Did You Know #10

Did you know that the word vampire was thought to be originated in Serbia? The word “vampire” is a reanimated corpse that leaves its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long canine like teeth. There are many encounters with vampire like creatures through out many different mythologies and belief systems but the origin of the name has been a topic for debate. Many theories have been created and the most common theory is that it came from the 1600s Slavic word “vampir”. However many people believe that “vampir” came from the Old Russian word “upir” or “Upir Lichy” meaning Wicked Vampire. In the 19th century(1800s – 1900s), Franz Miklosich(Slovene philologist) stated that “Upir” came from the Turkish word “uber” meaning Witch. On the other hand many believe it had different origins such as: Serbo-Croatian word “pirati”(to below), the Greek word ” vrykolakas”(an undead creature), the Slavic word “pij” (to drink), the Russian word “netopyr” (bat) and the Romanian creature “strigoi”(a troubled spirit). The origin of the word is still unknown but it has been agreed that it is of Slavic origin. (Learn More)