Traditional Vampirism

[Campbell, Anne-TMC-Rcvg]

No: HPFGUIDX 88670

{Kneasy}
What may be significant is JKR's predilection for reaching back to old
folklore rather than dressing up the more recent presentations (House 
Elves, for example; she seems to have gone back to the old traditions
rather than accepting the Tolkien heresies). If that holds in this case, it
may explain why all the vampires mentioned in text are to be found
in places far away and inhospitable.

Is it my imagination or have you very carefully refrained from taking a
stance on the question of Snape and his nocturnal habits?


{Anne}

Actually, I had taken a stance last week on this...and am under the firm belief that Severus is not a vamp, based on the original legends and folklore. As you have put it, Rowling tends to hearken back to the original myths and legends and rebuild from that ground base as opposed to 'borrowing' innovations to the legends that have occurred since their original inception (which , according to law, is plagiarism anyway--not something authors like to deal with on either end. Tends to make it difficult to put food on the table through their chosen profession). The house elves (brownies) are but one example. The female (Greek--not Egyptian) Sphinx was very much taken from the old Greek myths, almost whole clothe in fact--and was one of the trails of a hero (I want to say 'Oedipus', but think it might have actually been Perseus--blast, need to re-brush up on my Greek myths again, it's only been 10 years....) as he went about doing the gods' will...

All the extraneous 'vamp' characteristics are new to the myth--added by writers over the centuries to give more flavor and terror to a beast that was originally no more than a mindless monster come back from the grave.

Sexuality, for example, was a trait added by Bram. Not surprising, since the story was set in Victorian times--an era that although placed high value on the etiquette of courting was decidedly VERY repressed about sex and all it entailed--so he added that element of 'danger' and 'forbidden fruit' of sexual attraction and performance of the same to further entice the reader. That element was then picked up later by other writers, and was given even more credence when Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr took on the role of Dracula in the old 'b' movies (Neither man was particularly handsome, but they did indeed have PRESENCE). It was then further reinforced by the American soap-opera-ish series known as Dark Shadows in the 1960's. From then on, the 'sexual' nature of the vamp was ingrained in modern interpretation...what should be noted however is that most of the 'sexual' attraction and reaction was on the part of the victim...and not the vamp (although many would 'fake it' in order to induce their victims to abandon themselves to the moment--thus making them even easier prey). 

As for reproduction---that was not presented as a possibility until after I Am Legend (in which the vampirism is a type of bacterial infection, and not all the victims died of it...in fact, at the end of the book, there was a perfectly happy, healthy, living population of vamp-virus infected folks ready to make the world their own...). That was written in the late 50's--hardly an 'old' indication of vampirism. The idea of Vampires actually reproducing (and being spelled out like that) didn't make the scene until the late 1980's to early 1990's--and I believe it was Brian Lumley with his Deadspeak series that gifted us with that (As well as some truly bizarre abilities, including shape shifting that would make most peoples stomachs turn.) in an unforgettable form.

Shape shifting is another example--until Vlad took on wolf form in Bram's book, the Vampire was a corpse with no particular ability to gain a shape other then the one it had died as. As for where Bram got it--well, witches and warlocks were known to shape shift, as part and parcel of them accepting a contract with the Devil in order to gain special abilities that no man should have. Incidentally, Bram's Dracul mirrored that contract to become a vampire, so the construct there is as much a 'witch' or 'warlock' as he is a vampire. Add to the that the Historical Vlad the Impaler (Vlad Dracul ('Dracul' translates as Dragon--a symbol of the devil in the area where he lived), who was so bloodthirsty let he left the decapitated and mutilated bodies of his enemies on poles outside the road leading to his castle, and you have one hell of an image to use.

Mind reading/control/mucking about with the dreams. Again, a Bram Stoker invention, right along with the 'link' of vamp with victim....all to add to the growing horror of the victim probably never being able to escape the situation.

Half-vampires....I'm not sure where this concept came into being, although possibly newer writers twisted the original victims existence as they died from being victimized into the concept (Still alive, but craving blood because the sickness granted by the Vampire the victim had fallen prey to had passed that part of the curse on already). The earliest example I know of on this score (and someone else has already mentioned) Is the Japanime movie called Vampire Hunter D (1982 was the original release of the first movie), in which the title character, a vampire hunter, also happens to be half-vampire (Dhampire), and a direct descendant of Vlad himself (although  it's never clear whether D is Vlad's son or simply a descendant--the story actually takes place far in the future). The indications in this movie is that you can be 'born' a vampire--by the consummation of a vampire with a human (although they never really explain how, so sex would be the immediate assumption), and those that are created in such a way are considered 'impure' because they have human blood in their veins (an interesting parallel to the 'Pure Blood' mania of certain Slytherin and other HP universe families).

Let's see...what else...

Daywalkers...again, literary licences taken by Bram and others, although by recent literary times, Daywalkers are relegated to those vamps that have returned to the Light, feed on older and more powerful members of their own kind, or take some sort of potion/drug/drink that enables them, for short time spans, to walk into the light.

Incidentally, it should be noted that Bram actually researched the original Vampire legend thoroughly before re-writing it to suit his needs....which is part of the reason that it's difficult to separate his version of it from the folkloric legend--he actually worked off the primary base to make it more believable....

Much as Rowling does with her own interpretations of the various legendary creatures she uses....

Thanks for the compliment, old man....I feel very honored....^^

Anne