The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/thehistocrat03221 You can also find this episode on Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts and Stitcher! You can find it at the links below: Spotify - open.spotify.com/episode/5G2TCKuOXgDPIiw7HAS2al iTunes - podcasts.apple.com/kz/podcast/mythillogical-podcast/id1514656609 Stitcher - www.stitcher.com/show/mythillogical-podcast/episode/vampires-before-dracula-90477364 Google podcasts - podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9teXRoaWxsb2dpY2FsLmxpYnN5bi5jb20vcnNz/episode/Y2NlMmEyYjMtZmRiZS00ZTA3LWJlMGEtMDFmYmQ2OGQxY2Q2?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjo2pW26eD2AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQMw
Interesting that you mention suffocation as the way that most "vampires" kill their victims: In Alby Stone's: Hellhounds Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld, he mentions that the "Arg" part, of the word Warg (meaning wolf) denotes Strangulation or sometimes "one who is strangled", possibly referring to the manner in which perpetrators would kill or be killed (via hanging) - in addition, being declared a "Werewolf" was what is called a "Magico-Legal" term, and violent criminals (possibly one's who had asphyxiated their victims?) were officially declared Werewolves ("thou art become a wolf!") and banished outside the towns or city's walls and into the wilderness, and is most likely where we derive the term Wolfshead, as in a bandit or brigand.
Ancient Scottish Highlanders believed in a vampire like fairy called the Baobhan Sith (sith pronounced as she, it means fairy). They shared similarities with the Succubus, and appeared as young beautiful women with Dark hair and wearing a robes which revealed hooved feet at the bottom. One story, there were four men who went hunting and took shelter for the night in a hut. One of the men sang while the others began dancing. The men expressed a desire for partners to dance with, and soon after that four women entered the hut. Three of them danced while the fourth sat beside the vocalist. He then noticed drops of blood falling from his companions and fled from the hut, taking refuge among the horses. His partner chased him but was unable to catch him, and when daylight came she disappeared. The man went back inside and found all three of his friends dead and drained of blood. Its suggested by folklorists that the baobhan sith was unable to catch the fourth man among the horses because of the iron with which the horses were shod, iron being a fairy weakness. The trend in these stories is that the baobhan sith appears when lone men express desires for a romantic partner and drains them of their blood or prys their chests open. This connects with the traditional Scottish belief that if someone makes a wish at night without invoking God's protection, then the wish would be granted in a terrible manner
Fascinating! Thank you!❤ I can understand, both the form the vampire takes for the Scottish, & why wishing at night, sans God's involvement & protection would come to disappointing ends. I know that I am going to be much more careful in my wishing & more prayerful, too. 💗 Thank you!!!❤
Wow. I'm Kenyan and when I was little my cousin would tell me folk stories. She told me a story about a man who was telling a stranger about how he met someone with cow hooves for legs, then the stranger asked him, hooves like these that I've got? I'm not sure how the story starts or ends, but I remember the hoof part. And now I just learnt Scottish people have a folklore about hoofed people. Maybe they did exist.
I agree 100% with this statement. There are some Channels on YT where sources are consistently given. Stephan Milo comes to mind. I've questioned statements given as facts on YT History channels before and asked for some sources - book or historical figure names - to be recommended. I've gotten point by point arguments in return instead of sources. Come on. I want to do the research and see what conclusion I draw.
Yes! History is excellent! Even if it must keep being rewritten on many different levels. Its like an on going mystery finding out what really happened about everything.
1:49:48 For anyone interested in learning the Vampire on the Thumbnail , its south east asian specifically Filipino , the Manananggal , which is a tagalog word that means "One who seperates" , root word is "Tangal" becuz the Manananggal detaches its upper body from its lower body , though i never knew that our Vampire was similar to our neighbors and comes from the Malay Word , since "MANANANGGAL" is a Philippine Word.
In America, historically vampire folklore is closely associated with TB outbreaks in small rural towns. They've found the evidence when accidently stumbling on unmarked graveyards during new construction & found unusual burials. There is still a belief in energy vampires talked about by those in the New Age/Occult/Esoteric crowd currently.
The term "hajduk" (the J is pronounced as the Y in "young") doesn't refer to a soldier exactly, I'd translate it as "bandit" in most cases. They were anti-ottoman insurectionists, living in the forests and robbing the turks whenever possible. Many became soldiers during the serbian revolution, but at that point they are no longer refered to by that name. The serbian word for soldier is "vojnik", and army is "vojska". Source: being a serb
Hajduci (pl. for hajduk) were guerilla-like soldiers (and bandits) attacking Ottoman occupiers from the land, paired with uskoci (sg. = uskok) attacking from sea and rivers.
Lol then try commenting more from now on, comments and likes fuel the creators, it let's them know they have an audience to cater to. Helps the continuation of all videos you enjoy. 🤦♂️The amount of people that don't participate in clicking Like or pressing subscribe is absurd.
The vampires sitting on the chest of the victim and constricting their breath is still a thing in Thai folklore. They believe that ghosts sit on people's chest when they are asleep. The situations in which people think this happened generally sound very similar to sleep paralysis.
@@carmenhunter4380 … or mine.. Thank God I have not had an episode in many years but in times of intense stress in my life is when these horrid episodes would occur. One night my best friend of 20 years ( 14 yrs at the time) was staying over with me due to a crisis. That night I had one of the worst I ever experienced. In mine I was always trying to move at least one finger to break the paralyzation while feeling this oppressive malevolent presence just out of my sight. What made this one of the worst is that moving one finger did not break it… I was able to move my finger & pull the sheet off my friend. She was an incredibly light sleeper and woke up. She called my name & when I did not answer she rolled over. My eyes were wide open and the look in them literally made her sick to her stomach! She burst into tears and grabbed my shoulders that was enough to break it. All these years later both of us remember it very vividly.
There is a Swedish beast that is very similar, we call it a "Mara", which probably stems from either nightmare or "Mardröm" which is the Swedish word for nightmare. They are said to sit on your chest and give you nightmares, the way to stop them from doing so is by turning your shoes. The Mara have to step into your shoes, so making them unable to do that protects you
SP is first step in astral trip. Thats why people see stuff at this point because you see with your astral body and your physical is immobilized to not interupt the trip.
In Polish mythology strzyga and wampir (wąpierz) are two different creatures. They are both krwiopijcy - blood drinkers. People born with certain face or dental deformations and mentally ill were often seen as strzygi. Also newborns with developed teeth. When strzyga was identified, it was usually banished from settlements to die in the wild. Those who survived, could shapeshift and feast on human or animal flesh and blood. They usually then haunted their families and settlements they were banished from. Those beliefs came most probably from the Balkan tribes. Wąpierz was a creature that returned from the dead in a human corpse and had to drink human blood to survive. Most probable theory is that those beliefs came from China through Turkish\Osman influences in Eastern and Central Europe. Chinese medicine included drinking fresh cattle blood for many ailments. Attempts to drink human blood for the same purposes were made. It was believed in Poland that suchh practices will later cause a dead person to return as a wąpierz.
Crofty's voice puts me asleep in the best way. I fall asleep and then have to rewatch the video the next morning (although at this point I've listened to the podcast 20 times. )
Just started the video, but I love how so much of the stories is more like “dead guy came back, started tipping my cows.” However, there is one fantastic and weird folktale that I remember from my Balkan folklore college course. I don’t remember the name but it’s pretty much about a guy who sees a vampire along the road and they pretty much become friends and the guy helps him get a wife by curing a princess of vampirism in a pretty insane way that I’d rather not spoil. Wish I remembered the title but there are some awesome and diverse stories and ideas behind vampire folklore!
Well done, so good job guys. Slavic tradition was very precise. Here are few other things that my Granny told me (she was from eastern past of Bosnia, born 1935): Vampir was there sometimes also named "Utvara". In one story she told me about some guy who died and got to vampire "povampirio se". He then comes after midnight out of his grave back to his house, uses the smallest hole to get inside and after getting in, he first opens everything that can be opened (doors, boxes, etc.). After that he lays down to his wife and stays until the first rooster crows. This ritual continues every night until exhumation and "glogov koljac" hawthorn stick in his hearth. In general the border between Vampir, Nachmar (in Serbian "Mora") and Ghost (in Serb. "Utvara, Prividjenje, Privida") was not that precise.
The wife would wait in bed for his return at midnight with lust...some with curiosity and many fear...some would probably make sure to be somewhere far away from the house altogether..lol
@@Za7a7aZ in Serbia there is even a name for children born from relationship with a vampire. They call it "vampirovic" and they don't have any shadow, have less or no bones and very big head. They can not look up and they are able to find, see and kill the vampire.
We use Utvara as well in regular speech, to kinda mean a 'creature' of evil origin or with evil intent. Prividjenje/Privid is more "imagination" or "imaginary" or "mirage". We use the word "duh" specifically for a ghost, I'm Serbian.
I'm Brazilian and the Yara/Iara myth is pretty popular. There are many regional variations but it is the first time I hear that a Yara drinks blood. However, I'll say that Monteiro Lobato's top-rated children's book series, where characters interact with many folklore creatures, helped homogenize them and sanitize them from the more gruesome details. Modern folklore has Yara either as a single entity or as a species equivalent to the greek siren or generic European mermaid. They are half woman, half aquatic beast. They attract people by their singing and will drown them in the river. "Yara" is from the indigenous people and their language it literally means "water maiden". Yara can be used as a given name for a woman. Most Brazilians would not hold any vampiric associations with the myth of the Yara. Given the definition at the beginning, I can think of a few creatures from Brazilian folklore that would fit the bill a lot better than the Yara.
I remember that episode of The X-Files when Mulder intentionally threw his sunflower seeds on the floor to force the vampire to pick them all up because of an obsessive compulsion.
There is a legend that vampires are obsessed with numbers. Think of the count from sesame street. People believed that if you spill poppy seeds on the grave of a suspected vampire, it will spend all night counting them one by one.
The counting aspect of vampires is interesting. The overwhelming need to count spilled sugar or seeds or something similar is a part of faerie folklore as well. Also, Crofty should get a raise for all his terrible jokes. They're brilliant and I love them.
From a Polish family that moved to America in the 1910s - within living memory in my family there was a folk superstition that anyone born "under the veil" (indeed the amniotic membrane as you suggest with the "red cowl") might develop some sort of prophetic or clairvoyant powers. My great-aunt (born c. 1920) was spoken of as having been "born under the veil" and seems to have taken to the identity wholeheartedly - she routinely read tea leaves and was treated with a bit of extra awe and reverence (and even fear) by the rest of the family for what they viewed as her uncanny perception. There was notably no connection to vampirism (or anything else viewed as "evil," per se) by the 20th century about this, it seems, but rather to mind-reading and/or clairvoyance. An interesting holdover of this ancient lore and a blending of the traditions of vampirism with Slavic witchcraft; the sign that might have once indicated a vampire instead indicating a "natural witch." It's interesting to note that this was never considered by anyone in the family as being incompatible with Catholicism; my great-aunt was also a devout lifelong Catholic and was ultimately buried in a Catholic cemetery.
I was born in Bulgaria but raised in the USA but I’m so glad you bring up Bulgarian folk lore or superstitions. I love the video. And would like to hear/watch more on different topics. Maybe Witches would be a great one next
@@r-ex2945 Yes, real geography, the Caucuses mountains. That's bcuz vampires are no myth! A Count is always a vampire bcuz blue bloods rule the world! Not a folklore. Ain't no superstition to it... They're Japhetites, and seeds of the serpent in the garden.
That compulsion was also seen in the movie Leprechaun..when one character threw shoes to the Leprechaun and he started picking them and polishing them...sorry just remember this movie I think from in the early 90's.
