Romanian folklore · the strigoi atlas v1 · ZH / RO / EN
Beyond Dracula's Genealogy: The Strigoi Atlas — Romanian Practice outside Stoker
What did Romanians fear and how did they defend themselves before Dracula (in the mythic sense)? The answer is not in the novel but in six works read in full: 19 practices, 10 contexts, each with its source and page.
The title's “before” is mythic, not chronological: the core documents postdate 1897; “attested before 1897” is claimed only with a pre-1897 source read. Terms without an established equivalent keep their source form.
Three things to grasp first: this page records only what historical documents said, not what anyone believes today; localities appear only as the source states them, otherwise “unstated”; strigoi is not one unified species but five different usages.
Opening: two kinds of “before”
“Before vampires” reads one way here: mythic — the Romanian lore of the dead outside the Dracula myth. Attestation before 1897 is another matter: only Cantemir (1716, see S1) and Gerard's essay (1885, see S2) predate Stoker's novel (1897); no other practice is called “pre-Stoker”. The label “attested before 1897” always rests on a pre-1897 source read.
Historical record, not a how-to: this page logs what people in the documents did; it teaches no one what to do today. Beliefs are narrated in the past tense throughout.
The practice corpus (19 interventions)
Interventions only: prevent, identify, repel, neutralize. Each record = practice + claim + function + target + region-as-stated + source + page + evidence mode + dates + cited-via chain + confidence. “Unstated” under region is not a gap but honesty: the passage doesn't name one, so none is inferred.
P1 · Garlic or the scent of incense kept the returning dead away.
repelConfidence: high
- Function
- repel
- Target
- the returning dead
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919, 1919
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: Garlic or the scent of incense tends to keep them away.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P2 · If a dead person was found to be a vampire, a stake had to be driven through his heart, after which he would not rise again.
neutralizeConfidence: medium
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Evidence mode
- copied-from-earlier (see cited-via chain)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919, 1919
- Cited-via chain
- Murgoci cites “S. page 189”, i.e. Stratilesco, From Carpathian to Pindus, p. 189 (see P3).
- Confidence
- medium — complete but indirect chain; Murgoci's “S.” is Stratilesco (verified in-text), not Marian.
Source exhibit: If a dead person is discovered to be a vampire, a stake must be thrust through his heart, after which he will not rise again (S. page 189).
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P3 · A dead vampire, once discovered, had to be buried again with a stake through his heart and would never rise again.
neutralizeConfidence: high
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.189
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906, 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: A living vampire, if he finds himself discovered, will die; a dead one, if discovered, must be buried again with a stake through his heart, and will never rise again.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P4 · On St. Andrew's Eve before candle-lighting, women anointed door locks and window casements with garlic to keep the strigoï away.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the household
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.188
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906, 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: Before candle light every woman will take some garlic and anoint with it the door locks and the window casements; this will keep away the strigoï.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P5 · If a baby had to be left alone, a broom leant against it served as guard.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the baby
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.250
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906, 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: If one were absolutely obliged to leave the baby alone, then a broom leant against it would do the office of keeping off danger.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P6 · Until christening, the child was never to be left alone for a moment, lest it be taken or turned into a strigoï.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the baby
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.250
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906, 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: Until the christening the child should on no account be left alone even for a moment, for the devil might come and take it away, putting in its stead some soft baby, which would remain so all its life; or a strigoï (a vampire) may also come in, and turn it into a strigoï too.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P7 · Keeping quiet at home until after midnight was by far the safest means, as all these spirits were at work only at night.
preventConfidence: medium
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- night spirits as a group (incl. strigoi; the passage groups them)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.173
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906, 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — the passage targets the spirit group, not strigoi alone; the target stays grouped.
