Skip to main content

history of - Which piece of fiction first showed vampires destroyed by sunlight?


Bram Stoker's Dracula inspired -- though probably did not invent -- much of what is now taken for granted about fictional vampires. However, one frequently depicted vampire weakness is not shared by Dracula: the Count is not destroyed by sunlight.


Nosferatu is. Anne Rice's vampires are. Not the Count, though.


Which author, and what work, first depicted vampires being destroyed by sunlight?


Answers from folklore are also accepted, though I've already looked and it seems classical European vampires weren't harmed by sunlight.



Answer



Wikipedia's entry on vampires implies that it is the 1922 film Nosferatu that first introduced the trope, as part of its attempt to vary the Dracula legend so as to avoid a lawsuit:



fangs and vulnerability to sunlight appeared over the course of the 19th century, with [...] Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) fearing daylight.




The entry on Nosferatu elaborates on this:



Orlok must sleep by day, as sunlight would kill him, while the original Dracula is only weakened by sunlight.



While the Vampire Literature entry makes it even more explicit with "It is only with the 1922 film Nosferatu that daylight is depicted as deadly to vampires".


Of course, all these Wikipedia references seem to be traced back to David Skal's book, V is for Vampire which, umm, doesn't really give off a particularly authoritative air, I'm afraid.


I have also searched through the works provided online in this Vampires in Text page, looking for the word "sun" through the texts, but with no luck. Perhaps a more through search for more synonyms will turn up a clue. And of course, many works there are just cited, without the full text available.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more