File No. 059 of 446
Langsuyar
Also called: langsuir
The langsuyar is described as a female revenant of Malay belief, the returned form of a woman who died around childbirth. She preys on infants and pregnant women. Malay funeral practice for such deaths included loading the corpse with beads, eggs and needles to stop it rising. She is closely linked to the pontianak, which Skeat's informants defined as the dead child of the same tragedy.12
First recorded
1891
First attested in 1891; described by Walter William Skeat in Malay Magic (1900)Origin
Malay
Malaysia, IndonesiaWhat causes it
Other
A woman who dies in pregnancy or childbirth returns.How you become one
A woman who died pregnant, in labour, or from the shock of a stillbirth.
How it moves
Runs
Flies; she is associated with owls and other night birds that settle on the roof of the house she attacks.Intelligence
Clever
Weak spots
- glass beads in the corpse's mouth, hens' eggs under the armpits and needles in the palms, so that she cannot shriek or fly
- cutting her nails and hair and stuffing them into the hole in her neck, which tames her
- gandasuli leaves
When did it first appear?
Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1891First attested in 1891; described by Walter William Skeat in Malay Magic (1900)
field notes
What the sources say
Could you outrun it?
Speed class from how the sources describe it (runs), not a measurement.
You, walking about 5 km/h
You, jogging about 10 km/h
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h
Langsuyar about 24 km/h
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
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