Werewolves have become almost as popular as vampires since 1983, but the basic concept has changed quite a bit. Were-animals are now seen as powerful, sexy and complicated. It could be argued that the current paradigm is closer to folklore ideas, in which were-animals were seen as transforming voluntarily and forming secret cults that threatened society. What do you think of the more recent treatments of fictional werewolves?
Cults and societies of were-creatures is a trope of late eighteenth-century shudder fiction, as the Germans, who came up with it, called it. Folklore almost always depicts were-creatures as being solitaries, and transforming either through religious ritual or exterior influences. For some, the transformation is totemic, for others, it is a sign of psychological difficulties. The archetypal function of these two figures is folklorically consistent: in western traditions, the vampire is a seducer and a sociopath, the were-creature is a rapist and psychotic.
Did it ever occur to you to have Don Rolon use his power as a werewolf instead of being a victim?
No, it didn't, because it would be inconsistent with the vision of the times. In this setting such a positive figure would be inconsistent with the society and the belief-systems in place. Environment is a tertiary character, and one that affects every character and every action in the story.
Werewolves and the Spanish Inquisition aren't the most obvious combination. What inspired you to set a lycanthropy story in 16th century Spain?
You can call it a challenge from the editor who bought it, Kathy Malley. As to sixteenth century Spain, it seemed to me to be the height of religious paranoia, and the place where the werewolf would be at highest risk in both his normal and his transformational state. Secondarily, it was a homage to Giuseppe Verdi, though Verdi has no Lugantes in Don Carlo.
Did any particular fictional or movie treatments of werewolves serve as models for Don Rolon?
Just Don Carlo, which doesn't have a were-wolf in it, only a bi-polar prince and an obsessive-compulsive king. The only supernatural element is the ghost of Charles V. I make it a point when I'm writing in a particular genre not to read in it, to avoid any chance of literary cross-pollination.
Your character, Ragoczy Saint-Germain, has witnessed four thousand years of human history by now. At the conclusion of Dark of the Sun, he (like many others) genuinely believed that the world might be coming to an end. Would he be worried by the state of affairs in the twenty-first century, with the human population so high, nuclear war still quite possible and the prospect of devastating climate change? Would he be attempting to intervene in some way?
Article comments
1 - Mayra Calvani
Great interview! Thanks for sharing!