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The Original Vampire: Before Count Dracula there was Lord Ruthven
from RereRini on 05/11/2019 02:37 AM
From an obscure folklore myth to blockbuster movies like The Twilight Saga, vampires have come a long way, becoming a common trope in popular culture of today. While it is impossible to trace the exact origin of these bloodsucking creatures — which were reportedly part of the horror repertoire in cultures as old as Mesopotamia — the hype that introduced vampires as we know them today dates back to the 18th century.
In Eastern Europe, and in the Balkans in particular, there was a frenzy regarding various sightings of the undead and other paranormal activities. Around that time the word "vampire" first came to use.
But the image of a vampire as an exotic mysterious aristocrat who usually charms his victims before feasting on their blood is very distant from the villagers who allegedly came back from the dead in 18th century rural Balkans.
Even though most relate the traditional vampire the way Bram Stoker envisioned in his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula, drawing inspiration from the 15th century ruler of Wallachia, Vlad Tepes III, this wasn't the first time that such a character appeared in British literature.
As early as 1816, a vampire crept into the imagination of the famous Romantic poet, Lord Byron. Three years later, his personal physician, John Polidori, used the laudanum-fueled writings of his friend and patient to produce his own version of the fiendish ghoul who lives only by night. He called it Lord Ruthven.
Τhe prototype for Lord Ruthven was first conceived in Byron's residence on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, called Villa Diodati. It was here the popular and mischievous nobleman with a talent for verse invited several high-profile literary friends to embark on a writing session with him. Polidori was already present on the spot, as he served as Byron's "traveling doctor."
Among his visitors were Mary Wollstonecraft and her future husband Percy Shelley, both of whom became leading figures of the Romantic movement. Better known by her married name, Mary Shelley devised the plot of her most famous novel, Frankenstein, during that visit.
Interestingly enough, this was in June 1816, during the so-called Year Without a Summer, when the whole of Europe and parts of North America were going through a series of climate abnormalities. Temperatures dropped, leaving the summer months drenched in rain and cold weather.
So, a mansion on a lake, accompanied by rain and thunder. The setting itself was calling for a horror story. While the couple both worked on their stories, Byron wrote about a certain bloodsucker with an aristocratic suave, called Augustus Darvell.
Polidori, who was present during the writing process, took great interest in the fragment written by Byron and decided to use it as a sample for his own story titled simply The Vampire. It was published in 1819 in the New Monthly Magazine and was first attributed to Byron. Afterward, the story was rightfully credited to Polidori, who is considered today to be the father of modern vampire fiction.
This was how Lord Ruthven came to life ― on paper at least ― as a combination of Augustus Darvell and a parody of Lord Byron himself, who was described by Polidori as a master-seducer with a taste for human blood.
The name Lord Ruthven actually originates from another novel, titled Glenarvon, written by Lady Caroline Lamb. Apparently, Lady Caroline had an affair with Lord Byron, and the two hadn't parted in best of terms.
As a sort of a revenge, Lady Caroline wrote a novel with the protagonist strikingly resembling her former lover. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly described a positive character.
The good doctor decided to adopt the character that already possessed the traits of Byron and spice it up with a ghoulish twist.
Title page for The Vampyre: A Tale by John William Polidori.
Polidori's The Vampyre was the first cohesive narrative on the subject, involving all the usual clichés ― a 19th-century playboy aristocrat who preys upon innocent girls from high society, seducing them and killing them by drinking their blood to satisfy his cravings. He is both alluring and dangerous and is bound by the night while absorbing supernatural powers from the Moon.
Beginning in London, the tale continues in Italy, as well as Greece, where Lord Ruthven murders the daughter of an innkeeper. The Vampire-Lord is followed by a companion called Aubrey, who is unsuspecting of his true nature until it's too late.
The story garnered immediate success partly due to its false attribution to Byron, and partly because during the time Europe was absolutely swept by various stories of vampiric creatures lurking among the high society.
Bela Lugosi as Dracula (1931).
Translations, adaptations, and re-tellings appeared soon after, spreading the initial story like a virus throughout Europe ― a subgenre was born. Bram Stoker himself was largely influenced by the story as it inspired him to create his own version with Dracula.
To this day, the image conceived by Byron and developed by Polidori exists within numerous representations of vampires in literature, film, TV and even video games.
Dix Love,
ReplyThe Lesbian Vampire Story That Came Before Dracula
from RereRini on 05/11/2019 02:04 AMWhen thinking of Vampire literature in the Western world, chances are you think of Bram Stoker's Dracula. This chef-d'oeuvre has defined the genre ever since it was published more than a hundred years ago.
But years before Stoker was obsessively researching for his book, another vampire story was written in Ireland. Carmilla, a novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, could be called the original vampire novel of modern Europe.
Written in 1871, the novella is a first person account from Laura, a young English woman who falls prey to a beautiful vampire. In some detail, Laura tells us of a curious incident that brings Carmilla, a stranger, into her home. At first, she is scared of the newcomer, who looks exactly like a specter she had seen in a nightmare when she was a child. But these feelings quickly subside and are replaced by an ardent relationship that blossoms with intensity. In the meantime, panic arises as maidens from nearby towns are afflicted by a mysterious illness that causes their deaths. Eventually, Laura herself becomes ill, and has recurring nightmares of a giant cat that attacks her at night.
Laura and Carmilla witness the funeral procession of one of Carmilla's victims
After the incident, Laura is taken back and guarded by several people. Meanwhile, her father, the general, and a vampire hunter find Carmilla's hidden tomb, drive a stake into her heart, decapitate her, and burn her remains. Laura recovers her health, but never fully, and continues to be haunted by the memory of Carmilla for the remainder of her short life.
Most scholars agree that Carmilla heavily influenced Dracula, as elements of the first appear in the latter, though modified or amplified. The aesthetic of the female vampire, for example, is very much the same in both stories. They have rosy cheeks, big eyes, full lips, and almost irresistible sensuality. There is also the vampire hunter who comes to the rescue and imparts his knowledge of the obscure on the confused victims. Even the narrative frame of Stoker's masterpiece is quite similar to Le Fanu's; first person accounts from the victims.
But what makes Carmilla so endearing are not its similarities to other works of the genre, but its distinct differences. Most notably, the fact that the story is centered around two female characters, whose complicated relationship is colored by thinly veiled lesbian undertones.
Carmilla is characterized as the first lesbian vampire story.
However, powerlessness does not mean redemption or absolution, as these powers are understood to be evil and tied to devilish forces. In almost every vampire story, the women who are preyed upon meet their deaths, unless the men in their lives come to their rescue. As such, the vampire trope simultaneously provided an outlet for repressed sexual desires and a moral lesson on the danger of succumbing to such desires.
In this sense Laura is the perfect victim of vampire literature. She is at once repulsed and drawn to the vampire, both wishes to succumb to and withdraw from her feelings for the strange and beautiful creature. And the fact that the beautiful creature is an irresistibly lovely woman only makes her feelings more confusing.
"I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust. [...] I was conscious of a love growing into adoration and, also, of abhorrence."
Laura isn't alone in her feelings. While we are given to understand that most of her victims are of no importance to her, Carmilla is genuinely enamored of a few of them. She seems to have fallen for her victim.
"With gloating eyes she drew me to her and her hot lips traveled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.'"
In these moments of frenzied rapture, she implies that for them to become one, Laura must die. To drink Laura's blood was to become one with her forever. As it stands, Carmilla is the antithesis of the heteronormative and male-centered world to which vampires were constricted to after Dracula. It has inspired several remakes as well as a plethora of lesbian vampire tales including a Canadian web series of the same name.
Given the historical context, it is not surprising that the novella did not gain much attention when it was initially written. Now that it's been 145 years, it is time for Carmilla to rise from the grave.
Dix Love,
May rose petal spoon sweet
from RereRini on 05/10/2019 06:46 PMIngredients:
100 grams. rose petals from centifolia May roses
500 grams. sugar
200 ml water
1 tsp citric acid (sour salt)
Preparation:
We remove the petals from the roses. We weigh the rose petals and wash them carefully by putting them in a deep bowl with plenty of water, rinsing them and straining them. We put the water and the sugar in a small pot. We place it over strong heat and we let the mixture boil for 1 minute (we count 1 minute from the moment the water starts to boil). We add the rose petals and the citric acid and let the mixture boil for an additional 6 minutes. We remove the pot from heat and let the spoon sweet cool. We keep in sterilized and dry jar. We can serve over strained yogurt or vanilla icecream, if we are not greeks. If we are, then this sweet is served in small saucers in one or two teaspoons and we eat it with the spoon.
Itadakimasu!
Dix Love,
Re: Open sandwich
from RereRini on 05/10/2019 09:24 AMHummus is made of mashed chickpeas and sesame paste combined with olive oil, lemon, crashed garlic, cumin. You can find it ready made. This recipe is totally vegan.
Dix Love,
Open sandwich
from RereRini on 05/09/2019 08:59 PMI don't have actual quantities but I will describe...
A fresh, crispy baguette is cut open and then each half is cut in two so that we have 4 "bases".
We spread hummus sauce on the bread. We do not use butter or mayonaise.
We add grilled pleurotus (oyster) mushrooms and sliced fruit, such as apple or pear.
We cover with fresh rocket leaves and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar.
Itadakimasu!!!
Dix Love,
Perch fish fillet in beer batter and orange, lime and mint yogurt sauce
from RereRini on 05/08/2019 08:33 AMIngredients
Perch fillet in beer batter:
500 grams perch fillet
90 grams flour
45 gram. corn flour
5 grams salt
230 grams cold beer that we leave open for sometime before the use
10 grams baking poweder
flour to cover the fish
sunflower oil for the frying
salt
For the sauce:
300 grams yogurt
10 grams fresh orange juice
10 grams fresh lime juice
5 grams orange zest
3 grans fresh spearmint, finely chopped
Preparation:
In a bowl, we put the ingredients, except the fish, the sunflower oil, the orange juice, the lime juice, the yogurt and the orange zest, and we mix well till they have combined fully. In a cooking pot, we add enough sunflower (so that the fish fillet can deep fry) and we put on high heat. We bring the olive to the 180C and we maintain so. We dry the fish fillet well and we salt it from both sides. We cover the fillet with flour and then we dip it in the batter till fully covered. We hold over the bowl for a little while so that excessive batter leaves. We fry the fillet till it has taken nice golden/light brown color. We take it of the oil and we put on a plate with absorbing paper to leave the extra oil out. We salt, if needed. We serve with the yogurt sauce that we have made with the yogurt, the orange/lime juice, the zest and the spearmint.
ps: We can use any kind of white fish, such as sole fish, cod fish or anything else we like!
Itadakimasu!
Dix Love,
Sausages with peppers and onions (Spetzofai)
from RereRini on 05/06/2019 07:05 AMIngredients:
300 grams green peppers, seeded, cut in thick slices (color peppers are fine, too)
400 grams greek country sausages, cut into pieces 4cm long (italian sausage or Kielbasa are fine, too)
2 medium sized onions, cut in thick slices
3 tbsps tomato paste
175 grams fresh tomato, drained and grated
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup wine
1 tbsp hot paprika
salt
pepper
Preparation:
We put the olive oil in a large frying pan on medium to high heat. We add the sausages and saute for 1 minute. We add the peppers and the onions and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly. We pour the wine, cook for 3 minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate and then add the tomato, the tomato paste and the paprika. We lower the heat to medium-low and we cook until the sauce thickens. We serve with fresh bread and feta/white cheese!
Notes:
1. We can serve this dish as starter, too, not only as main dish.
2. We can serve with some white rice, if we like.
2. It can be served in room temperature, as well.
3. We can add chopped eggplants, if we want. In this case, we increase the olive oil and we add the eggplant along with the onion.
Itadakimasu!
Dix Love,
Shredded carrot in syrup (spoon sweet)
from RereRini on 05/05/2019 12:38 PMIngredients:
300 grams shredded carrot
300 grams sugar
1 lemon, its zest
Preparation:
In a small cooking pot, we put the shredded carrot with the sugar and the lemon zest oven low heat. We sitr well and when sugar starts melting and creates syrup we let it boil for about 10 minutes.
Notes:
1. The sweet is perfect on top of straigned yogurt.
2. The sweet is kept in sterilized jar.
Itadakimasu!
Dix Love,
Easy icecream
from RereRini on 05/04/2019 11:08 AMIngredients:
1 can vegetal cream
1 can condensed sugar milk
1 can condensed milk
400gr. biscuits, cut in pieces
optional:
2 Vanilla sachets
3 tablespoons nutella
Preparation:
We beat the vegetal cream till it becomes thick whipped cream. We add the condensed sugar milk and the condensed milk and we continue the beating. When thick enough, we add the biscuits in pieces and leave in deep freezer overnight. In case we prefer we can add some vanilla and/or the nutella so that we get a chocolate tasty, creamier home made ice cream.
Itadakimasu!
Dix Love,