Draugr: Difference between revisions

{{hatnote|For the exoplanet, see [[PSR B1257+12 A]]. "Draug" redirects here; for the 2018 film, see [[Draug (film)]]; for the Norwegian role-playing game, see [[Draug (role-playing game)]].}}

The '''draugr''' or '''draug''' ({{langx|non|draugr}}; {{langx|is|draugur}}; {{langx|fo|dreygur}}; {{langx|no|draug}}, ''drauv''; {{langx|sv|drög}}, ''dröger''; {{langx|se|rávga}}){{efn|'''Draug''' also exist in Swedish as a loanword from Icelandic sagas. In Danish, the loans from Icelandic are {{lang|da|drauge}} and {{lang|da|dravge}}.}} is a corporeal [[undead]] creature from the [[saga]]s and folktales of the [[Nordic countries]], with varying ambiguous traits. In modern times, they are often portrayed as [[Norse mythology|Norse]] [[supernatural]] [[zombie]]s, as depicted in various video games such as ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim|Skyrim]]'' and ''[[God of War (franchise)|God of War]]'', loosely based on the draugr as described in early medieval [[Icelandic sagas]]. However, in myth and folklore, they comprise several complex ideas which change from story to story, especially in surviving Norwegian folklore, where the draugr remains a staple – see {{sectionlink||Sea draugr}}.<ref name="HerrHolm 1">{{cite web |title=Draugr VS Draugen: A Norwegian Fairytale of Sea Trolls and Viking Zombies |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5XgbMcd2Bk |website=youtube.com |publisher=Kim Diaz Holm |access-date=2024-12-16}}</ref><ref name="HerrHolm 2">{{cite web |title=God of War is wrong... |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuvG35j8aAM |website=youtube.com |publisher=Kim Diaz Holm |access-date=2024-12-16}}</ref>

In the Icelandic sagas, from which most modern interest is garnered, ''draugrs'' live in their graves or royal palaces, often guarding treasure buried in their burial mound. They are [[revenants]], or animated corpses, rather than ghosts, which possess intangible spiritual bodies.

The Old Norse word ''draugr'' (initially ''draugʀ'', see [[ʀ]]), in the sense of the undead creature, is hypothetically traced to an unrecorded {{langx|proto=yes|gem-x-proto|*draugaz}}, meaning "delusion, illusion, mirage" etc, from a ''*dreuganą'' ("to mislead, deceive"), ultimately from a [[Proto-Indo European]] stem {{lang|ine-x-proto|*dʰrowgʰos}} ("phantom"), from {{lang|ine-x-proto|dʰréwgʰ-s}} ~ {{lang|ine-x-proto|dʰrugʰ-és}} ("deceive").<ref name="eiec">{{Cite encyclopedia |first1=Edgar C. |last1=Polomé |first2=Douglas Q. |last2=Adams |editor-first1=J. P. |editor-last1=Mallory |editor-first2=Douglas Q. |editor-last2=Adams |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture]] |title=Spirit |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1997 |page=538}}</ref>

Cognates includes {{langx|sv|bedraga}} ("to deceive"), {{langx|nds|drog}} ("impostor, scoundrel"), {{lang|nds|dregen}} ("to deceive"), {{langx|goh|bitrog}} ("delusion"), {{lang|goh|gitrog}} ("illusion, mirage, ghost"), {{langx|de|Trug}} ("deception, delusion, illusion"), {{langx|nl|bedrog}} ("deceit, deception"), {{langx|osx|gidrog}} ("delusion"), {{langx|cy|drwg}} ("bad, evil"), {{langx|ga|droc}} ("bad, evil"), {{langx|br|droug}}, {{lang|br|drouk}} ("bad, evil"), {{langx|sa|द्रुह्}}, ''drúh'' ("injury, harm, offence"), {{lang|sa|द्रोघ}}, ''drógha'' ("deceitful, untrue, misleading"), {{langx|peo|𐎭𐎼𐎢𐎥}}, ''drauga'' ("deceit, deception"), {{lang|peo|𐎭𐎼𐎢𐎩𐎴}}, ''draujana'' ("deceptive, deceitful, misleading"), ultimately from the same root as 'dream', from a [[Proto-Indo European]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|dʰrowgʰ-mos}} ("deceit, illusion").<ref name="JER102"/><ref name="SAOB bedraga">{{cite web |title=bedraga v.3 |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=B_0521-0103.3U1H&pz=5 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Svenska Akademiens ordbok]] (SAOB) |access-date=2024-12-02}}</ref>

Surviving forms of draugr include:

