Many of my friends assume I’m a sort of vampire expert (…Romania, right…). I’m obviously not a vampire expert, but I am not only into paranormal romance, but also into historical linguistics.
Guys, there is indeed vampire lore in Romania (especially in the Transylvanian area). But the word vampire is not really used in Romanian lore. It’s a borrowed word we learn from foreign books and movies, not a word that we actually come across in authentic Romanian tales.
The Romanian word that you’re looking for is actually strigoi. That’s what we use in Romanian tales. Strigoi are evil spirits or the undead. In some tales, they come to the windows of unmarried women to prey upon them. Strigoi are a complex mixture - demons, zombies and blood drinkers all in one…
The word strigoi in Romanian has the same root as the word striga (Striga means to scream in Romanian). It’s a Latin word. Those of you who speak Italian will note that this is similar to strega (This means witch in Italian). No wonder – both Romanians and Italians have inherited words and myths from their common Roman ancestors.
And this brings us to the strix (plural striges) in Roman mythology. In Roman mythology this was a word for an evil spirit who could take the form of a night owl that let out bloodcurdling screeches. According to Roman authors, the strix was either a witch or a night flying demon that drank the blood of innocent victims.
So, you can see that our Romanian strigoi are quite ancient. Far more ancient than vampires…