Draugr
Encyclopedia
A draugr, draug or draugur (original Old Norse plural draugar, as used here, not "draugrs"), or draugen (Norwegian, Swedish
and Danish
, meaning "the draug"), also known as aptrgangr (literally "again-walker", or "one who walks after death") is an undead
creature from Norse mythology
. The original Norse meaning of the word is ghost, and older literature makes clear distinctions between sea-draug and land-draug. Draugar were believed to live in the graves of dead Viking
s, being the body of the dead. As the grave
s of important men often contained a good amount of wealth, the draugr jealously guards his treasures, even after death
.
The Old English
cognate
was dréag ("apparition, ghost"). The Gaelic word dréag or driug meaning "portent, meteor" is borrowed from either the Old English or the Old Norse word.
was "uncorrupted, and with an ugly look about him... swollen to the size of an ox," and his body was so heavy that it could not be raised without levers. They are also noted for the ability to rise from the grave as wisps of smoke and "swim" through solid rock, which would be useful as a means of exiting their graves. In folklore the draugar slay their victims through various methods including crushing them with their enlarged forms, devouring their flesh, devouring them whole in their enlarged forms, indirectly killing them by driving them mad, and drinking their blood. Animals feeding near the grave of a draugr may be driven mad by the creature's influence. They may also die from being driven mad. Thorolf, for example, caused birds that flew over his howe
to drop dead. Draugr are also noted as being able to drive living people insane.
The draugr's victims were not limited to trespassers in its howe. The roaming ghosts decimated livestock by running the animals to death while either riding them or pursuing them in some hideous, half-flayed form. Shepherds, whose duties to their flocks left them out of doors at night time, were also particular targets for the hunger and hatred of the undead:
Draugar are noted for having numerous magical abilities (referred to as trollskap) resembling those of living witches and wizards, such as shape-changing, controlling the weather, and seeing into the future. Among the creatures that a draugr may turn into are a seal, a great flayed bull, a grey horse with a broken back but no ears or tail, and a cat that would sit upon a sleeper's chest and grow steadily heavier until the victim suffocated. The draugr Thrain shape-shifted into a "cat-like creature" (kattakyn) in Hromundar saga Greipssonar:
Draugar have the ability to enter into the dreams of the living. Draugar also have the ability to curse a victim, as shown in the Grettis Saga
where Grettir is cursed to be unable to become any stronger. Draugar also brought disease to a village and could create temporary darkness in daylight hours. While the draugr certainly preferred to be active during the night, it did not appear to be vulnerable to sunlight like some other revenants
. A draugr's presence may be shown by a great light that glowed from the mound like "fox-fire." This fire would form a barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The draugr could also move magically through the earth, swimming through solid stone as does Killer-Hrapp:
The creation of a draugr is not exactly clear, but in the Eyrbyggja saga
, a shepherd is killed by a draugr and rises the next night as one himself. The draugr is also often shown as haunting its living family.
Some draugar are immune to weapon
s, and only a hero
has the strength and courage needed to stand up to so formidable an opponent. In legends the hero would often have to wrestle the draugr back to his grave, thereby defeating him, since weapons would do no good. A good example of this kind of fight is found in the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
. Although iron could injure a draugr, as is the case with many supernatural creatures, it would not be sufficient to stop it. Sometimes the hero is required to dispose of the body in unconventional ways. The preferred method is to cut off the draugr's head, burn the body, and dump the ashes in the sea; the emphasis being on making absolutely sure the draugr was dead and gone.
The draugar were said to be either hel-blár ("death-black") or, conversely, nár-fölr ("corpse-pale"). The "death-black" color was not actually achromatic but was a dark blue or maroon hue that covered the entire body. Glámr, the undead shepherd of the Grettis saga
, was reported to be dark blue in color and in Laxdœla saga
the bones of a dead sorceress who had appeared in dreams were dug up and found to be "blue and evil looking."
