Source DA·S·0002
La Guzla
A collection of purported Illyrian folk songs published anonymously by Prosper Mérimée in 1827: a literary hoax containing some of the first “Balkan” vampire stories read in Europe.
- Author
- Prosper Mérimée (anonymous at publication) DOC: Documented
- Nature
- Fabricated folk songs presented as authentic DOC: Documented
- Reception
- Partly translated by Pushkin in Songs of the Western Slavs (1835) DOC: Documented
A false source that produced real sources
La Guzla is exemplary for the atlas: an invented text that was read as a folkloric document● DocumentedCorroborated by multiple reliable and independent sources., then translated and reworked, eventually helping shape the vocabulary of the Russian vampire. For that reason, Dread Atlas catalogues it as a source—with the label it warrants.
Connections
4 direct connections · 21 further links. Dashed lines indicate weak or unproven links.
Bloodlines (1)
The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema
Creatures (3)
Sources (1)
La famiglia del Vurdalak
- Visum et Repertum source · via The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema
- Black Sabbath film · via The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema
- Why Dread Atlas begins with I tre volti della paura journal · via The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema
- Vampires of Eastern Europe collection · via Vurdalak
- Strigoi creature · via Vurdalak
- Revenant creature · via Vurdalak
- The family vampire motif · via Vurdalak
- The vampire child motif · via Vurdalak
- Eastern Europe place · via Vurdalak
- Night of the Devils film · via Vurdalak
- Sem’ja vurdalakov film · via Vurdalak
- Boris Karloff person · via Vurdalak
- A. K. Tolstoy person · via Vurdalak
- Vienna place · via La famiglia del Vurdalak
- Literary adaptation glossary · via La famiglia del Vurdalak
- Kisiljevo place · via Vampire
- Medveđa place · via Vampire
- Protections against the dead belief or ritual · via Vampire
- The threshold and invitation belief or ritual · via Vampire
- The Vampyre (Polidori, 1819) source · via Vampire
- Dracula (Stoker, 1897) source · via Vampire
Revision history
- First draft.— Editorial team
How to cite this page
Redazione Dread Atlas, «La Guzla», Dread Atlas, Entry DA·S·0002, updated 22 September 2026. https://macabralia.com/en/sources/la-guzla/