07-09-03 02:25, cristi mindrut wrote:
> about the following:
>> ... There are
>> also other kinds of non-dead guys (merely kinds of ghosts) from
>> which the most vampire-like word could be "strigoi" (still Slavic).
> "strigoi", i would relate it with the verb "a striga", in romanian,
> meaning "to shout/to scream",
It's most likely a loan from Latin (<strix, strigis> 'barn owl'),
imported into Slavic perhaps via tha Balkans. As far as I know, strigas
occur especially in Slovene and West Slavic folklore. In Poland, a
<strzyga> was a feminine blood-sucking or flesh-eating night demon,
transforming herself into an owl to fly from place to place. An
unbaptised baby who died could turn into one (especially if born with
teeth). Strigas were eliminated like vampires -- by burning, or by
driving stakes or blessed nails through their bodies. The masculine
counterpart <strzygon'> is to all practical purposes a synonym of the
vampire.
Piotr