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Illustration of Upiór
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
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Upiór

Also called: upyr, upir, vupyr, wąpierz, upír
Folklore and mythUndeadA curseMiddle Ages

Upiór is the Polish form of the old East and West Slavic name for a corpse that leaves its grave, a close relative of the word 'vampire'. In village belief it is less an aristocratic bloodsucker than a decaying neighbour who suffocates sleepers, kills livestock and sometimes just comes home to work. Apotropaic burials across Poland and Ukraine, with severed heads, nailed bodies and objects in the mouth, reflect the measures taken against it. It is the eastern European walking dead in its original, pre-literary form.12

Battle it
First recorded
1100
The 'Word of Saint Grigoriy', dated between the 11th and 13th centuries, mentions offerings to upyri
Origin
Slavic
Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia
What causes it
A curse
Sudden or cursed deaths, suicide, improper burial, an animal jumping over the corpse, or being killed by another upiór could all produce one.
How you become one
People marked as different in life, such as redheads, the left-handed, those born with teeth or of another faith, were suspected in advance; a second soul or heart was said to stay behind and move the body.
Intelligence
Some intelligence
Weak spots
  • beheading, with the head placed between the legs
  • nailing the corpse to the coffin or burying it face down
  • burning
  • poppy seeds or knotted nets in the grave to keep it occupied
  • hawthorn, blackthorn or wild rose in the coffin
  • cockcrow

When did it first appear?

Ancient worldMiddle Ages1500 to 18991900 to 19671968 to 19992000 to 20092010 to today1100

The 'Word of Saint Grigoriy', dated between the 11th and 13th centuries, mentions offerings to upyri

field notes

What the sources say

1

Often described as having two hearts and two souls12

2

Tears victims apart with great strength, drinks blood and can kill with its breath or scream12

3

Dead spouses were said to come home and carry on with their old household chores12

4

Signs in the corpse: no rigor mortis, a flushed face, blood under the nails12

5

Caught out at dawn, it turns into black tar12

6

Human and cattle plagues were blamed on it, and suspected graves were opened12

Sources

  1. Upi%C3%B3r - Wikipedia
  2. Vampire folklore by region - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at [email protected].

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Folklore from the same lands

NachzehrerGerman, 1800StrzygaPolish and Silesian, 1863Johannes CuntiusSilesian (German), 1582Pień padlocked burialPolish, 1650Shoemaker of BreslauSilesian (German), 1591Zalozhnye pokoinikiEast Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)

Same era: Middle Ages

DraugrNorse, 1250VetalaHindu (Indian), 1070GlámrNorse (Icelandic saga), 1300Revenant (medieval England)Medieval English, 1100AsvithNorse (Danish chronicle and Icelandic saga), 1200Berwick revenantMedieval English / Scottish borders, 1198
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