Bulgars Are different Race nimadic Hun Mongol tirkic or whatever genetici,so they Got different folklore..IF in Bulgaria and have Slavic folklore you Are probavly serb or russ
As I was listening halfway through, I wondered if they covered the aswang and mananangal because SEA folklore isnt as famous as other cultures. And when they covered it I was amazed by their research. And they even knew more than me and come from the region itself. Amazing work!
I really recommend the book "Upiór. Historia naturalna" by Łukasz Kozak. It's unfortunately only (?) in polish, but it covers decently the vampirism on the grounds of central-eastern Europe, especially the vampires in Poland. It's fascinating how vampirism here was not only connected with "living dead" entiety of some sort, but also with being a witch(er), "the one who knows". They even used in some places (Greater and Lesser Poland for example) a term "wieszcz", "wieszczy", that was later appropriated (? hard to say) by the romantic movement, and from the XIX century it's used to talk about three authors-"prophets" that were talking about liberation of partitioned Poland and the ways how the polish nation should become and how ppl should fight to liberate the country. So, when they buried in Poland the most prominent wieszcz, Adam Mickiewicz, the next years were extra rainy and it disturbed the peasants. They became quickly convinced that Mickiewicz was also "wieszcz" in the folk-vampire-witcher sense, they started talking that he could control the weather when he was alive and now at night he comes out of his coffin, does the mess in the Wawel cathedral, ruffles the sheets and gnaws the candles. They thought that they should throw his coffin to Vistula river (as one's supposed to do with upiórs) to put the things to an end.
i see that Kozak published "With Stake and Spade. Vampiric Diversity in Poland" in egnlish; it's a collection of translated first sources though, without the cultural-historical context as in his "Upiór" book.
Dzięki za rekomendację, o rodzimych wampirach najchętniej poczytam u źródła. Co do wieszcza - to tłumaczy inspirację Uzdańskiego do napisania Wypióra :)
Regarding the return to the coffin, again I bring up the Austrian Vampire Panic spurred by Serbian peasant superstitions which brought the vampire to the west. The vampires reported in western newspapers were said by locals to return to their graves during the day and the village folk would return to the cemetery to stake the corpse. This was before Stoker & modern vampire literature, in fact prior to this the word vampire did not even exist in the English lexicon though these widely circulated news stories were almost certainly part of getting Stoker interested in Balkan Vampires
I love this! It's pretty challenging to piece together all this information, especially with all the poorly written articles found on the internet today. I am glad you showed the source material as well. I've been fascinated by these old folklore and myths and where they started. I have actually been trying to look into witches and werewolves and am still doing so. But I was surprised that their mythology intertwines. I am not gonna lie, I would love to see you do mythillogical on those subjects as well.
I thought it was generally accepted that the word "vampire" in English was just loaned and Anglicized directly from the Serbo-Croatian "vampir". Also, its likely that it was our version that inspired Dracula, as Serbian vampires, while monsterous, are still... Human? Not really, but they can talk, they remember their life and they can even procreate with humans, making a dhampir (which is what Alucard would technically be considered). Though they have mouths full of sharp teeth and they actually tear their victims throats out while they are feeding on them. They also turn into moths. And, if i remember correctly, they also sometimes feed on livestock, chupacabra style.
@@ducksparrowmybel8night430 neither are bats. There are no blood sucking bat species in Serbia, or in Europe, for that matter. Those are only found in the Americas. I like the moth version because its a just a tiny bit more terrifying, because many people are scared of bats. You'd expect the bats to be scary monsters, not so much moths. Its specifically because moths aren't usually scary that makes vampires turning into them so terrifying.
"Mandurugo" does not literally translate as "blood sucker" "Man" - To (It actually is a multi-utility word, attaching it to an action would imply occupation. But in this context, this would be a closer equivalent) "Durugo" - Bleeding A more literal translation in my understanding would be: "To make bleed" or "A person who makes other people bleed". "Mandurugo" is also a term used for insane people who are basically slashers/murderers running amok.
When it comes to the "counting matter". My grandmother told me all kinds of stories from the olden days(she grew up in the Slovak mountains/Carpathians) and one of those stories occured every year on St.Lucy´s day(13th december) - which is considered to be a cursed day here in Slovakia. Before the sun would set, her grandfather would take garlic and with it, make the sign of the cross on every doorframe and windowframe in the house and the barn where they kept their lifestock. Then he would take a sack full of poppyseeds and spread them around the house and said barn, creating a circle. All of this was a preventive matter to fend off vampires, who(among other things) are said to be very active on this specific day. Especially the circle made of poppyseeds. It was thought that the vampire would count the poppyseeds until the morning, and thus he could not approach the house itself. But even if he could, the crosses made of garlic would prevent him to enter the house and barn anyway. This all happened back in the 50´s and 60´s, when my grandmother was still a child. But since her grandfather lived well into his 90s, I expect that he most probably observed this "tradition/ritual" until the 1970´s or even 1980´s. Anyway, here are two interesting facts for you. 1) The last vampire hysteria in Slovakia occured in the 1930´s. 2) As if fate wanted it, my grandmother was born on the 13th of december(thus St.Lucy´s day). But since her family believed this day was cursed, they officially changed the day of her birth to be on the 12th of december. (Better safe than sorry, I guess)
I remember something about being able to stop a vampire or distract it, something about them not being able to resist counting things such as a box of buttons or pins etc dumped on the floor. And that made me think of the Count, on Sesame Street.
I love you guys! You add a nice wit and fun to history while being honest about your limited knowledge and how you research and find more. Such a great series.
This is a topic I’ve been sinking my teeth into (if you will) as of late. And I love finding a few more of the scarce historical discussions outside of the Dracula mythos. Thank you!!
40:00 - Fun detail about the term "Vrykolacas", in Romanian "Varcolac" - a word most likely derived from that - literally means Werewolf. - And it's pretty common in the old folklore for the two to be somewhat synonymous, as I recall stories telling of vampires often stalking the night in the disguise of wolves or other beasts of the forest.
@@Whickerx7 Other way around and not entirely true. The killing bit was irrelevant, what prevented the 'rise to vampirism' was doing something to the corpse, which varied from beheading to putting a brick into the corpse's mouth to putting the corpse face-down in a coffin, so the vampire digs its way down instead of up. And the vampires could've been 'born' from: witches, werewolves, redheads, seventh sons of seventh sons, curses, accident, being a victim of another vampire, being unbaptised, improper burial, being sinful and probably tons of other things, depending on region.
@@teefrankenstein4340 Werewolf and Skin Walker are no the same . A werewolf is a beast slave of the night/ moon . A Skin Walker Wendigo is a shapeshifter , which also serve the night and the moon but has control over his ,,curse,, . A werewolf will still have a humanoid shape while a Shapeshifter will be able to adopt the whole wolf shape .
I thoroughly DIG your thoroughness, amigos! You guys won my subscription to your channel and my total esteem. I have not yet finished this video, being about 40% into it. I am sure to find what I present below in the video, yet wanted to offer what is not commonly known outside of the Gaelic-speaking world -- especially unknown to the English speaking world. Bram Stoker was a man from the province of Uladh, or 'Ulster' to the English-speaking world. The term comes from Old Norse, it being given begrudgingly and in respect by the Vikings, who had successful invasions and campaigns in every other part of Ireland historically, yet never knew such in the northern province they eventually proclaimed as not their own land, but rather belonged to the people they remained unable to defeat in combat known as the Uladh: Ulad's Tir. The historic fierceness in battle of the people of Ulster is legendary, and an incredible accomplishment given the smaller stature of the people from the province. Visit Northern Ireland even today and you will note the radical difference between those people and the type of people you see in the rest of Ireland. Darker-haired, darker-eyed, and smaller, skinnier statures that represent a mix of Gaelic and Cruithne blood, with relatively little Scandanavian, as compared to the rest of Ireland. I propose a more local derivation for the word 'vampyre' : Gaelic fiam-beithir, meaning 'awful monster' which well approximates the English pronunciation of vampire'. It remains surely well known among your subscribers that Bram Stoker derived the name 'Dracula' from the Gaelic 'droch-fhula' meaning 'bad blood' and is pronounced nearly exactly the same as in English one says 'Dracula'. It remains a consequence of the English conquest a certain shame among the Irish of our own culture, language, heritage. Much more romantic and exotic and exciting to set the work of fiction in a foreign land like Romania / Hungary / Transylvania and to hide behind double entendre / homonyms the true, ethnic heritage of the story, which may well have been based on the supposed real-life vampire that was a certain, local chieftain historic within Ulster known as Abhartach or Avartagh. For the record, that the rest of the world recognize in truth the more humble and actual facts: The true roots of the vampire and its actual origin is with the ethnically distinct people of the Northern Irish province of Uladh ( Ulster in English ) who are the progeny of the historic mixture of Cruithne and Gaelic blood and cultures. Exact same people who arrived on the battlefield naked, painted blue ( from the glasrum local to Northern Ireland and Scottland ), and with tatoos. For the convenience of the English speaking world, the Cruithne are known to you as the 'Picts' from the history of these isles... Very same people who gave the world Halloween, Banshees and whose most venerated and beloved deity was, and in some growing circles is, Macha. This people is ethnically distinct from the rest of Ireland, and certainly from the English, Welsh, Cornish, and the Scottish ( whether of Gaelic or Danish roots ). Tragic remains the fact that the lands of these people remains under colonial occupation and with a foreign, active military imposition that continues what already has been a thousand years of occupation by the English. The unequivocal, continuing warzone of Ulster is the true home of the vampire. Take care, amigos! F.
i was a Navy Pharmacy Tech and one of the interesting things where commercial medicine and pharmacy is inferior to socialized medicine was illustrated by leeches, which were kept at big navy (socialized) hospitals. People who have amputated body parts reattached tend to have blood accumulate in them, which can make the body part not reattach properly, because the larger, deeper arteries are more easily reattached than the smaller, more numerous veins. you use leeches to remove blood specifically from those body parts, and they contain a host of good drugs that help healing, anticoagulants and antibiotics, stuff made so the leeches hosts would survive to be fed on again. but there is no profit in keeping leeches, so (unless this has since changed) most hospitals have no interest, life-saving and important or not
One other note regarding garlic: It does have medicinal properties in warding off some parasites. I currently use it in my pet's diet, as she is highly allergic to veterinary flea treatments. My solution after doing research was to create a home diet that incorporates a few key ingredients, one of them being garlic. For the last 12 years she has never been flea or tick bitten, so regarding the folkloric 'strong smells dissuade miasma', smell is probably not the only reason garlic specifically is mentioned in keeping away disease, it probably was also noted to work for centuries with minor medicinal value. I just find it interesting that its related to blood sucking vampires, and it helps keep blood sucking little disease carrying insects off my pet.
Arguably, the most interesting contemporary example of literature going back to the old vampire tradition (being at the same time a postmodern/postdramatic piece) is Dimitris Lyacos's With the People from the Bridge, second instalment of his Poena Damni trilogy. Eerie, ritualistic and almost devoid of blood - until the final scene. Well worth checking out.
To be fair, Dracula didn't consider moving far from his resting place until he'd already been undead for centuries and had basically "tapped out" the food supply in and around his castle in Wallachia. Thinking like a predator, he needed to migrate to seek better hunting grounds.
Not really, in the novel Dracula was always an intelligent man, he made plans for his migration the England, even taking legal precautions for his travels. That's not a mindless predator. It's also said exactly why he moves and it's not because he's out of people to eat, theres a village near his castle and has been for centuries. He leaves thralls there who have no issue surviving and decides to flee back there when England proves inhospitable. It's said in the book he comes to England specifically to ba a part of modern high society. He left out of boredom not hunger, though he's noted as not being particularly bright as he can't seem to wrap his head around "civilized" society. This lack of intelligence is a major part of why he fails but he is clearly of human intelligence and not an animal.
@@DrewLSsix You know, as a massive fan of the story, I still could never wrap my head around the Count's motives for leaving, as they were left so ambiguous. I think you're probably right: the simple solution is that he was bored. And he likely was, but I also believe that (as evidenced by his old man appearance at the beginning, and the reactions people had when Harker told them where he was going), Dracula's food supply was diminished due to people catching on to what he was and taking precautions against it. Hell, a desperate mother knows exactly WHAT took her baby and chases Dracula back to his castle to beg him to give it back to her... only to be fed to the wolf pack Dracula "domesticated."
Funny how you mentioned Draugr and Skyrim. I'm actually playing Skyrim right now while listening to this video play through my Bluetooth speaker. Sometimes I'll just spend hours creating and enchanting new armor and weapons and I like listening to videos like this when I'm in a creative mood.
I grew up in Zimbabwe, but from Zambian parents, live back home now in lusaka Zambia. I grew up afraid of something called amaZimu, Zimus were known to live in the dark and lived of blood of the living. Why is this phenomenon all over the world, I'm talking about the time before I even watched Salem's Lot. Salem's Lot even terrified me more. Couldn't sleep for months.
Polidori’s tale touched off this fascination. Two centuries ago he corrected the drastic deficiencies of the folklore and reimagined the vampire as a suave, mysterious, sexually dynamic elite who defies time and place, who consumes ravenously and without guilt, and who represents perverse passions that will not die.
Real vampires are pretty disgusting. The real ones like the royal bloodlines want you to contribute to your demise and will challenge you to something in the order to elicit permission to slay you. At that point, almost any gesture or word you say may be taken as complicit, except a firm "no!" Although they are big-time blood drinkers, they don't do it the way Hollyweird does. I think they typically rip off your limbs and head or they reach into your chest and rip out your heart.
@@bumblebee4280 conspiracies can be true and still be called conspiracies dude. A conspiracy is just something that a group of people are doing together that they’ve kept secret (people conspiring together for a common goal=conspiracy)
Had an honors course in college, Mythic Dimensions of Literature, and the final project was a report on a mythical story and how it changed throughout the ages and cultures. I chose “the Vampire” and my professor was blown away by how much information I packed into my essay. Even going back to bce. It was a very interesting research project.
The earliest vampire I've ever sluiced out was impero Over 2000 years old. And they can't do sun silver. Have no soul. Are immortal. I think the vampire legend has mixed and changed
Isn’t it strange how, blood drinking humanoids claimed to be undead has been, documented throughout history globally each with its own name, but all strike an eerie resemblance to on end other….
First of your videos I've listened to, and I was hooked as soon as you began to list your sources. Seriously, I wish more people sourced their stuff, mega kudos from a huge fan of proper sourcing!
In Western Serbia people used to put wreaths of garlic over windows and doors, there was also belief that if you encounter vampire you should throw handful of wheat grains and it would compel vampire to count the grains and give you time to escape. For some reason water mills were vampire’s favorite hiding spots.
I think the draugr is an underrepresented vampire ancestor, likely because the draugr itself has also undergone media degradation. But if we look at what a draugr in the sagas is then it is nothing like a zombie at all, it is far more magical and mystical and powerful. They represent the magical side of certain modern powerful vampire depictions very well. In Grettirs saga we meet an undead creature named Glamr which is where the word "Glamour" comes from. He can do some strange magical stuff that belongs in a horror movie, like how he curses the "hero" Grettir to never again have a peaceful nights sleep because he will always see the glaring eyes of Glamr staring at him from the corner of the room, even when he closes his eyes. He also has some much more dire magic as he curses Grettir to never become stronger, turning his whole life into a downwards spiral as he will only get weaker and weaker until sickness takes him. Other sagas and stories about draugrs also prop them up as very physically powerful creatures on top of their magical abilties, just like vampires. In one saga two brothers in arms swear to spend 3 nights and days in the burial mound of whomever dies first. One of them ends up dying and starts fulfilling his promise, climbing into his friends mound from the top, roping down with some food and drink. He sits there opposite of his friends corpse for days when some strange things happen. For example, the mound is filled with goods meant for the deceased to enjoy in the afterlife, including animals. The friend witnesses the corpse of his old buddy tear a horse in two with his bare hands. The point being that every night the draugr friend eats more and more until the last night when he attempts to eat his living friend. These are examples of draugrs being both physically and magically powerful beings, just like Vampires often are depicted as. But I have one more example which makes the draugr even more vampire-like. I sadly don't remember the name of this one either but all of these accounts of draugrs in sagas are easily found here on youtube. The final one is a spiteful viking guy who gets buried a few times because he keeps coming back. But whats so vampire-like about him is that he sort of corrupts everything around his stone-mound of a grave. The grass dies, animals who walk by it die, everything goes bad. So the people nearby try to dig him up to move him which is when they see that he is not decomposed at all, he has in fact grown and become stronger, very much like a vampire. But this example even has the shapeshifting abilities of a vampire, sort of, like a proto-shapeshifting. Because after they kill the draugr he has cursed a cow, causing it to birth a black calf with a limp just like the draugr had. This calf grows into a monsterous bull with the same hate as the draugr, it is clear that his "spirit" has possessed the bull before birth, making it a draugr bull. Thats why I think the draugr is the proto-version of a vampire. But because of this connection, the concept of a vampire not being able or willing to travel far from it's coffin actually makes sense, because the draugr does not stray far from its bural mound (other than the times when they do). (Wrote this all before I got to the part where you mentioned it) They don't fit the part of a bramstoker vampire, but they certainly fit the role of powerful, often intelligent, magical undead which is a major part of the vampire identity, so considering how old the concept of the draugr is, I'd consider them a true ancestor of the vampire. The skyrim draugrs are more like zombies which I don't think is accurate at all. Norse folkore does have zombies aswell but they usually refer to them with other words like "aptrgangr" which means "after walker" which is like a zombie who annoys you by stomping on your roof.
They say if you laugh at a Jang Chi (hopping vampire) --- which you would naturally do coz it's such a funny sight -- the Jang Chi will be embarrassed and hop away.
So glad to see someone shedding light on the subject. An author I highly recommend and respect is John Michael Greer. He is an esoteric author, Freemason, Druid, conservationist, and polymath. He has a book titled “Monsters: an investigator’s guide” that goes into the folk lore of many monsters, including the vampire.
Bram stoker didnt come up with vampires disappearing in sunlight. It's from the german movie Nosferatu and was done just to change the ending as to not be sued by stokers widow for copyright.
As a mechanic I've come to the conclusion that the blood being associated with life force has the exact same origins as the idea that electronics run on smoke, as any observer will note when either substance is let out in great quantities the former home of said substance ceases to function
In Sweden, we have the “nattmara” (yes, exactly like nightmare), which is an evil spirit who takes the form of a woman who attacks mainly men in their sleep by sitting on top of them to suffocate them. Interesting how much folklore is similar in different parts of the world!
@@nicholasdalli6303 I used to work with a guy who would go out to bars and hook up with women and he had a talent for convincing girls he just met that night to let blood for him to drink, dude would feed like 5-7 times a month and probably hook up with about 10 different women a month. He told me he was trained how to do this by a long lasting cult of people who practice vampirism and masonry. He would also get together with a group of like minded fellows and eat human meat twice a year. Honestly after meeting more than a couple people like that... I dunno if there are immortal vampires but they definitely exist and have been doing this sort of thing for a while.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 Yeah I had a book about some weird or fantastical occurences in my country - its one of those thin paperback type of books with generic pictures of vampires, UFOs and satanistic talismans on the cover - it always seemed hokey-pokey to me. In it there was an interview with a couple who said they drank blood, liked to wear black and hated the sun. Honestly these people are often just some combination of indoor aficionados who have a sensitivity to sunlight because of some medical malady or because they were shut-ins and who also have a darker mentality whether genetically or culturally achieved who seem to connect themselves with the ideals of the vampire we see in pop culture. These sorts of things, people who are "odd" for a number of intersecting reasons conglomerating together and convincing themselves they are XYZ because of their contemporary culture have always happened. Like how aerial phenomena was once angels now its UFOs and aliens or military aircraft - cultural delusions are a big factor.
Interesting that you mention suffocation as the way that most "vampires" kill their victims: In Alby Stone's: Hellhounds Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld, he mentions that the "Arg" part, of the word Warg (meaning wolf) denotes Strangulation or sometimes "one who is strangled", possibly referring to the manner in which perpetrators would kill or be killed (via hanging) - in addition, being declared a "Werewolf" was what is called a "Magico-Legal" term, and violent criminals (possibly one's who had asphyxiated their victims?) were officially declared Werewolves ("thou art become a wolf!") and banished outside the towns or city's walls and into the wilderness, and is most likely where we derive the term Wolfshead, as in a bandit or brigand.
That was quite informative and, from what I can tell, very well researched. Thank you for making this video and helping to further my education in folk lore of the world. I knew a lot of vampire attributes were creations of cinema and Bram Stoker, but I did not know the extent of the deliberate distortions of real folkl ore post Dracula.
I passed out to your video and ended up having a very vivid dream involving myself and vampires (non aggressive ones thankfully) in a medieval setting. Fucking loved it. Thank you.
Vampire in English language comes from a German word for vampire - Vampir which is directly adopted from the locals when Austro-Hungary gained control of the northern Serbia. Other versions in Slavic languages come from the word vampir. It is interesting to point out that Serbian language containes also a word štriga which derives from the word striga and means witch or malevolent spirit, but it does not mean vampir (vampire).
I wanted to comment on that part too. I'm Lithuanian and I've never seen the word used for drinking, though it could, of course, be something too archaic to remain in modern usage. I have, however, heard it used in descriptors to say something was wilting, dying, weak. Like some plant on its last leg or a lifelong alcoholic nearing an early grave. But I really don't think the name would come from Lithuanian, why would it. There's not even a big vampire idea here in the folklore.
@@GabrieliukaI don't know about Lithuania, but all Slavic languages have some form of vampire: Wąpierz, upiór in Polish; упырь вурдалак, in Russian, Belarusian вупыр, Ukrainian упир. And all those folklore creatures are exactly undead man with drinks blood or eats flesh, and he is sleeping in grave.
I find it amazing that even people of an academic slant forget that two things can be true at the same time. In fact, this is often most likely the case. For example, the Hapsburgs may have publicized that Elizabeth Bathory did some horrible things. What they said was probably very exaggerated, but that doesn't mean it was entirely false. Likely it was true, just to a lesser extent. If you think about it, it's no different than what politicians have done forever: take something your opponent has done, often something that can be proved to be true, and massively exaggerate it and its effects. There was a time in the mid/later 20th century where some journalists did not do this, but before and since then journalists often do the same.
This was a great introduction to you guys. That joke about the Rains Down in Africa, probably the best vampire joke I've ever heard definitely the first one to actually make me laugh. Edit: I had to listen to the section on the Jaing Chi twice. Why wasn't there any mention of it's weakness regarding running water? It's not supposed to be able to cross even a small stream. The story about how they came to have their image was interesting though.
Picking up on one ‘symptom’ of the victims that came up in serval descriptions was the ‘vampire’ crushing the person with their body, sitting on their chest or throttling them. Sufferers of Type Narcolepsy quite often experience sleep paralysis that is accompanied by hallucinations of a specific figure, daemon or terrifying person either standing over them, sitting in there chest or laying on them. Pretty damn specific, perhaps a catalyst to local vampirism hysteria of the time
I thought the word Striga and strigoi is a clear relative to the Latin word Strix as in ancient Greek Strix. In Italian Strega is the witch, which also in ancient times believed to suck on kid's blood, Same as the Strix in ancient Greek and Roman folklore. The scientific name of a small howl is Strix, from the ancient Greek word for it and it is derived from the sound they make, a screech. (In Italian the sound is also called stridere, the root seems to come from there). I have no idea if all this has any sources though, but it makes sense to me 😅
Cinemasscre did a video on Nosferatu, the 1922 film, recently on his channel and claimed that vampires "burning away in sunlight" was actually invented by that film.
