Vampires are very common in today’s pop culture and can appear in many different forms: from Alucard, Dracula’s dashing ‘child’ in the PlayStation game “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night”; There are many different genres, from the romantic, idealistic lover of the Twilight series to Edward.
In many ways, the modern-day vampire doesn’t seem very interested in its roots in Eastern European folklore. However, the origin of the idea of vampires actually dates back to ancient times.
The first known reference to vampires appears in an Old Russian text in 1047 AD, shortly after Orthodox Christianity settled in Eastern Europe. The term used for the vampire in this article appears to be “upir” of uncertain origin, but its possible literal meaning is thought to be “something at a feast or sacrifice”, referring to a potentially dangerous spirit entity that people believe may appear at rites for the dead. The name was a method used to avoid saying the creature’s name, and unfortunately, we may never learn the real name of this creature.
The vampire served a similar function to the function of many other demonic creatures in worldwide folklore: at a time when knowledge of bacteria and viruses was lacking, they were seen as responsible for various problems, especially diseases.
Throughout history, legends have been fabricated that various diseases are linked to vampires. As beliefs about vampires change over time, it’s not surprising that no disease can be identified as a fundamental, “pure” origin for vampire legends.
But two diseases in particular show pretty solid signs for people to believe it. One of these diseases is rabies, whose name comes from the Latin term “madness.” One of the oldest known diseases on the planet, it is transmitted from animals to humans and is mainly spread through bites. Here, too, we can see a clear link to a classic vampire trait.
But there are other interesting links as well. A main symptom of the disease is hydrophobia, the fear of water. Painful muscle contractions in the esophagus cause rabies victims to avoid eating and drinking or even swallowing their own saliva, resulting in “foaming at the mouth”. In some legends, vampires cannot cross running water without being transported or assisted in some way, as an extension of this symptom. In addition, rabies can cause a fear of light, altered sleep patterns, and increased aggression, which are among the key characteristics used to describe vampires in various folk tales.
The second disease is pellagra, which is caused by a deficiency of niacin (vitamin B3) or the amino acid tryptophan. Pellagra can often be caused by eating habits where corn products and alcohol consumption are high. After Europeans set foot in the Americas, they carried corn back to Europe. But they ignored an important step in the preparation of the corn: washing it often using lime, a process called “nixtamalization” that can reduce the risk of pellagra.
Pellagra mainly causes dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia and death. Also, some patients experience high sensitivity to sunlight, which causes the skin to appear paler.
Although many diseases can be linked to stories about vampires, of course, the facts are very different. Pellagra, for example, was not found in Eastern Europe until centuries after the emergence of vampire beliefs, that is, until the 18th century.
However, the presence of both pellagra and rabies as epidemics in a significant part of vampire history still makes them interesting. During what was called the Great Vampire Pandemic, which ran roughly from 1725 to 1755, vampire legends went “viral” across the continent.
As the disease spread in Eastern Europe, supernatural causes were cited as the cause, and vampire hysteria spread throughout the region. Many people believed that vampires were ‘immortals’ (or ‘non-dead’), i.e. people who somehow continued to live after death and could be stopped by attacking the vampire’s corpse. “Vampire burials” began to be practiced, which could include sticking a stake in the corpse, covering the body with garlic, and various other traditions that have existed for centuries in Slavic folklore.
Meanwhile, Austrian and German soldiers fighting against the Ottomans in the region witnessed rituals or ‘desecration’ to these mass graves and returned to Western Europe with stories of vampires.
Diseases, as we said above, are at the top of the reasons why vampire stories spread so much. The Great Vampire Pandemic, which was taking place in Eastern Europe at the time, was not only a period of disease but also a period of political and religious upheaval.
During the 18th century, Eastern Europe faced pressure from inside and outside as local and foreign powers exercised their control over the region, with local cultures often suppressed. For example, Serbia was fighting between the Hapsburg Monarchy in Central Europe and the Ottomans. Poland was under foreign powers, Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule, and Russia was undergoing a dramatic cultural change due to the policies of Tsar Peter the Great. . .
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