* {{langx|no|draug}}, {{lang|no|drøg}}, {{lang|no|drog}}, also the forms: {{lang|no|drauv}}, {{lang|no|drøv}}, {{lang|no|drov}},<ref name="dialektl 0132"/><ref name="haandlex"/><ref name="vorgamle">{{cite web |title=Vor gamle bondekultur |url=https://runeberg.org/vorgamle/0251.html |website=runeberg.org |access-date=2025-06-15}}</ref> in the 18th century: {{lang|no|drau}}<ref name="Edege"/>

* {{langx|sv|drög}}, {{lang|sv|dröger}}, {{lang|sv|draugr}}<ref name="dialektl 0132"/>

In English, the forms ''drow'' (compare 18th century {{langx|no|drau}}) and ''trow'' exist, stemming from [[Shetland dialect|Shetlandic]] and [[Orcadian dialect|Orcadian]] {{langx|sco|drow}} and {{lang|sco|trow}} ("a malignant spirit, troll, gnome"), inherited from an unattested {{langx|nrn|*drog}} stemming from {{langx|non|draugr}}, but also {{langx|nrn|trǫll}} ("troll") by linguistic and figurative convergence,<ref name="JER102"/> as troll back in the day was rather ambiguous and rather meant something akin to magical creature of ill will, even being used figuratively for draugr.

* {{langx|sje|rávvga}}: analogous to the Norwegian [[#Sea draugr|draugr]]<ref name="kirken.no">{{cite web |title=Samiske sagn på pitesamisk og svensk |url=https://www.kirken.no/globalassets/fellesrad/saemien%20%C3%A5%C3%A5lmege/dokumenter/daerpies%20dierie/dd%20nr%201%202024_ferdig.pdf |website=kirken.no |access-date=2025-06-16}}</ref>

* {{langx|smj|rávgga}}: analogous to the Norwegian [[#Sea draugr|draugr]]<ref name="munin.uit.no">{{cite web |title=”Bare gudsordet duger” |url=https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/2967/thesis.pdf?sequence=4 |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=munin.uit.no}}</ref>

* {{langx|se|rávga}}, or {{lang|se|čáhcerávga}} ("water rávga"): analogous to the Norwegian [[#Sea draugr|draugr]]<ref name="samer.se">{{cite web |title=Oral Tradition |url=https://www.samer.se/2987 |website=samer.se |access-date=2025-06-16}}</ref><ref name="nrk.no">{{cite web |title=Tar samisk barneoppdragelse i forsvar |url=https://www.nrk.no/sapmi/pedagog_-_-_ahceravga-ikke-farlig-1.7945100 |website=nrk.no |access-date=2025-06-16}}</ref>

Similarly, the reconstructed [[Proto-Finnic]]: ''*raukka'' may also (at least partially) derive from the same root as Old Norse: ''draugr'' and the Sámi cognates (it may also be effected by {{langx|sv|rackare}}, ”someone dealing with cleaning filth”, for example gravedigger, executioner assistant, skinner, castrator, chimney sweeper; partially derogatory, also meaning ”blighter, gypsy, the devil”, from {{langx|gml|racker}} with similar meaning; from the same root as English ''rake'').

Compare to the following potentially related words: {{langx|da|drog}} ("a good-for-nothing"); {{langx|sco|draighie}}, {{lang|sco|draich}}, {{lang|sco|draick}} ("a lazy, lumpish, useless person"), {{lang|sco|draich}} ("slow, spiritless");<ref name="JER102"/><ref name="dsl draich">{{cite web |title=DRAICH, Draick |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/draich |website=dsl.ac.uk |publisher=Scottish National Dictionary (1700–) |access-date=2024-12-02}}</ref> {{langx|sv|drög}} ("nut, idiot").<ref name="JER102"/>

{{lang|da|De fortælle endnu om et andet søe-trold og spøgelse, som de kalde drauen, samme skal ingen viis gestalt eller skribelse have; men lader sig see nu i en nu i en anden positur.{{efn|Extrapolating the text from the old font is hard and thus the Danish text might include errors. The old language also makes identifying potential errors hard.}}<ref name="Edege">{{cite book|last=Egede |first=Hans |author-link=Hans Egede |chapter=Kap. VI. Hvad Slags Diur, Fiske og Fugle den Grønlandske Søe giver af sig etc. / § Andre Søe-Diur |title=Det gamle Grønlands nye perlustration,..<!-- eller Naturelhistorie, og beskrivelse over det gamle Grønlands situation, luft, temperament og beskaffenhed ...--> |location=Copenhagen |publisher=Groth |date=1741 |orig-date=1729 |chapter-url={{GBurl|id=KrRgAAAAcAAJ|p=48}} |pages=48–49 |language=da}}</ref>}}

They also tell of another sea troll and spectre, which they call ''drauen'' (the drow), which is said to have no specified form or description; but shows itself in one or another appearance.}}

