Who was the first vampire?
Throughout history there have been stories and legends running rampant with the spirit of the vampire, or rather, the incarnate demon. The legends reach back extremely far. The most clearly defined origins for the vampire are seen in the etymology of the word vampire, or, as was used by Slavic peoples (who eventually became the Russians, Ukrainians, etc.), the word upir.1 The first usage dates from at least the 10th century and some believe that the word and its meaning could have originated in the 7th century AD.2 The word upir was originally found, indicating a wicked blood drinker, as a commentary piece in a Slavic translation of the Psalms dating from the 10th century.3 Some have gone further and suggested that the ancient Greek language has a form of the word, but supportive evidence is scarce.
Regardless of the word vampire (vampyre, upier, upir, etc.), the legends of creatures that desire blood are still intact in ancient memory.4 The stories reach back to the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian understandings of demonology. The Babylonians seemed familiar with the wanderings and torments of the undead. If you get the chance, take a glance at the 19th century work of Augustus Montague Summers, The Vampire, his Kith and Kin and observe his train of thought. It is a very well conceived, logical progression of thoughts and conclusions pertaining to the vampire.
At the bottom of this post, you’ll notice I’ve gone to the trouble of putting together a few resources for you to check out on your own (tip: use Google Language Tools for the Russian pages), but none of that really answers the initial question. The truth is, the first vampire is an unknown figure lost to the chapters of time. We can only look back so far. It is, however, safe to conclude that the first vampire is still living today--in some form or another--since he is most defiinitely a demon. He is likely one of the first that fell from heaven and took up residence on earth. His story is briefly mentioned in Genesis chapter 6 and debatably attested to in the writings of Enoch. In the end, however, your guess is as good as mine. No one really knows.
1Chambers, W. & Chambers, R.Chambers’s Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge Retrieved 2008-03-11.
2Russian Etymological Dictionary by Max Vasmer. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
3Sobolevskij, A. I.. Slavjano-russkaja paleografija. Retrieved on 2008-03-11. See The Original Here
4Summers, A. M. The Vampire, his Kith and Kin Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
Further questions will be addressed.
What is thirst?
Are there covens?
Do child vampires grow up?
What is the oldest vampire legend?
Who is the oldest vampire?
Are vampires and zombies actually the same thing?
What’s the step by step biological process of going from human to vampire?
Do vampires have super strength?
Can vampires change into animals (like bats)?
Is it true that, in some cases, the Slavic language calls vampires and werewolves by the same name?
Do vampires needs sleep?
Do vampires require food?
Are vampires smarter than regular humans?
If you have your own question or a remark, please leave me a comment.