Source exhibit: by far the safest means is to keep quiet at home until after the fateful hour of midnight, as all these spirits are at work only at night.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P8 · Opening the suspected person's grave and driving a stake through the corpse, or firing a pistol-shot into the coffin, to exorcise the spirit.
neutralizeConfidence: medium
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885, 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified verbatim against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
Source exhibit: till the spirit has been exorcised, either by opening the grave of the person suspected and driving a stake through the corpse, or firing a pistol shot into the coffin.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P9 · In very obstinate cases, cutting off the head and replacing it in the coffin with the mouth filled with garlic was recommended.
neutralizeConfidence: medium
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885, 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
Source exhibit: In very obstinate cases it is further recommended to cut off the head and replace it in the coffin with the mouth filled with garlic.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P10 · Or extracting the heart and burning it, strewing the ashes over the grave.
neutralizeConfidence: medium
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885, 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
Source exhibit: or to extract the heart and burn it, strewing the ashes over the grave.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P11 · Walking smoking round the grave on each anniversary of the death confined the vampire.
neutralizeConfidence: high
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the grave
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.320
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888, 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: To walk smoking round the grave on each anniversary of the death is also supposed to be effective in confining the vampire.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P12 · Driving a nail through the forehead of the deceased, against vampire-like instincts.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888, 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay (full-text search).
Source exhibit: Sometimes she drives a nail through the forehead of the deceased.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P13 · Rubbing the body with the fat of a pig killed on the Feast of St Ignatius, five days before Christmas.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888, 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
Source exhibit: or else rubs the body with the fat of a pig which has been killed on the Feast of St Ignatius, five days before Christmas.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P14 · Laying the thorny branch of a wild-rose bush across the body to prevent it leaving the coffin.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888, 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
Source exhibit: It is also very usual to lay the thorny branch of a wild-rose bush across the body to prevent it leaving the coffin.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P15 · At the birth of a child, each one present took a stone and threw it behind him, saying “This into the jaws of the Strigoi”.
preventConfidence: medium
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the baby
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.140
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885, 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
Source exhibit: At the birth of a child each one present takes a stone, and throws it behind him, saying, 'This into the jaws of the Strigoi'.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P16 · A piece of iron or a broom laid under the unbaptised child's pillow kept evil charms away.
preventConfidence: medium
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the baby
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.140
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885, 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; page via the scan index. The source's target is generic (“evil charms”).
Source exhibit: A piece of iron or a broom laid under its pillow will keep evil charms away.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P17 · Calling in an old woman versed in counteracting vampires (usually a midwife) to “settle” the corpse in its coffin against wandering.
preventConfidence: high
- Function
- prevent
- Target
- the corpse
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, pp.320–321
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888, 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; pages checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
Source exhibit: There is likewise no Roumanian village which does not count among its inhabitants some old woman (usually a midwife) versed in the precautions to be taken in order to counteract vampires, and who makes of this science a flourishing trade.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
P18 · Trial by water to identify a suspected striga: bound hand and foot and thrown into a river — sinking meant innocent, floating meant guilty.
identifyConfidence: high
- Function
- identify
- Target
- the living suspect
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Source
- S1 · Cantemir (in the 1771 German translation)
- Page
- pp.317–318
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1771, 1771
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — after the 1771 German translation; pages checked against the scan. No claim on the Latin wording.
Source exhibit: Wenn sie eine alte Frau darüber im Verdacht haben, so binden sie dieselbige an Händen und Füssen, und werfen sie in einen Fluß. Sinkt sie unter, so halten sie dieselbige für unschuldig, schwimmt sie aber oben, so halten sie dieselbige für hinlänglich überführt.
If they suspected an old woman, they bound her hand and foot and threw her into a river: sinking meant innocent, floating meant proven guilty. (translated from the German)
P19 · She who floated was burned alive, without further inquiry.
neutralizeConfidence: high
- Function
- neutralize
- Target
- the living suspect
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Source
- S1 · Cantemir (in the 1771 German translation)
- Page
- p.318
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1771, 1771
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — after the 1771 German translation; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: und verbrennen sie, ohne weitere Untersuchung, lebendig.
and burned her alive, without further inquiry. (translated from the German)
Context records (10, non-interventions)
Beliefs, etiologies, calendars, behaviors, categories — they explain where the practices come from but are not practices themselves. Funerary context (e.g. the seven-year exhumation) serves only to ground the etiology.