One of the earliest dictionaries for draugr, or rather its descendants, was Swedish linguist and priest [[Johan Ernst Rietz]]'s (1815–1868) dialect dictionary of Swedish vernacular (1862–1867), which listed the Swedish descendants of Old Norse {{lang|non|draugr}} as {{lang|sv|dröger}} and {{lang|sv|drög}} (compare {{langx|is|draugur}} vs {{lang|sv|dröger}}, {{langx|no|draug}} vs {{lang|sv|drög}}), including the archaic form {{lang|sv|draugr}} in the province of [[Närke]]. He also included Norwegian {{lang|no|draug}}, {{lang|no|drauv}} and {{lang|no|drog}} for comparison, giving the definition for both Swedish and Norwegian as:

{{quote|"pale, powerless, slow human, striding forward", alternatively just "ghost or undead".<ref name="JER102">{{cite book |last1=Rietz |first1=Johan Ernst |author1-link=Johan Ernst Rietz |title=Svenskt dialektlexikon: ordbok öfver svenska allmogespråket |date=1862–1867 |location=Sweden |page=102 |url=https://runeberg.org/dialektl/0132.html |access-date=2025-01-26 |language=sv }}</ref>}}

Around the same time, although published a few years later, English philologist [[Richard Cleasby]] (1797–1847), and Icelandic scholar [[Guðbrandur Vigfússon]] (1827–1889), in "An Icelandic-English dictionary" (1873), defined Old Norse {{lang|is|draugr}} (old form to {{lang|is|draugur}}) as:

{{quote|"a ghost, spirit, especially the dead inhabitant of a [[cairn]]".<ref name=cleasby-vigfusson>Cleasby; Vigfusson edd. (1974) ''An Icelandic-English dictionary''. s. v. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NTVoAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA103 draugr]</ref>}}

This description was repeated almost word for word by Icelandic linguist [[Geir T. Zoëga]] (1857-1928), in his book "A concise dictionary of old Icelandic" (1910).<ref name="Zoëga 1910">{{cite book |title=A concise dictionary of Old Icelandic |date=1911 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford}}</ref>

{{quote|"(really a revenant) in Norwegian folk superstition, a supernatural being that dwells on and by the sea. It appears most frequently as a man dressed in sea clothes with a bundle of seaweed instead of a head, sailing in half a boat, always proclaiming that the person or someone from the boat to whom it appears will perish".<ref name="haandlex">{{cite book |last1=Johnsen |first1=Johan Christian |author1-link=Johan Christian Johnsen |title=Norsk Haandlexikon |date=1881–1888 |location=Norway |page=391 |url=https://runeberg.org/haandlex/1/0391.html |access-date=2025-01-26 |language=no |chapter=A-J}}</ref>}}

In the written corpus, the ''draugr'' is regarded not so much as a ghost, but a corporeal [[undead]] creature, or [[revenant]],<ref name=langeslag/> ie, the reanimated corpse of the deceased, for example inside the burial mound or grave<ref name=smith_gregg_a/> (as in the example of Kárr inn gamli in ''[[Grettis saga]]'').<ref name=langeslag/><ref name=williams_howard/> Commentators extend the term ''draugr'' to the undead in medieval literature, even if it is never explicitly referred to as such in the text, and designated them instead as a {{lang|non|[[#Haugbúi|haugbúi]]}} ("barrow-dweller") or an {{lang|non|aptrganga}} ("re-walker") – see [[Gjenganger]]. Compare {{langx|is|afturganga}} ("after-walker"), {{langx|sv|gengångare}} ("again-walker").

Unlike Kárr inn gamli (Kar the Old) in ''Grettis saga'', who is specifically called a draugr,<ref name="p. 65"/>{{Refn|Kárr is called a draugr by Grettir when he sings a verse to reply to the question of how he gained the treasure sword. This was rendered "In the barrow where that thing .. fell" in the 1869 translation,<ref name=magnusson&morris-cap18-p048/> and "in a murky mound.. a ghost was felled then " by Scudder.{{sfnp|Scudder (tr.)|2005}}}} Glámr the ghost in the same saga is never explicitly called a draugr in the text,{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=284}} though called a "troll" in it.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Ármann Jakobsson notes that in this and comparable instances, the term "troll" designates some sort of revenant, more specifically the human undead. Since the term can also mean 'demon', the sense is ambiguous.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=285}} }}{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=285}} Yet Glámr is still routinely referred to as a ''draugr'' by modern scholars.{{Refn|{{harvp|Clemoes|Dickins|1959|p=190}}, e.g., and Willam Sayers<ref name=sayers/> }} Beings not specifically called {{lang|non|draugr}}, but only referred to as {{lang|non|{{linktext|aptrgǫngur}}}} "revenants" (pl. of {{lang|non|{{linktext|aptrganga}}}}) and {{lang|non|{{linktext|reimleikar}}}} "haunting" in these medieval sagas,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Besides Glámr, other examples are Víga-Hrappr Sumarliðason in ''[[Laxdæla saga]]''; Þórólfr bægifótr (lame-foot) or the ghosts of Fróðá in ''[[Eyrbyggja saga]]''.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=284}}}} are still commonly discussed as a {{lang|non|draugr}} in various scholarly works,{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2009}}{{sfnp|Caciola|1996|p=28}}<ref name=smith_gregg_a/> or the draugr and the ''haugbúi'' are lumped into one.{{sfnp|Chadwick|1946|p=51}}

