Montague Summers
English author and clergymanWikipedia
10
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7
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Search complete. 10 mentions across 7 episodes found for "Montague Summers".
Oct 23, 2026
The Cajun KnightHOST
The translation of a German print of which no copies have survived.
The Cajun KnightHOST
The English pamphlet of which two copies exist, one is at the British Museum and one in the Lambeth Library, was rediscovered by occultist Montague Summers in 1920.
The Cajun KnightHOST
Of course it'd be an occultist that would rediscover this text.
Raven LeeHOST
And no pages survived, not one.
The Cajun KnightHOST
Well, that's so there was like the original German text and like to your point, yeah, like that pamphlet probably made its way over to England.
The Cajun KnightHOST
But we're working off of a translation off of a German story that we don't even know was actually a thing that happened or not.
The Cajun KnightHOST
We're kind of assuming that all of the translation was done correctly into an English text, and then we're also trusting the source of an occultist, and I don't personally know the guy's name, Montague Summers.
The Cajun KnightHOST
I have no idea if he's a credible source.
Judd BurtonGUEST
So sort of outside the scope of what we're talking about now in terms of origins.
Judd BurtonGUEST
But the first book that I consulted was Montague Summers, The Vampire Is Kith and Kin, which is an excellent, worthwhile volume.
Judd BurtonGUEST
I would recommend to people.
Judd BurtonGUEST
But Summers is really the first person to connect vampires to the pre-flood world.
TaraHOST
We are.
TaraHOST
The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Montague Summers, our quasi-occultist, quasi-self-appointed Catholic priest friend.
TaraHOST
My man.
TaraHOST
Monty, yes.
15 MINS LATER
TaraHOST
He does go through all of that.
TaraHOST
But the mental illness component was big for him.
TaraHOST
And Montague Summers is just like, no, it's werewolves.
TaraHOST
But they're both looking for like an underlying cause.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
This doesn't seem to be real Irish folklore, unfortunately, though it's hard to tell sometimes.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
The name first appears in a book by Montague Summers, an eccentric English occultist of the early 20th century.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
His works are credited with popularising supernatural folklore and inspiring a great deal of anthropological study, but are not so well regarded for their accuracy.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
His Djarg Du is mentioned in his 1929 book The Vampire in Europe, where he begins by discussing an earlier writer's story of a female vampire who dwelled in County Waterford.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
In fact, there are multiple stories of how the beetle betrayed Christ to the Roman soldiers, and that killing it will result in seven sins being forgiven.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
Patrick Pearce makes reference to this legend in one of his stories, about a woman on the edges of society who is condemned as a dear good ale by the local priest, and so winds up shunned by the community.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
possible that Montague Summers saw the title of the story, and maybe even heard a brief synopsis, but he couldn't have actually read it, as Pierce makes it clear that the Deer Godal is a beetle and not a vampire.
Ciaran ConliffeHOST
Probably the most famous Irish vampire myth of them all, at least in recent years, is the story of Avertac.
L.W. MarshallHOST
I also think it's very important as we take this tour of history as it involves the werewolf, that we talk about sources.
L.W. MarshallHOST
And some books that I would recommend to you in your own personal study of the werewolf, Montague Summers, a book written many, many, many, many years ago, which tried to compile The werewolf lore throughout history into one volume, The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by Mr. Montague Summers.
L.W. MarshallHOST
Now, it lacks modern scholarship, probably a lot of sources that we've come across since then, but it is a good place to start.
L.W. MarshallHOST
Along with Charlotte Otten's A Lycanthropy Reader.
DougHOST
Okay.
TaraHOST
We met Montague Summers in the last episode, if you recall.
TaraHOST
[laughs]
DougHOST
Oh, is he coming back?
DougHOST
There's, yeah.
TaraHOST
So what I am giving you is an excerpt from a book called The Werewolf in Lore and Legend by a man named Alphonsus Joseph Mary Augustus Montague Summers, known as Montague Summers.
TaraHOST
[laughs]
DougHOST
Whoa.