get his sorry butt thrown in the pokey. "Sheep worrying" means different things in different regions, apparently. Here in northern New Mexico, when someone uses that term it is usually applied to an attack of one or more dogs. The dogs will tear up, mutilate and usually kill the sheep, but not actually eat them. Whole flocks have been killed this way. This is a very distressing event up here: I live next to the Navajo Rez and they have a problem with packs of feral dogs. Sheep are still a big part of the culture and the sheepherders always carry guns with them, and think nothing of shooting the feral dogs: usually do it on sight. I don't think Wolf was doing that kind of sheep worrying: he's always hungry, after all...when he gets after something, he's gonna eat it! (It's that way here too- when a wolf or cougar gets a sheep, there isn't much left! And they don't kill more than they're gonna eat.) So- I don't think Wolf "worried" any sheep...he could have eaten some unauthorized livestock, though. And whomever said he couldn't have been caught by farmers was right too in my opinion: they would have just taken the law into their own hands and burnt him at the stake like they tried to do in Little Lamb Village. No- he must've done something else, and he must've been caught by the "authorities" at it. As for him avoiding Virginia's eyes when she asked him about this: I read that as shame or embarrassment: he has to admit to someone that he cares about very much (and is trying to impress) that he has done something bad. He was attempting "damage control" but his conscience was bothering him! "Sheep worrying" may have been the first thing that came to his mind and not too serious-sounding. It might be totally unrelated to what he really did!   I just had a thought! On the boat, Wolf says to Tony, (indicating Wendell) "Wolves can be shot on sight in his miserable Kingdom." But Wolf himself wasn't- he was put in prison instead! Maybe he did something relatively minor...we all agree he loves to steal: maybe he just got caught stealing! Maybe he got locked up simply for being a wolf (somebody took pity on him and didn't shoot him; hauled him off to jail instead!).

I take exception (in a retorical way, no offense intended!) to the statement made by someone in a discssion group that Wolf isn't competent! He's reached the age of the upper thirty-somethings (I don't know how old he's "supposed" to be, I'm going by looks here), and has survived in this rather dangerous and often deadly fairy-tale world. Yes he's had some hard knocks, and some failures, but he's still there and going strong. And he's learned much about his world. He exhibits what I feel is one of the most admirable of traits: tenacity! He is like a Timex watch and the Energizer Bunny all rolled into one: He "takes a licking and keeps on ticking"...and he's "still going..."!

Another person discussing this issue pointed out that Heroes don't always succeed and just swashbuckle their way thru their stories (and how interesting would that be anyway?), and cited Ulysses, I think, as an example. I'll drag in an example from popular culture, and one of my other heroes as well - Han Solo. Jabba got the drop on Han: freeze-dried him and used him as a wall decoration, as I recall. And he had to get rescued, of course. But this didn't make him any less of a hero. If we want to stay in the Harrison Ford genre: look at all the stuff that happens to poor Indiana Jones, for heaven's sake! Adversity and failures are what give life to our heroes! Lends them a vulnerability that shows them to be just like the rest of us. Their courage is what sets them apart and inspires us - and Wolf has courage in abundance. In fact he shows a reckless kind of courage at times, brought about I think by the great love he's feeling, and by his confidence, another thing he has an apparently limitless supply of.

        I did wanta note something about the way Wolf fights and it may have to do with why he wasn't totally successful against the Huntsman: the Huntsman had weapons both times and Wolf didn't. From those fight scenes it seems that Wolf considers his teeth his major weapon. And they may be very effective much of the time. I have a feeling that with those Peep boys Wolf was half in a stupor and half trying to stay out of trouble- had they dragged him outside they might have seen a different side of him (and those teeth), but he would have paid a terrible price for that. No, Virginia was "supposed" to bail him out there! In the final fight scene I also see something like "karma" happening: the Huntsman was destined to die from his own arrow, not by Wolf's hand. In closing on this subject I have to say that in the end Wolf succeeds in a really big way: what he pulls off at the Coronation Ball makes up for any past incompetencies (real or imagined) on his part. He literally saved everyone: his manipulation of the Evil Queen and switching of the poison punch to a non-lethal knock out drink was a masterwork of subterfuge, dissembling, confidence, and courage. Now that's Suave! (I just hadta add that because somebody somewhere remarked that Wolf wasn't as suave as he thought he was! HA!).

