"The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" is Chapter XXXIX of Frederick Marryat's The Phantom Ship reprinted as a stand-alone Short Story. It was originally published in Volume 56 of The New Monthly Magazine and Humorist in 1839 as one of the final eleven chapters of the novel. Chapter XXXIX abandons the main narrative to present the backstory of one character, Hermann Krantz, who in his youth lost his siblings to a werewolf. Due to its contained nature and engaging narrative, Chapter XXXIX survived the mixed reception that was dealt to The Phantom Ship as "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains", a separate piece of literature with its own print history.
Chapter XXXIX's first solo reprint occurred in Purkess's Library of Romance #42 in 1853 as "The Demon Hunter, or The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains". Probably adapted by Thomas Frost, this version switches the narration from first-person to third-person and gives Mr. Krantz the first name Hugo. The primary title refers to the ghostly Wilfred, who was originally identified as a spirit-hunter but here is a demon-hunter. The second solo publication is part of the Great Ghost Stories by Joseph Lewis French from 1918. This version is called "The Were-Wolf" and ends with Wilfred's ominous confrontation with Mr. Krantz. All publications hereafter are reprints of the original chapter or either adaptation.
In the early 17th Century, a Transylvanian serf named Krantz murders his wife and the Hungarian nobleman she's been having an affair with. He flees with his children — Caesar, Hermann, and Marcella — to a forester's cottage in the Hartz Mountains in Germany. A few years go by when one night Krantz goes on the hunt for a white wolf stalking outside. He loses sight of the wolf, but meets two others on the run from Transylvanian justice: Wilfred of Barnsdorf and his daughter Christina. He invites them to his cottage and after a three week stay Krantz asks for Christina's hand in marriage. Wilfred permits it if Krantz swears on his life and that of his children that no harm will ever come to Christina. After the marriage, the children nightly witness their stepmother sneaking out and a wolf growling at the window. Caesar follows her one night and is found mauled to death the next day. Hermann and Marcella are too scared to tell their father what they know. Caesar is buried, but despite precautions wolves dig him up and dine. Months later, Marcella is mauled by the white wolf while home alone. Hermann bides his time until she's buried and when he witnesses Christina digging her up he wakes his father. Enraged at the sight, Krantz shoots Christina and her corpse takes the form of a white wolf. Wilfred visits the next day to confront Krantz with his wedding vow and reveals that it's Krantz's murders back in Transylvania that allowed the mountain spirits to target his family. Krantz flees with Hermann to Amsterdam, where the former dies of fever and the latter grows up to be a sailor. This keeps him safe from the forest-bound curse for a long time, but he knows it won't last. One day he steps ashore on an Indonesian island and is killed by a tiger.
Marryat is primarily a writer of nautical fiction and his oeuvre contains little supernatural horror. The Phantom Ship is his biggest attempt and within that "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" stands out as being supernatural horror that isn't even nautical fiction. Some precedent does exist to the duo of Wilfred and Christina in the duo of Vanslyperken and his dog Snarleyyow in Snarleyyow, named after the German-American black dog. That reference and the folkloric aspects of "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" make for some insight into what type of stories caught Marryat's interest and his potency for non-nautical literature, because "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" is a founding work in Gothic werewolf fiction, to the Überwald setting, and while female werewolves existed in folklore, Marryat's story is credited as one of the first literary instances of a female werewolf. It's also credited as popularising werewolves with white fur. Notable works "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" inspired include "John Barrington Cowles", "The White Wolf of Kostopchin", and "The Were-Wolf".
"The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change: In the Purkess's Library of Romance adaptation, Hermann becomes Herman, Caesar becomes Hugo (a name also given to his father in that version), and Vanderdecken becomes Vandervelde.
- A Deadly Affair: Mr. Krantz murders his wife and the Hungarian nobleman she's been having an affair with. He then takes his three children with him as he escapes to the Hartz Mountains to avoid retaliation, but while he never intended to hurt his children for their mother's unfaithfulness, his fragile emotional state leaves him open to the mountain spirits' manipulation. To marry Christina, he is made to promise his children's lives as collateral were he to ever harm her (as he'd done his first wife). Christina turns out to be a werewolf who murders two of the children, and by killing her to protect the third Mr. Krantz's promise goes into effect.
- Abusive Parents:
- Mr. Krantz becomes abusive to his children after they flee from Transylvania. It's a consequence of the confines of living in hiding in the middle of nowhere and severe ongoing emotional distress. To his sons, ages nine and seven, he's emotionally distant and controlling. To his daughter, age five, he's that and violent to the point of causing her injuries because she's female, and he despises all women ever since his first wife cheated on him.
- Christina, the Krantz children's stepmother, beats the children whenever their father isn't around. Like him, she's got it out for Marcella in particular, but her reason is different. She targets Marcella because the girl has the strongest notion that Christina is neither human nor humane.
