Related Research Articles
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods which they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Vampiric entities have been recorded in cultures around the world; the term vampire was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in Southeastern and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism. Local variants in Southeastern Europe were also known by different names, such as shtriga in Albania, vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania.
Zorya is a figure in Slavic folklore, a feminine personification of dawn, possibly goddess. Depending on tradition, she may appear as a singular entity, often called "The Red Maiden", or two or three sisters at once. Although Zorya is etymologically unrelated to the Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn *H₂éwsōs, she shares most of her characteristics. She is often depicted as the sister of the Sun, the Moon, and Zvezda, the Morning Star with which she is sometimes identified. She lives in the Palace of the Sun, opens the gate for him in the morning so that he can set off on a journey through the sky, guards his white horses, she is also described as a virgin. In the Eastern Slavic tradition of zagovory she represents the supreme power that a practitioner appeals to.
Strigoi in Romanian mythology are troubled spirits that are said to have risen from the grave. They are attributed with the abilities to transform into an animal, become invisible, and to gain vitality from the blood of their victims. Bram Stoker's Dracula has become the modern interpretation of the Strigoi through their historic links with vampirism.
Georgian mythology refers to the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus.The mythology of the Kartvelian peoples is believed by many scholars to have formed part of the religions of the kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia.
The strix, in the mythology of classical antiquity was a bird of ill omen, the product of metamorphosis, that fed on human flesh and blood. It also referred to witches and related malevolent folkloric beings.
Vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a fictional occupation in history and fiction which specializes in finding vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures. A vampire hunter is usually described as having extensive knowledge of vampires and other monstrous or undead creatures, including their powers and weaknesses, and uses this knowledge to effectively combat them.
Radogost is, according to medieval chroniclers, the god of the Polabian Slavs, whose temple was located in Rethra. In modern scientific literature, however, the dominant view is that Radogost is a local nickname or a local alternative name of the solar god Svarozhits, who, according to earlier sources, was the chief god of Rethra. Some researchers also believe that the name of the town, where Svarozhits was the main deity, was mistakenly taken for a theonym. A popular local legend in the Czech Republic is related to Radogost.
In German folklore, the figure of the Freischütz is a marksman who, by a contract with the devil, has obtained a certain number of bullets destined to hit without fail whatever object he wishes. As the legend is usually told, six of the magic bullets are thus subservient to the marksman's will, but the seventh is at the absolute disposal of the devil himself.
A vila, or víla[ˈviːla] is a Slavic fairy similar to a nymph.
The égig érő fa, also called életfa, világfa, or tetejetlen fa, is an element of Hungarian shamanism and native faith, and a typical element of Hungarian folk art and folk tales, and also a distinct folk tale type.
Jure Grando Alilović or Giure Grando (1579–1656) was a villager from the region of Istria who may have been the first real person described as a vampire in historical records. He was referred to as a štrigon, a local word for something resembling a vampire and a warlock. He was a stonemason and his wife Ivana bore him two children, Ana and Nicola.
Legends of vampires have existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demonic entities and blood-drinking spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. Despite the occurrence of vampire-like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early 18th-century Southeastern Europe, particularly Transylvania, Romania as verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or a living person being bitten by a vampire themselves. Belief in such legends became so rife that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires.
The Fiend or The Vampire is a Russian fairy tale, collected by Alexander Afanasyev as his number 363. The tale was translated and published by William Ralston Shedden-Ralston.
Bugarštica, originally known as Bugaršćica, is a form of epic and ballad oral poetry, which was popular among South Slavs mainly in Dalmatia and Bay of Kotor from 15th until the 18th century, sung in long verses of mostly fifteen and sixteen syllables with a caesura after the seventh and eighth syllable, respectively.
Kresnik is a Slavic god associated with fire, the summer solstice, and storms. His mythical home, a sacred mountain at the top of the world, represents the axis mundi.
Rethra was, in the 10th to the 12th centuries, the main town and political center of the Slavic Redarians, one of the four major Lutician tribes, located most likely in present-day Mecklenburg. It was also a major worship center, devoted to the cult of the Slavic deity Radegast-Swarożyc.
In Slavic mythology, Perun is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, firmament, horses and carts, and weapons. He was first associated with weapons made of stone and later with those of metal.
Lower mythology is a sphere of mythological representations relating to characters who have no divine status, demons and spirits, as opposed to higher gods and the official cult. This opposition is particularly pronounced in world religions.
*Ḱérberos is the reconstructed name of the canine creature guarding the entrance to the Otherworld in Proto-Indo-European mythology. In a recurrent motif, the Otherworld contains a gate, generally guarded by a dog who could also serve as a guide and ensured that the ones who entered could not get out.
References
- ↑ Nada Kerševan, Vəkuli riti v garžet: Zgodbe s Kraškega roba do Brkinov, Sežane in Razdrtega, 2016, ISBN 9612548889, p.75
- 1 2 3 Vinšćak, Tomo (December 2005). "On "Štrige", "Štriguni" and "Krsnici" on Istrian Peninsula". Studia ethnologica Croatica. 17 (1): 221–235.
- 1 2 Perkowski, Jan L. (1989). The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-0-89357-200-6.
- 1 2 Šmitek, Zmago (December 2005). "Shamanism on Slovenian Territory? Dilemmas Concerning the Phenomena of Shamanism, Spirit Possession and Ecstasy". Studia ethnologica Croatica. 17 (1): 171–198.
- 1 2 Copeland, F.S. (December 31, 1931). "Slovene Folklore". Folklore. 42 (4): 405–446. doi:10.1080/0015587x.1931.9718415. JSTOR 1256300.
- ↑ Šmitek, Zmago (1998). "Kresnik: An Attempt at Mythological Reconstruction" (PDF). Studia Mythologica Slavica . 1: 93–118. doi:10.3986/sms.v1i0.1867.
- 1 2 Copeland, Fanny S. (April 1933). "Slovene Myths". The Slavonic and East European Review. 11 (33): 631–651. JSTOR 4202822.