0:00: 🧛 The video discusses the folklore and mythology of vampires, covering different traditions and entities from around the world. 10:11: 🧛 The podcast discusses the origins and folklore of vampires, highlighting the influence of literary creations on modern vampire traits. 19:37: 🧛 The video explores the origins and cultural representations of vampire-like entities throughout history, including bloodletting practices and medical beliefs. 30:32: 🧛 The video discusses the historical and cultural significance of blood in ancient and medieval times, as well as the folklore surrounding vampires in Eastern Europe. 41:29: 🧛 The video discusses the folklore and characteristics of vampires in Eastern Europe and their methods of destruction. 51:44: 🧛♂ The video discusses various folkloric methods and examples of dealing with vampires, including burial practices, warding off techniques, and specific vampire outbreaks. 1:01:31: 🧛 The popularization of vampire accounts in Europe in the 18th century and the subsequent investigations and actions taken against suspected vampires. 1:10:41: 🧛 The video discusses the historical vampire outbreaks in Europe and the subsequent skepticism and debunking of the vampire folklore. 1:21:29: 🧛 The video discusses folklore and historical accounts of vampires, including potential medical explanations for vampire-like symptoms. 1:31:51: 🧛 The video explores various vampire-like creatures from different cultures, including their origins and characteristics. 1:54:04: 🧛 The video discusses various vampire-like creatures from different cultures around the world, including their origins, characteristics, and methods of feeding. 2:05:02: 🧛 A discussion about vampires and a hint for the next episode of a podcast. Recap by Tammy AI
So happy the Aswang got on the list! No one ever mentions SEA culture. And from what I've been told, there are male Aswang (again, the Aswanng being a general term for all sorts of viscera eating monsters including the mannanngal) but female are more common. Another fun fact, my mom said a saying is you'd rather have an aswanf in your village than a theif. Aswang will keep to themselves and keep the ones close to them safe. Thieves will always betray you, even family.
My mother had a book of British folk tales that I loved to read, and it included a story about the vampire of Croglin Grange. I TO THIS DAY have a mild fear of uncovered windows at night. Well worth reading about if you get the chance. Wikipedia says it's from the 1890s.
@A J I prop things in my windows, too! I started doing it when I lived in a scummy neighborhood, in case of theft. And then my bf sleeps with his window cracked OPEN like some kind of nut job. 😂
This is a wonderful video so far. Love to see the detailed analysis of the origins of vampires, don’t take my many comments as attacks on the legitimacy of your information, they’re either questions or dropping in my own knowledge of the Serbian language & South Slavic folklore
I'm doing research on vampires and stumbled on this video, I truly loved all the information, especially the part focusing on non-european legends. But, as a brazilian, I want to make a correction about the Iara. Iara is a well-known myth here, but its origins are not in the catholic church, rather in the indigenous people. But she's not a type of vampire, actually, she's close to a mermaid and often associated with Iemanjá, an orixá (a type of deity) of african-influenced religions. Hope I said everything right, english is not my first language obviously. Thanks for this episode tho!
I'm surprised that you mentioned the succubus and incubus but not the sidhe which are described as love vampires but you guys did go over a LOT and it was very interesting!!!
Haha I just brought that up in another reply but didn't realize it hadn't come up in the video. You're right! Incubi/succubi are part of Abrahamic demonology but Stoker, an Irishman, would've been raised on stories of dangerous unseelie who are more like the sexy vampires. Fae are also sometimes connected to the dead as well.
Technically speaking, considering the high amount of stem cells in blood, particularly in young children, blood could be a successful treatment for a variety of conditions, but it would be very hit and miss, do to the delivery method. I'm wondering if stomach ulcers were more common back in the day, giving quick access to the bloodstream via ingestion. Also note how the description of the bloodsuckers reflects what literary class viewed as the threat to society; the untamed wild, unexplainable illnesses, and then the depravities of the upperclasd
As someone who has the occasional bout of sleep paralysis... Yeah, I can see that being a cause for alarm for someone who didn't know what it was. Especially if you have more than just the "can't move hard to breathe" version; I do sometimes get visual hallucinations, or the most intense, terrifying paranoia you have ever felt. Like "someone is in my room and going to kill me" level freaking out.
Have enjoyed your vids for a while now, great stuff. I often fall asleep watching vids so you often get a few views. One aspect of your content I appreciate is you don't play outro music at twice the volume as the rest of the vid. Thanks :D
Fascinating. I've been interested in this type of thing for a while. The scenes of Abraham Setrakian being told vampire (Strigoi) stories by his Bubbe in The Strain reminded me of childhood stories, not always conducive to sleep but sure to encourage good behaviour. The breadth of myths around the world and hematophagous/exsanguinating blood feeding humanoids is astonishing.
Oooh, I'm late to this one, but how exciting! I'm sure half of us were holding our breaths for this one! Thank you both for putting so much tireless work and research into every episode of this program! We love it!
The absolute hilarity of having a quote on vampires from Jean-Jacques Rousseau being attributed to none other than Voltaire - two men that died months apart from each other hating each other - feels SO appropriate. Even in death these guys are made to duke it out.
I seem to remember that South Slavs buried their dead with garlic or onions (there are no separate words for the two, they are both called Luk, and are distinguished as white and red Luk respectively) to prevent vampirism. This may date back to the time of the plague and have been warped into a vampirism thing since then of course
@@caain8454 Now that I think about it, crni luk might refer to what English speakers call Brown Onions, but that some people (either just my family, people in a certain dialect group, whatever) never distinguished them from red onions and called all onions crni or crveni luk interchangeably.
25 minutes into the video. Ok, vampiric revenants and revenants (generally a term used by folklorists to refer to corporeal undead) are known to be shapeshifters throughout many regions in the world (often into black dogs, owls, among other animals in Europe) and Balkan revenants (which very much seems to be where Bram Stoker's main inspiration for Dracula comes from) like pretty much any other European revenant were thought to retain the intelligence and abilities they had in life in addition to having various supernatural abilities (superhuman strength and speed as well as shapeshifting and more). Not sure if this was addressed later in the video but if not, this is a huge aspect of the "vampire" to miss out in a two hour long video about vampires. Another thing, the term wight derives from Old English wiht meaning LIVING being, not a dead one. It's only in modern fantasy literature and video games that the term wight has been associated with barrow-dwelling undead creatures.
fun fact. in kindergarten this kid walked up to me and asked me if I wanted to be a vampire, of course I said uh okay.. yeah. we then put our hands together kinda like a double high five and he started mumbling jibberish. needless to say I was definitely the cool kid in school.
I only recently found out about the Scottish folklore character Baobhan sith which is more of a vampyric succubus. Having grown up here I was slightly disappointed I had never heard of one before.
The original Dracula was played by Lugosi Béla, a hungarian actor. He of course had a hungarian accent which became known the vampire accent. One more point for me to be happy that hungarian is my mother language hehe
His name was Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó but his stage name was Bela Lugosi. I apologize if my comment comes off rude. I do not mean to seem like that lol it’s just that you put his surname before his first name. It bothered/annoyed me for some unknown reason and felt the need to put it right. I know I’m awkward 😝😆🥲
42:51 - I'm no expert, but my understanding is that many bodies prepared after death had their mouths forced shut by similar means as simply an aesthetic tradition. No one wants to look at their dead relative during a funeral or wake, etc.
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Interesting that you mention suffocation as the way that most "vampires" kill their victims: In Alby Stone's: Hellhounds Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld, he mentions that the "Arg" part, of the word Warg (meaning wolf) denotes Strangulation or sometimes "one who is strangled", possibly referring to the manner in which perpetrators would kill or be killed (via hanging) - in addition, being declared a "Werewolf" was what is called a "Magico-Legal" term, and violent criminals (possibly one's who had asphyxiated their victims?) were officially declared Werewolves ("thou art become a wolf!") and banished outside the towns or city's walls and into the wilderness, and is most likely where we derive the term Wolfshead, as in a bandit or brigand.
@@Auswurkung warg is probably the noise you make while getting strangled
Thumbnail artist?
@@williamchamberlain2263 is in der description
Lol good one! :)
Ancient Scottish Highlanders believed in a vampire like fairy called the Baobhan Sith (sith pronounced as she, it means fairy). They shared similarities with the Succubus, and appeared as young beautiful women with Dark hair and wearing a robes which revealed hooved feet at the bottom. One story, there were four men who went hunting and took shelter for the night in a hut. One of the men sang while the others began dancing. The men expressed a desire for partners to dance with, and soon after that four women entered the hut. Three of them danced while the fourth sat beside the vocalist. He then noticed drops of blood falling from his companions and fled from the hut, taking refuge among the horses. His partner chased him but was unable to catch him, and when daylight came she disappeared. The man went back inside and found all three of his friends dead and drained of blood. Its suggested by folklorists that the baobhan sith was unable to catch the fourth man among the horses because of the iron with which the horses were shod, iron being a fairy weakness. The trend in these stories is that the baobhan sith appears when lone men express desires for a romantic partner and drains them of their blood or prys their chests open. This connects with the traditional Scottish belief that if someone makes a wish at night without invoking God's protection, then the wish would be granted in a terrible manner
Thank you so much that's such a cool comment. Can you share some more and tell me what to search up?
Like banshees?
Fascinating!
Thank you!❤
I can understand, both the form the vampire takes for the Scottish, & why wishing at night, sans God's involvement & protection would come to disappointing ends.
I know that I am going to be much more careful in my wishing & more prayerful, too. 💗
Thank you!!!❤
Wow.
I'm Kenyan and when I was little my cousin would tell me folk stories. She told me a story about a man who was telling a stranger about how he met someone with cow hooves for legs, then the stranger asked him, hooves like these that I've got?
I'm not sure how the story starts or ends, but I remember the hoof part. And now I just learnt Scottish people have a folklore about hoofed people. Maybe they did exist.
It must have connection to Balkans through first people of the British Isles
Imagine walking past a graveyard at night and hearing;
"I am the Count and I love to count! One grain of sand! Ah, ah aaah!"
What if that's what inspired him?
Malkavian!
Best comment
@@hanzquejano7112Machiavellian?
@@BrightBrandi reference to a specific clan of vampires from the popular tabletop rpg vampire the masqurade
Can't stress enough how much I appreciate sources being included. History youtube needs more of it
I agree 100% with this statement. There are some Channels on YT where sources are consistently given. Stephan Milo comes to mind.
I've questioned statements given as facts on YT History channels before and asked for some sources - book or historical figure names - to be recommended. I've gotten point by point arguments in return instead of sources. Come on. I want to do the research and see what conclusion I draw.
That’s really good to know before I start the video to gage the reliability of the story to not just be the narrator’s opinion.
Yes! History is excellent! Even if it must keep being rewritten on many different levels. Its like an on going mystery finding out what really happened about everything.
Okay silly billy
historical sources are largely fairy tales themselves, moreso the further back one goes
1:49:48 For anyone interested in learning the Vampire on the Thumbnail , its south east asian specifically Filipino , the Manananggal , which is a tagalog word that means "One who seperates" , root word is "Tangal" becuz the Manananggal detaches its upper body from its lower body , though i never knew that our Vampire was similar to our neighbors and comes from the Malay Word , since "MANANANGGAL" is a Philippine Word.
Exactly the reason I clicked
Tanggal, is he the main protagonist from "Batang Quiapo"?
