Vampire........... Say the word and everyone knows what you mean. Right?
Well perhaps not. Because depending on the folk stories you listen to you might not recognise some of the things said about your favourite myserious stranger.
Different countries have different characteristics for their own local Vampires.
Originally coined in the 18th century, the creatures we would recognise as described by the term Vampire today arose from the folklore of Southeastern Europe, most especially the Balkans, Transylvania, Wallachia and Greece. But they may not have been quite as easily recognised then.
These Vampires were describes as undead beings who returned to the areas they frequented whilst alive in order to either visited loved ones still alive, or cause mischief or even deaths. Often described as looking bloated with ruddy, darkened faces, they had no fangs and were said to wear only the shrouds in which they were buried.
So not very attractive then?
It is impossible to find a single description of the vampire from these folklores, as even though they have elements in common many European legends differ significantly.
One of the first civilizations to have tales of blood-drinking demons were The Persians. Thorughout the region pottery has been excavated with what appears to be depictions of creatures attempting to drink blood from men on them.
The Ancient Greeks had several gods or goddesses who were depicted as Vampiric beings, although they were not considered undead.
Transylvanian Vampires are gaunt and pale with long fingernails.
The African Asanbosam has paws and prefers to bite the victim's thumbs, not it's neck.
Bavarian Vampires slept with their thumbs crossed and one eye open.
Moravian Vampires were naked when they attacked their victims.
Albanian Vampires wore high heeled shoes.
The Icelandic vampire is the only one that has all distinguishing marks, but he walks undead as a goblin for 9 years after his death. When thirst possesses him, he walks out of his grave and kills the people who were guilty of his untimely death. As he approached, the victim's blood started to boil and run.
Mount Pelion Vampires glowed in the dark.
On the Saronic Islands Vampires were thought to be hunchbacks with long nails. On the island of Lesbos they believed Vampires had long canine teeth just like wolves.
In China the Jiang Shi or Chinese Vampires are creatures with greenish-white furry skin, who apparently hop around. They track living creatures by detecting their breathing, killing them to absorb their life essence (qì).
As the tales of Vampires spread around the world to the Americas and elsewhere, the descriptions of them became more varied and bizarre.
Mexican Vampires were said to have a bare skull instead of a head.
Rocky Mountain Vampires only suck blood from their victim's ears, they apparently use their noses to do this, but no one is willing or able to say how this is done!!!!
The Brazilian Jaracaca is a snake-like vampire creature that drinks human blood and breast milk. Some tales say Brazilian Vampires apparently have furry feet???
The Serbian Mulo unlike the widespread idea of vampires as night creatures avoiding day light, walks in the day and feeds at night.
Russian Vampires look like humans, have a sting beneath their tongue, instead of the usual fangs and do not drink blood.
Romanian Vampires are said to be born with a caul, (a thin membrane covering the head), an extra nipple, a tail, or extra hair. They were said to bite their victims over the heart or between the eyes, but never on the neck.
They could be the seventh child in any family, if all of the previous children were of the same sex, or have been born too early, or have been someone whose mother had a black cat cross her path. A child born out of wedlock would be a vampire, so would any child born to a mother who did not eat enough salt, or who was looked upon by a vampire or a witch. Also likely to become Vampires were those who died before baptism.
Some other sweeping general descriptions of Vampires include....
Vampires have no hair on their bodies.
Vampire hair grows faster and stronger than normal.
All Vampires have blue eyes.
All Vampires have red hair.
Vampires are most likely to have been people born on a Saturday.
When described in folklore Vampires are sometimes endowed with special abilities; some are said to have great strength, while others supposedly have the ability to transform not only into a bat, as is often the case in modern books and film, but also other familiars such as rats, dogs, wolves, spiders and even moths. Slavic Vampires were said to be able to appear as butterflies.
Though the Vampires in folklore were said to be more active at night, they were not considered vulnerable to sunlight. This is a modern development in Vampire fiction. Although no record of this is found in traditional folklore an attribute shared by Lord Ruthven (from Polidori's novel The Vampyre) and Varney the Vampire (from James Malcolm Ryner's Varney The Vampire or the Feast of Blood.), was the ability to be healed by moonlight.
But popular perception of Vampires was shaken to the core when the novel Dracula brought Vampires out of the realms of folklore and placed them firmly in the minds and hearts of readers of popular fiction of both sexes and all ages all over the world.
Of all night creatures, vampires are the most feared and the most admired. Ordinary mortals often feel envy and therefore also anger, fear and hatred, when comparing their personalities to the strength, charm, wisdom, and mysteriousness of vampires, with their ability to control fog, wind and other natural elements.
Vampires may seem like evil beings to some. In fact vampires are theological creatures that possess a great philosophic and psychological depth.
With the invention of Count Dracula, the public face of Vampires would never be the same again. Gone was the bloated, ugly, bringer of death, and in it's place stood the romantic, fanged figure of noble birth, elegant and intelligent, gaunt and vulnerable to sunlight, garlic and wooden stakes, his kiss was said to bring eternal life. A much better press prospect.![smile.gif](http://otherkin.30.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/smile.gif)
Now over a hundred years later this figure is still the most typical version of a Vampire you will see and movies and books about Vampires are more popular than ever.
Dracula is a major character in more movies than any other with the exception of Sherlock Holmes.
