Strigoi

In Romanian mythology, strigoi are the troubled souls of the dead rising from the grave. Some strigoi can be living people with certain magical properties. Some of the properties of the strigoi include: the ability to transform into an animal, invisibility, and the propensity to drain the vitality of victims via blood loss. Strigoi are also known as immortal vampires.

A strigoaică (singular feminine form) is a witch. Strigoi is different than a moroi. They are close relatives of the werewolves known as "pricolici" or "vârcolaci", the latter also meaning "goblin" at times.

These names are derived from strigă, which in Romanian meant "scream" or "barn owl", cognate with Italian strega, which means "witch", and descended from the Latin word strix, for owl. Strigoi viu is a living vampiric witch. Strigoi mort is a dead (undead) vampire. They are most often associated with vampires or zombies.

According to Romanian mythology a strigoi has red hair, blue eyes and two hearts. The strigoi can change into a variety of animals, such as barn owls, bats, rats, cats, wolves, dogs, snakes, toads, lizards, and spiders/insects. They also have the ability to render themselves invisible. They're also known to be capable of creating damaging storms, blights, droughts, floods and even poltergeist activity. The strigoi in some accounts is also capable of a form of astral projection appearing as shadows or ghosts.

Becoming a strigoi

There are several ways for a deceased person to become a strigoi. For example, if a person dies before they are married they are at risk of becoming a strigoi. Most often in a situation like this, the corpse is wed to another unmarried person around the same age to prevent them from returning from the grave. Should this technique fail, however, the strigoi will return to have sexual intercourse with their spouse, and will attack family members. The corpse should then be stabbed through the heart with a sickle or other piercing object, to prevent any more attacks. Corpses walked over by cats are also at risk of become strigoi. To get rid of them, bury a bottle of wine near the grave. Six weeks later, dig it up and drink the wine with relatives. Whoever drinks the wine will be protected against the strigoi, who will not return. A person who is filled with pain and regret will turn into a cat or dog after death and return as a strigoi to torment his/her relatives. Piercing the body of the strigoi with a needle will prevent it from leaving the grave, as will placing a candle, coin or towel in the hand of the corpse. Walking around the grave with burning hemp will cause the strigoi to become helpless. One remedy against strigoi is to bury a bottle of strong spirits with the corpse. The vampire will drink it and not return home.

If a child is born with a caul atop their head they are said to be likely to become a strigoi viu (a live strigoi).

To dispatch a strigoi

Garlic is said to be potent against the vampire. Due to this weakness, most burial ceremonies have rings of garlic around the corpse, coffin and grave.

One way to dispatch the strigoi is to drive a stake, made from wild rosebush or aspen wood, through its heart(s) and into the earth to hold it to its grave. The vampire must be set on fire before it gets up. Another way is to remove the vampire’s heart(s) and burn it and the vampire, or do precisely that and decapitate the vampire as well. Then bury the remains at a crossroad.

One gypsy remedy for killing a strigoi is as follows: dig up the vampire corpse, remove its heart(s), and cut the organ in two. Drive a nail into the forehead, place a clove of garlic under the tongue, and smear the body with the fat of a pig killed on St. Ignatius’s Day and rebury it facedown so as to send it to hell if it were to reawaken.

Strigoi are said not to be fond of light, though there is no suggestion that they burn from sunlight. Travelers often stay close to a bonfire to protect themselves from the vampire. Also the main ways of detection such not having reflection are not mentioned or suggested.

It is said that if the strigoi goes undetected for seven years, it can travel to another country or place where another language is spoken and become human again. Once human, the strigoi can marry and have children, but they will all become vampires when they die.

In popular culture

Paul C. Doherty's Canterbury Tales novel, "An Ancient Evil" features a strigoi and his coven as the main protagonists of knight, Sir Godfrey Evesden.

On an episode of the Animal Planet series "Lost Tapes", the strigoi was featured.

In the vampire trilogy "The Strain" books by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, vampires and the infected are often referred to as "strigoi".

An Episode entitled "Something Wicked" of the television series Supernatural deals heavily with a Striga that Sam and Dean must hunt.

In Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" series, strigoi are undead vampires who were either Moroi; became Strigoi by choice; or former humans, Dhampirs, or Moroi who have been bitten and turned against their will. They then lose all morals and humanity, but in turn become immortal. Strigoi primarily hunt Moroi, but also Dhampirs and humans.

Strigoi is the title of a 2009 film directed by Faye Jackson.

In the Nintendo DS role-playing game Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Strigoi can be seen and fought during random enemy encounters.

A beast with similar traits, called a "Striga", is encountered in Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher. However, this monster could only be dealt with by killing it or lifting its curse by spending a night in its vicinity. It is known to reside in the abandoned parts of crypts, which is reminiscent of its origin from the Romanian Strigoi.

It is important to note that not one of the works above is of Romanian origin.

See also

• Shtriga
• Strzyga
• Suangi
• Vǎrkolak
• Strigoi in popular culture
• Burial at cross-roads

Further reading

• Perkowski, Jan Lois (1998). "footnote 10 in 'The Romanian Folkloric Vampire'". In Dundes, Alan. The Vampire: a Casebook. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-299-15924-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=PpTWQDc0dqEC&pg=PA46.  citing Cantemir, Dimitrie (1714). "Striga" (in Latin). Descriptio Moldaviae. 
• Guiley, Rosemary Ellen (2004). "Strigoi". The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. New York: Facts on File. pp. 268-270. ISBN 978-0-8160-4684-3. 

External links

• [1] Across the Forest, a documentary that interviews Transylvanian villagers about their experiences with strigoi, pricolici, and mama padurii.
• (Romanian) Julia Maria Cristea, "Noaptea Strigoilor—Noaptea Sfântului Andrei" (Strigois' Night—St. Andrew's Night), Revista Agero
• The characteristics of the Strigoi, at How Stuff Works.