C1 · To the peasant, a corpse in which putrefaction was not complete was a vampire or strigoï.
etiologyConfidence: high
- Record type
- etiology
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Evidence mode
- editorial inference (the natural-cause framing is the author's)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — the belief is reported; the “no natural causes” framing is the author's.
Source exhibit: The peasant understands nothing of natural causes; to him a corpse, in which putrefaction is not complete, is a vampire or strigoï.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C2 · These vampires held their holiday on November 30th (which the author calls Hallowe'en), walking about their old haunts with their coffins on their heads.
calendrical + behaviorConfidence: high
- Record type
- calendrical + behavior
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — the “November 30th = Hallowe'en” equation is the source's own; quoted as-is.
Source exhibit: These vampires are supposed to have their holiday on November 30th, Hallowe'en. They rise from their tombs and walk about in their old haunts with their coffins on their heads.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C3 · Some living people were also supposed to be vampires, joining their brothers on Hallowe'en; if found out, they died.
categoryConfidence: high
- Record type
- category
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: It is supposed that some living people are also vampires, and go on Hallowe'en to join their brothers; but if found out they die.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C4 · In Moldavia and the neighbouring districts the custom was to dig up the dead after seven years, wash the bones with wine, rebury them in a smaller coffin, and hold the last death feast.
funerary context (not protection)Confidence: high
- Record type
- funerary context (not protection)
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia and the neighbouring districts (as stated)
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.99
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1919
- Cited-via chain
- the closing detail cites “S. page 296” (Stratilesco).
- Confidence
- high — contextual funerary custom, outside the protection corpus; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: In Moldavia and the neighbouring districts it is the custom to dig up the dead after seven years, and on this occasion the last death feast is given in their honour. The bones are washed with wine, put in a smaller coffin and reburied (S. page 296).
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C5 · The author illustrates the building-ghost (stafia) belief with the Meșterul Manole legend of Curtea de Argeș; the strigoi definition follows at once, but Argeș is not a strigoi locality.
category noteConfidence: medium
- Record type
- category note
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.172
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — the passage adjacency is quoted as-is; the legend's place does not migrate into a strigoi locality (R2).
Source exhibit: for example the Stafia, the ghost of a deceased person or animal. [...] This belief lies at the bottom of a fine legend about the building of the cathedral, Curtea de Argesh, the Meșterul Manole. The strigoi, or the vampire, is the ghost who comes out of his tomb on particular nights.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C6 · A strigoï might come in and turn the baby into a strigoï too.
attributed behaviorConfidence: high
- Record type
- attributed behavior
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.250
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: or a strigoï (a vampire) may also come in, and turn it into a strigoï too.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C7 · Signs of the vampire: shunning garlic and incense, a rudiment of a tail, a sunken tomb; the seventh child of the same sex was fated a vampire; the living vampire's soul left as a bluish flame for the crossways.
diagnostic signsConfidence: high
- Record type
- diagnostic signs
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- pp.188–189
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1906
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — three direct statements; pages checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: a living vampire is sure to strongly shun garlic and the scent of incense; others pretend that a vampire has a rudiment of a tail; when these vampires are dead and buried their tombs sink lower than those of ordinary men. [...] this fate awaiting the seventh child of the same sex in a family. [...] under the appearance of a bluish flame it comes out through the mouth, takes the shape of some animal, and runs to the crossway.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C8 · The Strigoi were restless spirits, not malicious, but their appearance boded sickness or misfortune.
categoryConfidence: medium
- Record type
- category
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; page via the scan index.
Source exhibit: These restless spirits, called Strigoi, are not malicious, but their appearance bodes no good, and may be regarded as omens of sickness or misfortune.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C9 · The nosferatu (vampire) was of two sorts, living and dead; the living vampire was generally the illegitimate offspring of two illegitimate persons, but anyone killed by a nosferatu likewise became a vampire after death.
categoryConfidence: medium
- Record type
- category
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1885
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; page via the scan index.
Source exhibit: More decidedly evil, however, is the vampire, or nosferatu, in whom every Roumenian peasant believes as firmly as he does in heaven or hell. There are two sorts of vampires--living and dead.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
C10 · The prikolitsch (were-wolf/dog) lingered here; the interviewed old woman said that when she was young “no village had less than two or three”.
reported dialogueConfidence: high
- Record type
- reported dialogue
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted)
- Publication year
- 1888
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Confidence
- high — dialogue as recorded by the author; the informant unnamed; page checked against the scan.
Source exhibit: First cousin to the vampire, the long-exploded were-wolf of the Germans is here to be found lingering under the name of prikolitsch. [...] 'when I was young there was no village without two or three of them at least'.
— (quoted in the original; see the exhibit)
Terms: USE reports (not a species tree)
Each word reports only how one author used it, in one place, at one date: form + the author's definition + locality + date + evidence mode + competing usage. When definitions collide, the collision is recorded, not ironed out. Strigoaică has zero attestations across the six works read in full: no entry, only a gap stub.
Spelling: Roumania/strigoï/vîrcolaci are source forms, not typos; Romanian words keep their diacritics (vârcolac, strigoaică).
T1 · strigoi
Forms: Striga (S1, German); Strigoi (S2); strigoi / strigoï (S4); strigoï (S5); strigoi (S3)
Use 1 · Cantemir, via the 1771 German translation (S1, pp.317–318)
- Use
- an old witch: killed newborns by devilish art; the belief strongest in Transylvania; with a water ordeal.
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- here striga is a living witch, not one of the dead — in direct conflict with Gerard's “restless spirit”; quoted as-is.
Use 2 · Gerard 1885 (S2, p.142)
- Use
- restless spirits, not malicious, boding sickness or misfortune; contrasted with the “more decidedly evil” nosferatu.
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- for Stratilesco strigoi IS the vampire (equivalence); here it is a lighter category beside the vampire.
Use 3 · Stratilesco 1906 (S4, pp.172, 188–189, 250)
- Use
- “the strigoi, or the vampire”: the ghost leaving his tomb on particular nights; some were vampires from birth; it could turn a baby into a strigoï.
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- equivalence definition (strigoi = vampire), conflicting with Gerard's distinction; unrelated to Cantemir's witch sense.
Use 4 · Murgoci 1919 (S5, p.100)
- Use
- a corpse of incomplete putrefaction was a vampire or strigoï; there were also living vampires.
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Evidence mode
- editorial inference (the natural-cause framing is the author's)
- Competing usage
- defined by corpse condition (etiology), unlike Gerard's spirit category or Cantemir's witch.
T2 · nosferatu
Forms: nosferatu (S2, S3); nosferatu (S6, fiction)
Use 1 · Gerard 1885/1888 (S2, p.142; S3, vol. I, p.319)
- Use
- the “more decidedly evil” vampire, living and dead, sucking the blood of the living.
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- Stoker used the word generically for the Un-Dead (fiction), a different register from the folklore report; see the boundary panel.
Use 2 · Stoker 1897 (S6, chs. XVI, XVIII) — FICTION, boundary only
- Use
- novel usage (Van Helsing, twice), for the Un-Dead; the novel never uses “strigoi”.
- Region (as stated)
- the novel's “Eastern Europe” (fiction, no locator value)
- Evidence mode
- fiction (evidence mode: none; boundary contrast only)
- Competing usage
- tertiary note (see S9): Stoker is commonly held to have taken the word via Gerard; this atlas asserts no borrowing chain.
T3 · pricolici
Forms: Tricolitsch (S1, German); pricolici (S4); prikolitsch (S3)
Use 1 · Cantemir, via the 1771 German translation (S1, p.318)
- Use
- the French loup garou: humans turned by magic into wolves or beasts of prey, attacking people and cattle.
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- here a human turned beast (were-wolf), as in Stratilesco; Gerard also recorded a dog form.
Use 2 · Stratilesco 1906 (S4, p.172)
- Use
- men turned into wolves.
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- a one-sentence definition, no detail; compatible with Cantemir's gloss but thinner.
