@deadbylevel1

2 years ago

As Bram Stoker was irish he most likely based Dracula of the Dearg Due, a myth in irish mythology. The story of the Dearg Due is based around a young noble woman whose name was lost to time. She was in love with a peasant man but her father made her marry another noble so he could become even richer. The man she married locked her away in his tower and would go to her each day to bleed her. This went on for years, the only thing keeping the girl alive was the hope that the peasant boy would save her. But he never did. She eventually stopped eating and committed suicide. When she was buried, the townsfolk took pity on her and didn't place rocks Iver her grave which was tradition to stop the dead from coming back. That night she rose from her grave and killed the man she was forced to marry, sucking out all his blood as payback.

Irish Mythology normally has tons of variations for every myth so this one might not be the correct one but this is the most common myth I've heard about regarding the Dearg Due. The similarities to modern vampires are clearly present, such as the importance of blood and the coming back to life from the grave. If anyone has heard variations of this myth I'd love to hear them.

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