The resting place of the draugr was a tomb that served much as a workable home for the creature. Draugar are able to leave this dwelling place and visit the living during the night. Such visits are supposed to be universally horrible events that often end in death for one or more of the living, which would then warrant the exhumation of the draugr's tomb by a hero. The motivation of the actions of a draugr was primarily jealousy and greed. The greed of a draugr causes it to viciously attack any would-be grave robbers, but the draugr also expresses an innate jealousy of the living, stemming from a longing for the things of the life it once had. This idea is clearly expressed in the Friðþjofs saga, where a dying king declared:
This desire for the friendship experienced in life is one example of the manifestation of this aspect of the draugr. Draugr also exhibit an immense and nearly insatiable appetite, as shown in the encounter of Aran and Asmund, sword brothers who made an oath that if one should die, the other would sit vigil with him for three days inside the burial mound. When Aran died, Asmund brought his own possessions into the barrow: banners, armor, hawk, hound, and horse. Then Asmund set himself to wait the agreed upon three days:
The most effective means of preventing the return of the dead was the corpse door. A special door was built, through which the corpse was carried feet-first with people surrounding it so the corpse couldn't see where it was going. The door was then bricked up to prevent a return. It is speculated that this belief began in Denmark
and spread throughout the Norse culture. The belief was founded on the idea that the dead only enter through the way they left.
In Eyrbyggja Saga
the draugar infesting the home of the Icelander Kiartan were driven off by holding a "door-doom", what would be called today a small claims court. One by one the draugar were summoned to the door-doom and given judgment, and they were forced out of the home by this legal method. The home was then purified with holy water
to ensure they never came back.
word haugr meaning "howe" or "barrow") was a mound-dweller, the dead body living on within its tomb. The notable difference between the two was that the haugbui is unable to leave its grave site and only attacks those that trespass upon their territory.
The haugbui was rarely found far from its burial place and is a type of undead commonly found in Norse saga material. The creature is said to either swim alongside boats or sail around them in a partially-submerged vessel, always on their own. In some accounts, witnesses portray them as shape-shifters
who take on the appearance of seaweed or moss
-covered stones on the shoreline.
The words "dragon" and "draugr" are not linguistically related. However, both the serpent
and the spirit serve as jealous guardians of the graves of kings or ancient civilizations. Dragons that act as draugar appear in Beowulf
as well as in some of the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda
(in the form of Fafnir
).
. The saga includes a short account of him as a living man and a full account of his haunting, up to the intervention of Grettir who wrestled him back to death.
A somewhat ambivalent, alternative view of the draugr is presented by the example of Gunnar
in Njál's saga
:
In the Eyrbyggja Saga
a shepherd is assaulted by a blue-black draugr. The shepherd's neck is broken during the ensuing scuffle. The shepherd rises the next night as a draugr.
In more recent folklore, the draugr is often identified with the spirits of mariners
drowned
at sea. In Scandinavia
n folklore, the creature is said to possess a distinctly human form, with the exception that its head is composed entirely of seaweed
. In other tellings, the draug is described as being a headless fisherman, dressed in oilskin
and sailing in half a boat. This trait is common in the northernmost part of Norway, where life and culture was based on fishing more than anywhere else. The Norwegian municipality of Bø
has the half-boat of draugen in its coat-of-arms.
A recorded legend from Trøndelag
tells how a corpse lying on a beach became the object of a quarrel between the two types of draugr. A similar source even tells of a third type, the gleip, known to hitch themselves to sailors walking ashore and make them slip on the wet rocks. Norwegian folklore thus records a number of different draug-types.
But, though the draugr usually presages death, there is an amusing account in Nord-Norge of a Nordlending who managed to outwit him:
The connection between the draugr and the sea can be traced back to the author Jonas Lie
and the story-teller
Regine Nordmann, as well as the drawings of Theodor Kittelsen
, who spent some years living in Svolvær
. Up north, the tradition of sea-draugar is especially vivid. Arne Garborg
, on the other hand, describes land-draugar coming fresh from the graveyards, and the term draug is even used of vampires. (In Norway "vampires" is translated as "Bloodsucker-draugar".)
Draugr sightings in modern times are not common, but are still reported by individuals from time to time. Due to this trend, the term "draug" has come to be used to describe any type of revenant
in Nordic folklore.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, meaning "the draug"), also known as aptrgangr (literally "again-walker", or "one who walks after death") is an undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
creature from Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
. The original Norse meaning of the word is ghost, and older literature makes clear distinctions between sea-draug and land-draug. Draugar were believed to live in the graves of dead Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s, being the body of the dead. As the grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
s of important men often contained a good amount of wealth, the draugr jealously guards his treasures, even after death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
.
The Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...
was dréag ("apparition, ghost"). The Gaelic word dréag or driug meaning "portent, meteor" is borrowed from either the Old English or the Old Norse word.
Traits
Draugr possess superhuman strength, can increase their size at will, and carry the unmistakable stench of decay. The draugr's ability to increase its size also increased its weight, and the body of the draugr was described as being extremely heavy. Thorolf of Eyrbyggja SagaEyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. The name means the saga of the inhabitants of Eyrr, which is a farm on Snæfellsnes on Iceland. The name is slightly misleading as it deals also with the clans of Þórsnes and Alptafjörðr. The most central character is Snorri Þorgrímsson or Snorri goði...
was "uncorrupted, and with an ugly look about him... swollen to the size of an ox," and his body was so heavy that it could not be raised without levers. They are also noted for the ability to rise from the grave as wisps of smoke and "swim" through solid rock, which would be useful as a means of exiting their graves. In folklore the draugar slay their victims through various methods including crushing them with their enlarged forms, devouring their flesh, devouring them whole in their enlarged forms, indirectly killing them by driving them mad, and drinking their blood. Animals feeding near the grave of a draugr may be driven mad by the creature's influence. They may also die from being driven mad. Thorolf, for example, caused birds that flew over his howe
Bowl barrow
Bowl Barrow is the name for a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from the fact that it looks like an upturned bowl...
to drop dead. Draugr are also noted as being able to drive living people insane.
The draugr's victims were not limited to trespassers in its howe. The roaming ghosts decimated livestock by running the animals to death while either riding them or pursuing them in some hideous, half-flayed form. Shepherds, whose duties to their flocks left them out of doors at night time, were also particular targets for the hunger and hatred of the undead:
Draugar are noted for having numerous magical abilities (referred to as trollskap) resembling those of living witches and wizards, such as shape-changing, controlling the weather, and seeing into the future. Among the creatures that a draugr may turn into are a seal, a great flayed bull, a grey horse with a broken back but no ears or tail, and a cat that would sit upon a sleeper's chest and grow steadily heavier until the victim suffocated. The draugr Thrain shape-shifted into a "cat-like creature" (kattakyn) in Hromundar saga Greipssonar:
Draugar have the ability to enter into the dreams of the living. Draugar also have the ability to curse a victim, as shown in the Grettis Saga
Grettis saga
Grettis saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw.- Overview :...
where Grettir is cursed to be unable to become any stronger. Draugar also brought disease to a village and could create temporary darkness in daylight hours. While the draugr certainly preferred to be active during the night, it did not appear to be vulnerable to sunlight like some other revenants
Revenant
The term Revenant may refer to:*Revenant , a creature brought back to life to fulfill a special goal*Revenant , a folkloric corpse that returns from the grave*The Revenant , a 2009 horror comedy...
. A draugr's presence may be shown by a great light that glowed from the mound like "fox-fire." This fire would form a barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead. The draugr could also move magically through the earth, swimming through solid stone as does Killer-Hrapp:
The creation of a draugr is not exactly clear, but in the Eyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. The name means the saga of the inhabitants of Eyrr, which is a farm on Snæfellsnes on Iceland. The name is slightly misleading as it deals also with the clans of Þórsnes and Alptafjörðr. The most central character is Snorri Þorgrímsson or Snorri goði...
, a shepherd is killed by a draugr and rises the next night as one himself. The draugr is also often shown as haunting its living family.
Some draugar are immune to weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s, and only a hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
has the strength and courage needed to stand up to so formidable an opponent. In legends the hero would often have to wrestle the draugr back to his grave, thereby defeating him, since weapons would do no good. A good example of this kind of fight is found in the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar
Hrómundar saga Gripssonar or The Saga of Hromund Gripsson is a legendary saga from Iceland. The original version has been lost, but its content has been preserved in the rímur of Hrómundr Gripsson published in Fernir forníslenzkar rímnaflokkar...
. Although iron could injure a draugr, as is the case with many supernatural creatures, it would not be sufficient to stop it. Sometimes the hero is required to dispose of the body in unconventional ways. The preferred method is to cut off the draugr's head, burn the body, and dump the ashes in the sea; the emphasis being on making absolutely sure the draugr was dead and gone.
The draugar were said to be either hel-blár ("death-black") or, conversely, nár-fölr ("corpse-pale"). The "death-black" color was not actually achromatic but was a dark blue or maroon hue that covered the entire body. Glámr, the undead shepherd of the Grettis saga
Grettis saga
Grettis saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw.- Overview :...
, was reported to be dark blue in color and in Laxdœla saga
Laxdœla saga
Laxdæla saga ; also Laxdœla saga, Laxdoela saga, Laxdaela saga, or The Saga of the People of Laxárdalr) is one of the Icelanders' sagas. Written in the 13th century, it tells of people in the Breiðafjörður area of Iceland from the late 9th century to the early 11th century...
the bones of a dead sorceress who had appeared in dreams were dug up and found to be "blue and evil looking."
