Amoroi (sometimesmoroii in modern fiction; pl.moroi) ormorák inHungarian is a type ofvampire orghost inHungarian andRomanian folklore. A female moroi is called amoroaică (pl.moroaice). In some versions, a moroi is aphantom of a dead person which leaves thegrave to draw energy from the living.
Moroi are often associated with other figures in Romanian folklore, such asstrigoi (another type of vampire),vârcolac (werewolf), orpricolici (werewolf). As with most concepts infolklore, the exact characteristics ascribed to moroi are variable from source to source. Wlislocki reported a belief that the child of a woman impregnated by anosferat (a sort ofincubus-vampire) would be extremely ugly and covered with thick hair, very quickly becoming a moroi.[1]
They are also sometimes referred to in modern stories as the living offspring of two strigoi. It may also signify an infant who died before being baptized. The origins of the term "moroi" are unclear, but it is thought by theRomanian Academy[2][3] to have possibly originated from theOld Slavonic wordmora ("nightmare") – cf. Russiankikimora. Otila Hedeşan notes thatmoroi is formed using the sameaugmentative suffix asstrigoi (along with the relatedbosorcoi) and considers this parallel derivation to indicate membership in the same "mythological micro-system." The "-oi" suffix notably converts feminine terms to the masculine gender as well as often investing it with a complex mixture of augmentation and pejoration.[4] According toÉva Pócs, the word itself is related to themare and is most likely ofProto-Indo-European origin as similarly named malevolent creatures appear in the culture of several Eastern, Central and Western European countries, although they differ in description, which was later transmutated into the creatures found in Hungary and Romania. Further west, it appears more as a shape shifter.[5]
InHungarian culture the morák or norák is present inTransylvania andHungary as abogeyman like figure. The children scared each other by saying "the Morák is coming". They were imagined as witch-like creatures born from dead unbaptised babies. It is often used interchangeably with theboszorkány.[6][7] A related creature, specific to Hungary, is thenora, which in turn has a different circle of superstitions.[8]