Well perhaps not. Because depending on the folk stories you listen to you might not recognise some of the things said about your favourite myserious stranger.
Different countries have different characteristics for their own local Vampires.
Originally coined in the 18th century, the creatures we would recognise as described by the term Vampire today arose from the folklore of Southeastern Europe, most especially the Balkans, Transylvania, Wallachia and Greece. But they may not have been quite as easily recognised then.
These Vampires were describes as undead beings who returned to the areas they frequented whilst alive in order to either visited loved ones still alive, or cause mischief or even deaths. Often described as looking bloated with ruddy, darkened faces, they had no fangs and were said to wear only the shrouds in which they were buried.
So not very attractive then?
It is impossible to find a single description of the vampire from these folklores, as even though they have elements in common many European legends differ significantly.
One of the first civilizations to have tales of blood-drinking demons were The Persians. Thorughout the region pottery has been excavated with what appears to be depictions of creatures attempting to drink blood from men on them.
The Ancient Greeks had several gods or goddesses who were depicted as Vampiric beings, although they were not considered undead.
Transylvanian Vampires are gaunt and pale with long fingernails.
The African Asanbosam has paws and prefers to bite the victim's thumbs, not it's neck.
Bavarian Vampires slept with their thumbs crossed and one eye open.
Moravian Vampires were naked when they attacked their victims.
Albanian Vampires wore high heeled shoes.
The Icelandic vampire is the only one that has all distinguishing marks, but he walks undead as a goblin for 9 years after his death. When thirst possesses him, he walks out of his grave and kills the people who were guilty of his untimely death. As he approached, the victim's blood started to boil and run.
Mount Pelion Vampires glowed in the dark.
On the Saronic Islands Vampires were thought to be hunchbacks with long nails. On the island of Lesbos they believed Vampires had long canine teeth just like wolves.
In China the Jiang Shi or Chinese Vampires are creatures with greenish-white furry skin, who apparently hop around. They track living creatures by detecting their breathing, killing them to absorb their life essence (qì).
As the tales of Vampires spread around the world to the Americas and elsewhere, the descriptions of them became more varied and bizarre.
Mexican Vampires were said to have a bare skull instead of a head.
Rocky Mountain Vampires only suck blood from their victim's ears, they apparently use their noses to do this, but no one is willing or able to say how this is done!!!!
The Brazilian Jaracaca is a snake-like vampire creature that drinks human blood and breast milk. Some tales say Brazilian Vampires apparently have furry feet???
The Serbian Mulo unlike the widespread idea of vampires as night creatures avoiding day light, walks in the day and feeds at night.
Russian Vampires look like humans, have a sting beneath their tongue, instead of the usual fangs and do not drink blood.
Romanian Vampires are said to be born with a caul, (a thin membrane covering the head), an extra nipple, a tail, or extra hair. They were said to bite their victims over the heart or between the eyes, but never on the neck.
They could be the seventh child in any family, if all of the previous children were of the same sex, or have been born too early, or have been someone whose mother had a black cat cross her path. A child born out of wedlock would be a vampire, so would any child born to a mother who did not eat enough salt, or who was looked upon by a vampire or a witch. Also likely to become Vampires were those who died before baptism.
Some other sweeping general descriptions of Vampires include....
Vampires have no hair on their bodies.
Vampire hair grows faster and stronger than normal.
All Vampires have blue eyes.
All Vampires have red hair.
Vampires are most likely to have been people born on a Saturday.
When described in folklore Vampires are sometimes endowed with special abilities; some are said to have great strength, while others supposedly have the ability to transform not only into a bat, as is often the case in modern books and film, but also other familiars such as rats, dogs, wolves, spiders and even moths. Slavic Vampires were said to be able to appear as butterflies.
Though the Vampires in folklore were said to be more active at night, they were not considered vulnerable to sunlight. This is a modern development in Vampire fiction. Although no record of this is found in traditional folklore an attribute shared by Lord Ruthven (from Polidori's novel The Vampyre) and Varney the Vampire (from James Malcolm Ryner's Varney The Vampire or the Feast of Blood.), was the ability to be healed by moonlight.
But popular perception of Vampires was shaken to the core when the novel Dracula brought Vampires out of the realms of folklore and placed them firmly in the minds and hearts of readers of popular fiction of both sexes and all ages all over the world.
Of all night creatures, vampires are the most feared and the most admired. Ordinary mortals often feel envy and therefore also anger, fear and hatred, when comparing their personalities to the strength, charm, wisdom, and mysteriousness of vampires, with their ability to control fog, wind and other natural elements.
Vampires may seem like evil beings to some. In fact vampires are theological creatures that possess a great philosophic and psychological depth.
With the invention of Count Dracula, the public face of Vampires would never be the same again. Gone was the bloated, ugly, bringer of death, and in it's place stood the romantic, fanged figure of noble birth, elegant and intelligent, gaunt and vulnerable to sunlight, garlic and wooden stakes, his kiss was said to bring eternal life. A much better press prospect.
Now over a hundred years later this figure is still the most typical version of a Vampire you will see and movies and books about Vampires are more popular than ever.
Dracula is a major character in more movies than any other with the exception of Sherlock Holmes.
![otherkin/lol.gif](http://otherkin.30.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/otherkin/lol.gif)
![rolleyes.gif](http://otherkin.30.<a href="http://www.forumer.com">forumer</a>.com/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif)