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Fife Folklore Workshop

Summer 2013

ENGL 6750

Professor L. McNeill

Submitted by: Dee Ansbergs

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Introduction:

The theme/folklore related to vampires has a lengthy historical timeline, and remains one

of great fascination which continues today. Within literary novels of the past like Bram Stoker’s

“Dracula”, to present day books, films, movies and television the theme continues and has

woven itself into distinct sub-cultures. These word and videos shows people images and paint

even today’s world with images of a ravenous reanimated corpse which frightens us and terrifies

us. The Vampire rises from the grave under cover of night to return to steal the life force (blood,

energy, milk, and other substances) from his family, friends or neighbors.

The Vampire images and folklore appear to have originated in Eastern Europe and later

became popularized through Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” book written in 1898. Our textbook 1

(Dundes, 1998) presented various case studies that predate the reemergence in popular culture.

Alan Dundes combines psychoanalytic and folkloristic approaches. 2 I have chosen to review the

literature from our course and others I’ve found during the summer rather than my earlier project

due to life’s circumstances unfolding as they wish and not as I had planned. My focus will

remain on the original folklore rather than its modern variations.

The History of the Word Vampire

For most of us today, when we hear the world Vampire we think of Transylvania or

Hungary. We might think of terms to describe them drawn from recent media such as “Interview

with a Vampire”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel” or the movies under the cover of

1
The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Allan. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin, 1998.
2
“The History of the Word Vampire” in The Vampire, a Casebook. Dundes, Alan. University of Wisconsin Press,
1998. Pp-39
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“Twilight”. Each new wave of stories, whether via novels or media, add something new to the

legend, which has proven very adaptable over the centuries.

Linguistic analysis demonstrated that the first recorded instances of the word indicate that

it was neither Hungary no Roumania, and there are several schools of thought of the country of

origin, including Turkey, Serbian, Slavic.

Wilson notes that the first use of the word in English comes from “Travels of 3 English

Gentlemen from Venice to Hamburg, being the Grand Tour of Germany in the Year 1734.” Pope

Benedict XIV thought the belief in Vampires was rooted in folk belief and superstition and was

“not easy to extirpate”. The Pope wrote about his concerns of the mutilations of corpses believed

to be vampires by local peasants. This chapter mentions that victims feel as if they are

suffocating during the attacks. (Linked to sleep paralysis?) 3 (Wilson, Katharina M) The Oxford

English Dictionary first included the word “Vampire” in 1745. 4

Wilson also states that the Russian word “Vampyr” may originated in either German or

French from the cognates of vampire, upir, upyr. These were later shown to be of Bulgarian

origin. It seems most likely that it originates within the Slavic community. (Wilson, 1985)

The earliest recorded uses of the term appear in French, English and Latin referring to

vampirism in Poland, Russia and Macedonia (southern Yugoslavia). It later appears during the

vampire epidemic recorded in the years 1725-1732. 5(Wilson, 1985).

3
IBID
4
Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite-the Science of Monsters. Kaplan, Matt. Scribner-New York, London, Sydney,
New Delhi. Pg. 141
5
The Vampire in Roumania. Murogci, Agnes in “The Vampire in Roumania” in The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed.
Dundes, Allan. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin, 1998. Pg. 12. (Murgoci, Agnes)
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Paraphrased from Marguci: “Russia, Roumania and the Balkan states carry an idea that the soul

does not finally leave the body to go on its journey to Paradise for 40 days after death. In some

cases believing that the soul may linger for longer periods which then delays decomposition of

the body who then becomes a vampire. Once the bones are white and clean, the soul has entered

paradise. Bones are then washed in water and wine and put in clean linen, a religious ceremony

is held and the bones are reinterred.”

Margoci writes that it was once believed that some were born to be vampires after death

and might be able to send out their souls, and maybe bodies, to wander at cross-roads, and were

known as ‘live-vampire’ type. There were various periods at which bodies would be disinterred,

according to age at death. If a corpse wasn’t completely decomposed, it had become a vampire,

according to Roumanian custom.

Another folk belief in vampire types is that of the “varcolac”, which eats the sun and

moon during eclipses.

Adding to the confusion is the concept of a “striga” or “strigele,” who aren’t real

vampires but spirits of living witches, and are sent out as a little light or of dead witches who

have found no peace. Most vampires are known as ‘strigoi’ and the term “miroii” is also used.

These combine with witches, wizards and devils in Roumanian folklore. A video we watched

during the workshop showed that even into the 1930s the folklore surrounding vampires

remained strong.
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If a family suffered multiple deaths after a single death, it was believed that the vampire

had risen from the grave to bring his friends and family back to him in death.6

Destruction of Vampires

Throughout our readings in our texts and the associated additional readings, how to

destroy a vampire methods and practices are listed. These include the use of an axe to crush the

chest; a hawthorn stake through the heart; a metal needle into the body; cutting off the head and

placing it between the feet; removing the heart and liver, which were then burnt to ash which was

mixed with water and given to the sick to drink as a cure; reburial or destruction of the corpse

completely with fire.

So How did People Know a Vampire was in their Community?

 The ‘vampire’s household, family and livestock die off rapidly.

 He comes back at night and speaks to his family. He may eat or help with housework

or chop wood.

 Evil continues after a Priest reads a service over his grave.

 There is a hole in the ground near the grave.

 A white horse or a gander won’t walk over his grave.

 On exhumation: red in face months or years after burial; face turned downwards in

grave; a foot retracted and forced into a corner of the grave; dead relatives with blood

near mouths and faces or maize meal around the lips.7

The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Allan. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin, 1998. Pg. 12.
(Murgoci, Agnes)
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Additional Causes of Vampirism

 Born with a caul-a vampire at six weeks after death

 People who do bad and evil during life

 If one doesn’t eat garlic

 Death of a child before baptism, at seven it becomes one.

 Pregnant woman not eating salt-child is one

 Men who swear falsely for money-six months after death

 Seven children of same gender, the seventh will have a tail and be one

 If a cat jumps over a dead corpse

 If a shadow falls over a dead corpse

 No choice, if fates says you are, you are.8

Oinas writes about the distinctions between what should be done to a vampire are many

and how to know a live-vampire and a dead-vampire which vary with the peasants have varying

beliefs. It is believed that a vampire can bewitch you, or steal milk, or hens, or take the power of

bees and give them to a mistress. Living vampires (generally women) have powers to do things

and take power from animals or humans. 9

8
“The Vampire in Roumania” Marguci, Agnes in The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Allan. University of
Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin, 1998. Pg. 12.

9
East European Vampires by Oinas, Felix in The Vampire, a Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Alan. University of Wisconsin
Press. PP 47-56
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On St. George’s Eve it is thought that vampires go out to the boundaries and take rain and

the power of animals or bring beauty to women who pay them, or cause men to hate rivals. They

can steal milk from women and turn into horses, dogs, cats to scare people. 10

Vampires in Roumania can’t drown and bring rain though various methods. Vampires

fight with hemp brakes and that needles protect homes from them. Their power is greatest at full

moon and wanes with the moon. They may be at their worst by Easter, but then prayers subdue

them . Before St. Andrews Day and St. Georges day they may have more power.

Anointing rooms with garlic in the form of a cross, garlic on the floor and all over the

house and cows in the cowshed rubbed with garlic can prevent them troubling you. Never answer

someone (at night) until the person calls you three times, as vampires can only ask twice. If you

fail, you may have your mouth turned askew, the vampire can make you dumb, cut off your foot

or kill you. 11

The understanding of what is a vampire and what is a witch are confusing and muddled,

changing from town to town and rural to country.

The Killing of a Vampire

Cajkanovic’s discusses an incidence of believed vampirism in the early 1920’s in the

Vlasenicki jurisdiction of Bosnia. It concerned an elderly man who died and was believed to be a

vampire and the measure taken to put him to rest and protect the village from his predations. This

vampire came back to his wife and his sons noticed him a month later. It was believed that a

child born of such a union would have no bones. The people in this region believe that the

10
IBID
11
IBID
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vampire is a demon who can have corporal union with a mortal woman. Again some took

advantage of this belief to access women forbidden to them. It was called Nektan’s Deception.

Commonly a hawthorn stake and burning were used to kill vampires. If attending a

funeral, women carry hawthorn branches and they are placed at the entrances of homes as well.

Staking may not be sufficient, as the soul, the vegative soul is tied to blood, to the heart, to the

muscles and intestines and exists until all these parts are destroyed which cease to exist and only

bone is left.

The hawthorn is used to magically nail them into the coffin rather than to kill them.

Burning was used to completely destroy a vampire. Ancient burning didn’t destroy all body parts

as modern burning does. Decomposition is needed to release the soul and as long as the body

doesn’t decompose the soul is bound to the body. The same use of cutting a head off and placing

it by the feet of the corpse is mentioned. In southern Serbia the body is dug up, the flesh removed

and the cleaned bones to allow the soul to be pardoned for its crimes. 12

The use of hawthorn is a common theme found in most of the vampire literature
I’ve read so far. It is noted for its powers of protection and healing as outlined below. It
is also connected with the crown that Christ wore during his crucifixion. 13

“Hawthorn (Crataegus species) has been used to treat heart disease as far back
as the 1st century. By the early 1800s, American doctors were using it to treat
circulatory disorders and respiratory illnesses. Traditionally, the berries were used to
treat heart problems ranging from irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, chest pain,
hardening of the arteries, and heart failure. Today, the leaves and flowers are used
medicinally, and there is some research that suggests that hawthorn might be effective
when used in the treatment of mild to moderate heart failure, but there has not been
enough research to know how effective it may be.

12
The Killing of A Vampire-Cajkanovic, Veselin in The Vampire-a Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Alan. University of
Wisconsin Press, 1998. Pp 72-84
13
http://www.druidry.org/library/trees/tree-lore-hawthorn Tree Lore: Hawthorn Mara Freema, May 15, 2013
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Animal and laboratory studies report hawthorn contains antioxidants, including

oligomeric procyandins (OPCs, also found in grapes) and quercetin. Antioxidants are
substances that destroy free radicals -- compounds in the body that damage cell
membranes, tamper with DNA, and even cause cell death. Free radicals occur naturally
in the body and grow in number as we age. Environmental toxins (including ultraviolet
light, radiation, smoking, some medicines, and air pollution) can also increase the
number of these damaging particles. Free radicals are believed to contribute to the aging
process (such as wrinkling), as well as the development of a number of health problems,
including cancer and heart disease. Antioxidants found in hawthorn may help stop some
of the damage from free radicals, especially when it comes to heart disease.”14

Exploring the “Why” and “How did it Start”

Burber 15 discusses the link between the decomposition processes of the human body and

posits that vampire legends and folklore began as an attempt to make sense of contagion, plague,

diseases and illnesses at a time when few knew exactly HOW and at what point a body would

decompose.

Burber makes a solid case for his thesis that most of the traits of a vampire correspond to

states of the decomposition of the human body, along with various effects of soil, temperature

and weather. His over-arching theory is that people were doing their best to make sense of the

risks of life, not knowing who might bring death and disease and having few if any tools to

combat them.

So, just or a minute we’re going to take a trip back in time in our minds to the mid 1600’s

in Eastern Europe. People live, for the most part in small communities, or on small-holding

farms where they eke out a living and most often linked by kinship ties. The soil is depleted,

crops often fail or are damaged by lack of rain or too much rain or other disasters. During the

14
Hawthorne in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine guide-- University of Maryland Medical Center. 2011.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hawthorn-000256.htm

15
Forensic Pathology and the European Vampire Burber, Paul found in The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed. Dundes,
Allan. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison Wisconsin, 1998. Pg. 109.
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warmer months, everyone is working from sun-up till sunset making their attempts to get enough

food prepared to get through the long, difficult and dark winters. Everyone around you is related

in one way or another.

Homes are small, of wood and thatch primarily often having several generations living

under one roof. Most homes didn’t have chimneys, but a smoke hole for the smoke to rise to, or

possibly an outdoor brick oven to prepare food in. Animals were housed closely to humans. The

understanding of appropriate hygiene does not exist, nor does the understanding of how many

contagious diseases spread. Few understand that some diseases have an incubation period where

the carrier seems healthy but is actually infecting everyone around. Infant mortality and death in

childbirth are very high. There was little safe drinking water.

Death can arrive suddenly and take one or all of the family members in that home, and on

many occasions when epidemics occurred, decimated entire areas. People were illiterate and only

the nobles and clergy could read and write.16

“In Medieval Europe, hygiene fell into neglect and water was even regarded as
dangerous. The Plague in the 16th century fuelled this mistrust, at a time when
popular belief held that water "seeped through" the skin's pores to deposit the
germs it carried. With bathing anathematised, cleanliness and hygiene were
sought in white linen. Those were the days of dry body cleansing.

Linen absorbed perspiration, sebum, and purified the body - and hence became a
sign of its wearer's sophistication and cleanliness. During this period, notables
and middle-class members of society owned a great number of shirts, in order to
change them often.”17
Even in the 1600s, approximately 25% of newborn children died before their

first birthday and another 25% died before their tenth, (a 50% mortality rate among

16
Chapters 13-15 in Civilization in the West. Kishlandsky, Geary & Obrian:
http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_6/35/9180/2350097.cw/index.html 2005-2010
17
Hygiene in the 16yh Century in Eastern Europe: http://www.skin-science.com
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children). Soap is scarce, and bathing is considered hazardous to one’s health as water

“gets into the pores and brings disease”18

There are no public schools, nor modern media. Some towns might have a

town crier, but most did not. News went by word of mouth. Even the few educational

institutions were for the rich and the religious elite.19 Since Clergy were considered

educated and holy men of God, if they also followed the folklore about the dead

returning to claim family victims from the grave, it is easy to see why most of the

communities at this time would as well. Searching for a reason, and lacking the

understanding of what happens to a corpse during decomposition fed the fuels of these

beliefs. It is common for us to seek cause and effect relationships and very easy to link

a false cause to an event. There are no street lights, little travel is done at night. Most

slept on corn husk mattresses or straw mattresses with several people under each one.

Once it is dark there is little light at all, maybe a candle or two or a tallow lamp.

So, time to return from our side trip and consider other authors

contributions.

Kaplan adds another layer to the medical angle for how the vampire myth became

even more deeply entrenched. In Medusa’s Gaze and Vampires Bite, he makes a case for

a correlation between the epidemic of humans being infected through animal bites with

rabies, which at its height makes humans behave in many of the ways that vampires were

through to do. He discusses the symptoms of excessive drooling, unquenchable thirst,

18
IBID
19
What was pre-industrial life like?” in Modern World History Textbook. Cleary, V.
http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/ModernWorldHistoryTextbook/index.html Accessed July 20, 2013
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spasms and seizures as a reaction to strong smells like garlic. This exposure would cause

the victims to contract their lips, similar to a wild dog or other animal, gasp and wheeze,

and make loud grunting sounds. Humans so infected were prone to be very violent, and

develop hypersexuality, raping anyone they came in contact with, thus continuing to
20
spread the disease.

Kaplan further posits that this behavior was added to the folklore relating to

vampires. Epidemics of rabies are known to have occurred during the time of the

‘vampire epidemics’ in the 1600’s to 1700’s. 21

It is also more than likely, according to Kaplan and Barber, that a percentage of people

would have been falsely identified as being dead, and buried alive. Many were buried in shallow

graves and could possibly have dug themselves up and then gone home, not understanding what

had happened. Their frightened relatives would then assume they were vampires and take their

customary measures to destroy them. People tend to find a cause and effect in the chaos that is in

their lives. Linking a cause and effect that aren’t directly related is a common theme in folklore.

Correlation is not always causation.

Oppawsky’s article on the clinical aspects of vampirism, Renfield’s Syndrome, named after a

character in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” describes the clinical features of the disorder. He states

that there are three stages to this disorder.

1) Licking or accidentally tasting one’s own blood.

2) Drinking animal blood or eating live animals

20
Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite-The Science of Monstors. Kaplan, Matt. Scribner: New York, London, Toronto,
Sydney, New Delhi. 2012
21
Cursed by a Bite: Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves in Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite-The Science of
Monsters. Kaplan, Matt. Scribner: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, New Delhi. 2012 PP 136-164
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3) Drinking one’s own or others blood.

He wrote that treatment can be based on psychodynamic approach or incorporating

psychoanalytical theory or using cognitive behavior brief therapy. It makes links to oral fixations

of development, parental hostility, traumatic experiences in childhood, and the links to sexual

biting and the effects of modern literature which focus on sexual behavior and the advantages of

being a vampire.

This reading includes a Case Study of 36 yr. old Caucasian male who thought therapy for

drinking human blood and his fear of HIV/AIDS. This article states that after completing

sessions of cognitive behavior brief therapy that the man stopped consuming blood.

The author supposes that there are many more people involved in this practice than currently

thought. 22

This paper presents a well written account of a case of clinical vampirism, earlier

summarized and discussed. The tone is slightly different and written without even a hint or a

smell of judgment or negative bias on the part of the writer.

The article does include discussion of various theories of therapy that might be employed

in the treatment of this young man and his need to consume human blood. It demonstrates the

need for taking an inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary approach to folklore studies as other

disciplines overlap with ours in many ways. These may shed light or add to the analysis and

understanding of the role of folk beliefs and media’s’ impact on both folklore and the human

psyche.

22
Vampirism: Clinical Vampirism and Renfelds Syndrome. Oppawsky, Jolene. American Psychological Society. 2010
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Analysis

From the reading during our workshop, and what’s I’ve read since, it seems as if the

primary folklore leading to the characteristics of vampirism began from lack of understanding of

the process a human body goes through at death and during decomposition combined with

epidemics of diseases such as rabies who’s symptoms validated folklore beliefs of the times.

The reasons someone becomes a vampire could be viewed as people being uncomfortable

with anything that is outside their norm causing fear. For example, a baby born with the amniotic

sac over its face would be unusual and in a time when infant and mother mortality were very

high and medical knowledge was small it would be easy for people to link two unrelated items

into an inaccurate cause and effect formula which then became woven into folk beliefs.

It could also be that since hygiene was minimal in many places, there were many

unpleasant smells in the home and around people, so covering them up with the smell of garlic

might make perfect sense.

Today most people think “it inconceivable that a soul could reenter its corpse and

reanimate it to wander about and do harm but this is a modern view not shared by the entire

world.” 23

The writer’s stating that we find it inconceivable that a corpse could be reanimated after

death by a spirit seems condescending and patronizing. Given the state of medical knowledge at

the time it also begs the question: what if some of the people who were seen chopping wood or

helping with housework had actually been mistakenly buried alive and then dug themselves back

23
Vampirism: Clinical Vampirism and Renfelds Syndrome. Oppawsky, Jolene. American Psychological Society. 2010
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up out of shallow graves, then returning to their families and being taken for vampires only to be

killed? The question of some people sleep-walking and then being viewed by family and

community members as vampires is one that I haven’t seen any literature on, despite my own

search. Sleep walking could also account for the loss of memory in the vampire that is described

in some literature.

