Estries

Common card · No. 303269

Estries (Hebrew: סטרייאס, romanized: striyas) are vampires of Jewish folklore that were believed to prey on Jews, in particular babies. Estries were typically female. Estries first appear in the works of the Ashkenazi Hasidim, a medieval pietistic movement, particularly in Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg's Sefer Hasidim. The name was borrowed from Middle French and descends from the Latin word strix, a term for an owl also used for a kind of cannibalistic witch. An estrie, like other vampires, needs to feed on blood to survive and were more indiscriminate in their choice of victims. However, the prohibition on eating meat without the blood removed from it is the most basic rule of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws), and thus their habits were doubly repulsive to Jews. In some accounts, estries were considered a kind of succubus: both were portrayed as beautiful, bloodthirsty female demons, with succubi thought to favour babies and young children as prey. Succubi were said to kill pregnant women...

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