An overlooked werewolf appears in the Russian fairy tale of Prince Ivan and the Firebird. Prince Ivan, the son of a powerful tsar, discovers that the Firebird is responsible for stealing golden apples from his father’s orchard. Prince Ivan hunts this Firebird, with glowing feathers. He is attacked on his path by a gray wolf, who devours his horse. The gray wolf feels pity for Ivan and agrees to help him in his quest to find the Firebird.
The gray wolf leads Prince Ivan to the tsar who is keeping the Firebird in a golden cage. The tsar catches the prince attempting to steal his Firebird and gives him a quest to prove himself worthy of taking the Firebird. He asks for a horse with a golden mane, which Prince Ivan brings to him, but he was caught by the tsar who owned the horse. This tsar asks for a beautiful princess.
Prince Ivan finds the Princess Helen, the most beautiful princess in the world and the daughter of another powerful tsar. The gray wolf kidnaps the princess, but as soon as Ivan sees her he refuses to part with her. The gray wolf then reveals herself to be a werewolf!
The wolf changes herself into a beautiful princess an goes to the tsar in that form. The tsar gives Prince Ivan the horse with the golden mane in exchange for the beautiful princess. On the wedding night, the princess turns into the form of the gray wolf, which terrifies the tsar, making him flee in fear.
The werewolf helps Prince Ivan to keep the princess, the horse with the golden mane, and the Firebird. Prince Ivan and the beautiful Helen live happily ever after, of course. Well, they do after the werewolf devours Ivan’s two elder brothers who are standing in the way of his inheritance to the throne.
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I read this tale once when I was 10, but I guess I forgot about the wolf, I’ll have to go back and re-read the book.