- Vampir
- (Vam-PEER)Variation: PENANGGLAN, Penangllaen, Penan-ngallau, Pernanggal, Upeer, VAMPIIR, Vampyras, VRYKOLAKA, Vurkulaka, Wamphyr, Wampire, WukodalakIn German lore, when a person commits suicide or was a heretic, murder victim, werewolf, or witch in life, he will rise up from the grave as a vampiric REVENANT (see GERMAN VAMPIRES). The vampire has a bloated body, long fingernails, red skin, and blood in and around its mouth. Able to cause drought and illness in cattle, it hunts humans for their blood. Repelled by both GARLIC and silver, it is also mysteriously compelled to count seeds that have been spilled out along the ground.The vampire can be destroyed by stabbing it through the heart with a wooden stake made of mountain ash, but it must be done with a single blow or the revenant will not die. Another way to destroy the vampire is to behead it, remove its heart, boil it in wine, place it back in the body, and then burn the entire corpse to ash.Source: Dundes, Vampire Casebook, 73; Indiana University, Journal, vol. 14, 266; Perkowski, The Darkling, 38; Stefoff, Vampires, Zombies, and Shape-Shifters, 17
Encyclopedia of vampire mythology . 2014.