Where is the title of Spice and Wolf from?


I bought volume one of Spice and Wolf today, and I read the summary on the
back. I understand that the main female character is a wolf and the main male
character is a merchant, but he doesn't _just_ sell spices, right? Is the name
just meant to sound badass, or was I wrong and he really only sells spices?
I'm just not getting it.




This is cannot be explained without spoilers.

> The phrase "Spice and Wolf" was used by a merchant to describe the two main
> characters later on in this series.

It was also repeated by the author in the afterward of volume 16 on page 299:

> ...But as the world of _Spice and Wolf_ is not about viewing the world in
> itself, but the "Spice" and the "Wolf" (Holo and Lawrence) in it , it's
> actually the antithesis of that universal metaphor , so in other words... et
> cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum.




This is cannot be explained without spoilers.

> The phrase "Spice and Wolf" was used by a merchant to describe the two main
> characters later on in this series.

It was also repeated by the author in the afterward of volume 16 on page 299:

> ...But as the world of _Spice and Wolf_ is not about viewing the world in
> itself, but the "Spice" and the "Wolf" (Holo and Lawrence) in it , it's
> actually the antithesis of that universal metaphor , so in other words... et
> cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum.

