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Illustration of Lithuanian returning dead
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
Akta nr 031 z 446

Lithuanian returning dead

Znany też jako: sugrįžtantys numirėliai, numirėlis, walking dead of Lithuania
Folklor i mityNieumarłyZła śmierć lub zły pochówekŚredniowiecze

Lithuania kept a strong tradition of the dangerous dead long after its conversion to Christianity. Cemeteries of the 14th to 17th centuries contain bodies deliberately beheaded, dismembered or turned face down, which archaeologists connect with fear of corpses returning. Lithuanian legends collected in modern times still describe meetings with the 'walking dead', usually brought on by disrespect for a grave. The material and the stories together give a Baltic counterpart to the revenant evidence from England and Poland.12

Stań do walki
Pierwsza wzmianka
1350
Deviant burials of the 14th-17th centuries; legends recorded by modern folklorists
Pochodzenie
Lithuanian
Litwa
Co je wywołuje
Zła śmierć lub zły pochówek
Folklore names the untimely dead and the very sinful as those who return; the legends add that the living provoke them by disturbing remains or grave goods.
Jak się nim zostaje
An unexpected or wrongful death, a sinful life, or interference with the grave.
Inteligencja
Trochę inteligencji
Słabe punkty
  • decapitation of the exhumed corpse
  • burial face down or on the side
  • physical force
  • the intervention of a priest

Kiedy pojawił się po raz pierwszy?

Świat starożytny
Średniowiecze
Od 1500 do 1899
Od 1900 do 1967
Od 1968 do 1999
Od 2000 do 2009
Od 2010 do dziś
1350

Deviant burials of the 14th-17th centuries; legends recorded by modern folklorists

notatki terenowe

Co mówią źródła

1

Archaeologist Gintautas Vėlius documented headless, limbless and prone burials in Christian-era Lithuanian cemeteries12

2

He interprets posthumous beheading as exhumation carried out from fear of the returning dead12

3

Many prone male burials contain weapons, suggesting men killed in battle12

4

In legends analysed by Edita Korzonaitė, short tales end with the living person's death and longer ones with a narrow escape12

5

Priests in the legends sometimes use methods with no obvious Christian basis12

Ta sama epoka: Średniowiecze