A vampire is a being from folklore that subsists by feeding on the vital force of the living. In European folklore, vampires were undead beings that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighborhoods they inhabited while they were alive. — Wikipedia

Greek, Polish, Egyptian…

The vampire has gone by many different names. In Greek, they are called Vrykolakas. In Czech upir, Upeer. The Polish called these creatures of the night Wampir. Myths and legends the world over have given these creatures name since the beginning of time.

Creatures that take the blood of the living to survive dated back into Greek Mythology. Also, people rising from the dead to walk among the living. Well, we need only go back to the Bible itself for such legends.

I sat down and looked at two resources for the ancient legends on vampires—a website called Ancient-Origins.net and A&E‘s television series Ancient Mysteries. I wanted to compare the data.

A Curse Maybe?

Now before I go on here’s that old Artemis Dai disclaimer; every coven, clan, house, pack whatever you want to call generally has this own book of legend. Their theories as to how vampires came to be. Some say that Lilith, the first wife of Adam, was the original vampire.

Others venture into Egyptian Gods cursed humankind. I’ve even heard some still cling to the myth that the original vampire was sent to earth by the devil himself if you believe in such things. I have my theories. However, that would take much paper to explain.

So back to the theoretical origins of the vampire. The first reported case of vampirism was in 1656—Jure Grando from a small town in Croatia. Jure Grando was what some would call a “Strigon” type of vampire. He was attacked by a vampire as a child and only became one in death. An odd little type of vampire, if you ask me.

Grando The Vampire

They’re tricksters, knocking on people’s doors and taking blood only from children. Grando’s reign of terror lasted until 1672 before nine men from his village went to the cemetery he was buried in and dug up his corpse, which was reported by a priest in the group to be “remarkably fresh.”

From here there are conflicting stories. One story says the men including the priest ran in fear of seeing Grando’s body in what was surely an unholy condition. After all dead for sixteen years and “Fresh.” Another version of the story says that one of the men stabbed Grando in the stomach with a wooden stake.

However, Grando rose that night. The third version states that one of the men cut Grando’s head from his shoulders and that blood gushed from the sixteen-year-old corpse.

That is it until next week for the sequel!
Artemis Dai