It also mentioned in most writings how deaths commonly occurred among other family

members sometime after a family member had died, perhaps a week or two. This could be

attributed to the incubation period that some diseases like diphtheria, cholera, measles and

tuberculosis have. Belief in a vampire returning because it was lonely for its loved ones might

offer an explanation and coping method to people of the time.

The various folk remedies for vampires are synchronistic with folklore outside

Roumania. Some of the cures might spread contagion if the deceased died of a communicable

disease, and add further weight to the vampire folklore.

The motifs found throughout many of my readings discuss animals interacting with

corpses to transform a corpse into a vampire as a common thread through out all the vampire

folk beliefs. Since animals have a stronger sense of smell than humans, it is entirely plausible

that animals refusing to walk over a grave or corpse, may be related to the animal being able to

smell a corpse earlier than a human guiding the animal. Since many graves were not dug deeply

in Eastern Europe, those odors would be much closer to the surface, causing animals to respond

to them in ways perceived as unnatural by humans around them.

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That people would use the folklore on vampires to serve their own needs seems to be just

human nature. Scapegoating is a fairly normal human response to tragedy and hardship. It is

easier to fix one’s ire on a specific reasons for that tragedy than to have no idea what happened

or why. In a time where contagion wasn’t clearly understood and germ theory was just emerging

in those with higher education, the feeling of being totally at the mercy of unknown and unseen

forces would be very strong. Diseases struck with great suddenness and death came in large

numbers with various epidemics of disease.

For many, doing something is better than doing nothing. Action helps people to make

meaning of their lives and feel as if they have some control over their lives. Even if the action

fails to have the desired effect, at least one has the feeling that one has done their best to deal

with it. The overlap that folklore has with other disciplines and validates the use of a cross-

disciplinary or inter-disciplinary approaches to analyzing folklore.

Not discussed in this text are the elements of peer pressure and mass hysteria which may

prove to have been strong influences during the 1600’s and 1700’s. The on-going and increasing

fascination with the vampire subject, and modern media’s keeping it current in people’s thoughts

and consciousness shows that there is something within it that speaks to many people. Further

study of more modern folklore and the developing sub-cultures present today leave many

fascinating avenues to continue the exploration of this subject for other folklorists.
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Works Cited:

“Alternative and Complementary Medicine-Hawthorn” in University of Maryland Medical

Center http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/hawthorn-000256.htm. (2011.)

Chapters 13-15 in Civilization in the West. Kishlandsky, Geary & Obrian:

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_6/35/9180/2350097.cw/index.html

(2005-2010)

“Cursed by a Bite: Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves” in Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite-

The Science of Monsters. Kaplan, Matt. Scribner: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney,

New Delhi. (2012) PP. 136-164

“Hygiene in the 16yh Century in Eastern Europe”: http://www.skin-science.com

“The History of the Word Vampire” in The Vampire, a Casebook. Dundes, Alan. University of

Wisconsin Press, (1998). Pp-39

The Killing of A Vampire-Cajkanovic, Veselin in The Vampire-a Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Alan.

University of Wisconsin Press, (1998). Pp 72-84

The Vampire: A Casebook. Ed. Dundes, Allan. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison

Wisconsin, (1998.)

“Tree Lore: Hawthorn” by Freema, Maura. http://www.druidry.org/library/trees/tree-lore-

hawthorn, (May 15, 2013)

“Vampirism: Clinical Vampirism and Renfelds Syndrome”. Oppawsky, Jolene. American

Psychological Society. 2010

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“What was pre-industrial life like?” in Modern World History Textbook. Cleary, V.

http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/ModernWorldHistoryTextbook/index.html Accessed

July 20, 2013