Lamia
M.R. James refers to verse 34:14 of Isaiah several times in his works. The most noticeable reference, of course, is the direct quote from the Latin Vulgate at the very conclusion of AN EPISODE OF CATHEDRAL HISTORY where he describes the tomb and the inscription, IBI CUBAVIT LAMIA, which is on the metal cross affixed to it. The exact translation from the Latin would be "here has lain Lamia." Earlier in the same work, however, he has a pious villager make reference to the first half of the verse when he complains of the strange crying sound heard at night. "Rather too much of Isaiah 34:14 for me," he says, and, when the boy goes home to look it up, he reads, "the satyr shall cry to his fellow." James makes another reference in CANON ALBERIC'S SCRAP-BOOK. Toward the end, he has the character, Dennistoun, saying, "Isaiah was a very sensible man; doesn't he say something about night monsters living in the ruins of Babylon?"
Well after watching DRAG ME TO HELL, which is loosely based on M.R. James' CASTING THE RUNES, and which has a thrilling depiction of the Lamia, and then running across the first reference mentioned above, I became really curious about what exactly the Lamia is. The logical place to start, of course would be to read Isaiah, chapter 34. The problem with English translations, however, is that as soon as you come to where the word 'Lamia' is supposed to occur you find something different in each translation. I found only one that actually used 'Lamia'. Another said 'Lilith', and another said 'dragon', and there was also 'screech-owl', 'night creature', etc..
Let me lay out some of the texts:
The Latin Vulgate: et occurrent daemonia onocentauris et pilosus clamabit alter ad alterum ibi cubavit lamia et invenit sibi requiem
The New American Bible: Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another; There shall the lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest.
The King James Version: The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
The Douay-Rheims Version: And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself
Well, the only way to find out what exactly Isaiah said is to see it in the original language. Here it is:
וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא; אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח
So the word in Hebrew isn't 'Lamia' at all. It's 'Lilith'. This would make sense. On further investigating I found that Lamia is actually a demon of Greek origin. She was a mistress of the God, Zeus, who had children by him. When Zeus' wife Hera found out, she killed the children in anger. Lamia, in anger, vengeance, and desperation turned to devouring human children and descended to the form of a demon. The Hebrew culture in Isaiah's time wouldn't have had a clue on any of this. Lilith, on the other hand is a demon in Hebraic mythology. At the time of Isaiah the term may only refer to some form of vulgar or unclean creature, in which case "screech-owl' or "night creature" wouldn't be too far off, but in later Jewish folklore she was thought of as Adam's first wife, before Eve, who refused to submit to Adam and rebelled, vowing to destroy human children when she found them.
Because both Lamia and Lilith are in the business of killing children, they have become used interchangeably in literature. They are both often depicted as half woman and half animal. In Lamia's case it would be the snake, and in Lilith's case it would be the goat, but, like I said they are somewhat interchangeable.
M.R. James, himself would probably have known about both Lamia and Lilith as they are both contained in Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, a book with which he was very familiar and on which he lectured at one point during his student days. In any case he was very familiar with, and was very fond of using Isaiah 34:14. It may have been a theme of his writings, the idea that there are unclean, unholy things here among us and that it is best not to disturb them. Quite possibly understanding Isaiah 34:14 better would be a big help in understanding M.R. James better.
P.S. Keep an eye open because I'm putting a bit of a mention of the Lamia in the story that I'm currently working on, THE DEVIL COMES TO ST. MELCHIOR'S. The rough draft is finished, and when I've completed the rewrite, you'll be the first to know about it.
Well after watching DRAG ME TO HELL, which is loosely based on M.R. James' CASTING THE RUNES, and which has a thrilling depiction of the Lamia, and then running across the first reference mentioned above, I became really curious about what exactly the Lamia is. The logical place to start, of course would be to read Isaiah, chapter 34. The problem with English translations, however, is that as soon as you come to where the word 'Lamia' is supposed to occur you find something different in each translation. I found only one that actually used 'Lamia'. Another said 'Lilith', and another said 'dragon', and there was also 'screech-owl', 'night creature', etc..
Let me lay out some of the texts:
The Latin Vulgate: et occurrent daemonia onocentauris et pilosus clamabit alter ad alterum ibi cubavit lamia et invenit sibi requiem
The New American Bible: Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another; There shall the lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest.
The King James Version: The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.
The Douay-Rheims Version: And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself
Well, the only way to find out what exactly Isaiah said is to see it in the original language. Here it is:
וּפָגְשׁוּ צִיִּים אֶת-אִיִּים, וְשָׂעִיר עַל-רֵעֵהוּ יִקְרָא; אַךְ-שָׁם הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית, וּמָצְאָה לָהּ מָנוֹח
So the word in Hebrew isn't 'Lamia' at all. It's 'Lilith'. This would make sense. On further investigating I found that Lamia is actually a demon of Greek origin. She was a mistress of the God, Zeus, who had children by him. When Zeus' wife Hera found out, she killed the children in anger. Lamia, in anger, vengeance, and desperation turned to devouring human children and descended to the form of a demon. The Hebrew culture in Isaiah's time wouldn't have had a clue on any of this. Lilith, on the other hand is a demon in Hebraic mythology. At the time of Isaiah the term may only refer to some form of vulgar or unclean creature, in which case "screech-owl' or "night creature" wouldn't be too far off, but in later Jewish folklore she was thought of as Adam's first wife, before Eve, who refused to submit to Adam and rebelled, vowing to destroy human children when she found them.
Because both Lamia and Lilith are in the business of killing children, they have become used interchangeably in literature. They are both often depicted as half woman and half animal. In Lamia's case it would be the snake, and in Lilith's case it would be the goat, but, like I said they are somewhat interchangeable.
M.R. James, himself would probably have known about both Lamia and Lilith as they are both contained in Jacques Albin Simon Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, a book with which he was very familiar and on which he lectured at one point during his student days. In any case he was very familiar with, and was very fond of using Isaiah 34:14. It may have been a theme of his writings, the idea that there are unclean, unholy things here among us and that it is best not to disturb them. Quite possibly understanding Isaiah 34:14 better would be a big help in understanding M.R. James better.
P.S. Keep an eye open because I'm putting a bit of a mention of the Lamia in the story that I'm currently working on, THE DEVIL COMES TO ST. MELCHIOR'S. The rough draft is finished, and when I've completed the rewrite, you'll be the first to know about it.