Author: Inger Fransson
The origin of vampires
The concept of vampires in the minds of ordinary people is connected with the image of a tall dark stranger with fangs and a black cape. This vision is of course highly influenced by the literary and cinematic portrayal of the typical vampire. In the Online Webster's Dictionary the word vampire is said to be originally a Serbo-Croatian word that has been incorporated into the English language through French which took it from German. According to Katharina M. Wilson (THE VAMPIRE, A casebook edited by Alan Dundes, 1998, page 3) there are four different linguistic theories about its origin, placing its roots in Turkish, Greek, Slavic and Hungarian. The first theory, suggested by the nineteenth-century Austrian linguist Franz Miklosich, states that "the word vampire and its Slavic synonyms upior, uper, and upyr are all derivatives of the Turkish uber (witch)." (Page 4). The second and third theories take a more classical approach. During the eighteenth-century several German linguists claimed that the Greek word πι (to drink) was the source of the English word. The third and most accepted theory is the one which advocates a Slavic origin. This is the etymologic theory that most dictionaries stick to. However, which Slavic language it is that contains the root stem for “vampire” is not fixed. The dispute about whether it is the Serbian BAMIIUP, the Serbo-Croatian pirati or any of the other suggestions which is the true root has not yet been resolved. The fourth and least credible theory is the one that a group of American and English writers have come up with. They argue that, even though the phenomenon of vampires is ancient, the word vampire is of a quite recent date and derived from the Hungarian word vampir. Katharina M. Wilson bases her claim about this theory’s low credibility on the fact that the Hungarian vampir postdates the first appearance of the more western vampire.
When I looked at the terms used to denote the vampiric revenants in different cultures I found a great variation; even within the same language. I have found the following terms in the book THE VAMPIRE a casebook which is a collection of essays and studies concerning the phenomenon of vampires, edited by Alan Dundes. I will divide them up according to from which country they come from and try to explain the different types of vampires that they denote.
Romania:
A Vârcolaci is a very unusual vampire that does not drink the blood of humans. Instead it eats the sun and the moon. It is more of a werewolf then a vampire and it is feared because it causes solar and lunar eclipses. If they were to succeed in eating the whole moon or sun the world would come to an end. The appearance and origin of the Vârcolaci or Pricolici, as it is also called, differs. They can be dogs, dragons, spirits, animals that are smaller than dogs or an animal with a multitude of mouths. Some say that they are the souls of unbaptised children, or children whose parents are not married and therefore cursed by God. There are also beliefs that they are created when the porridge stick is put in the fire or when the dust from inside the house is swept out in the direction of the sun at sunset.
The more common vampire in Romania is called Strigoi or Strigoica depending on whether it is a male or female vampire. A less common term is Morroii which is also used in some areas. There are two types of blood sucker, the reanimated corpse and living vampire but within these categories there are a vast number of variations both in ways of becoming a vampire and what kind of people become vampires.
Yugoslavia:
The Vukodlak (wolf’s hair) was originally a werewolf but the term has over time come to include what was formally known as a Vampir. It is more common that reports of a Vukodlak involve a vampire instead of a werewolf. The Yugoslavian vampire either drinks the blood of his victims or has amorous relations with a former wife, girlfriend or young widows.
Serbia:
The Serbian vampire legends are quite different from the rest of the Slavic folklore concerning the ways of becoming a vampire. The difference is that when a person has died his corpse can be reanimated by a devilish spirit and turned into a blood sucking fiend, a Vukodlak. A good thing can also come out of a vampire’s relationship with a human woman. The child is born with special gifts and becomes a vampirdžije; a vampire-finder.
Estonia:
The Estonians do not have a very developed belief in vampires. The type that seems to be the most domestic is the one called Vampiir. It torments people by lying on them and suffocating them. It does not drink blood. According to Felix Oinas (p. 54) it is most likely that the blood sucking vampire; Veripard (blood beard) or Vere-imeja (blood sucker); was ‘imported’ from their neighbours.
Russia:
The Russian term Upyr is almost an unknown word in terms of denoting vampires in recent years. Instead it is used as a personal and place name, for instance the ancient Novgorod Prince Upir Likhyi. The words used are derived from the Russian’s misbeliefs concerning the heretics. They were among other things believed to turn into vampires when they died. This has lead to the use of words such as eretik, eretnik, eretitsa, eretnitsa, or erestan to denote vampires.
Hungary:
Hungary has practically no legends about vampires which further undermines the fourth theory about the origin of Vampire as being Hungarian. The closest thing to a vampire is the Ludverc or Luderc. It is a burning shaft or star that enters the house and, by taking on the appearance of a dead husband or wife, sleeps with the mourning widow or widower and drains them of blood. There is on the other hand a great belief in the undead but they do not suck blood and should not be put in the same category as vampires.
Finally I can just say that there seem to be as many names for the vampire as there are types. Concerning the appearance of the vampire I will end this essay with a very picturesque description of the real vampire.
“if a typical vampire of folklore…were to come to your house this Halloween, you might open the door to encounter a plump Slavic fellow with long fingernails and a stubbly beard, his mouth and left eye open, his face ruddy and swollen. He wears informal attire–in fact, a linen shroud-and he looks for all the world like a disheveled peasant.” (Paul Barber, Vampires,Burials and Death 1988)