Strzyga

VampirePoland · Eastern EuropeLegendFear 8/10

Description

Person born with two souls and two sets of teeth, rises as vampire after death

Origin & Background

The word Strzyga is derived from the Strix, a creature from ancient Roman and Greek mythology that feeds on human flesh and blood. According to Aleksander Brückner, it means owl in Latin. The Hungarian sztriga, Albanian shtriga, and Romanian strigă also share related etymology. It is uncertain how the Polish adopted this word, but it may have spread through the Balkan peoples. Strzyga sometimes also means vampire or upiór, and since the 18th century, a distinction has emerged between strzyga and upiór. Strzyga was more associated with magic, while upiór was considered a flying vampire creature. Strzyga remained a popular element in Polish rural folklore until the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and its story is also conveyed in Władysław Reymont's Nobel Prize-winning novel 'Chłopi (The Peasants)'.

The Legend

Strzyga is regarded as a female demon similar to a vampire in Slavic folklore, particularly Polish folklore. A person with two hearts, two souls, and two sets of teeth (the second set being almost invisible) was considered a strzyga. Additionally, those with sleepwalking conditions or those without armpit hair were also thought to be strzyga. Newborns with already developed teeth were also regarded as strzyga. Those identified as strzyga were often expelled from human settlements, and during plagues, those who were buried alive were often found to emerge from their graves weak, sick, and with severed hands, and they were considered strzyga. Strzyga is known to die at a young age, but according to belief, only one of their two souls goes to the afterlife, while the other soul is thought to cause the strzyga to resurrect and hunt other beings. These undead creatures were believed to fly in the form of an owl at night, attacking travelers or those who wandered into the woods, sucking their blood and consuming their entrails. Strzyga was thought to be satisfied with animal blood for a short period. According to other sources, strzyga was also considered a being that could foretell someone's imminent death without causing harm to humans.

This article is based on the Wikipedia article "Strzyga" (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikipedia