Vârcolac: Encyclopedia - Vârcolac

Vârcolac

A vârcolac in Romanian folklore may refer to several different figures. In some versions, a vârcolac is a wolf demon. Like the Norse Fenris, the vârcolac can swallow the moon and the sun and is thus responsible for eclipses.

Some legends say it is a ghost or vampire (Strigoi) while others say it is a werewolf (in some versions, a werewolf that emerges from the corpses of babies ^{[citation needed]}). In Romanian, vârcolac commonly means "werewolf". It can occasionally mean "goblin".

The word vârcolac is a loan from Slavic (cf. Bulgarian varkolak, vulkodlak, Greek vrykolakas), meaning "werewolf" (etymologically "Wolf's Fur").

The pricolici is another form of vârcolac, also resembling a werewolf.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vârcolac", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki