Did you know vampires existed in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world? Those who have read only The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings may be confused at this revelation. In The Silmarillion Tolkien mentions an account of Sauron shape-shifting into the form of a vampire, which would seem to indicate their presence in Arda. This strikes some as curious since vampires are generally viewed as creatures more belonging to the paranormal genre, and to paranormal romance in particular (thanks, no doubt, to Anne Rice and Stephenie Meyer). This misconception was brought to light when someone on social media asked if vampires could be included in a fantasy novel. It may be that Tolkien had been inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula but his take on the monster is far from the first and merely serves as the immediate progenitor of more modern takes on the creature, particularly as it relates to romance. This then begs a certain question: do vampires belong in fantasy (particularly high fantasy), and if so, why are there so few?
Vampires have existed in one form or another for many centuries, but before diving into that history it may be important to define what a vampire is and how it differs from other monsters. The vampire mythos has a set of criteria which must generally be met with some degree of flexibility. These criteria are 1) Human or humanoid form, 2) Eats humans or drinks their blood, 3) Undead in nature. While these three items may seem easy enough for each variety of vampire to meet, the truth is that much variation occurs in folklore and the categorization of certain monsters under the overall heading of vampire creates specific challenges since one or two of those three primary traits may be missing but many other secondary traits may be present. In truth, many consider only the bloodsucking aspect as completely necessary to meet the overall definition of a vampire, as in the case of the vampire bat which is neither humanoid nor undead. While the bat and the vampire have been inextricably linked in the current zeitgeist, the original vampires had essentially no relationship to animals of other kinds.
In late medieval times, vampires were seen as evil being who returned from the dead, usually to kill their own families and feast upon their blood. These vampires lacked the physical ability to transform into bats and were generally not the seductive beings we have come to believe they are. They bore some similarities to the Norse draugr which have seen a resurgence in popularity due to the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skryim. Later folklore on vampires led them to take on various weaknesses in addition to abilities. A complete list of these traits and how they were acquired would take far too long for a single blog post, so I might return to this subject at a later date.
With this rich background, it would seem that vampires have as much a right to exist within a fantasy book as any other kind of creature. Indeed, if it was good enough for Tolkien to include it that alone should dispel any doubt that vampires belong solidly in the realm of fantasy even if paranormal may have an undeniable claim on them stemming from supernatural horror. So… why don’t vampires seem to see the daylight in high fantasy? While I do not have a single absolute answer, I can conjecture that there is one primary reasons they do not seem to appear.
Perceptions.
Vampires have become impossible to separate from their modern iterations. When the perception of “sexy” vampires is overcome another seemingly insurmountable hurdle appears: Dracula and the era it was written in. We forget that Bram Stoker was not writing a period piece, he was writing a modern novel for his time. Despite that, many forms of media portray vampires within the context of the Industrial Revolution. Gaslights, foggy streets, large overcoats (or capes), carriages… all these manage to impress themselves upon the mind with the end result being a sense that when vampires exist it should be in an urban fantasy setting. Medieval vampires, then, tend to defy typical expectations. Despite their inclusion in the animated series Castlevania they still remain something of an anomaly.
How can authors implement vampires in a high fantasy setting? I have some suggestions which may be taken individually, as a group, or not at all:
- Return them to their roots. Make them intelligent zombies that return to their graves to rest. An interesting story line could include someone hiding their coffins therefore making it difficult for the humans to destroy them.
- Grant a single additional power to them that is not often seen. Vampires don’t need to fly, or turn into animals, but maybe one vampire can control nocturnal animals while another possesses a hypnotic gaze.
- Give them folkloric weaknesses, especially if the weakness seems silly. Problems like this become a fascinating puzzle to solve. Why would garlic repel something undead? Is it a biological reaction (an allergy), a magical reaction (garlic is used to curse them), or a religious reaction (some ancient vampire offended the goddess of garlic and now her normally delicious vegetable hurts them).
These are only a few ideas to start the creative process. Vampires can appear in fantasy to great effect but they don’t need to be trite nor do they need to be identical to what the common person knows.