The Family of the Vourdalak
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The Family of the Vourdalak is a gothic novella by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy,[1] written in 1839 in French and originally entitled La Famille du Vourdalak. Fragment inedit des Memoires d'un inconnu. Tolstoy wrote it on a trip to France from Frankfurt, where he was attached to the Russian Embassy.
Author | Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy |
---|---|
Original title | La Famille du Vourdalak |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Genre | Gothic fiction |
Publication date | 1884 (Russian), 1950 (French) |
Media type | Print (Paperback & Hardback) |
It was translated into Russian by Boleslav Markevich, as "Семья вурдалака" (Sem'yá vurdaláka), published for the first time in The Russian Messenger in January 1884.[1] The original French text appeared in print in 1950, in Revue des Études Slavs, vol.26.[2] The Reunion After Three Hundred Years (Les Rendez-vous Dans Trois Cent Ani) which was written at about the same time and which might be regarded as a sequel (for protagonist Marquis d'Urfe and Countess Grammon appear in it) first appeared in a compilation Le Poete Alexis Tolstoi by A.Lirondelle (Paris, 1912).[2]
The word vourdalak occurs first in Pushkin's work in the early 19th century, and was taken up in Russian literary language following Pushkin. It is a distortion of words referring to vampires (originally probably to werewolves) in Slavic and Balkan folklore – cf. Slavic vǎlkolak, volkodlak, volkolak, vukodlak, wurdulak, etc.; Romanian Vârcolac; and Greek Vrykolakas (both borrowed from the Slavic term).[3]