Draugr

Draugr are often malevolent undead beings in Norse mythology. They are living corpses and appear much the same as when they were buried, or short time thereafter. Notable difference is how they change color and turn dark blue.

Description[]

They live inside of their grave, where they typically can die a second time. Draugr can leave their grave at will and are not restricted to any specific time of day to walk outside of their domain. Nonetheless, they favor night and are most often encountered in the dark. A foreboding stench of decay follows them persistently, and is a good indicator if there is a draugr nearby. Their grave can sometimes be recognised with an otherworldly glow coming from the inside.

Draugr protect fiercely any and all treasures they may have in their burial mound, and do this with excessive violence. This is partly because of they are envious of the living, who can still keep or gain all the things the revenant held dear in it's life.

Maybe because of this thirst for living, draugr sometimes consume their prey or drink their blood like a vampire.

It is not impossible to converse with a draugr, though only if it pleases the undead. Usually they have no interest in chatter and rather spill blood, but depending on draugr and who it was past life, different deals and pacts may be arranged. While not incapable of working together with other draugr, they rarely do so as their selfishness makes it difficult to reach mutual agreement between two draugr.

Creation[]

Most commonly evil or wicked people risked the chance of becoming a draugr, especially if greed was a notable personality trait in them. A proper burial is essential, and the deceased must lay horizontally. If burial is faulty, or if person was found dead while standing or sitting, chances were the dead would return rather sooner than later.

These Norse revenants retain much of their knowledge and skills they had in previous life. However, any redeeming qualities of their persona seem to disappear and a draugr is left with only negative traits of the deceased person. Being killed by draugr can sometimes result in the deceasead person becoming a draugr themself, but this seems more like a side effect than an actual agenda of the killer. It is likely that persons who have been drained of blood by a draugr have increased chance of rising as a new revenant.

Prevention[]

By far it is easiest and least dangerous to take pre-measures against rising from the grave. Common practices against any kind of undead outbreak included tying the dead person's big toes together with a string, or piercing the soles of it's feet with a needle. This way the dead would not be able to walk.

Additionally, coffin could be lowered and turned into three different directions before laying it in the grave, so as to confuse a potential riser's sense of direction. And if the suspicion was bordering on certainty that the dead would attempt to return, the living might construct a special corpse door. The dead in Norse tradition were able to return to the land of the living only through the way they entered their resting place. Carrying their body feet first (so that corpse cannot see where they are going), and then laying bricks throughout the entryway had a good chance of success to prevent an undead rising.

But if draugr has already risen, the methods to lay it back to rest are difficult. One particular method was to engage them in legal action termed _door-doom_, where draugr would be invited and receive judgement. During trial it's grave would be purified with holy water to ensure draugr wouldn't come back. However, this method isn't advised against strongest of draugr, because defiling their home might just result in a loose draugr that's not tied to any specific place.

To completely destroy draugr it needs to be forced back to it's grave, beheading it there, burning the body and spreading the ashes over the sea. But this is no easy task, considering the spectrum of supernatural abilities they might possess.

Abilities[]

Each draugr is unique in it's mindset as well as in powers it possesses. It's supernatural abilities correlate with how strong willed it was in life and at the moment of death. If the revenant bears a grudge towards someone still living and it was wronged in life and had sworn revenge beyond death, the resulting draugr would be powerful indeed.

There are many different powers that draugr are said to demonstrate. But not all of draugr are endowed with every ability depicted here.

Psychic abilities[]

Aura of insanity: Especially animals are vulnerable to the maddening presence of a draugr. The ability is most potent near it's resting place. Animals that graze there may be struck with incurable madness that results in the animal's death. Birds that fly over an especially powerful draugr's tomb may drop dead instantly from fright.
Cause madness: Those draugr who prey on specific target(s) may drive their victims insane.
Curse: Ability to curse people with minor to moderate effects, which can result in death. Mightiest draugr can lay powerful curses on their second death.
Dream infestation: Draugr can appear in a person's dreams. This is commonly a result of a personal vendetta the draugr harbors against the sleeper. Often, draugr would leave a sort of a gift nearby so that upon waking, sleeper knows that what they experienced was more than a dream.
Prophecy: Some draugr can see in to the future, albeit in a vague, prophetic way.

Supernatural abilities[]

Animal form: A draugr may be able to shift into animal forms. These include seals, flayed bull, a tailless, earless horse with a broken back and a cat. The cat form was used in conjunction with dream infestation, as the cat would sit on a sleeper's chest, growing heavier with each breath. This could result in the victim's suffocation.
Enlarged form: Ability to increase in size and weight. Draugr might be able to transform themselves into a much larger version of themselves. This also increases their strength, and is tied to the individual power of the draugr in question. Some can grow into a size to swallow people whole.
Immunity to weapons: Typically draugr is immune to conventional weapons. Iron may be able to injure a draugr, but is not sufficient to kill it.
Weather control: Like the more powerful vampires, draugr might be able to influence weather. Sometimes they are able to create darkness during daylight hours.

Variants[]

In the early Norse folkloristic traditions there is a strict distinction between sea-draugr and land-draugr. Sea draugr were often far more hideous looking than those that appear on land. They were also more problematic to deal with, as it was impossible to confront them in their grave, the bottom of the ocean.