Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Proper Burials & Undead Origins
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7548070" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>Your etymology sounds suspect.</p><p></p><p>I've not wanted to really deal with vampires because the historical vampire is so very different of a creature from the Brom Stoker inspired sexual horror that has come to dominate our imagination. The historical Romanian terror was a disease spirit, and not the creature of rape and lust we've invented as more emblematic of our times. Also, the exact details varied across the Slavic world. In Romania for example, the vampire was so associated with moths that it was believed that if a moth flew across the body of a dying person, or worse landed on the body, that the body would arise as a vampire. For this reason, they were careful to screen the sick beds of the dying to keep moths away. </p><p></p><p>Since vampires were associated with pestilence, if a plague broke out in village, the elders would meet to try to figure out if it was being caused by a vampire. If a likely candidate was discovered, they'd go and dig up the body of the suspect and inspect it for signs of vampirism, such as lack of decay, fresh blood in the mouth, or hair and nails that had continued to grow after death. If signs that the body had become a vampire was discovered, they'd take steps like putting a stake through the heart, cut off the head and place it under the feet, and putting holy wafers in the mouth to ensure that the spirit of the vampire would be trapped. They'd then rebury the body. If the plague continued, they would sometimes take the step of digging up the body yet again and burning it as a last and sure manner of eliminating the threat, but as burning bodies with wood is extremely expensive this was a very rarely undertaken step.</p><p></p><p>I think there are parallels here between the washing of bodies in Africa and the spread of Ebola, and how this sort of superstition in Europe would likely have led to spreading rather than suppressing a plague in a village.</p><p></p><p>Exactly why the superstition about moths arose I have no idea, but I do no that Brom Stoker mistranslated a ton of words when researching Dracula, for example he thought Dracula meant 'evil' and the Romanian word for 'moth' meant 'bat'.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7548070, member: 4937"] Your etymology sounds suspect. I've not wanted to really deal with vampires because the historical vampire is so very different of a creature from the Brom Stoker inspired sexual horror that has come to dominate our imagination. The historical Romanian terror was a disease spirit, and not the creature of rape and lust we've invented as more emblematic of our times. Also, the exact details varied across the Slavic world. In Romania for example, the vampire was so associated with moths that it was believed that if a moth flew across the body of a dying person, or worse landed on the body, that the body would arise as a vampire. For this reason, they were careful to screen the sick beds of the dying to keep moths away. Since vampires were associated with pestilence, if a plague broke out in village, the elders would meet to try to figure out if it was being caused by a vampire. If a likely candidate was discovered, they'd go and dig up the body of the suspect and inspect it for signs of vampirism, such as lack of decay, fresh blood in the mouth, or hair and nails that had continued to grow after death. If signs that the body had become a vampire was discovered, they'd take steps like putting a stake through the heart, cut off the head and place it under the feet, and putting holy wafers in the mouth to ensure that the spirit of the vampire would be trapped. They'd then rebury the body. If the plague continued, they would sometimes take the step of digging up the body yet again and burning it as a last and sure manner of eliminating the threat, but as burning bodies with wood is extremely expensive this was a very rarely undertaken step. I think there are parallels here between the washing of bodies in Africa and the spread of Ebola, and how this sort of superstition in Europe would likely have led to spreading rather than suppressing a plague in a village. Exactly why the superstition about moths arose I have no idea, but I do no that Brom Stoker mistranslated a ton of words when researching Dracula, for example he thought Dracula meant 'evil' and the Romanian word for 'moth' meant 'bat'. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Proper Burials & Undead Origins
Top