The resting place of the draugr was a tomb that served much as a workable home for the creature. Draugar are able to leave this dwelling place and visit the living during the night. Such visits are supposed to be universally horrible events that often end in death for one or more of the living, which would then warrant the exhumation of the draugr's tomb by a hero. The motivation of the actions of a draugr was primarily jealousy and greed. The greed of a draugr causes it to viciously attack any would-be grave robbers, but the draugr also expresses an innate jealousy of the living, stemming from a longing for the things of the life it once had. This idea is clearly expressed in the Friðþjofs saga, where a dying king declared:
This desire for the friendship experienced in life is one example of the manifestation of this aspect of the draugr. Draugr also exhibit an immense and nearly insatiable appetite, as shown in the encounter of Aran and Asmund, sword brothers who made an oath that if one should die, the other would sit vigil with him for three days inside the burial mound. When Aran died, Asmund brought his own possessions into the barrow: banners, armor, hawk, hound, and horse. Then Asmund set himself to wait the agreed upon three days:
Means of prevention
Traditionally, a pair of open iron scissors were placed on the chest of the recently deceased, and straws or twigs might be hidden among their clothes. The big toes were tied together or needles were driven through the soles of the feet in order to keep the dead from being able to walk. Tradition also held that the coffin should be lifted and lowered in three different directions as it was carried from the house to confuse a possible draugr's sense of direction.The most effective means of preventing the return of the dead was the corpse door. A special door was built, through which the corpse was carried feet-first with people surrounding it so the corpse couldn't see where it was going. The door was then bricked up to prevent a return. It is speculated that this belief began in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and spread throughout the Norse culture. The belief was founded on the idea that the dead only enter through the way they left.
In Eyrbyggja Saga
Eyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. The name means the saga of the inhabitants of Eyrr, which is a farm on Snæfellsnes on Iceland. The name is slightly misleading as it deals also with the clans of Þórsnes and Alptafjörðr. The most central character is Snorri Þorgrímsson or Snorri goði...
the draugar infesting the home of the Icelander Kiartan were driven off by holding a "door-doom", what would be called today a small claims court. One by one the draugar were summoned to the door-doom and given judgment, and they were forced out of the home by this legal method. The home was then purified with holy water
Holy water
Holy water is water that, in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, and some other churches, has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism, the blessing of persons, places, and objects; or as a means of repelling evil.The use for baptism and...
to ensure they never came back.
Similar creatures
A variation of the draugr is the haugbui. The haugbui (from the Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
word haugr meaning "howe" or "barrow") was a mound-dweller, the dead body living on within its tomb. The notable difference between the two was that the haugbui is unable to leave its grave site and only attacks those that trespass upon their territory.
The haugbui was rarely found far from its burial place and is a type of undead commonly found in Norse saga material. The creature is said to either swim alongside boats or sail around them in a partially-submerged vessel, always on their own. In some accounts, witnesses portray them as shape-shifters
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
who take on the appearance of seaweed or moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
-covered stones on the shoreline.
The words "dragon" and "draugr" are not linguistically related. However, both the serpent
Serpent (symbolism)
Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...
and the spirit serve as jealous guardians of the graves of kings or ancient civilizations. Dragons that act as draugar appear in Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
as well as in some of the heroic lays of the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
(in the form of Fafnir
Fafnir
In Norse mythology, Fáfnir or Frænir was a son of the dwarf king Hreidmar and brother of Regin and Ótr. In the Volsunga saga, Fáfnir was a dwarf gifted with a powerful arm and fearless soul. He guarded his father's house of glittering gold and flashing gems...
).
Folklore
One of the best-known draugr in the modern world is Glámr, who was defeated by the hero of the Grettis SagaGrettis saga
Grettis saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw.- Overview :...
. The saga includes a short account of him as a living man and a full account of his haunting, up to the intervention of Grettir who wrestled him back to death.
A somewhat ambivalent, alternative view of the draugr is presented by the example of Gunnar
Gunnar
Gunnar is a male first name of Nordic origin The name Gunnar means fighter, soldier and attacker . Gunder is a Danish variant, Günther is the modern German variant...
in Njál's saga
Njál's saga
Njáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...
:
In the Eyrbyggja Saga
Eyrbyggja saga
Eyrbyggja saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. The name means the saga of the inhabitants of Eyrr, which is a farm on Snæfellsnes on Iceland. The name is slightly misleading as it deals also with the clans of Þórsnes and Alptafjörðr. The most central character is Snorri Þorgrímsson or Snorri goði...
a shepherd is assaulted by a blue-black draugr. The shepherd's neck is broken during the ensuing scuffle. The shepherd rises the next night as a draugr.