Wak Wak is real.....I have video of one
@@hanzquejano7112mali, tanggal yung mangyayari sa tatay niya sa trabaho pag nadiskubre yung affair
@@waitingonamonabel
Lol. Good one!
In America, historically vampire folklore is closely associated with TB outbreaks in small rural towns. They've found the evidence when accidently stumbling on unmarked graveyards during new construction & found unusual burials. There is still a belief in energy vampires talked about by those in the New Age/Occult/Esoteric crowd currently.
world rulers are vampires
maybe the virus dried them out and slowed decomposition
@@jacobmartinelli7496 _"maybe the virus dried them out"_
What an interesting theory...
/ponder
Nah,maaaan... They r fukking reptilez.
@@zlatkoigric5084 Are bats even related to lizards?
The term "hajduk" (the J is pronounced as the Y in "young") doesn't refer to a soldier exactly, I'd translate it as "bandit" in most cases. They were anti-ottoman insurectionists, living in the forests and robbing the turks whenever possible. Many became soldiers during the serbian revolution, but at that point they are no longer refered to by that name. The serbian word for soldier is "vojnik", and army is "vojska".
Source: being a serb
Sounds like good people either way.
In romanian we would say haiduc and voinic with the same meanings
Hajduci (pl. for hajduk) were guerilla-like soldiers (and bandits) attacking Ottoman occupiers from the land, paired with uskoci (sg. = uskok) attacking from sea and rivers.
We say haydut in Turkish
I rarely comment on videos. But guys please don't stop this series, I think that a lot of us love it
You should comment more. Even if it's just to say "this is a comment ". The engagement helps the creator in the algorithm.
@@JohnGalt916 6))6 ight us i 6 cuz 86,
Buga buga
Wow how honoured we must be
Lol then try commenting more from now on, comments and likes fuel the creators, it let's them know they have an audience to cater to. Helps the continuation of all videos you enjoy.
🤦♂️The amount of people that don't participate in clicking Like or pressing subscribe is absurd.
The vampires sitting on the chest of the victim and constricting their breath is still a thing in Thai folklore. They believe that ghosts sit on people's chest when they are asleep. The situations in which people think this happened generally sound very similar to sleep paralysis.
Oh yes SP is absolutely terrifying and not something that is just scientific in my experience.
@@carmenhunter4380 … or mine.. Thank God I have not had an episode in many years but in times of intense stress in my life is when these horrid episodes would occur. One night my best friend of 20 years ( 14 yrs at the time) was staying over with me due to a crisis. That night I had one of the worst I ever experienced. In mine I was always trying to move at least one finger to break the paralyzation while feeling this oppressive malevolent presence just out of my sight. What made this one of the worst is that moving one finger did not break it… I was able to move my finger & pull the sheet off my friend. She was an incredibly light sleeper and woke up. She called my name & when I did not answer she rolled over. My eyes were wide open and the look in them literally made her sick to her stomach! She burst into tears and grabbed my shoulders that was enough to break it. All these years later both of us remember it very vividly.
There is a Swedish beast that is very similar, we call it a "Mara", which probably stems from either nightmare or "Mardröm" which is the Swedish word for nightmare. They are said to sit on your chest and give you nightmares, the way to stop them from doing so is by turning your shoes. The Mara have to step into your shoes, so making them unable to do that protects you
SP is first step in astral trip. Thats why people see stuff at this point because you see with your astral body and your physical is immobilized to not interupt the trip.
I've had it happen to me a hundred times, and it still does sometimes. Keep your eyes closed and don't move, no matter what you hear or feel.
i expect your next video to be a 2-hour "vampires /after/ dracula" that is a deep dive into the history of twilight fanfics.
Please not.
A Twilight vs Vampire Chronicles battle would be nice as well :)
😂😂💀💀
THEIR WANKERS 😆LOL
True blood and Buffy aswell
In Polish mythology strzyga and wampir (wąpierz) are two different creatures. They are both krwiopijcy - blood drinkers.
People born with certain face or dental deformations and mentally ill were often seen as strzygi. Also newborns with developed teeth. When strzyga was identified, it was usually banished from settlements to die in the wild. Those who survived, could shapeshift and feast on human or animal flesh and blood. They usually then haunted their families and settlements they were banished from. Those beliefs came most probably from the Balkan tribes.
Wąpierz was a creature that returned from the dead in a human corpse and had to drink human blood to survive. Most probable theory is that those beliefs came from China through Turkish\Osman influences in Eastern and Central Europe. Chinese medicine included drinking fresh cattle blood for many ailments. Attempts to drink human blood for the same purposes were made. It was believed in Poland that suchh practices will later cause a dead person to return as a wąpierz.
Crofty's voice puts me asleep in the best way. I fall asleep and then have to rewatch the video the next morning (although at this point I've listened to the podcast 20 times. )
You and me both! These are great at bedtime and to listen to in the car.❤
love this, literally been trying to look into origins on vampire and werewolf myths and didnt find much because of how influential bram stoker was
Origin of vampire u can find in Serbia.First case I think Sava Savanovic.And vampire comes from Serbian word vampir.
Monstrum show on RUclips has some good origin research.
Just started the video, but I love how so much of the stories is more like “dead guy came back, started tipping my cows.”
However, there is one fantastic and weird folktale that I remember from my Balkan folklore college course. I don’t remember the name but it’s pretty much about a guy who sees a vampire along the road and they pretty much become friends and the guy helps him get a wife by curing a princess of vampirism in a pretty insane way that I’d rather not spoil. Wish I remembered the title but there are some awesome and diverse stories and ideas behind vampire folklore!
Well done, so good job guys. Slavic tradition was very precise.
Here are few other things that my Granny told me (she was from eastern past of Bosnia, born 1935): Vampir was there sometimes also named "Utvara". In one story she told me about some guy who died and got to vampire "povampirio se". He then comes after midnight out of his grave back to his house, uses the smallest hole to get inside and after getting in, he first opens everything that can be opened (doors, boxes, etc.). After that he lays down to his wife and stays until the first rooster crows. This ritual continues every night until exhumation and "glogov koljac" hawthorn stick in his hearth.
In general the border between Vampir, Nachmar (in Serbian "Mora") and Ghost (in Serb. "Utvara, Prividjenje, Privida") was not that precise.
Just like slavic terminology is between life and death just like vapires
The wife would wait in bed for his return at midnight with lust...some with curiosity and many fear...some would probably make sure to be somewhere far away from the house altogether..lol
@@Za7a7aZ in Serbia there is even a name for children born from relationship with a vampire. They call it "vampirovic" and they don't have any shadow, have less or no bones and very big head. They can not look up and they are able to find, see and kill the vampire.
We use Utvara as well in regular speech, to kinda mean a 'creature' of evil origin or with evil intent. Prividjenje/Privid is more "imagination" or "imaginary" or "mirage".
We use the word "duh" specifically for a ghost, I'm Serbian.
Thats really interesting. Do you know where exactly shes from in eastern bosnia?
I'm Brazilian and the Yara/Iara myth is pretty popular. There are many regional variations but it is the first time I hear that a Yara drinks blood. However, I'll say that Monteiro Lobato's top-rated children's book series, where characters interact with many folklore creatures, helped homogenize them and sanitize them from the more gruesome details.
Modern folklore has Yara either as a single entity or as a species equivalent to the greek siren or generic European mermaid. They are half woman, half aquatic beast. They attract people by their singing and will drown them in the river. "Yara" is from the indigenous people and their language it literally means "water maiden". Yara can be used as a given name for a woman. Most Brazilians would not hold any vampiric associations with the myth of the Yara.
Given the definition at the beginning, I can think of a few creatures from Brazilian folklore that would fit the bill a lot better than the Yara.
Quais criaturas encaixariam melhor?
Which Brazilian creatures do you think are more similar to vampires, then?
Im from BR and never heard of it. Pretty popular not so much.
@@althyk get out from under your rock then
I found myself wishing The Histocrat would randomly update the channel and bless us with a video… and it happened. Oh yes.
Oh yes
@_____ oh yes.
I remember that episode of The X-Files when Mulder intentionally threw his sunflower seeds on the floor to force the vampire to pick them all up because of an obsessive compulsion.
There is a legend that vampires are obsessed with numbers. Think of the count from sesame street. People believed that if you spill poppy seeds on the grave of a suspected vampire, it will spend all night counting them one by one.
That is the fay as well in traditional stories.
@@normairizarryni That is the fay in traditional stories.
he's not actually a vampire in that episode though. He had false teeth!
Banking and vampirism have a lot in common
The counting aspect of vampires is interesting. The overwhelming need to count spilled sugar or seeds or something similar is a part of faerie folklore as well.
Also, Crofty should get a raise for all his terrible jokes. They're brilliant and I love them.
Counting? No, the Count is from Cain's lineage. All vampires are bluebloods. It's more of a royal thing!
@@AverageAmerican Vampires are lame
Kind of reminds me of the dream catcher thing with the counting .
@@AverageAmerican omg!!!!!
@@JPOGame mhmm
Just start at 14 minutes.
Not all heroes wear capes… no reason this intro should be 15 mins long
appreciate u brother
@@Foreign__King__ except that's how podcast are lol
thank you ☺️
@@knightwing1224 the ones I listen to are like 4 mins max.
From a Polish family that moved to America in the 1910s - within living memory in my family there was a folk superstition that anyone born "under the veil" (indeed the amniotic membrane as you suggest with the "red cowl") might develop some sort of prophetic or clairvoyant powers. My great-aunt (born c. 1920) was spoken of as having been "born under the veil" and seems to have taken to the identity wholeheartedly - she routinely read tea leaves and was treated with a bit of extra awe and reverence (and even fear) by the rest of the family for what they viewed as her uncanny perception. There was notably no connection to vampirism (or anything else viewed as "evil," per se) by the 20th century about this, it seems, but rather to mind-reading and/or clairvoyance. An interesting holdover of this ancient lore and a blending of the traditions of vampirism with Slavic witchcraft; the sign that might have once indicated a vampire instead indicating a "natural witch."
It's interesting to note that this was never considered by anyone in the family as being incompatible with Catholicism; my great-aunt was also a devout lifelong Catholic and was ultimately buried in a Catholic cemetery.
I was born in Bulgaria but raised in the USA but I’m so glad you bring up Bulgarian folk lore or superstitions. I love the video. And would like to hear/watch more on different topics. Maybe Witches would be a great one next
@Alexander Nikolov check the people from the Caucasian mountains.
@@r-ex2945 Yes, real geography, the Caucuses mountains. That's bcuz vampires are no myth! A Count is always a vampire bcuz blue bloods rule the world! Not a folklore. Ain't no superstition to it... They're Japhetites, and seeds of the serpent in the garden.
That compulsion was also seen in the movie Leprechaun..when one character threw shoes to the Leprechaun and he started picking them and polishing them...sorry just remember this movie I think from in the early 90's.
Bulgars Are different Race nimadic Hun Mongol tirkic or whatever genetici,so they Got different folklore..IF in Bulgaria and have Slavic folklore you Are probavly serb or russ
As I was listening halfway through, I wondered if they covered the aswang and mananangal because SEA folklore isnt as famous as other cultures. And when they covered it I was amazed by their research. And they even knew more than me and come from the region itself. Amazing work!
I would think that they'd cover the manananggal since it's on the thumbnail. 😅
Tbh the Penanggalan and similar vampiric creatures are some of my favorites.
as an aspiring science fiction/fantasy writer this channel that i just found now is pure gold! Thank you so much!
So Sesame Street has one of the most accurate portrayals of a vampire. Sweet.
