Dracula killed by a kukri and a bowie knife

S

Steve Tall

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Aug 28, 2010
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I had heard that Dracula was killed by a kukri (and not a wooden stake), and last night I looked it up:

"...I saw the Count lying within the box upon the earth, some of which the rude falling from the cart had scattered over him. He was deathly pale, just like a waxen image, and the red eyes glared with the horrible vindictive look which I knew too well. As I looked the eyes saw the sinking sun and the look of hate in them turned to triumph. But on the instant came the sweep and flash of Jonathan's great knife. I shrieked as I saw it shear through the throat whilst at the same moment Mr Morris's bowie knife plunged into the heart. It was like a miracle but before our very eyes and almost in the drawing of a breath the whole body crumbled into dust and passed from our sight..."
-- page 376

Jonathan Harker's "great knife" was a kukri:

"...We men are all in a fever of excitement, except Harker, who is calm; his hands are as cold as ice and an hour ago I found him whetting the edge of the great Ghoorka knife which he now always carries with him. It will be a bad look out for the Count if the edge of that Kukri ever touches his throat, driven by that stern ice cold hand!"
-- page 336

Evidently, the vampires could be destroyed by decapitation plus either a wooden stake or a knife through the heart (or burning the heart):

"...find this great Un-Dead and cut off his head and burn his heart or drive a stake through it, so that the world may rest from him."
--page 203

Quoted from Dracula: A Mystery Story, by Bram Stoker, 1897
Google eBook
 
Yep!! What you may not know is that the Prop or Weapons guy from the show asked Uncle Bill if they could use an H.I. Khukri in the show, but Uncle Bill turned them down. He didn't want his Khukris shown in a bad light. Years later the Weapons guy from some of the Resident Evil movies did get to use replicas of an H.I. or two in some of the movies. There is a recent thread (with in this last summer recent) that talks about his. :)

I really like the fact that Mr. Stoker had a Khukri in his story way back in the late 1800's.
 
There was quite a lot of contact between the British and the Nepalese/Indians during (and prior to) that time period, and lots of products/artifacts making their way back to England. I'd wager the average reader back then new exactly what a "Ghoorka" knife was.

I've always loved that story, though I have to admit that Stoker's limitations as a writer occasionally pull me out of it. The ending of the Coppola film was FAR more exciting and dynamic than the ending of the book (Quincy's death in the book always felt like Stoker suddenly remembered that Harker was supposed to be the hero and so had to kill off his far more heroic competition in a strangely dumb way), and I've never managed to get through the book without wanting to climb into the pages and rip Van Helsing's tongue out of his mouth to stop him talking. Dear GOD he was an annoying character as originally written. There are some extremely eerie passages in the novel that no movie has ever quite lived up to (in my opinion, of course) but there are other things that the various films have improved on.
 
Steve Tall said:
I had heard that Dracula was killed by a kukri (and not a wooden stake), and last night I looked it up:

"...
Evidently, the vampires could be destroyed by decapitation plus either a wooden stake or a knife through the heart (or burning the heart):

Quoted from Dracula: A Mystery Story, by Bram Stoker, 1897
Google eBook
Click to expand...

I always suspected that Stoker set things up for a sequel. Old Vlad just turned himself into dust and bugged out. If so Bram never bothered. In his lifetime the book was a bomb.

If you want more of Quincy, check this out: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0671319884/0671319884.htm?blurb
 
Sounds like a perfect use for one of Rajkumar's big Hanuman khuks!

The ultimate demon slayer:D
Hanuman004.jpg
 
I remember that from 35+ years ago when I read Dracula the first time, I've read it many times since....It's the reason I picked up my first Kurkri at the local pawn shop, one of those Indian made tourist pieces, that I still have. It's really not surprising that a kurkri was in the book the gurkha's were well respected as enimies and allies of the British.



The determined resolution of the small party which held this small post for more than a month, against so comparatively large a force must surely wring admiration from every voice, especially when the horrors of the latter portion of this time are considered; the dismal spectacle of their slaughtered comrades, the sufferings of their women and children thus immured with themselves, and the hopelessness of relief, which destroyed any other motive for the obstinate defence they made, than that resulting from a high sense of duty, supported by unsubdued courage. This, and a generous spirit of courtesy towards their enemy, certainly marked the character of the garrison at Kalunga, during the period of the siege.
Whatever the nature of the Goorkhas may have been found in other quarters, there was here no cruelty to wounded or to prisoners; no poisoned arrows were used; no wells or waters were poisoned; no rancorous spirit of revenge seemed to animate them: they fought us in fair conflict, like men; and, in the intervals of actual combat, a liberal courtesy worthy of a more enlightened people.
James Fraser, 1814
 
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