Mor: The Original Werewolf Legend

PrefaceAn English translation of the Croatian novella Mor is long overdue; amongst the modest collection of works, in both verse and prose, that are the legacy of Sudeta's short (1903-1927) but productive life, it stands out for readers today both for its timeless message and for its surprisingly modern appeal. The son of a forest steward (an old retainer who for many years has faithfully served the nobleman whose lands he is employed to manage), Mor is a youth with an acute affinity for nature, with a soul capable of loving other living things more than it loves itself. By many of the people in the rural community in which he lives, Mor's affinity for nature is to be explained by a piece of local folklore: that he was born with webbed fingers and is not a man but a werewolf. But though the Mor we are introduced to is certainly capable of impressive physical feats, there is little to suggest any savagery in his character; rather it is his sensitivity and vulnerability that strike us most keenly. It is this sensitivity, coupled with his ability to commune with nature so intensely, that helps to win him the affections of Šu, the daughter of his father's employer. But society could never tolerate such a match between a lowly forest worker and the daughter of a nobleman. In his anxiety to do what he sincerely believes to be in her best interests, Šu's father orchestrates for his daughter a very different life from the one nature has planned for her: a life that is intended to enrich and better her, but that ultimately only robs and dishonours her, and has violent repercussions for the community in which she lives.As long as nature is abused in the name of progress, or love is thwarted and stifled by society's expectations, the story of Mor will continue to have resonance for all of us.

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