Ha! 👍
It is weird that I always felt safe watching CVC??? 🤔
SS was made by vampires...
yes he frubdky vamoièt
Even more accurate to Chinese vampires
A "what we do in the shadows" reference. Werewolves not swear wolves.
giud idear
I really recommend the book "Upiór. Historia naturalna" by Łukasz Kozak. It's unfortunately only (?) in polish, but it covers decently the vampirism on the grounds of central-eastern Europe, especially the vampires in Poland. It's fascinating how vampirism here was not only connected with "living dead" entiety of some sort, but also with being a witch(er), "the one who knows". They even used in some places (Greater and Lesser Poland for example) a term "wieszcz", "wieszczy", that was later appropriated (? hard to say) by the romantic movement, and from the XIX century it's used to talk about three authors-"prophets" that were talking about liberation of partitioned Poland and the ways how the polish nation should become and how ppl should fight to liberate the country.
So, when they buried in Poland the most prominent wieszcz, Adam Mickiewicz, the next years were extra rainy and it disturbed the peasants. They became quickly convinced that Mickiewicz was also "wieszcz" in the folk-vampire-witcher sense, they started talking that he could control the weather when he was alive and now at night he comes out of his coffin, does the mess in the Wawel cathedral, ruffles the sheets and gnaws the candles. They thought that they should throw his coffin to Vistula river (as one's supposed to do with upiórs) to put the things to an end.
i see that Kozak published "With Stake and Spade. Vampiric Diversity in Poland" in egnlish; it's a collection of translated first sources though, without the cultural-historical context as in his "Upiór" book.
Dzięki za rekomendację, o rodzimych wampirach najchętniej poczytam u źródła. Co do wieszcza - to tłumaczy inspirację Uzdańskiego do napisania Wypióra :)
May this find you in bloody good health.
It did ty.
Well played
What a hoot it made me laugh, and that is good.
Regarding the return to the coffin, again I bring up the Austrian Vampire Panic spurred by Serbian peasant superstitions which brought the vampire to the west.
The vampires reported in western newspapers were said by locals to return to their graves during the day and the village folk would return to the cemetery to stake the corpse. This was before Stoker & modern vampire literature, in fact prior to this the word vampire did not even exist in the English lexicon though these widely circulated news stories were almost certainly part of getting Stoker interested in Balkan Vampires
we eed vampi picnic mov lie yiugi bear
I love this! It's pretty challenging to piece together all this information, especially with all the poorly written articles found on the internet today. I am glad you showed the source material as well. I've been fascinated by these old folklore and myths and where they started. I have actually been trying to look into witches and werewolves and am still doing so. But I was surprised that their mythology intertwines. I am not gonna lie, I would love to see you do mythillogical on those subjects as well.
I thought it was generally accepted that the word "vampire" in English was just loaned and Anglicized directly from the Serbo-Croatian "vampir". Also, its likely that it was our version that inspired Dracula, as Serbian vampires, while monsterous, are still... Human? Not really, but they can talk, they remember their life and they can even procreate with humans, making a dhampir (which is what Alucard would technically be considered). Though they have mouths full of sharp teeth and they actually tear their victims throats out while they are feeding on them. They also turn into moths. And, if i remember correctly, they also sometimes feed on livestock, chupacabra style.
It's not very accepted
@@LTPottenger Ive only ever heard people supporting these, never against it though
I thought they turned into bats or monster bat things.. in serbian version they transform to moths? Moths arent even bloodsuckers.
@@ducksparrowmybel8night430 neither are bats. There are no blood sucking bat species in Serbia, or in Europe, for that matter. Those are only found in the Americas.
I like the moth version because its a just a tiny bit more terrifying, because many people are scared of bats. You'd expect the bats to be scary monsters, not so much moths. Its specifically because moths aren't usually scary that makes vampires turning into them so terrifying.
@@voxlknight2155 there ARE blood sucking moths there though. Also in a lot of other places
"Mandurugo" does not literally translate as "blood sucker"
"Man" - To (It actually is a multi-utility word, attaching it to an action would imply occupation. But in this context, this would be a closer equivalent)
"Durugo" - Bleeding
A more literal translation in my understanding would be: "To make bleed" or "A person who makes other people bleed".
"Mandurugo" is also a term used for insane people who are basically slashers/murderers running amok.
Could it refer to a bloodletting or a bloodsheder?
👑
Neat
Aswang
@@heneraldodzz4978 Manananggal.
"Vlad the poker"
Aaaaaand now my mind is picturing a bunch of dracula actors throughout the ages singing poker face.
An episode on the Devil and devil-like figures would be awesome.
Yeah, there are so many across history. Well some more or less with the same job.
When it comes to the "counting matter". My grandmother told me all kinds of stories from the olden days(she grew up in the Slovak mountains/Carpathians) and one of those stories occured every year on St.Lucy´s day(13th december) - which is considered to be a cursed day here in Slovakia. Before the sun would set, her grandfather would take garlic and with it, make the sign of the cross on every doorframe and windowframe in the house and the barn where they kept their lifestock. Then he would take a sack full of poppyseeds and spread them around the house and said barn, creating a circle. All of this was a preventive matter to fend off vampires, who(among other things) are said to be very active on this specific day. Especially the circle made of poppyseeds. It was thought that the vampire would count the poppyseeds until the morning, and thus he could not approach the house itself. But even if he could, the crosses made of garlic would prevent him to enter the house and barn anyway.
This all happened back in the 50´s and 60´s, when my grandmother was still a child. But since her grandfather lived well into his 90s, I expect that he most probably observed this "tradition/ritual" until the 1970´s or even 1980´s.
Anyway, here are two interesting facts for you.
1) The last vampire hysteria in Slovakia occured in the 1930´s.
2) As if fate wanted it, my grandmother was born on the 13th of december(thus St.Lucy´s day). But since her family believed this day was cursed, they officially changed the day of her birth to be on the 12th of december. (Better safe than sorry, I guess)
I remember something about being able to stop a vampire or distract it, something about them not being able to resist counting things such as a box of buttons or pins etc dumped on the floor.
And that made me think of the Count, on Sesame Street.
I greatly appreciate the back and forth between you two during these videos.
I love you guys! You add a nice wit and fun to history while being honest about your limited knowledge and how you research and find more. Such a great series.
This is a topic I’ve been sinking my teeth into (if you will) as of late. And I love finding a few more of the scarce historical discussions outside of the Dracula mythos. Thank you!!
40:00 - Fun detail about the term "Vrykolacas", in Romanian "Varcolac" - a word most likely derived from that - literally means Werewolf. - And it's pretty common in the old folklore for the two to be somewhat synonymous, as I recall stories telling of vampires often stalking the night in the disguise of wolves or other beasts of the forest.
Which would be similar to Native American Wendigo and Skin Walker.
From my understanding werewolves are what happened when you try to kill a vampire but don't put it down permanently.
@@Whickerx7 Other way around and not entirely true. The killing bit was irrelevant, what prevented the 'rise to vampirism' was doing something to the corpse, which varied from beheading to putting a brick into the corpse's mouth to putting the corpse face-down in a coffin, so the vampire digs its way down instead of up.
And the vampires could've been 'born' from: witches, werewolves, redheads, seventh sons of seventh sons, curses, accident, being a victim of another vampire, being unbaptised, improper burial, being sinful and probably tons of other things, depending on region.
@@teefrankenstein4340 No it would be what is called a dogman. Thousands of sightings in America alone yearly. And worldwide on every continent.
@@teefrankenstein4340 Werewolf and Skin Walker are no the same . A werewolf is a beast slave of the night/ moon . A Skin Walker Wendigo is a shapeshifter , which also serve the night and the moon but has control over his ,,curse,, . A werewolf will still have a humanoid shape while a Shapeshifter will be able to adopt the whole wolf shape .
I thoroughly DIG your thoroughness, amigos! You guys won my subscription to your channel and my total esteem.
I have not yet finished this video, being about 40% into it. I am sure to find what I present below in the video, yet wanted to offer what is not commonly known outside of the Gaelic-speaking world -- especially unknown to the English speaking world. Bram Stoker was a man from the province of Uladh, or 'Ulster' to the English-speaking world. The term comes from Old Norse, it being given begrudgingly and in respect by the Vikings, who had successful invasions and campaigns in every other part of Ireland historically, yet never knew such in the northern province they eventually proclaimed as not their own land, but rather belonged to the people they remained unable to defeat in combat known as the Uladh: Ulad's Tir.
The historic fierceness in battle of the people of Ulster is legendary, and an incredible accomplishment given the smaller stature of the people from the province. Visit Northern Ireland even today and you will note the radical difference between those people and the type of people you see in the rest of Ireland. Darker-haired, darker-eyed, and smaller, skinnier statures that represent a mix of Gaelic and Cruithne blood, with relatively little Scandanavian, as compared to the rest of Ireland.
I propose a more local derivation for the word 'vampyre' : Gaelic fiam-beithir, meaning 'awful monster' which well approximates the English pronunciation of vampire'. It remains surely well known among your subscribers that Bram Stoker derived the name 'Dracula' from the Gaelic 'droch-fhula' meaning 'bad blood' and is pronounced nearly exactly the same as in English one says 'Dracula'.
It remains a consequence of the English conquest a certain shame among the Irish of our own culture, language, heritage. Much more romantic and exotic and exciting to set the work of fiction in a foreign land like Romania / Hungary / Transylvania and to hide behind double entendre / homonyms the true, ethnic heritage of the story, which may well have been based on the supposed real-life vampire that was a certain, local chieftain historic within Ulster known as Abhartach or Avartagh.
For the record, that the rest of the world recognize in truth the more humble and actual facts: The true roots of the vampire and its actual origin is with the ethnically distinct people of the Northern Irish province of Uladh ( Ulster in English ) who are the progeny of the historic mixture of Cruithne and Gaelic blood and cultures. Exact same people who arrived on the battlefield naked, painted blue ( from the glasrum local to Northern Ireland and Scottland ), and with tatoos. For the convenience of the English speaking world, the Cruithne are known to you as the 'Picts' from the history of these isles... Very same people who gave the world Halloween, Banshees and whose most venerated and beloved deity was, and in some growing circles is, Macha. This people is ethnically distinct from the rest of Ireland, and certainly from the English, Welsh, Cornish, and the Scottish ( whether of Gaelic or Danish roots ). Tragic remains the fact that the lands of these people remains under colonial occupation and with a foreign, active military imposition that continues what already has been a thousand years of occupation by the English. The unequivocal, continuing warzone of Ulster is the true home of the vampire.
Take care, amigos!
F.
i was a Navy Pharmacy Tech and one of the interesting things where commercial medicine and pharmacy is inferior to socialized medicine was illustrated by leeches, which were kept at big navy (socialized) hospitals. People who have amputated body parts reattached tend to have blood accumulate in them, which can make the body part not reattach properly, because the larger, deeper arteries are more easily reattached than the smaller, more numerous veins. you use leeches to remove blood specifically from those body parts, and they contain a host of good drugs that help healing, anticoagulants and antibiotics, stuff made so the leeches hosts would survive to be fed on again. but there is no profit in keeping leeches, so (unless this has since changed) most hospitals have no interest, life-saving and important or not
One other note regarding garlic: It does have medicinal properties in warding off some parasites. I currently use it in my pet's diet, as she is highly allergic to veterinary flea treatments. My solution after doing research was to create a home diet that incorporates a few key ingredients, one of them being garlic. For the last 12 years she has never been flea or tick bitten, so regarding the folkloric 'strong smells dissuade miasma', smell is probably not the only reason garlic specifically is mentioned in keeping away disease, it probably was also noted to work for centuries with minor medicinal value. I just find it interesting that its related to blood sucking vampires, and it helps keep blood sucking little disease carrying insects off my pet.
