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Vampire Names Throughout Europe and the UK

kate — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:27:25 +0000

Whether they’re told as common folklore, or believed to be real terrors and creatures that roam the earth, there are many names for vampires and vampire beings throughout the world. Here are some common vampire names that send a tingle up one’s spine throughout Europe and the United Kingdom.

Bruja: This creature took the form of animals although it was usually thought to appear as a female. The Bruja was also known to attack mostly infants. This vampiric creature is known mostly throughout Spain. In Portugal, there’s a known creature that’s similar to the Bruja, called the Bruxa. The Bruxa however, were thought mostly to be witches and not vampires. They too however, attacked mostly infants.

Callicantzaros: This terrifying vampire is of a special sort that’s known throughout Greece. Not only are these vampires born around the holidays, from Christmas Day through to the Epiphany (New Year’s), but this is also when they are most known to attack and be the most violent. They also have long talons, which make them much more dangerous.

Dhampir – Dhampirs weren’t actually vampires. But they were thought to be a specific kind of vampire hunter. What gives a dhampir they’re power is that they are the son of a vampire and during the 17th and 18th century, it was thought that only dhampirs could kill vampires. It was common for other people to disguise themselves as dhampirs, claiming that they could kill vampires in order to make a profit. These types of vampire hunters were also thought to be common throughout Bulgaria, where they are called vampirdzhija.

Lamia: Throughout Greece there’s another vampiress that strikes terror. This creature however is only half woman, and the rest of her is half serpent. Lamias are thought to live in caves and they come out to feast on children. They also sometimes take the form of beautiful women, who are all-woman, in order to seduce men so that they can also drink their blood.

Nachzehrer: This vampire is found in graves in Germany and has very particular traits. They will always hold the thumb of one hand with the other, and their left eye is always open. They sit in their tombs while feasting on their prey and make loud grunting noises.

Neuntoter: Also found in Germany, this vampire spreads terror of a different sort. They may not drain you of your blood, but they do spread the plague!

Upir: The Czech Republic is a vampire that stems from the thought that everyone has two souls. After death, one soul moves on to the afterlife and the other soul, known as the ‘lesser soul’, remains in the corpse, leaving it to become reanimated. Found in graves, it usually had its eyes open and had two curls in its hair. Another characteristic of Upirs was that they had two hearts.

Ustrel: These vampires were found in Bulgaria. These vampires came from babies that were born on a Saturday and not baptized. When nine days had passed after their burial, the ustrel would come back to feed on and drain the blood of livestock. After they had become strong enough, ustrels would then remain out during the day, hiding in among the livestock, and feasting on them one by one.

What the heck is a vampire, anyway?

holiday — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:26:00 +0000

All this talk about vampires, but what the heck is a vampire anyway? The definition has changed so much over time, that what once was considered a vampire is now called something else. The original European vampires were more like what we would call zombies today. Vampires have been based on demons and ghoulish spirits and reanimated corpses.
If we define a vampire merely as a creature that drinks blood, that would eliminate a lot of the creatures considered to be the ancestors to the modern types. Most of our concepts of vampires are evolved versions of the European legends. The word “vampire” wasn’t used until later, but the creatures they originated from were mostly revenants; reanimated corpses. These “vampires” were blamed, not for drinking blood necessarily, but for everything from plagues to miscarriages.
The vampire corpse would rise from the grave and murder those closest to it; its family and friends. Vampires were not necessarily creating other vampires, just killing people. Those who became vampires were ones who had been improperly buried or who committed suicide. The nachtzeherer of German lore would gnaw on its own hands and limbs in a frenzy of hunger, and crawl out of the grave to feed on livestock and humans. The vampir of Bulgaria could walk about during the day, and the lampir of Bulgarian folklore would spread disease.
There are other creatures considered to be vampires who were not reanimated corpses. A Slovakian lore of the upir tells of a creature with two hearts and two souls who could kill its victims with a glance, and who would suffocate victims. The shtriga of Albanian folklore were witches, living witches who fed on infants at night. A lot of folklore tells of ghoulish spirits with vampire traits of feeding on the living or drinking blood. The chupacabra of South America is a monstrous creature who tears apart its victims, and is often classed as a vampire.
Another common piece of lore is the concept of demons. Sometimes, as with the vetala of India, the demons would possess a corpse of a dead human and feed on others using that body. Sometimes, as with the Alp of Germanic myth, the demon would not need to possess a body in order to feed. These demons simply feed off of humans, kill, and discard them. People don’t become vampire creatures in those legends.
Would a vampire today be defined as a creature who bursts into flame in sunlight? What other criteria do we apply to the vampire? They must have once been human, still have human memories? Or do vampires not contain any piece of the human that once existed in that body? Is vampirism more like a virus that makes a human become more animalistic, stronger, and bloodthirsty?
There are all sorts of other types of creatures or demons, or even living people, defined as “vampires.” They may not feed on blood, but on energy, like psi-vampires. The incubus of lore would feed on a victim by having sex with him or her, or while doing so. Perhaps a vampire does encompass zombies, demons, and reanimated corpses, and perhaps it is a creature that may feed either on flesh, sex, blood, or psychic energy.

Origins of Vampires

veritas — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:11:37 +0000

Vampires are beings of folklore and mythology that basically exist by feeding off the lifeforce of humans and/or animals.Usually, they are “undead” or ressurrected corpses, who live off the blood of other beings. Most popular legends refer to the blood-drinking Undead in Eastern Europe, but many other various cultures and regions have similar creatures. Some are non-human, or animal, bats, dogs, spiders, et cetera. Vampires are an extremely popular inspiration for various fictional works discussed later.

Vampirism itself is the act of drinking a human or animal’s blood. It is a form of cannibalism, however less often occurring, and is popularly regarded throughout modern fiction and legend, as a way to gain supernatural powers. Historically speaking, it was also a way to intimidate an enemy, for the opposing force to claim that they ate flesh or drank blood, and can reflect a culture’s spiritual beliefs.

The word vampire is widely distributed throughout various cultures and languages. The English word vampire, could have been derived from many possible languages, the most forestanding, the German “Vampir” and French “Vampyre”. The German word, vampir, is derived of its many similar variations in most Slavic languages.

The first recorded use of the word is believed to have been used in Old Russian, Upir, in a Book of Psalms, transcribed by a priest, in 1047 AD, who stated that his name was “Upir Iikhyi”, which means “Foul Vampire”. This was debated later, as it was the translated version of the name of a famous Swedish rune carver.

In Babylonian demonology, there were vampiric beings called Lilu, and further back, in Sumerian legend, were Akhkharu, who would prowl the night killing newborns and pregnant women. The Jewish adapted Lilith from one of the demons, called Lilitu. There are vampiric beings in India, found in Sanskrit folklore, called vetalas; ghouls who inhabit corpses. The Indian religion Hinduism has various mythological legends of blood-drinking gods and goddesses, and also humans, considering reincarnation is a part of Hinduism, and one leading a sinful, or unclean life may be reincarnated as reanimated corpse attacking the living at night. The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet became enslaved to her bloodlust after killing humans, and was only sated by drinking alcohol tinted to look like blood. The strix, appearing in Roman stories, was a nocturnal bird who fed on human flesh and blood.

Vampires » upir

Vampire Names Throughout Europe and the UK

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What the heck is a vampire, anyway?

Related Reading:

Origins of Vampires

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