[tied] Re: Vampire

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:

> 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.

(The reflexes of) Proto-Slavic *rarogU 'falcon' also seem to mean
some supernatural being (another Balcanism?). BTW, is anybody aware
of the word's etymology?

Sergei