Chapter III: Vampire or Werewolf?
-In Bosnia, vampires are called lampir or vukodlak
-Vukodlak literal meaning is wolf’s hair.
-Researcher Friedrich Krauss believes that vukodlaks mean werewolves, but the Slavic people do not distinguish between werewolves and vampires and use vampir and vukodlaks interchangeably
-Others say that vukodlaks is just a type of vampire (Macedonia: vukodlaks are vamps that, while human, were murdered outside the village)
-Romanians use varcolaci (a variant of vukodlak) and pricolici to mean either dead vampires or animals that chase clouds and eat heavenly bodies
-If we look at the origins of the English words werewolf and vampire- Werewolf came from Old English/Germanic word werwulf (wer = man, wulf = wolf). Vampire came from Serbian word ‘vampir’ and introduced to English through German -> Therefore, only vampire is a borrowed concept from Serbo-Croatian culture, and werewolf has no relation to vukodlak.
How has the meaning of vukodlak changed in Slavic culture?
-Prehistoric meaning (before 9th c AD) - ritual wearing of wolf pelt (during rituals, young warriors would wear wolf pelt and act like wolves)
-Mythological meaning (13th-16th c AD) - chaser of clouds and devourer of the sun and moon
-Daemonic meaning (after 16th c AD) - vampire
-The idea of animals that chase clouds and devourer sun/moon still exists in Serbo-Croatian culture but is called ‘ala’ since the meaning of vukodlak has been replaced with vampire.
-Conclude that Krauss’ belief that vukodlaks mean werewolves is false and the researcher associated the two words because vukodlak’s etymological meaning is “wolf’s hair”
-However, there is a West Slavic werewolf tale called Vlkolak
-In Bosnia, vampires are called lampir or vukodlak
-Vukodlak literal meaning is wolf’s hair.
-Researcher Friedrich Krauss believes that vukodlaks mean werewolves, but the Slavic people do not distinguish between werewolves and vampires and use vampir and vukodlaks interchangeably
-Others say that vukodlaks is just a type of vampire (Macedonia: vukodlaks are vamps that, while human, were murdered outside the village)
-Romanians use varcolaci (a variant of vukodlak) and pricolici to mean either dead vampires or animals that chase clouds and eat heavenly bodies
-If we look at the origins of the English words werewolf and vampire- Werewolf came from Old English/Germanic word werwulf (wer = man, wulf = wolf). Vampire came from Serbian word ‘vampir’ and introduced to English through German -> Therefore, only vampire is a borrowed concept from Serbo-Croatian culture, and werewolf has no relation to vukodlak.
How has the meaning of vukodlak changed in Slavic culture?
-Prehistoric meaning (before 9th c AD) - ritual wearing of wolf pelt (during rituals, young warriors would wear wolf pelt and act like wolves)
-Mythological meaning (13th-16th c AD) - chaser of clouds and devourer of the sun and moon
-Daemonic meaning (after 16th c AD) - vampire
-The idea of animals that chase clouds and devourer sun/moon still exists in Serbo-Croatian culture but is called ‘ala’ since the meaning of vukodlak has been replaced with vampire.
-Conclude that Krauss’ belief that vukodlaks mean werewolves is false and the researcher associated the two words because vukodlak’s etymological meaning is “wolf’s hair”
-However, there is a West Slavic werewolf tale called Vlkolak