Use 3 · Gerard 1888 (S3, vol. I, p.321)
- Use
- the vampire's “first cousin”: the lingering were-wolf, sometimes a dog; transformed as penance.
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- the only one with recorded dialogue (C10), but the informant unnamed; the dog form is Gerard's alone.
T4 · moroi
Forms: moroi (S4)
Use 1 · Stratilesco 1906 (S4, p.173)
- Use
- the souls of unchristened dead babies.
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- a single attestation in this corpus; merged with nothing else.
T5 · vârcolac
Forms: vîrcolaci (S4, as printed)
Use 1 · Stratilesco 1906 (S4, pp.172–173)
- Use
- a kind of animals eating up the moon at the eclipses.
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Evidence mode
- author-reported (informants unnamed)
- Competing usage
- a single attestation in this corpus; nothing to do with wolves here, never merged with pricolici.
T6 · strigoaică
gap
zero attestations across the six works read in full: no entry, only this gap stub. Any future entry needs a verified USE-report.
Documentation history: 1716 → 1919 (nodes need contributions)
Every node must carry one page-verifiable contribution or be removed (see the two gap stubs at the end: 1926 and 1982 were removed because no readable full text could be reached — not because they don't matter).
- 1716 / 1771 · Cantemir, Descriptio Moldaviae (read in the 1771 German translation)
the earliest page-verifiable node: the Striga note (witch + ordeal, pp.317–318) and Tricolitsch = loup garou (p.318). (S1 · Cantemir (in the 1771 German translation)) - 1885 · Gerard, “Transylvanian Superstitions” (magazine essay)
the Strigoi/nosferatu passage (p.142) and the birth stone + iron/broom under the pillow (p.140). (S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay) - 1888 · Gerard, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
an additions node (verified by full-text comparison with the essay): nail, pig fat, wild rose, midwife, prikolitsch dialogue (I:320–321). (S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I) - 1906 · Stratilesco, From Carpathian to Pindus
the definition cluster (pp.172–173), the St. Andrew's night complex (pp.188–189), the baby and the broom (p.250). (S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus) - 1919 · Murgoci, “Customs Connected with Death and Burial”
the putrefaction etiology and November-30th passage (p.100), the seven-year exhumation (p.99, Moldavia and neighbours). (S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article) - Murgoci 1926, “The Vampire in Roumania” — no node
the record is verified (Folk-Lore 37(4):320–349, DOI on the sources page), but no readable full text was found (no vol.37 scan on archive.org; JSTOR blocks automated access; T&F paywalled); with no page-verifiable contribution, the node is removed per the rule. - Perkowski 1982, “The Romanian Folkloric Vampire” — no node
the record is verified (EEQ 16(3):311–322; reprinted in Dundes 1998, pp.35–46), but no open text; with no page-verifiable contribution, the node is removed per the rule.
TRACE THIS CLAIM
Pick a practice and see the full chain from observation to text: source → page → cited-via chain → locality → dates → confidence. Without scripts, every chain is already expanded below.
All trace chains (readable without scripts)
P1 · Garlic or the scent of incense kept the returning dead away.
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1919
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P2 · If a dead person was found to be a vampire, a stake had to be driven t
- Source
- S5 · Murgoci's 1919 article
- Page
- p.100
- Cited-via chain
- Murgoci cites “S. page 189”, i.e. Stratilesco, From Carpathian to Pindus, p. 189 (see P3).
- Region (as stated)
- unstated (the passage names no locality; no inference)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1919
- Confidence
- medium — complete but indirect chain; Murgoci's “S.” is Stratilesco (verified in-text), not Marian.
P3 · A dead vampire, once discovered, had to be buried again with a stake t
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.189
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1906
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P4 · On St. Andrew's Eve before candle-lighting, women anointed door locks
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.188
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1906
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P5 · If a baby had to be left alone, a broom leant against it served as gua
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.250
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1906
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P6 · Until christening, the child was never to be left alone for a moment,
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.250
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1906
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P7 · Keeping quiet at home until after midnight was by far the safest means
- Source
- S4 · Stratilesco 1906, From Carpathian to Pindus
- Page
- p.173
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- general (the author states country-life custom at large, no locality)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1906
- Confidence
- medium — the passage targets the spirit group, not strigoi alone; the target stays grouped.
