Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

, dhampirs (sometimes spelled ''dhampyres'', ''dhamphirs'', or ''dhampyrs'') are creatures that are the result of a union between a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and a mortal

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

. This union was usually between male vampires and female mortal humans, with stories of female vampires mating with male mortal humans being rare.

Etymology

The word "dhampir" is an Albanian

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...

borrowed from the Slavic original word "

Vladimir Orel Vladimir Emmanuilovich Orël (russian: Владимир Эммануилович Орëл; 9 February 1952 – 5 August 2007) was a Russian linguist and etymologist. Biography At the Moscow State University he studied theoretical linguistics ...

points out the similarity between

Proto-Albanian The Proto-Albanian language is the unattested language from which Albanian later developed. Albanian evolved from an ancient Paleo-Balkan language, traditionally thought to be Illyrian, or otherwise a totally unattested Balkan Indo-European ...

*pīja and the

Proto-Slavic Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium B.C. through the 6th ...

cognate *pijǫ.

Nomenclature

The word "dhampir" is associated with Balkan folklore, as described by T. P. Vukanović. In the rest of the region, terms such as

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

''vampirović'', ''vampijerović'', ''vampirić'' (thus, Bosnian ''lampijerović'', etc.) literally meaning "vampire's son", are used.Levkievskaja, E.E. La mythologie slave : problèmes de répartition dialectale (une étude de cas : le vampire). Cahiers slaves n°1 (septembre 1997)
Online (French).
Петровић, Сретен. 2000. Основи демонологије. In: Систем српске митологије. Просвета, Ниш 2000

In other regions the child is named "Vampir" if a boy and "Vampirica" if a girl, or "Dhampir" if a boy and "Dhampirica" if a girl. In Bulgarian folklore, numerous terms such as ''glog'' (lit. "

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

"), ''vampirdzhiya'' ("vampire" + ''

nomen agentis In linguistics, an agent noun (in Latin, ) is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, "driver" is an agent noun formed from the verb "drive". Usually, ''derive ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

), ''vampirar'' ("vampire" + ''nomen agentis'' suffix), ''dzhadadzhiya'' and ''svetocher'' are used to refer to vampire children and descendants, as well as to other specialized

vampire hunter Vampire hunter or vampire slayer is a fictional occupation in history and fiction which specializes in finding vampires, and sometimes other supernatural creatures. A vampire hunter is usually described as having extensive knowledge of vampires a ...

s.Димитрова, Иваничка. 1983. Българска народна митология
Online article (Bulgarian)
reproducing text from Ivanichka Dimitrova. Bulgarian folk mythology. С.1983.стр. 153- 159 Dhampiraj is also an Albanian surname.

Origin

In the Balkans it was believed that male vampires have a great desire for human women, so a vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman he was attracted to in life. In one case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a vampire, and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be vampires in order to reach the women they desired. In Bulgarian folklore, vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well. The sexual activity of the vampire seems to be a peculiarity of

South Slav South Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, Hun ...

ic vampire belief as opposed to other Slavs, although a similar motif also occurs in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian legends.

Powers

Legends state that dhampirs were, for the most part, normal members of the community. But dhampirs, especially male, of paternal vampire descent could see invisible vampires and practice sorcery, often starting careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations from father to son. According to the legend, dhampyres have the powers of both humans and vampires: they can sense a supernatural creature within a specified distance, have acute sense of sight and hearing, have regenerating abilities, immortality, can walk in sunlight (which led to the adoption of the sobriquet "Daywalker"), eat like a human, can control animals, and can be used to destroy vampires. One unique distinction between vampires and dhampirs is that a dhampir’s blood is very acidic towards vampires and can melt any part or the complete body of a vampire.

Features

Some traditions specify signs by which the children of a vampire can be recognized.

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

n legends state they have untamed dark or black hair and are very cunning or courageous in nature. They are not attracted to blood and can eat normally like other human beings. They also are not vulnerable to sunlight. In

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n folklore, possible indications include being "very dirty", having a soft body, no nails or bones (the latter physical peculiarity is also ascribed to the vampire itself), and "a deep mark on the back, like a tail." In contrast, a pronounced nose was often a sign, as were larger than normal ears, teeth or eyes. According to J. Gordon Melton, from his book, ''The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead'', in some areas, a true dhampir possessed a "slippery, jelly-like body and lived only a short life—a belief... that vampires have no bones."

References

{{Albanian mythology Albanian legendary creatures Bulgarian folklore Corporeal undead * Fictional vampire hunters Fictional vampire types Serbian mythology Slavic legendary creatures Vampires Fictional Serbian people Slavic folklore characters Romanian legendary creatures North Macedonia folklore