Arguably, the most interesting contemporary example of literature going back to the old vampire tradition (being at the same time a postmodern/postdramatic piece) is Dimitris Lyacos's With the People from the Bridge, second instalment of his Poena Damni trilogy. Eerie, ritualistic and almost devoid of blood - until the final scene. Well worth checking out.
To be fair, Dracula didn't consider moving far from his resting place until he'd already been undead for centuries and had basically "tapped out" the food supply in and around his castle in Wallachia. Thinking like a predator, he needed to migrate to seek better hunting grounds.
Not really, in the novel Dracula was always an intelligent man, he made plans for his migration the England, even taking legal precautions for his travels. That's not a mindless predator.
It's also said exactly why he moves and it's not because he's out of people to eat, theres a village near his castle and has been for centuries. He leaves thralls there who have no issue surviving and decides to flee back there when England proves inhospitable.
It's said in the book he comes to England specifically to ba a part of modern high society. He left out of boredom not hunger, though he's noted as not being particularly bright as he can't seem to wrap his head around "civilized" society. This lack of intelligence is a major part of why he fails but he is clearly of human intelligence and not an animal.
@@DrewLSsix that is some of the dumbest stuff I've read in RUclips comments. Get wretk
@@DrewLSsix well the concept of a mindless predator is an invalid phrase, predator are usually far more intelligent then their prey
@@DrewLSsix You know, as a massive fan of the story, I still could never wrap my head around the Count's motives for leaving, as they were left so ambiguous. I think you're probably right: the simple solution is that he was bored. And he likely was, but I also believe that (as evidenced by his old man appearance at the beginning, and the reactions people had when Harker told them where he was going), Dracula's food supply was diminished due to people catching on to what he was and taking precautions against it. Hell, a desperate mother knows exactly WHAT took her baby and chases Dracula back to his castle to beg him to give it back to her... only to be fed to the wolf pack Dracula "domesticated."
@@DrewLSsixI always had the notion that he was a very intelligent and educated creature, giving his talks with Jonathan and his vast library.
Funny how you mentioned Draugr and Skyrim. I'm actually playing Skyrim right now while listening to this video play through my Bluetooth speaker. Sometimes I'll just spend hours creating and enchanting new armor and weapons and I like listening to videos like this when I'm in a creative mood.
Skyrim is still relatively new to me. I look forward to doing a vampire run. hoohoohoo hahahahaha!
I grew up in Zimbabwe, but from Zambian parents, live back home now in lusaka Zambia. I grew up afraid of something called amaZimu, Zimus were known to live in the dark and lived of blood of the living. Why is this phenomenon all over the world, I'm talking about the time before I even watched Salem's Lot. Salem's Lot even terrified me more. Couldn't sleep for months.
Polidori’s tale touched off this fascination. Two centuries ago he corrected the drastic deficiencies of the folklore and reimagined the vampire as a suave, mysterious, sexually dynamic elite who defies time and place, who consumes ravenously and without guilt, and who represents perverse passions that will not die.
Real vampires are pretty disgusting. The real ones like the royal bloodlines want you to contribute to your demise and will challenge you to something in the order to elicit permission to slay you. At that point, almost any gesture or word you say may be taken as complicit, except a firm "no!" Although they are big-time blood drinkers, they don't do it the way Hollyweird does. I think they typically rip off your limbs and head or they reach into your chest and rip out your heart.
Makes sense. This is probably also the same reason the adrenochrome conspiracy was created and took off in the last couple decades
@@dpc3324
That was not a conspiracy. Nice try.
@@bumblebee4280 conspiracies can be true and still be called conspiracies dude. A conspiracy is just something that a group of people are doing together that they’ve kept secret (people conspiring together for a common goal=conspiracy)
Drastic deficiency? Next you'll bemoan the lack of sexy ghouls..
Had an honors course in college, Mythic Dimensions of Literature, and the final project was a report on a mythical story and how it changed throughout the ages and cultures. I chose “the Vampire” and my professor was blown away by how much information I packed into my essay. Even going back to bce. It was a very interesting research project.
The earliest vampire I've ever sluiced out was impero
Over 2000 years old.
And they can't do sun silver. Have no soul.
Are immortal.
I think the vampire legend has mixed and changed
Was your research ever published? I'd love to read it!🥰
@@Emerald.She-Ra oh lord no, it wasn’t that good. Lol
can i read your essay?
Isn’t it strange how, blood drinking humanoids claimed to be undead has been, documented throughout history globally each with its own name, but all strike an eerie resemblance to on end other….
First of your videos I've listened to, and I was hooked as soon as you began to list your sources. Seriously, I wish more people sourced their stuff, mega kudos from a huge fan of proper sourcing!
In Western Serbia people used to put wreaths of garlic over windows and doors, there was also belief that if you encounter vampire you should throw handful of wheat grains and it would compel vampire to count the grains and give you time to escape. For some reason water mills were vampire’s favorite hiding spots.
Man, this is why I love my people so much, they just know how to have some damn fun WHILE making serious concern of things.
I think the draugr is an underrepresented vampire ancestor, likely because the draugr itself has also undergone media degradation. But if we look at what a draugr in the sagas is then it is nothing like a zombie at all, it is far more magical and mystical and powerful. They represent the magical side of certain modern powerful vampire depictions very well.
In Grettirs saga we meet an undead creature named Glamr which is where the word "Glamour" comes from. He can do some strange magical stuff that belongs in a horror movie, like how he curses the "hero" Grettir to never again have a peaceful nights sleep because he will always see the glaring eyes of Glamr staring at him from the corner of the room, even when he closes his eyes. He also has some much more dire magic as he curses Grettir to never become stronger, turning his whole life into a downwards spiral as he will only get weaker and weaker until sickness takes him.
Other sagas and stories about draugrs also prop them up as very physically powerful creatures on top of their magical abilties, just like vampires. In one saga two brothers in arms swear to spend 3 nights and days in the burial mound of whomever dies first. One of them ends up dying and starts fulfilling his promise, climbing into his friends mound from the top, roping down with some food and drink. He sits there opposite of his friends corpse for days when some strange things happen. For example, the mound is filled with goods meant for the deceased to enjoy in the afterlife, including animals. The friend witnesses the corpse of his old buddy tear a horse in two with his bare hands. The point being that every night the draugr friend eats more and more until the last night when he attempts to eat his living friend.
These are examples of draugrs being both physically and magically powerful beings, just like Vampires often are depicted as. But I have one more example which makes the draugr even more vampire-like.
I sadly don't remember the name of this one either but all of these accounts of draugrs in sagas are easily found here on youtube.
The final one is a spiteful viking guy who gets buried a few times because he keeps coming back. But whats so vampire-like about him is that he sort of corrupts everything around his stone-mound of a grave. The grass dies, animals who walk by it die, everything goes bad. So the people nearby try to dig him up to move him which is when they see that he is not decomposed at all, he has in fact grown and become stronger, very much like a vampire.
But this example even has the shapeshifting abilities of a vampire, sort of, like a proto-shapeshifting. Because after they kill the draugr he has cursed a cow, causing it to birth a black calf with a limp just like the draugr had. This calf grows into a monsterous bull with the same hate as the draugr, it is clear that his "spirit" has possessed the bull before birth, making it a draugr bull.
Thats why I think the draugr is the proto-version of a vampire.
But because of this connection, the concept of a vampire not being able or willing to travel far from it's coffin actually makes sense, because the draugr does not stray far from its bural mound (other than the times when they do).
(Wrote this all before I got to the part where you mentioned it)
They don't fit the part of a bramstoker vampire, but they certainly fit the role of powerful, often intelligent, magical undead which is a major part of the vampire identity, so considering how old the concept of the draugr is, I'd consider them a true ancestor of the vampire.
The skyrim draugrs are more like zombies which I don't think is accurate at all. Norse folkore does have zombies aswell but they usually refer to them with other words like "aptrgangr" which means "after walker" which is like a zombie who annoys you by stomping on your roof.
They say if you laugh at a Jang Chi (hopping vampire) --- which you would naturally do coz it's such a funny sight -- the Jang Chi will be embarrassed and hop away.
Swiper no swiping type shit
😂@@Zamtrios245
So glad to see someone shedding light on the subject. An author I highly recommend and respect is John Michael Greer. He is an esoteric author, Freemason, Druid, conservationist, and polymath. He has a book titled “Monsters: an investigator’s guide” that goes into the folk lore of many monsters, including the vampire.
Bram stoker didnt come up with vampires disappearing in sunlight. It's from the german movie Nosferatu and was done just to change the ending as to not be sued by stokers widow for copyright.
As a mechanic I've come to the conclusion that the blood being associated with life force has the exact same origins as the idea that electronics run on smoke, as any observer will note when either substance is let out in great quantities the former home of said substance ceases to function
In Sweden, we have the “nattmara” (yes, exactly like nightmare), which is an evil spirit who takes the form of a woman who attacks mainly men in their sleep by sitting on top of them to suffocate them. Interesting how much folklore is similar in different parts of the world!
Oh wow! There is something similar to that in the middle east
I have been binge consuming all of your content. It's so good. THERE'S REFERENCES!
Thank you guys so much
Vampires are very well documented and they continue to exist. Have you see the Twilight vampire documentaries?
Not going to lie you had me in the first half.
True Blood.
@@nicholasdalli6303 I used to work with a guy who would go out to bars and hook up with women and he had a talent for convincing girls he just met that night to let blood for him to drink, dude would feed like 5-7 times a month and probably hook up with about 10 different women a month. He told me he was trained how to do this by a long lasting cult of people who practice vampirism and masonry. He would also get together with a group of like minded fellows and eat human meat twice a year.
Honestly after meeting more than a couple people like that... I dunno if there are immortal vampires but they definitely exist and have been doing this sort of thing for a while.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 Yeah, if there are real vampires, they definitely have secret societies of some kind.
@@sparklesparklesparkle6318 Yeah I had a book about some weird or fantastical occurences in my country - its one of those thin paperback type of books with generic pictures of vampires, UFOs and satanistic talismans on the cover - it always seemed hokey-pokey to me. In it there was an interview with a couple who said they drank blood, liked to wear black and hated the sun. Honestly these people are often just some combination of indoor aficionados who have a sensitivity to sunlight because of some medical malady or because they were shut-ins and who also have a darker mentality whether genetically or culturally achieved who seem to connect themselves with the ideals of the vampire we see in pop culture. These sorts of things, people who are "odd" for a number of intersecting reasons conglomerating together and convincing themselves they are XYZ because of their contemporary culture have always happened. Like how aerial phenomena was once angels now its UFOs and aliens or military aircraft - cultural delusions are a big factor.
Interesting that you mention suffocation as the way that most "vampires" kill their victims: In Alby Stone's: Hellhounds Werewolves and the Germanic Underworld, he mentions that the "Arg" part, of the word Warg (meaning wolf) denotes Strangulation or sometimes "one who is strangled", possibly referring to the manner in which perpetrators would kill or be killed (via hanging) - in addition, being declared a "Werewolf" was what is called a "Magico-Legal" term, and violent criminals (possibly one's who had asphyxiated their victims?) were officially declared Werewolves ("thou art become a wolf!") and banished outside the towns or city's walls and into the wilderness, and is most likely where we derive the term Wolfshead, as in a bandit or brigand.
What about doorknob hangings?
What time time line does this come from?
Makes me think of the "Wolf people" aka the Dacians.
E
ever enhanced a drink with another ingredient to make it so good? yes sufffocation is bs.. throw it away because nothing beats adrenaline and fear.
As far as I know Varg means alone or.solitary/ outcast and that's the name they use for wolves in swedish
That was quite informative and, from what I can tell, very well researched. Thank you for making this video and helping to further my education in folk lore of the world. I knew a lot of vampire attributes were creations of cinema and Bram Stoker, but I did not know the extent of the deliberate distortions of real folkl ore post Dracula.
I passed out to your video and ended up having a very vivid dream involving myself and vampires (non aggressive ones thankfully) in a medieval setting. Fucking loved it. Thank you.
Vampire in English language comes from a German word for vampire - Vampir which is directly adopted from the locals when Austro-Hungary gained control of the northern Serbia. Other versions in Slavic languages come from the word vampir. It is interesting to point out that Serbian language containes also a word štriga which derives from the word striga and means witch or malevolent spirit, but it does not mean vampir (vampire).
I wanted to comment on that part too. I'm Lithuanian and I've never seen the word used for drinking, though it could, of course, be something too archaic to remain in modern usage. I have, however, heard it used in descriptors to say something was wilting, dying, weak. Like some plant on its last leg or a lifelong alcoholic nearing an early grave. But I really don't think the name would come from Lithuanian, why would it. There's not even a big vampire idea here in the folklore.
@@GabrieliukaI don't know about Lithuania, but all Slavic languages have some form of vampire: Wąpierz, upiór in Polish; упырь вурдалак, in Russian, Belarusian вупыр, Ukrainian упир. And all those folklore creatures are exactly undead man with drinks blood or eats flesh, and he is sleeping in grave.
I find it amazing that even people of an academic slant forget that two things can be true at the same time. In fact, this is often most likely the case. For example, the Hapsburgs may have publicized that Elizabeth Bathory did some horrible things. What they said was probably very exaggerated, but that doesn't mean it was entirely false. Likely it was true, just to a lesser extent. If you think about it, it's no different than what politicians have done forever: take something your opponent has done, often something that can be proved to be true, and massively exaggerate it and its effects. There was a time in the mid/later 20th century where some journalists did not do this, but before and since then journalists often do the same.
This was a great introduction to you guys.
That joke about the Rains Down in Africa, probably the best vampire joke I've ever heard definitely the first one to actually make me laugh.
Edit: I had to listen to the section on the Jaing Chi twice. Why wasn't there any mention of it's weakness regarding running water? It's not supposed to be able to cross even a small stream. The story about how they came to have their image was interesting though.
I second the Toto jokes. 10/10
The short story The Vampire came out before Dracula and was probably the inspiration.
Picking up on one ‘symptom’ of the victims that came up in serval descriptions was the ‘vampire’ crushing the person with their body, sitting on their chest or throttling them. Sufferers of Type Narcolepsy quite often experience sleep paralysis that is accompanied by hallucinations of a specific figure, daemon or terrifying person either standing over them, sitting in there chest or laying on them. Pretty damn specific, perhaps a catalyst to local vampirism hysteria of the time
I thought the word Striga and strigoi is a clear relative to the Latin word Strix as in ancient Greek Strix.
In Italian Strega is the witch, which also in ancient times believed to suck on kid's blood, Same as the Strix in ancient Greek and Roman folklore.
The scientific name of a small howl is Strix, from the ancient Greek word for it and it is derived from the sound they make, a screech. (In Italian the sound is also called stridere, the root seems to come from there).
I have no idea if all this has any sources though, but it makes sense to me 😅
I'm a huge history buff 💪 and this was like finding gold!!!! I am so glad I came across this.....
Thanks!
Cinemasscre did a video on Nosferatu, the 1922 film, recently on his channel and claimed that vampires "burning away in sunlight" was actually invented by that film.
NGL, i feel asleep trying to watch this video. 10 mins in, and the topic still hasn't started. :)
Elizabeth bathory when spoken almost translates to the black church of rose water in Basque and other related languages.
12 minutes and they haven't even begun to touch on the point if I wasn't paying for RUclips that be like five freaking commercials
You've done it you mad lads. You've created the single best collection of vampire mythos in one video
Omg!! This is so well made, PLEASE continue making more content like this😭🙏❤
I just started this video and I already love the incredibly British rendition of a vampire.
0:00: 🧛 The video discusses the folklore and mythology of vampires, covering different traditions and entities from around the world.
10:11: 🧛 The podcast discusses the origins and folklore of vampires, highlighting the influence of literary creations on modern vampire traits.
19:37: 🧛 The video explores the origins and cultural representations of vampire-like entities throughout history, including bloodletting practices and medical beliefs.
30:32: 🧛 The video discusses the historical and cultural significance of blood in ancient and medieval times, as well as the folklore surrounding vampires in Eastern Europe.
41:29: 🧛 The video discusses the folklore and characteristics of vampires in Eastern Europe and their methods of destruction.
51:44: 🧛♂ The video discusses various folkloric methods and examples of dealing with vampires, including burial practices, warding off techniques, and specific vampire outbreaks.
1:01:31: 🧛 The popularization of vampire accounts in Europe in the 18th century and the subsequent investigations and actions taken against suspected vampires.
1:10:41: 🧛 The video discusses the historical vampire outbreaks in Europe and the subsequent skepticism and debunking of the vampire folklore.
1:21:29: 🧛 The video discusses folklore and historical accounts of vampires, including potential medical explanations for vampire-like symptoms.
1:31:51: 🧛 The video explores various vampire-like creatures from different cultures, including their origins and characteristics.
1:54:04: 🧛 The video discusses various vampire-like creatures from different cultures around the world, including their origins, characteristics, and methods of feeding.
2:05:02: 🧛 A discussion about vampires and a hint for the next episode of a podcast.
Recap by Tammy AI
Egyptians believe if you keep the body preserved and did rituals the many layers of soul could get back into body. Great video
So happy the Aswang got on the list! No one ever mentions SEA culture.
And from what I've been told, there are male Aswang (again, the Aswanng being a general term for all sorts of viscera eating monsters including the mannanngal) but female are more common.
Another fun fact, my mom said a saying is you'd rather have an aswanf in your village than a theif. Aswang will keep to themselves and keep the ones close to them safe. Thieves will always betray you, even family.
My mother had a book of British folk tales that I loved to read, and it included a story about the vampire of Croglin Grange. I TO THIS DAY have a mild fear of uncovered windows at night. Well worth reading about if you get the chance. Wikipedia says it's from the 1890s.
You should, close them.
@A J I prop things in my windows, too! I started doing it when I lived in a scummy neighborhood, in case of theft.
And then my bf sleeps with his window cracked OPEN like some kind of nut job. 😂
This is a wonderful video so far. Love to see the detailed analysis of the origins of vampires, don’t take my many comments as attacks on the legitimacy of your information, they’re either questions or dropping in my own knowledge of the Serbian language & South Slavic folklore
I'm doing research on vampires and stumbled on this video, I truly loved all the information, especially the part focusing on non-european legends. But, as a brazilian, I want to make a correction about the Iara. Iara is a well-known myth here, but its origins are not in the catholic church, rather in the indigenous people. But she's not a type of vampire, actually, she's close to a mermaid and often associated with Iemanjá, an orixá (a type of deity) of african-influenced religions.
Hope I said everything right, english is not my first language obviously. Thanks for this episode tho!
wow there is so much info in this! love the von count joke! i remember being so scared of Jiangshi when i was a child hahaha
I'm surprised that you mentioned the succubus and incubus but not the sidhe which are described as love vampires but you guys did go over a LOT and it was very interesting!!!
Haha I just brought that up in another reply but didn't realize it hadn't come up in the video. You're right! Incubi/succubi are part of Abrahamic demonology but Stoker, an Irishman, would've been raised on stories of dangerous unseelie who are more like the sexy vampires. Fae are also sometimes connected to the dead as well.
Vampires. They have existed long before Dracula.
Technically speaking, considering the high amount of stem cells in blood, particularly in young children, blood could be a successful treatment for a variety of conditions, but it would be very hit and miss, do to the delivery method. I'm wondering if stomach ulcers were more common back in the day, giving quick access to the bloodstream via ingestion.
Also note how the description of the bloodsuckers reflects what literary class viewed as the threat to society; the untamed wild, unexplainable illnesses, and then the depravities of the upperclasd
As someone who has the occasional bout of sleep paralysis... Yeah, I can see that being a cause for alarm for someone who didn't know what it was. Especially if you have more than just the "can't move hard to breathe" version; I do sometimes get visual hallucinations, or the most intense, terrifying paranoia you have ever felt. Like "someone is in my room and going to kill me" level freaking out.
Have enjoyed your vids for a while now, great stuff.
I often fall asleep watching vids so you often get a few views.
One aspect of your content I appreciate is you don't play outro music at twice the volume as the rest of the vid. Thanks :D
Fascinating. I've been interested in this type of thing for a while. The scenes of Abraham Setrakian being told vampire (Strigoi) stories by his Bubbe in The Strain reminded me of childhood stories, not always conducive to sleep but sure to encourage good behaviour.
The breadth of myths around the world and hematophagous/exsanguinating blood feeding humanoids is astonishing.
Oooh, I'm late to this one, but how exciting! I'm sure half of us were holding our breaths for this one! Thank you both for putting so much tireless work and research into every episode of this program!
We love it!
The absolute hilarity of having a quote on vampires from Jean-Jacques Rousseau being attributed to none other than Voltaire - two men that died months apart from each other hating each other - feels SO appropriate. Even in death these guys are made to duke it out.
I seem to remember that South Slavs buried their dead with garlic or onions (there are no separate words for the two, they are both called Luk, and are distinguished as white and red Luk respectively) to prevent vampirism. This may date back to the time of the plague and have been warped into a vampirism thing since then of course
Not red, but black. White and black onion. Црни и бели лук.
@@caain8454 I’ve heard both.
@@caain8454 Now that I think about it, crni luk might refer to what English speakers call Brown Onions, but that some people (either just my family, people in a certain dialect group, whatever) never distinguished them from red onions and called all onions crni or crveni luk interchangeably.
Thanks
25 minutes into the video. Ok, vampiric revenants and revenants (generally a term used by folklorists to refer to corporeal undead) are known to be shapeshifters throughout many regions in the world (often into black dogs, owls, among other animals in Europe) and Balkan revenants (which very much seems to be where Bram Stoker's main inspiration for Dracula comes from) like pretty much any other European revenant were thought to retain the intelligence and abilities they had in life in addition to having various supernatural abilities (superhuman strength and speed as well as shapeshifting and more). Not sure if this was addressed later in the video but if not, this is a huge aspect of the "vampire" to miss out in a two hour long video about vampires.
Another thing, the term wight derives from Old English wiht meaning LIVING being, not a dead one. It's only in modern fantasy literature and video games that the term wight has been associated with barrow-dwelling undead creatures.
fun fact. in kindergarten this kid walked up to me and asked me if I wanted to be a vampire, of course I said uh okay.. yeah. we then put our hands together kinda like a double high five and he started mumbling jibberish. needless to say I was definitely the cool kid in school.
I only recently found out about the Scottish folklore character Baobhan sith which is more of a vampyric succubus. Having grown up here I was slightly disappointed I had never heard of one before.
"They Put commas in strange places." Spoken by the man who puts W's in strange places.
The original Dracula was played by Lugosi Béla, a hungarian actor. He of course had a hungarian accent which became known the vampire accent. One more point for me to be happy that hungarian is my mother language hehe
His name was Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó but his stage name was Bela Lugosi. I apologize if my comment comes off rude. I do not mean to seem like that lol it’s just that you put his surname before his first name. It bothered/annoyed me for some unknown reason and felt the need to put it right. I know I’m awkward 😝😆🥲
@@angelareeves967 oh i always knew him as Lugosi Béla hehe
Thanks tho! I’ve never seen his real name mentioned. It’s not rude dw haha
beka draca beka mearied edaward 2 hin nared vaoiers had ybde bampier hun babiers
42:51 - I'm no expert, but my understanding is that many bodies prepared after death had their mouths forced shut by similar means as simply an aesthetic tradition. No one wants to look at their dead relative during a funeral or wake, etc.