One discussion group was talking about Wolf's possible ranking and someone (who didn't agree with my opinion on same!) asked me if I had been around many dogs. I have an odd response to that! I have never owned a dog and never considered myself a "dog person"! But I have worked extensively with wolves! ( I was involved with Wolfsong Rescue in Arizona, and now that I have moved to New Mexico, I have found there is a Wolf Rescue just down the road from me, Kandy Kitchen, and I am becoming involved with that organization. Animal rescue in general is a cause I am passionate about. I also rescue horses, fowl and cats! ) Wolves, when they are 75% or above, do display many behavorial differences from dogs!

        When we discuss Wolf's ranking (and I'll express my opinion on that in a minute), something that we always have to remember is that his plight in the Kingdoms is strikingly similar to that of wolves in our world! He isn't dealing with his own kind most of the time. Oh, that he was! He's not squabbling for ranking (or defending or upholding his ranking) among his own. He's trying to function within a world dominated by humans! Humans who have weapons; humans who often have no respect for his kind, and therefore don't "fight fair", following an instinctive protocol. Humans who fear and hate and usually want to exterminate his kind. Because he can sometimes "pass", at least for a while, as a human himself, and because he has learned how humans think and how to fool them sometimes, Wolf often enjoys more success in his world than wolves do in ours. A wolf in our world, whether he or she be alpha, beta, or omega, often is not successful at all in even keeping his or her life because the humans have again technology (weapons), greater numbers, no sense of honor or respect, and most of all (even in this so-called enlightened age) an abiding hate for wolves...just like in the Kingdoms! I think Wolf does pretty well, really - as I said in my previous essay: after all, he is still alive!

    I think that if we are going to judge Wolf against 4-legged wolves, then he is an alpha, although an untried alpha, since I don't believe he's had the opportunity to spend much time among his people. But we aren't given much information about his people...do they even rank out like 4-legged wolves? I tend to think given the way the 10th Kingdom is written and has played out so far, Wolf's people will be a female-dominated society (and as a feminist and rebel against patriarchy I love the idea and hope that's the way it turns out!). So if Wolf is indeed an alpha then he will still be subordinate to the alpha female(s). He is displaying this kind of behavior in the story thus far, if you notice. I base my argument for his alpha status on two things that in my time with wolves I have seen as being more important than pure fighting skill, or even physical strength. Those two things are, one: intelligence, and two: guts! (attitude, chutzpah, or as we say in New Mexico, "cohones"). Pure courage is an important amendment to these two ingredients as well.

        About Wolf taking orders as evidence of subordinate status: if you notice, he only really does this when the orders come from Virginia or on her behalf (when he puts his head reluctantly on that chopping block he says "...but only for Virginia!"). This is more evidence for me that he comes from a female-dominated culture. Also of course he does almost from the beginning consider her his mate, and an alpha female can sometimes dominate her mate (particularly when reception and sex play is involved), among "real" wolves. As for him taking orders from others when Virginia is not involved: I don't see him really doing that! Although in his conniving way he pretends to sometimes (as with the Evil Queen), when it furthers his own cause to seem like he's doing so!

            I do agree that Wolf is to a greater or lesser degree a slave to his appetites when he gets out of prison - after all he hasn't had a decent meal in who knows how long, he hasn't been able to be in his beloved outdoors and "bound", he has to finagle an escape by pretending to go along with something that he in actuality has no intention of going along with...and then straight away he runs into this enchanting creature whose very existence knocks him for a loop! No wonder he's all "discombooberated"! On the other hand he's able to seize the opportunities that are thrown his way; pulls himself together, and comes out the hero. In fact I believe that at the end Wolf is just coming into his own: living up to his potential, which was before untried! He has acquired (earned, actually) much more status than he had in the begining. So if he started as a beta or an untried alpha then he is undoubtedly an alpha at the end - at least among the inhabitants of the Kingdoms he is! He certainly will be a hero among his own people because his deeds have warranted a pardon for all of them, given by those who have long hated them so much - the humans. If only some Noble Wolf could gain such a favor for the wolves in our world!

I guess the simplest way to say what I think happened is that Wolf enhanced both his wolf-hood and his humanity by the end of the story (did that just make sense?) He saw the wisdom in not discarding any parts of himself: he integrated the parts instead! In fact I do see the story as a chronicle of Wolf integrating himself: sorting thru and knowing the proper place for his various appetites, for example. He became a better being all around, reaching his potential as he brought the fragmented parts of himself together. As for anthropomorphising...people often do this with animals, not doing them any favors in the process. But I wonder how anthropomorphising fits in when you are referring to a half-human/half-wolf? Hmmm...