P8 · Opening the suspected person's grave and driving a stake through the c
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1885
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified verbatim against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
P9 · In very obstinate cases, cutting off the head and replacing it in the
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1885
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
P10 · Or extracting the heart and burning it, strewing the ashes over the gr
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.142
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1885
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
P11 · Walking smoking round the grave on each anniversary of the death confi
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.320
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1888
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan.
P12 · Driving a nail through the forehead of the deceased, against vampire-l
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1888
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay (full-text search).
P13 · Rubbing the body with the fat of a pig killed on the Feast of St Ignat
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1888
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
P14 · Laying the thorny branch of a wild-rose bush across the body to preven
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, p.321
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1888
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; page checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
P15 · At the birth of a child, each one present took a stone and threw it be
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.140
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1885
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; journal page via the Google Books scan index.
P16 · A piece of iron or a broom laid under the unbaptised child's pillow ke
- Source
- S2 · Gerard's 1885 essay
- Page
- p.140
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1885
- Confidence
- medium — passage verified against the Gutenberg transcription; page via the scan index. The source's target is generic (“evil charms”).
P17 · Calling in an old woman versed in counteracting vampires (usually a mi
- Source
- S3 · Gerard 1888, The Land Beyond the Forest, vol. I
- Page
- vol. I, pp.320–321
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Transylvania (scope stated by the article/book title)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1888
- Confidence
- high — direct statement; pages checked against the scan; absent from the 1885 essay.
P18 · Trial by water to identify a suspected striga: bound hand and foot and
- Source
- S1 · Cantemir (in the 1771 German translation)
- Page
- pp.317–318
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1771
- Confidence
- high — after the 1771 German translation; pages checked against the scan. No claim on the Latin wording.
P19 · She who floated was burned alive, without further inquiry.
- Source
- S1 · Cantemir (in the 1771 German translation)
- Page
- p.318
- Cited-via chain
- none (direct report)
- Region (as stated)
- Moldavia; the author states the belief strongest in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen)
- Date
- observation/collection date: not stated (publication year never substituted) / Publication year 1771
- Confidence
- high — after the 1771 German translation; page checked against the scan.
Comparison: strigoi vs 僵尸 (jiāngshī) vs the screen overlay
Comparison along named axes, every cell sourced; cells without evidence say “not evidenced here” instead of legends. The jiangshi side rests on the original Qing text (Ji Yun, Yuewei Caotang Biji, juan 7 and 10) plus a university course text (S8). The screen column is a different level: a modern composite image, not documentary evidence.
僵尸 (jiāngshī, pinyin after S8): “stiff corpse”. The juan-10 classification (fresh corpse / undecayed corpse) is Dong Qujiang's account via Ji Yun — a named informant, not firsthand sight; the evidence mode is recorded as such.