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
drowned
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
at sea. In Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n folklore, the creature is said to possess a distinctly human form, with the exception that its head is composed entirely of seaweed
Seaweed
Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...
. In other tellings, the draug is described as being a headless fisherman, dressed in oilskin
Oilskin
Oilskin can mean:*A type of fabric: canvas with a skin of oil applied to it as waterproofing, often linseed oil. Old types of oilskin included:-**Heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with linseed oil.**Sailcloth waterproofed with a thin layer of tar....
and sailing in half a boat. This trait is common in the northernmost part of Norway, where life and culture was based on fishing more than anywhere else. The Norwegian municipality of Bø
Bø, Nordland
Bø is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Straume...
has the half-boat of draugen in its coat-of-arms.
A recorded legend from Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
tells how a corpse lying on a beach became the object of a quarrel between the two types of draugr. A similar source even tells of a third type, the gleip, known to hitch themselves to sailors walking ashore and make them slip on the wet rocks. Norwegian folklore thus records a number of different draug-types.
But, though the draugr usually presages death, there is an amusing account in Nord-Norge of a Nordlending who managed to outwit him:
The connection between the draugr and the sea can be traced back to the author Jonas Lie
Jonas Lie
Jonas Lauritz Idemil Lie was a Norwegian novelist, poet, and playwright who is considered to have been one of the Four Greats of 19th century Norwegian literature, together with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Alexander Kielland.-Background:Jonas Lie was born at Hokksund in Øvre Eiker, in...
and the story-teller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
Regine Nordmann, as well as the drawings of Theodor Kittelsen
Theodor Kittelsen
Theodor Severin Kittelsen was a Norwegian artist. He is one of the most popular artists in Norway. Kittelsen became famous for his nature paintings, as well as for his illustrations of fairy tales and legends, especially of trolls.-Biography:Kittelsen was born in the coastal town of Kragerø in...
, who spent some years living in Svolvær
Svolvær
-Communications:Parts of the town is built on small islands connected by bridges. There is a regional airport near the town, Svolvær Airport, Helle, and Svolvær is a port of call for Hurtigruten. There is a ferry connection Svolvær to Skutvik in Hamarøy, and express boat connections to Bodø...
. Up north, the tradition of sea-draugar is especially vivid. Arne Garborg
Arne Garborg
Arne Garborg, born Aadne Eivindsson Garborg was a Norwegian writer.Garborg championed the use of Landsmål , as a literary language; he translated the Odyssey into it...
, on the other hand, describes land-draugar coming fresh from the graveyards, and the term draug is even used of vampires. (In Norway "vampires" is translated as "Bloodsucker-draugar".)
Draugr sightings in modern times are not common, but are still reported by individuals from time to time. Due to this trend, the term "draug" has come to be used to describe any type of revenant
Medieval revenant
A revenant is a visible ghost or animated corpse that was believed to return from the grave to terrorize the living. The word "revenant" is derived from the Latin word, revenans, "returning", from the verb "revenire"; in French, "revenant" means "coming back", from the verb "revenir", meaning "to...
in Nordic folklore.
In popular culture
- Draugr were a common mob in Mythic Entertainment's Dark Age of Camelot, an MMORPG. Hagbui were included as separate mobs as well. These are found mostly in appropriately themed areas throughout Midgard and in some parts of the Frontiers associated with Midgard.
- The Draugr appeared as an enemy faced in the BethesdaBethesda SoftworksBethesda Softworks, LLC, is an American video game company. A subsidiary of ZeniMax Media, the company was originally based in Bethesda, Maryland and eventually moved to their current location in Rockville, Maryland...
2003 video game expansion The Elder Scrolls III: BloodmoonThe Elder Scrolls III: BloodmoonThe Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon is the second expansion pack for Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. While it was originally released as an expansion set for Microsoft Windows, Bloodmoon is included within the Morrowind: Game of the Year edition for Xbox.Unlike the first...
and made a reappearance in the Bethesda 2011 video game The Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimThe Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls action role-playing video game series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...
. They are found in crypts and will rise from their graves when an intruder enters.
External links
- The Draug Encyclopedia Mythica
- Norwegian Folk Narrative in America Norwegian-American Studies
- Weird Tales from Northern Seas
- Draugr and Aptrgangr in Old Norse Literature
- The Fisherman and the Draug, by Jonas Lie