          Of course I agree that the 9 Kingdoms is much more female-dominated than our world is: one of the many general things I love about this story!   I mentioned it in particular when referring to Wolf's people because there seems to me to be ample evidence that they are the same way: a matriarchal/matrifocal culture. Since many (most?) people in the Kingdoms seem to take a dim view of the wolf-folk, you might infer that they are patriarchal (remember, the other culture of "bad guys" in the story, the Trolls, seem to be more male-dominated. At least they did to me) - that difference alone might cause them to be maligned in the female-dominated Kingdoms. But I think Wolf's behavior (if his behavior is in keeping with that of his people) offers plenty of assurance of the wolfs being a matrifocal culture.

Somebody in a group commented: "Wolf was, after all, able to throw away the troll king's shoes, even after admitting he was attracted to them) but magic in the 9 Kingdoms tends to attack personality flaws..."

 To which I reply: Wolf did seem to have some sort of knowledge about magic and magical objects in the story that seems more than casual. He seems to know something at least about when and where and how much to use magic and then again when to leave it alone, doesn't he? The Magic Bean we were discussing recently is a good example! And there are several other occasions in the story of this (instances with the shoes; the axe {especially in the book}, and in Kissingtown he says "Fireworks don't happen unless there's stuff in the rockets already" indicating he knows the magic there isn't completely effective by itself.). Also he's "immune" to Troll Dust I guess since he used it at the coronation ball without getting knocked out himself by it (or maybe he knows how to handle it). Also I believe he never actually gave his will to the Queen at all which indicates an ability to resist there. So why can he do these things and not other folks? A "pure heart" as a friend suggested? Some kind of innate knowledge or intuition? Or is he some kind of "magician" with powers we just aren't shown more of? He really seems to know an awful lot, but doesn't let on that he does until a situation arises where he has to use what he knows...

We know now, through communicating with the author Simon Moore, that the wolf-people are a race. There are villages of them! And another thing we do know for sure is that Wolf had siblings ("...she used to drag us all out to look at the Moon...") Somehow I don't think all these sibs were called just "Wolf". And certainly not every member of his people! I think he must have or at least have had a name that was uniquely his own. The thought did cross my mind that perhaps if his siblings were killed when his parents were, he might have taken to calling himself just "Wolf" after that: out of grief. If the others were gone there was no need for a special identity anymore. But doesn't he think he's going to run into some other of his people at some time? They can't all be called "Wolf"! I can think of another reason for the generic name that fits with him (at least as I percieve him) even better than the "no need for a separate identity" thing I mentioned above. Among indigenous cultures where shamanism is practiced, one's "real name" is a powerful talisman that one keeps to oneself. The name has power but also gives power over to anyone that learns it. This "real name" is generally conferred upon one ceremonially by a wise one, priest, or medicine person when one reaches a certain point as a child (in some cultures, such as certain Pueblos, 4 days after birth. in others at a later stage: at puberty among the Tohono O'odham, for example). Some individuals never give this name to another soul their whole life! And sometimes it is told upon a special occasion to a healer...perhaps a spouse or an elder. Sometimes it is known to one's immediate family. It could certainly be possible that this is the way it is with the wolfs concerning their names! So I think Wolf has another name that he's not telling! Will he tell it to Virginia? It's just about the only part of himself he hasn't given up to her already! And I don't for one minute think his name is "Warren Wolfson"!

It has been suggested by some that Wolf could not be a very good lover, because he was a virgin! And because of the rather stunned way he emerged from the woods right after his little tryst with Virginia! As for not knowing what to do or being "good", well, I think he had his Wolf Instincts to guide him there, and that he was from the first a fine lover, where a mere man in that situation would be a fumbling fool! And he could know a lot of "information" about sex by, as someone has suggested, reading! (I also find it very cool that he's a big reader!) But reading about sex is like reading about bicycle riding or reading about horseback riding...NOTHING like the actual experience! (And I'm living proof on the horseback riding!) As for the way Wolf acted after sex (and yes that's one of the endearing scenes in the film to me: LOVE that waggin' tail!)...well; he could be "knowledgable" and still be overwhelmed, especially when he's just had sex with the "love of his life"!   Just the physical release alone, sometimes......Gee...haven't any of you ever had one of "those" kind of orgasms?