| Axis | strigoi | 僵尸 僵屍 (jiāngshī) | Screen overlay |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 source tradition + earliest source used | Romanian folklore reports; Cantemir 1716 (in the 1771 German translation, S1). [S1] | Qing biji notes: Ji Yun, Yuewei Caotang Biji, juan 7 and 10 (c.1789–1798, S7). [S7] | a modern composite screen image, not a folklore source (see A8). [S8+S9] |
| A2 living/dead status | both living and dead kinds (Gerard S2 p.142; Stratilesco S4; Murgoci S5). [S2 S4 S5] | both corpses: the fresh unencoffined one leaps and seizes; the long-buried undecayed one transforms and roams at night (juan 10, Dong Qujiang's account). [S7] | usually undead dead (screen convention, not evidence). [S8] |
| A3 bodily condition | incomplete putrefaction meant vampire (Murgoci S5 p.100). [S5] | undecayed after long burial (juan 10); white hair all over, red eyes, hooked nails, blade-like teeth (juan 7, Hu Gongshan's account). [S7] | stiff corpse, fangs, Qing official dress (S8, the modern standard). [S8] |
| A4 attributed agency | walked with coffins on heads, fought at crossways, the soul left as a bluish flame (S4 pp.188–189). [S4] | leapt and seized, roamed at night grabbing whomever it met (juan 10). [S7] | hopping movement, arms outstretched (S8, the modern standard; from stiffness). [S8] |
| A5 harm | sucked the blood of the living (Gerard); its appearance boded sickness or misfortune (S2 p.142). [S2] | seized and grabbed people (juan 10); caused drought, burning often brought rain (juan 7). [S7] | drank blood/took lives (screen convention, not evidence). [S8] |
| A6 prevention/disposal | garlic, stake, beheading, heart-burning etc. (this corpus, P1–P19). [corpus] | digging up and burning (juan 7). [S7] | corpse-calming talismans and Daoist rites (a screen/pop layer; S8 attests only the costume standard; talisman details not evidenced here). [S8] |
| A7 period + region (as the source states) | 1716–1919 documents; Moldavia/Transylvania/general (per record). [S1–S5] | c.1789–1798 notes; anecdotes carry their own places (Beijing, Nanpi etc.), no systematic geography. [S7] | post-1900 screen image, no locator value. [S8] |
| A8 screen/pop-culture overlay | not evidenced here (varies/not established). [—] | Qing official dress + hopping zombie, a modern standard after Hong Kong cinema (S8; PBS S9 corroborates the costume). [S8+S9] | this column IS the overlay: a different level from the documentary evidence. [—] |
Boundary: Stoker and film stay out of this atlas
This atlas records only Romanian folklore from documents; how Stoker wrote the novel and how others filmed it belongs to Dracula: myth and reality (02). The page asserts no took-or-didn't-take claims about Stoker; T2 only notes the current scholarly position (see S9). General superstitions in present-day use belong to bat-in-lemn (here: the historical strigoi domain only).
Method: the evidence legend and writing rules
- Evidence modes (5): firsthand observation / author-reported (informants unnamed) / copied-from-earlier / later synthesis / editorial inference. Every record carries exactly one.
- Region only as stated (R2): no migration across paragraphs; Murgoci's vampire paragraph names no locality, so “unstated” throughout.
- No date substitution (R7): an unstated observation date stays unstated; the publication year never fills in.
- Cited-via always visible (R8): the P2 stake carries “via S., p. 189”; the chain never breaks.
- Past tense only (R4): beliefs strictly in the past; the subject is always “this author recorded that…”, never the nation in the present.
- No species tree (R3): moroi, pricolici, vârcolac are not sibling species of strigoi; each keeps its own usage.
- Counts are outcomes (R6): 19+10 emerged from coding, not from a promise of exhaustiveness.
Drafting: the English edition is author-written; quotations stay in the original, translations are marked as the site's own. Native-speaker review of the Chinese edition is scheduled (see lifecycle).
Questions
So what actually was a strigoi?
Ask the book, not the atlas: for Cantemir a newborn-killing old witch, for Gerard a restless spirit, for Stratilesco the vampire itself, for Murgoci a corpse of incomplete putrefaction. The page gives no single answer — it gives four USE reports (T1).
How does it relate to jiangshi?
By no borrowing link (the page asserts no transmission chains). What compares is structure: “incomplete putrefaction means vampire” (Murgoci) and “the long-buried undecayed corpse” (Ji Yun) both define by corpse condition; burning appears on both sides (P10 / juan 7). The table sets evidence side by side; it tells no diffusion stories.
Why is Murgoci's 1926 vampire article missing?
It is unreachable: the record is verified, but no readable full text could be found (no public scan of Folk-Lore vol. 37). The contribution-or-removal rule removed its node; the gap stub stays, and the node goes up the moment a text appears.
Is any of this still practised?
The page doesn't answer: its scope ends with the 1919 documents. Present-day belief would need present-day fieldwork — outside scope, no speculation.
Lifecycle
Low volatility; annual audits of links, scan availability, terminology, and cross-project links (02 + bat-in-lemn); native Chinese review and new ethnography follow this page's rules.