Pellagra and the Origin of a Myth: Evidence from European Literature and Folklore
@article{Hampl1997PellagraAT, title={Pellagra and the Origin of a Myth: Evidence from European Literature and Folklore}, author={Jeffrey S. Hampl and Walter Hampl}, journal={Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine}, year={1997}, volume={90}, pages={636 - 639} }
Although medical publications contain examples of clinical vampirism1, blood-drinking tyrants are an unlikely basis for the European vampire folklore. Such individuals, although noted in history, were rarely encountered. More likely, the vampire legend developed out of communities' mounting fear of a disease they encountered daily. Because their understanding of medicine included aspects of magic, eighteenth and nineteenth century villagers used their belief in fables, such as vampires, to…
23 Citations
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