I really feel strongly that Wolf doesn't belong in New York! And not because he isn't clever enough or adaptable enough to figure out how to survive there. Because he certainly is those! (And if you remember, in the book: he is somewhat fascinated by New York. He loves all the books that are there and wants to return to read all of them!) But in these modern times the technology and culture will definitely work against him! If just for the simple fact that these days identification is so very important! Not to say that a master finagler like Wolf couldn't procure a fake ID pretty easily... but Wolf would have to learn how to work our system here, and if he got caught out in anything before he learned it, things would be pretty much over for him! All he has to do is get arrested even once (which can happen to ya for just getting caught with a fake ID, in certain circumstances!)...and it's all over for him! He will get searched, and it will be discovered that he is "different". At which point it becomes an episode of the X-files! And he gets locked away somewhere and studied for whatever remains of his miserable existence... His only other option is to live like a homeless, disenfranchised person: and I don't think that's a life Virginia wants, or a life that Wolf wants to give her. Wolf wants to be a wonderful mate, and provide her with a wonderful life. And a life of homelessness ain't it! The couple might fare a little better if they moved to a rural area (especially since I believe Wolf NEEDS the outdoors to "bound" in, and will eventually become cagy in a city environment), but there are still the issues of earning a living, making a home, legalities, etc.

          I feel Wolf went with Virginia back to New York simply because she insisted upon going! He is bonded to her and will follow her anywhere...

We know Wolf seems to want a family, but did even he want one as soon as he's getting one in this story? This begs the question: did he impregnate Virginia on purpose? I myself don't think he did - but discovered that he had shortly after they mated, through a change in her scent brought about by shifting hormone levels. And then because animals generally accept their circumstances, he accepts the pregnancy, and announces it to her (with the additional benefit in his eyes of it being leverage for his marriage proposal! I actually felt quite sorry for him there: I wish Virginia could accept him just for him and his love for her, not because of some obligation due to the child). But does anybody think he got her pregnant in order to get her to marry him? (Because in the Kingdoms it's probably like the olden days here: you get pregnant you get married!)

          I do think a turn the story could logically take is Virginia not accepting the pregnancy very well: remember she's barely pregnant as the story ends: there's an awful lot of time for her to think about it. An awful lot of issues for her to still work thru with herself, before she can look to the needs of an infant. This could very well be a very difficult time for the couple. Can Wolf guide her thru it? Be enough support for her to lean on? I personally see Wolf as being a "spirit guide" or "totem animal" for Virginia...

Or will differences in attitude over the pregnancy drive them apart? It probably would be almost impossible for Wolf to accept terminating this pregnancy even if Virginia assured him that she truly did want a baby later! He would have to become much more like a modern human man to do this, and so much of his true self would be lost then!   If they couldn't agree and parted, what would happen then? Particularly to Wolf as I do think as I've said before he is far more bonded to Virginia than she is to him...

Please don't think I'm "blaming" Wolf entirely for this pregnancy and holding Virginia completely innocent here! In fact very much the opposite! I don't believe Wolf forced himself on her! I think that if she hadn't been ready and willing that day in the woods, he would have backed off. He may be selfish about her in a lot of ways (this idea has been brought up), in that she wants her for him him him...but he also loves her deeply and devotedly (look at the other sacrifices he's made for her, the danger he's put himself in). And if you notice, he has always acquiesced to her wished and demands, even when those made him very unhappy. I see Wolf as a romantic, not a rapist (I think this attitude underlies his torment during his cycle in LLV: If you want to read more of my thoughts on that, go to my next page: "Feverish Full Moon Thoughts") - I think he might want her very badly, but he would wait.   The thing is: he didn't have to wait! She wanted him, too! Just as badly! Therefore she bears equal responsibility for this pregnancy. Especially since I cannot believe that as the modern girl she claims to be she thinks you can't get pregnant the first time. You hear this bandied about by very young girls who are still virgins: but by the time you're in about 9th grade? you know it just ain't so!   But she went ahead and had that little frolic with him anyway! (Too bad among the other stuff in her little knapsack she didn't have some condoms! Now THAT would have been a "modern girl"!)   As for her and him sitting there lookin' happy at the end with their hands on her tummy: remember things have happened VERY quickly, she isn't even feeling this pregnancy yet...she has a lot of time to go, time to think...I do think support and guidance from Wolf at this time will be most important to the success of their relationship, if they really are to become a family.

         Another thought I have on the comment made by someone that Wolf is quite selfish, and that all his interactions with Virginia are born from that: I disagree! At the end, where Wolf says, "...our baby needs a father". I don't think that's selfishness: I think you have to give him the benefit of the doubt there! Remember he's already tried the "I'll be there for you...", routine, several times, and she doesn't seem to care! (Really, it's Virginia's cavalier attitude that has me wondering most about the future of this baby!) I think the poor lovesick fool is just trying anything at that point! Gad - he's desperate! And he probably does feel some sort of obligation to tell her about the child on the way...

Some folks think that Wolf only played at "eating" people, and only "played" when it came to sex as well...a "one that got away" sort of thing. I do think Wolf consumed people, but that he WAS a virgin. As for "playing"...I can see Wolf toying with either prey (like he did with Grandma) or some tempting gal (Sally Peep?): I mean he even said it himself: "...I was just being playful...wolfies just pretend to do naughty things." He could play in both arenas without actually "going all the way"!

About Wolf knowing Virginia's lineage and still wanting her for a mate... I have an idea that Wolf was just very interested in Virginia at first, infatuated; but not maybe totally comitted to the mating thing for a while ("How about a date?") I think that it was during their "Fireside Chat" in Snow White's old cottage that he completely made up his mind. No turning back after that. You know as he asks Virginia those leading questions about her mother that he very well knows the answers already himself. He is finding out her version of events: what she's doing here; what happened in her past, and so on...He conducts this "fishing expedition" with consummate skill and sensitivity. And I believe he is using his very strong intuitive abilities here as well: he's "reading" Virginia. And I think that's when he really commits inside himself, even though he has been babbling about his love for her for some time...Well: that's what I think, anyway!
As for Wolf not being truly heroic or courageous (some folks argue that he is not) Wolf may get his hard knocks quite a lot (indeed I see his treatment as being a metaphor for the treatment of wolves here in our world: defeated more often than not, struggling to survive. I have often stated my idea that Wolf is a very successful member of his kind: after all - he is still alive!), but he has three qualities that are necessary to, indeed they "make" the hero: spirit; intelligence. and tenacity. They mark him as an alpha as well. In my experiences with people, as well as in my work with animals (I am active in wolf, horse, cat, and fowl rescue), I have seen these qualities win out over sheer physical strength every time! The only things that do win out over these qualities are numbers and high technology: as many animals and indigenous peoples here in our world have found out, unfortunately!

I feel that at the beginning of our story Wolf's wolf side was "surging" somehow (even if it was mostly from hunger and recent confinement), I don't think that at the end we find his wolf side repressed or inhibited, as some have suggested! I think Wolf's task in the journey that is this story is to integrate himself: not only his appetites (although that's a large part of it), but himself in general. To truly become a human wolf, with both sides optomized, and the knowledge of what behaviors/traits from each side are appropriate or needed in any given situation. Not a half-anything; but a whole being who has access to the power of two.
Mr. Cohen did an interview for the magazine "Cult Times" about his portrayal of Wolf. I find those words about Wolf very significant here: he says the wolf side of Wolf COMPLIMENTS the human side (not conflicts or inhibits or anything else). He also says that side is PURE. I have always thought that myself. Many of you know I have a different viewpoint about animals than most folks. I see us all as being the same: brothers and sisters and none better than the other. I don't see "being an animal" as a problem or something that needs to be minimalized or gotten rid of. In fact, since humans have become disconnected from the Earth, I see animals as being more in touch with what's really important than we are. By a long shot! They have their priorities straight! Mr. Cohen said of Wolf: "...he loves the sound of the trees...and even the dirt..." I'm sure if Wolf did eat people, for example, it was because they were considered a natural food source and he was hungry, not because of some derangement. And I'm sure he killed no more than he needed for food!
I think there were points in the story where Wolf DID want to either discard or really repress his wolf side, and I think this was due to his confusion about how to relate to Virginia because she was a human. And because the Queen was trying to interfere with his natural cycle; trying to twist Wolf's natural strength and hungriness at that time to her own ends. However I think as the story progressed, he saw that trying to act like a man when he should have just been himself was not coming off right. He needed to improve the being he was, not try to be something he wasn't. Therein lay his process of integration. I feel there is ample evidence at the end that he has accomplished this. He continues to refer to himself as a wolf: "...a wolf can sense these things" about the unborn child. "That's wolfs for ya: good guys!", about his kind. He definitely takes a wolfly approach to wooing Virginia with the Hide 'n Seek game (This really stuck out for me: that's why I wrote "Mating Dance"). And I think he could NEVER have pulled off his masterwork of subterfuge with the punch at the Coronation Ball without utilizing a great many of his wolfy skills.
A couple notes on things I've seen people discussing: I think he shusshes the Quieen at the begining when he says "...half-wolf" because his kind is mostly hated throughout the Kingdoms: he wants to hide what he is from any prying ears if he can. There are definite subtexts concerning racism throughout the story! His people are definitely discriminated against: hated and feared and more than a small number of the population of the Kingdoms would like to see them exterminated, no doubt. Yet in the end Wolf uses all of himself to save these very people. A noble human/wolf indeed: he saves the humans and earns a pardon for the wolfs!

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