There are so many legends about Dracula, the vampire, as well as about the cruel Vlad the Impaler. Regarding the first aspect, Bram Stoker revived the vampire's myth with his outstanding novel “Dracula”. In this page we present you some of the German, Slavonic and Romanian legends about the Wallachian voivode, Vlad the Impaler, who are at least as exciting as the Bram Stoker's novel. How truthful all these are? How much these legends influenced the modern myths? We let you judge that.

 

 

 
An ambassador from the Hungarian court was invited one day to have lunch with the Wallachia voivode. Beside the table was a very high and golden spike. Dracula asked the ambassador if he knew to whom it was prepared for. The Hungarian man supposed it was for a rich boyar who had done wrong. Laughing, the voivode responded that it was made especially for him, and after lunch he would be impaled. Calmly, the ambassador said to Dracula that he trusted the ruler's judgement and if he did something to deserve death he would gladly die, but if he didn't then he was not afraid. Vlad the Impaler honoured this man and he was amazed by his wisdom and his skill of talking with the great rulers.
Another time, an ambassador of the Turk emperor came at the castle of Dracula requesting the payment of the debt to the Turks. Kindly, Vlad the Impaler answered that not only he would pay his debt, but he will also offer his help to the Turkish emperor in the battles he has to attend. Hearing this wonderful news, the Turkish emperor ordered that, when the Wallachia ruler with his army would enter in their territory, he should be honoured and protected of all harm. But Vlad the Impaler had another plans and when he reached deeply into the Turkish territory he turned against them, killed and destroyed everything in his way. The Turks suffered a great defeat and their emperor had to run away ashamed.
It is said that Dracula hated so much evil that whoever did something wrong won't have the chance to stay alive. Based on this fear spread among all people, the voivode ordered to be placed a golden cup on the edge of a well-known spring well so that anyone passing by could drink. Now, can you imagine the effect that Vlad the Impaler had on people, if nobody stole that cup, even if it was a big temptation to many?
It was a great feast that Dracula organized. The party was special, because he invited all beggars, sick people and old men to enjoy the rich food and drink. They were so happy and they even dared to think that the cruel ruler had changed and became more merciful. So, many people, young and old, participated at the feast with hearts full of joy and content. But, you can imagine that the voivode was not that merciful for nothing. He showed up later at the party and he asked the people if they feel good. All responded that these things should be done more often for poor people like them. Vlad the Impaler got angry when he heard such answer and he closed all people in the house and burned them all. He motivated his action saying that he did a good thing getting rid of useless people who would only be a weight on others shoulder.
One day, two monks came to Dracula's castle to ask for a donation for their monastery. Vlad the Impaler received them one at the time. He asked the first monk, what people think about him. The monk, very frightened, knowing that the voivode is very cruel, lied, thinking that good words will please the ruler and said that all people in the country honoured him and are very happy with him as king. Vlad the Impaler called the second monk and asked him the same question. The monk, knowing that sooner or later he would die anyway, told the king the truth: that he was cruel, a real tyrant, all people lived in terror and nobody in the whole country didn't speak well about him. Dracula honoured the second monk for his honesty and reworded him with money for his monastery, but impaled the first monk for his lies and hypocrisy.
Merchants who were selling their products to people crossed Wallachia frequently. It happened one time, that somebody stole 160 gold coins from one of these merchants. Very upset, the man complained to Dracula about this fact. The voivode promised the merchant that he would receive his money immediately. And so he did. The next morning the merchant had his money back. When he counted them he numbered one coin extra. Being an honest man, the merchant gave back to Dracula the extra coin. Vlad the Impaler praised the man for his act saying that if he haven't given back that coin, he would have been impaled along with the thief.
It is said that Dracula was a very clean and arranged person, and not only that, but he pretended that everyone should be the same. He couldn't stand to see people careless dressed. In one shining morning, as he was riding his horse along his territory, he saw a man working in the field. Dracula noticed that the man's shirt was too short and he asked the peasant if he is married. The man said yes and the voivode went to their house. There, he met the woman and asked her what was she doing all day. The woman answered that she was cooking, sawing, taking care of the house and husband. Angry, Vlad the Impaler said that he was not pleased with her, because her husband had not a proper garment. So, he took the woman and impaled her saying she was lazy and gave the man another woman to marry. The poor peasant's efforts to convince Dracula that he was pleased with his wife were in vain; the voivode kept telling him that he would be happier with another woman, more diligent.
One day, at the court of Dracula, showed up some strange men requesting to talk with the Wallachia voivode. They were Turk soldiers sent by their emperor with a message for Vlad the Impaler. They were received and as they entered Dracula asked them why they don't take their hats off their heads as a sign of respect for the emperor. The Turk soldiers answered that they don't mean any discourtesy, but they never take off their hats because of their custom. Smiling, the cruel voivode responded that his desire is to strengthen their tradition, so he ordered that the hats should be nailed to their heads. After that, he sent them back with the message that their emperor should keep the custom for himself and not enforce other great rulers to receive it.
Dracula had a great fortune and he decided to hide it. He hired some carpenters to build a few big barrels, where he placed all his precious possessions. When the work was done, Dracula killed all workers who knew about this plan, so that nobody will ever find it. One day, the ruler met a boy and asked him if he knew anything about his fortune. The boy said that he knew it was hidden but he didn't know where. When Dracula heard that, murdered the boy too, saying that nobody had to know what he did except the Devil, whose name he borrowed.
There was a fugitive that looked for a place to hide in Dracula's castle. The town crier followed him and when he saw the man entering the castle he went in too. When Vlad the Impaler found out about what was happening in his castle he ordered that both men should be brought to him. Without any comments, the town crier was impaled. The boyars were shocked that the innocent men was punished instead of the guilty one, so they wrote a letter to the Hungarian emperor. When the emperor asked Dracula about his strange decision, he answered that he was not responsible for the town crier's death, because if that man would have come and told him why he was chasing the fugitive and asked for help, he, as ruler, would have give it to him, but the man entered in his castle like a thief and this was unacceptable. The emperor did not know what to say anymore.
A gipsy stole something one day and he was caught. He was presented to Vlad the Impaler for trial. His relatives came to Dracula to ask for mercy and forgiveness. The ruler told them that they must hang the guilty gipsy as punishment. When they all heard this order, they opposed, saying that it is not in their custom to do something like that. Vlad listened to them and then ordered that the gipsy should be boiled and he forced all his relatives to eat him.
There was a priest in Wallachia who was preaching all the time about the fact that sins can't be forgiven and all who took away others' assets should give back to their rightful owner. When Dracula heard about this preacher, he invited him to his castle. The priest, very proud of this honour (thinking that the ruler would give him something), went to meet Dracula. Vlad invited him to dinner, curious to find out more about the priest. During their meal, Dracula served himself with a slice of bread and broke it in small pieces in front of him on the table. The priest served himself, freely, with a piece of Dracula's bread. Vlad asked him, if it was true all what he preached about being an unforgivable sin to take out of others goods. The man said that it was all-true. Then, Dracula asked him why he served himself with the bread he prepared for him and ordered that the priest should be impaled immediately. Poor man had no chance of saying anything else.
It is said that Vlad the Impaler had an affair with a woman. One day he was very sad and the woman thought that a good lie would cheer him up. So, she told him that she was pregnant. Dracula, surprised, told her that she would not joke with this thing. Though she knew how much Vlad hated lies, she insisted that what she said was true. Then, Dracula called a doctor to check her and see if she said the truth. Of course, the doctor said that she was not with child and Dracula was so mad with the woman that he cut her belly open to the chest, “to see where the child was”, and let her die alone.
300 gipsies came once in Wallachia. Dracula took three of them and fried them. After that, he called all gipsies and told them that either they go to battle against the Turks or they must eat each other like he did with the three men. When they heard the choice, the gypsies went gladly to the battle. So, Dracula ordered that they must be dressed in dried cattle skins and they must walk toward the enemies. The Turks' horses got scared of the cattle skins' sound and they ran back, suffering another defeat.
The order in Wallachia was that all merchants should let their products open on the table over the night without fear. One night, Dracula passed by, took money from some merchants and put them back on other merchants' table. The next morning, Vlad returned to see what happened and what would be the merchant's attitude. The men were surprised and some of them were honest enough to talk about the extra money and tried to find out to whom it belonged to. Others, didn't want to say anything, thinking that if they didn't steal it from anybody was no harm keeping them. But Dracula was there, watching, and whoever did not report the extra money was immediately impaled.
There were some merchants coming in Wallachia to sell their products. After a few days of hard work they didn't succeed with their trade. Very upset, they complained to Dracula. The voivode decided to help them and he bought their merchandise with a fare price. They left very contented and they thought that this was a good deal for them, so they turned back with more products. When Vlad the Impaler found out about this fact he was furious and he impaled all merchants for slyness.
Some of the boyars in Wallachia did not agree very well with its ruler, Vlad the Impaler. Because of it, they conceived in great secret a tramp for the voivode to fall in the Turks hands. By some strange fact, Dracula found out about their plan and one day he showed up to one of their parties. The boyars were astonished seeing the voivode there on a black horse. Dracula told them that he was aware of their dirty plans and if they care for their lives they must build on the hill in front of them a castle until a certain date. Frightened, the boyars started the work for the castle and it is said that many of them died during the hard work. Finally, the castle was done at the fixed date. Vlad the Impaler considered that the punishment was sufficient and forgave the boyars that survived the construction.
In one of the many battles between Dracula and the Turks, they caught a wallachian soldier and presented him to their emperor. As much as the Turks ruler tried to made that man speak something about his ruler and to reveal some of his enemy's plans, all it was in vain. The soldier resisted the torture and declared that he would rather die than betray his ruler. The Turks emperor appreciated him and he let him go free, saying that he would like all his soldiers to be as faithful as this wallachian soldier. When the soldier returned to his country, Dracula received him with honour and he rewarded him with a great wealth.
One day a very reach merchant was crossing Wallachia. He requested an escort to guide him and protect him of thieves. Dracula denied his request and ordered him to live his wagon in the most dangerous place over night. The merchant had to obey Dracula's order without murmuring and he lived a night of terror thinking at his precious wealth. The next day, when he woke up, he noticed that nobody touched his fortune. He was so surprised that he went to Dracula and he told him that he never met such country with such honest people. He also promised that he would tell everyone about what he saw in Wallachia. Dracula was pleased with the merchant's attitude.
It happened that a merchant lost a bag with 1000 gold coins. He announced that whoever found it would be rewarded with 100 gold coins. One peasant found it and returned the bag to its owner without even looking to what's inside. The merchant felt sorry for the reward he promised, so he tried to trick the peasant. He said to the peasant that in the bag were only 900 coins instead of 1000, but he won't mind because that meant the peasant already took his reward. The peasant was very upset with this fact and he went to claim justice from Vlad the Impaler. The ruler listened the facts and he called the merchant in front of him for judgment. Dracula told the merchant that in his country the lie is severely punished so if in the bag are only 900 coins it means that the bag did not belong to him. So, Vlad the Impaler ordered that the peasant should keep the bag since nobody claimed it so far. The merchant left ashamed and injured by his own stinginess.