Similar to countless other ancient civilizations, the Norse also valued the concept of life after death. Just be careful, though! Those who would try to do that can unknowingly be doomed by the draugr’s evil eye. In order to prevent that, Jakobsson notes that someone has to break the corpse’s posture. It is said that a key sign that a deceased person will turn into a draugr is when their corpse is suddenly found standing upright or in a sitting position. Yet, Oni are typically depicted as bright-colored demons, while draugar are mostly pitch-black, pale white, or death-blue. If viewed in this light, they may be quite similar to Oni of Japanese lore. This adds an important layer into the lore of the draugr - implying that, while some are cursed to become an undead, in a lot of cases, draugar are walking remnants of people who died after a life full of greed or spitefulness. In spite of that, others still reject the parallelism attributed to draugar and vampires - even saying that it is “ unnecessary” since the modern zombie actually bears more resemblance to the Nordic monster.Īuthor Ármann Jakobsson says that “ most medieval Icelandic ghosts are evil or marginal people“. Just like the victims of the famous bloodsuckers, victims of draugar are believed to turn into draugar, themselves - which, in some stories, results in a long “chain of contagion” among people. However, out of all of their similarities, it is perhaps the shared transmissibility - which is the hallmark of vampirism - that makes the most sense for a lot of scholars, like literary anthologist Andrew Lang. These Norse monsters are also known for devastating livestock and other animals by chasing them to death or sitting on top of them just until they are at the brink of suffocation, only to do it again and again.ĭraugar conjure up fears of death and dying. Unfortunately, humans aren’t the only ones at risk of the murderous ways of the draugr. To them, the more trauma and pain, the better. These reanimated corpses find delight in suffering. Several stories have even compared draugar with living wizards and witches due to their numerous other powers, including: bringing disease upon villages, controlling the weather, creating temporary darkness during the day, entering the dreams of the living, seeing into the future, driving people insane, and escaping from their graves as a wisp of smoke.Īll of this makes the roaming undead, all the more terrifying - with the worst part being, draugar rarely kill their victims right away. They could kill humans just by looking at them and cursing them with bad luck.Īnd they could also shapeshift into any form they please - sometimes transforming into a gargantuan terror to easily crush anyone that tries to stand in their way. Their main motivation for rising from the grave ranges from jealousy, greed, and from time to time, bloodthirst.ĭraugar will wander around, inflicting harm on anyone and anything that they cross paths with. When a haugbúi perceives a threat nearby, they can employ their vast supernatural abilities to eliminate it or to ward it off.īut it is an entirely different story when it comes to the roaming draugr. This is because draugar - even the grave-staying haugbúi - are believed to be stashing treasure inside their burial mounds. This type of undead is usually harmless unless someone tries to trespass upon their territory that is when they attack! Morris published their 1869 translation of one of the oldest and best-known draugr stories, known as Grettis saga, the draugr was referred to as a “ barrow-wight” - a type of draugr called haugbúi or, in English, “ barrow-dweller“.Īccording to Norse legends, a haugbúi lives within the comfort - otherwise, discomfort - of their tomb either because they are unable to leave or they just prefer to stay in it. They are also sometimes called aptrganga - literally meaning, “ again-walker“. In plural form, draugr would be spelled as draugar. The name originally means “ a ghost” or “ a spirit“.īut, as it spread across other Scandinavian literature and folklore, its form and definition likewise broadened - the reason why we now have the acquired terms draug, draugur, dreygur, dréagr, and draugen, all of which are used to refer to the undead monster of Norse origins. The lore of the draugr comes straight out of the ancient Icelandic Sagas.
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