The history of the Fey: Vampires
Hello! Today I want to share some interesting stuff I found when I researched the history of vampires. I didn’t originally consider them to be part of the Fey, but the legends of vampires helped influence the beings I created for my books.
I found that while the vampires we are typically familiar with stemmed from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, there are some vampire-like Fey beings.
These beings are known as baobhan sith (pronounced baa'-van shee). Their legends come from Scotland, a place I very much hope to visit one day!
The baobhan sith are female fairies in the form of beautiful women, usually dressed in green. Instead of fangs, they have long, talon-like fingernails they use to cut their victims and drink their blood. It is said they sleep in coffins buried underground during the day and emerge at night.
The vampires we are most familiar with can be killed with a wooden or silver stake through the heart. But you can only kill baobhan sith with iron. So, garlic and holy water won’t help you if you run into a baobhan sith. And if you want to protect yourself with a cross, just make sure it’s made of iron.
Baobhan sith are also known to shapeshift into wolves, perhaps this is how werewolves began? I’ll save that legend for another day. 😉
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