Before anyone says anything, I know female werewolves have been seen. Once. In the final scenes of The Howling. But that hardly counts. And they are present in fiction such as Housman's The Were-wolf, just not mainstream stuff and not often in the sympathetic light shone on female vampires such as Carmilla. In popular culture, the figure of the werewolf is still very masculine, as has been noted in this article on Artsy.net.
So there's the vision I had. Not only is this werewolf female, but it's not the atypical ravening beast so many have come to expect. Imagine this.
You walk through a forest in the dead of night. The moon is full above you, the air is cold and damp from a clinging mist, there are no lights within range aside from the single lamp swinging in your hand. Then you see a form reclining on the bow of a tree up ahead. A humanoid lupine figure with a long tail swinging absently below it. It turns its head, and its eyes reflect the lamp light's gleam. It shuffles and jumps down, standing a head taller than you, digitigrade legs propelling it forward with stately grace. You are frozen to the spot in fear. It speaks.
'A late night to be out. Where are you heading? I'll be your escort, if you wish.'
A woman's voice; deepened and with a subtle growl in the throat, but a woman's voice nonetheless. You nod automatically, too dazed to think clearly. And that night, your escort is a female werewolf. She talks in a candid way about her travels during the night of the full moon, wandering the forest. She talks of flowers, or badgers, of loneliness, of the difficulty telling people she "just wants time to herself each month". You reach the bridge across to the town where you are staying for the night. After a cordial farewell, the werewolf vanishes into the night.
Little do you think that the following full moon, your servant will come in and say,
"A Miss Werewolf to see you. Are you in?"
And even less do you think that the following night would be one of cordial and interesting conversation with a dark-haired lady. Or rather, a lady with dark hair all over her.
This werewolf isn't a voracious monster, but is still a wild thing. She is able to comfortably wander through a land that terrifies and bamboozles normal people, as any woodland animal would. But she hasn't lost either her humanity or her key female elements by becoming a towering humanoid wolf creature. Bear in mind, this is a prototype for a "crazy idea", and needs both time and polish before it becomes anything substantial.
But aside from that, what do you think? What female werewolves do you know about? Please share and comment. Until next time!
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