Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb And
Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas
Speaker 1: and monsters. In time, Count Dracula was Irish, or at
Speaker 1: least that's the case made by various historians and folklore's
Speaker 1: now Certainly to be sure, the novel Dracula places the
Speaker 1: character's origins firmly in Transylvania and famously draws on the
Speaker 1: legacy of historical fifteenth century Wallachian ruler Vlad the Impaler.
Speaker 1: But on the other hand, Dracula's author, Bram Stoker, was
Speaker 1: himself an Irishman. As pointed out by Celtic historian Bob
Speaker 1: Curran in was Dracula and Irishman, published in the Journal
Speaker 1: History Ireland in two thousand. Stoker never visited Eastern Europe,
Speaker 1: but he certainly would have been exposed to various Irish
Speaker 1: legends of evil, blood drinking kings and chieftains, including tales
Speaker 1: of Irish vampire king Our Tuck. As is often the
Speaker 1: case with such tales, the details of Our TuS evil
Speaker 1: varies from telling to telling, it may be more accurate
Speaker 1: to think of him as a tribal chieftain rather than
Speaker 1: a king. He would have reigned in the fifth or
Speaker 1: sixth century CE in the district of Glenuland in northern Ireland.
Speaker 1: He is often described as a dwarf, or as possessing
Speaker 1: a physical deformity that sets him apart from other men.
Speaker 1: He was also a powerful and evil wizard, so when
Speaker 1: life finally managed to kill him, undeath was the natural
Speaker 1: next step. Some accounts say that our Tech fell to
Speaker 1: his death while jealously creeping about the ledges of his
Speaker 1: castle's towers, trying to spy on his own wife. In
Speaker 1: other accounts, his people were so terrified hide of the
Speaker 1: chieftain's evil that they convinced or hired a rival chieftain, Kathan,
Speaker 1: to assassinate him. Either way, Once dead, his people buried
Speaker 1: Our Tuck upright in his grave, as was befitting a
Speaker 1: man of his rank. But you know what happened next.
Speaker 1: Our Tuck returned from the grave, and with a thirst
Speaker 1: for blood, he demanded his people bleed for him, filling
Speaker 1: a great drinking bowl. Horrified by his return, Our Tucks
Speaker 1: people had him murdered or re murdered, depending on the
Speaker 1: telling by a hero, rival or assassin. They buried him,
Speaker 1: and once more he returned for blood. This cycle repeated itself,
Speaker 1: and finally the would be slayer consulted with a local
Speaker 1: druid or priest and learned the secret of what must
Speaker 1: be done to keep our tuck dead. First skewer the
Speaker 1: undead creature's heart with a would sword, then bury them
Speaker 1: upside down in the grave, head toward hell, and cap
Speaker 1: the grave with thorns, ash twigs, and a great stone.
Speaker 1: And so it was done. But if the stone were
Speaker 1: ever removed, we are told this blood drinking dwarf more
Speaker 1: than a millennium dead, would once more rise to quench
Speaker 1: his evil thirst. As Karen explains in his article, there
Speaker 1: are other tales of Irish vampires, and several standout tales
Speaker 1: involve blood drinking nobles. Uniquely Irish spins on the global
Speaker 1: vampire myth often entail the mixture of blood and oats,
Speaker 1: a reference to famine ara recipes, as well as traditional
Speaker 1: Celtic venerations of the dead. These various tales would have
Speaker 1: likely been known to brohm Stoker, infusing his iconic vampire
Speaker 1: Lord with Irish traditions of the undead. Even the name
Speaker 1: Dracula calls to mind the Irish word dracola, which means
Speaker 1: bad or tainted blood. Tune in for additional episodes of
Speaker 1: The Monster Fact or The Artifact each week. As always,
Speaker 1: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow
Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for
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