ZombieWiki
Illustration of Mhachkay
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
Kayit No. 052 ci 446

Mhachkay

Ñu ngi koy wooye itam: Meçkey, Mäçkäy, Мәцкәй
Léeb ak cosaanNéew yu dundaatDafay daw1500 ba 1899

The mhachkay is a Tatar and Turkic revenant explained by a double soul. The second soul stays in the dead body and sends it out to feed, typically as an owl. An Ottoman judge's report from Tarnovo in 1833 shows the belief acted on: two corpses were dug up, staked, scalded and finally burned. Its near-identity with the Slavic strzyga points to long exchange of undead lore between Turkic and Slavic neighbours.1

Xeexal ko
Jëkk a bindu
1833
An Ottoman report of 1833 from Veliko Tarnovo, printed in the official gazette Takvim-i Vakayi, describes the staking and burning of two such corpses
Cosaan
Tatar and wider Turkic
Rusi, Tirki, Bulgari
Lan moo ko waral
Yeneen
A person born with two hearts and two souls: at death one soul departs and the other revives the body.
Naka ngay doone benn
Being born with two souls; such people were expected to die young.
Naka lay yëngoo
Dafay daw
Flies at night in the shape of an owl and attacks travellers.
Xel
Am na tuuti xel
Fi mu néewe doole
  • beheading the corpse and burying the head apart from the body
  • burial face down with a sickle round the neck
  • burning, when stakes and boiling water failed (1833 case)

Kañ la jëkk a feeñ?

An Ottoman report of 1833 from Veliko Tarnovo, printed in the official gazette Takvim-i Vakayi, describes the staking and burning of two such corpses

notu gëstu

Li sours yi wax

1

Sucks blood and eats the entrails of its victims1

2

Can be held off for a while with animal blood1

3

A person found in the woods with torn nails and fresh soil and blood on the hands was taken for one and driven away1

4

In the 1833 case the exhumed bodies of two former Janissaries were said to have grown, with longer hair and nails1

5

The description matches the Polish strzyga almost point for point1

Ndax mën nga ko raw ci daw?

Gaawaay bi jóge ci ni sours yi ko melale (dafay daw), du natt.

Yow, ci dox lu tollu ci 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Yow, ci daw ndànk lu tollu ci 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
Mag bu am doole buy daw lu gaaw lool lu tollu ci 24 km/h (15 mph)
Mhachkay lu tollu ci 24 km/h (15 mph)
Ku gaaw ci welo lu tollu ci 37 km/h (23 mph)

Sours yi

  1. Mhachkay - Wikipedia

Xibaar bu nekk ci xët wii jóge na ci sours yii, te nu bind ko ak sunu kàddu. Gis nga njuumte? Wax nu ko ci [email protected].

Leel mbooloo mi. Amul piblisite, amul kuy topp, benn nit moo koy fey. Tuuti xaalis dafay tax mu des ci internet.Bàyyi tuuti xaalis

Léeb yu jóge ci réew yu benn

Benn jamono: 1500 ba 1899

Leel mbooloo miBàyyi tuuti xaalis