- Ambiguously Evil: Wilfred, Christina, and all the other spirits of the Hartz Mountains do horrible things to the Krantz Family, but Wilfred says that it's only murderers the spirits have power over in a way that suggests they're avenging spirits more than evil ones. Mr. Krantz's wedding vow to Christina also contains a line that the spirits of the Hartz Mountains have "power for good or for evil".
- Cruel Mercy: Despite his rage over Mr. Krantz's murder of Christina, Wilfred lets him live because that is a worse punishment than killing him could ever be. It is worse because Mr. Krantz has every reason to blame himself for the violent deaths of two of his children and the condemnation to such a death of the third.
- Curse: Mr. Krantz remarries after murdering his first wife and makes a wedding vow to protect his new wife lest he and his children be hunted and devoured by the beasts of the forest. Said new wife turns out to be a werewolf and kills two of the three children. Mr. Krantz kills her for it, thereby activating the debt of his vow. He is spared insofar that he dies from fever some months later, and Hermann Krantz avoids his fate for many years by becoming a seaman. Yet in the end, he's killed by a tiger in Indonesia.
- Death by Flashback: Justified. Hermann Krantz has a premonition that his time is running out and it's partly because of that that he relays the events of his youth to Philip. His premonition turns out to be correct, so at least thanks to the flashback Philip knows there was more to the tiger that ate Krantz and ignored him. Incidentally, the flashback is the first and only time Krantz's first name is mentioned. In the rest of the story, he's only referred to by his last name.
- Death of a Child: Two of the Krantz children, aged only nine and five, get eaten by their stepmother and by shooting her to avenge them and protect the third, he dooms the third because he himself offered his children's lives as payment were he to ever harm his new wife. The third, seven at the time, does get to live a decade or two more and even finds peace in his fate. Mr. Krantz himself dies mere months after the stepmother's death, so he dies not knowing he did somewhat save his son.
- Either/Or Title: The Purkess's Library of Romance adaptation is named "The Demon Hunter, or The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains".
- Feudal Overlord: The Hungarian nobleman whose rule the Krantz Family lives under in Transylvania is not without vices. He rewards Mr. Krantz with stewardship for his intelligence and respectability, but he also desires Mrs. Krantz. Therefore, he sends Mr. Krantz away on a mission to create an opportunity to seduce his wife. She responds positively. The two are murdered by Mr. Krantz when he discovers their affair and the bitterness he's left with makes him susceptible to Wilfred's and Christina's story that they totally too fled Transylvania to keep Christina out of a lord's hands.
- Fiery Cover-Up: After murdering Caesar, Christina burns her blood-splattered nightgown. Marcella and Hermann do witness the burning, but they're too afraid to do anything with the information.
- Framing Device: "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" is told by the sole survivor of its events, Hermann Krantz, to his closest friend, Philip Vanderdecken. It gives context to the two men's current predicament and it sets up Hermann's death-by-tiger at the end of the chapter.
- Gut Feeling: All three Krantz children immediately sense that something isn't right about Christina. Marcella's reaction is most severe and Christina takes both notice and action.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: On the night the white wolf first shows itself, it draws Mr. Krantz away from the cottage by staying just too far for him to be confidant about taking a shot but close enough that the hunt seems too good to give up on. The white wolf doesn't aim to kill him then and there, but rather set him up to allow her access to both him and his children.
- In Medias Res: "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" is Chapter XXXIX of The Phantom Ship presented as a stand-alone short story. Chapter XXXIX opens with the immediate consequences of Chapter XXXVIII and this build-up is consequentially missing from "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains". So, the action with which "The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" opens is accidental and doesn't get any explanation, but it does set the tone for violence the rest of the story thrives in.
- Last Request: Krantz knows his curse is closing in on him and requests that Philip takes all his gold so that it may help him when Krantz no longer can. This may actually be a request to two parties: to Philip as recipient of the money and to the spirits as the ones who decide on the time of his death. The moment that the tiger strikes follows so closely on Krantz declaring that he "feels satisfied" that either he knew the time of his death down to the minute or he was granted the time to ascertain the transaction.
- Magically-Binding Contract: The vow Mr. Krantz made to guarantee Christina's safety is sworn by all the spirits of the Hartz Mountains. Whoever they all are, they collect well beyond the borders of Europe.
- Middle-of-Nowhere Street: The Krantz Family inhabits a cottage in the Harz Mountains at a two mile distance from the next habitation, which is implied to be another singular cottage or something of the kind, but in any case not anything like a village. It was purchased from a forester who used it for hunting and burning charcoal. It is in this desolate settlement that the spirits of the Hartz Mountains can do their work on the murderer and his children.
- Monster Mouth: Christina's human form is noted to have an unusually large mouth filled with brilliant teeth. It is one of several clues in her appearance that she is a werewolf.
- Must Be Invited: There appear to be unspoken rules as to what the spirits can do to the Krantz Family, or they wouldn't have bothered with their deceit or waited several years to come into action. It's not being invited into the cottage that seems to make much of a difference to Christina and Wilfred, but they are keen to see Christina get invited into the family by way of marriage and a costly wedding vow.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Mr. Krantz has several unspoken moments of realization that his children's suffering is all his fault. The first is when he witnesses the woman he married devouring his daughter's dug-up corpse. The second is when he shoots her and her body turns into that of the white wolf he hunted months prior. The third is when Wilfred confronts him with the matter of his wedding vow to protect Christina and that he certainly didn't save his last child by killing her.
- Named by the Adaptation: In the original version, Mr. Krantz doesn't have a first name because his son Hermann tells the story and refers to him as "my father". In the Purkess's Library of Romance adaptation, Hermann no longer is the narrator and therefore Mr. Krantz needs a first name. He's called Hugo.
- No Ending: The Joseph Lewis French adaptation ends with Wilfred's declaration that Hermann will die like his siblings did and that Mr. Krantz shall live and suffer the memory of his fault in his children's violent deaths. In the original the story goes on with Mr. Krantz's death in Amsterdam and Hermann actually getting to enjoy several years of adulthood, but in this adaptation their fates are only prophesized and in a way that paints a whole different picture.
- The Oath-Breaker: Mr. Krantz vows to protect Christina and never cause her harm. This is a vow he is manipulated into making but all the same consciously and willingly makes. After Christina kills two of his three children, he breaks his vow by shooting her to protect the third. Futile, because his vow includes a debt for him and his children to pay were he to harm Christina: that they'd be hunted down by the beasts of the forests and consumed. Hermann gets more years than his siblings ever got, but in the end he's eaten by a tiger in Indonesia. Mr. Krantz himself is spared by the spirits to die raving mad from fever.
- One-Steve Limit: In the Purkess's Library of Romance adaptation, Mr. Krantz receives the first name Hugo and his oldest son Caesar is renamed Hugo. It adds a sense of traditionalism to the family, which works with the setting.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: It is possible that the Indonesian tiger that kills Krantz is a fated but otherwise normal creature. It is also possible that it's a weretiger, which there are a lot of in Eastern Asian folklore. For one, it does what the werewolf would've done had she not been killed beforehand. For two, the build-up to its appearance emphasizes a strength and size just a little unusual for a tiger, much like the werewolf's unusual appearance earlier signaled that it wasn't an ordinary wolf.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Christina is a werewolf and a spirit of the Hartz Mountains. Her true form is suggested to be that of a white wolf, as this is the form she takes upon death. She has a human form that has a few peculiarities like overall paleness, intense eyes, and a big mouth, and like her father Wilfred she may be able to become intangible. Wilfred himself is not suggested to be a werewolf. Christina is able to switch between her forms at will and seems to prefer her wolf form. After marriage, she sneaks out of the cottage every night around the same hour to prowl around outside as a wolf. She doesn't like any food except for raw meat, which she hides poorly. After killing Caesar and Marcella as a wolf, she uses her human form to dig up their bodies post-burial and consume the flesh. Christina is killed by an ordinary bullet while she's busy devouring Marcella.
- Parental Favoritism: After being betrayed by his first wife, Mr. Krantz holds a negative opinion of all women. This manifests as casual violence towards his one daughter, Marcella. His sons try to protect her as best as they can, but they're only nine and seven and completely dependent on their one remaining parent.
- Sole Survivor: Hermann Krantz is the only one of his family that survives a series of devastating murders. His father murders his mother because she's a cheater and remarries a woman who is a werewolf. The werewolf murders Hermann's brother and sister. Hermann's father kills the werewolf in retaliation and shortly after dies from what may or may not be natural fever. About two decades later, Hermann is eaten by a tiger as his siblings were by a wolf, but he did get those extra years.
- This Was His True Form: Upon being shot dead, Christina's human form changes to her wolf form.
- Überwald: The qualities of the Überwald setting are broken up into two areas. On one hand, there's Transylvania, which is run by Hungarian nobility that prioritizes their own interests and who'll never grant their serfs freedom. On the other hand, there's the Hartz Mountains where spirits of all kinds dwell and desolate cottages litter the landscape for those who make their living as foresters.
- Wicked Stepmother: Christina is a werewolf and mountain spirit. She specifically marries Krantz to be able to hunt, kill, and feast on his children, which he had always valiantly protected from the wolves prowling around in the mountains.
- The Wild Hunt: Wilfred of Barnsdorf and Christina are mountain spirits and hunters of murderers. It's just the two of them, but they allude to more of their ilk. Wilfred demonstrates the ability to become intangible, for which Philip dubs him a spirit-hunter (demon-hunter in the Purkess's Library of Romance adaptation), and Christina is a werewolf.
- Would Hurt a Child: The spirits of the Hartz Mountains only have power over murderers, but this power extends to the ability to harm people the murderer is affiliated with. It's left open if the spirits ever meant to cause Mr. Krantz physical harm, because they are only shown to target his three children. Two they kill and dig up the corpses of to consume. Mr. Krantz can't save his third child from this fate, but he manages to delay the curse so that it doesn't come for him until he's an adult.