In Old Norse, ''draugr'' also meant a tree trunk or dry dead wood (then a cognate of "[[drought]]", related to "drain"),<ref>{{cite web |title=dränera v. |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=D_2173-0170.ztu4 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-07-03}}</ref> which in poetry could refer to a man or warrior,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/draugr#Old_Norse |title=Draugr |date=11 February 2024 }}</ref> since [[Old Norse poetry]] often used terms for trees to represent humans, especially in [[kennings]], referencing the myth that the god [[Odin]] and his brothers created the first humans [[Ask and Embla]] from trees. There was thus a connection between the idea of a felled tree's trunk and that of a dead man's corpse.

=== Haugbúi (mound-dweller){{anchor|Haugbúi}} ===

The ''haugbúi'', meaning "mound-dweller" or "[[:wikt:how#Etymology 2|howe]]-dweller" (composite of {{langx|non|haugr}}, "[[tumulus|mound]]", cognate to English "how, howe, height", and ''búi'', "dweller", from ''búa'', "reside"), the dead body living within its tomb, is a variation of the ''draugr''. The notable difference between the two was that the haugbui cannot leave its grave site and only attacks those who trespass upon their territory.<ref name="Curran-pp81-93"/>

Beings in British folklore such as [[Lincolnshire dialect|Lincolnshire]] "[[shag-boy]]s" and [[Scots language|Scots]] "[[hogboons]]" derive their names from ''haugbui''.<ref name="shag-boy">{{cite web |title=shag-boy |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shag-boy |website=Wiktionary |access-date=12 January 2023 |language=en |date=29 September 2019}}</ref>

== Overall classification ==

=== Ghost with physical body ===

The draugr is a "corporeal ghost"<ref name=williams_howard/> with a physical, tangible body and not an "imago,"{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2009|p=284}} and in tales, it is often delivered a "second death" by the destruction of the animated corpse.{{Refn|"The will appears to be strong, strong enough to draw the ''[[hugr]]'' [animate will] back to one's body. These reanimated individuals were known as ''draugr''. However, though the dead might live again, they could also die again. ''Draugrs'' die a "second death" as Chester Gould calls it, when their bodies decay, are burned, dismembered or otherwise destroyed".}}<ref name=smith_gregg_a/>

The draugr has also been conceived of as a type of [[vampire]] by folktale anthologist [[Andrew Lang]] in late 1897,{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2009|p=311}} with the idea further pursued by more modern commentators. The focus here is not on [[blood-sucking]], which is not attested for the draugr,<ref>{{harvp|Keyworth |2006|p=244}}: "there is no mention of draugrs being swollen with the supposed blood of their victims".</ref> but rather, contagiousness or transmittable nature of vampirism,<ref name=armann-j-transmittable>{{harvp|Ármann Jakobsson|2009|p=313}}: "Vampirism is transmittable, to which Þórólfr bægifótr's many victims bear witness".</ref> that is to say, how a vampire begets another by turning his or her attack victim into one of his kind. Sometimes the chain of contagion becomes an outbreak, e.g., the case of Þórólfr bægifótr (Thorolf Lame-foot or Twist-Foot),<ref name=armann-j-transmittable/><ref>{{harvp|Pálsson|Edwards (trr.)|1973}}. ''Eyrbyggja Saga'', "Ch. 34: Thorolf's ghost". p. 115ff.; "Ch. 63: Thorolf comes back from the Dead". p. 186ff.</ref> and even called an "epidemic" regarding Þórgunna (Thorgunna).{{efn|Both these occur in the ''[[Eyrbyggja saga]]''.}}<ref>{{harvp|Caciola|1996|p=15}}: "Thorgunna's death also brought on what might be called an epidemic of aggressive revenants".</ref><ref>{{harvp|Pálsson|Edwards (trr.)|1973}}. ''Eyrbyggja Saga'', "Ch. 51: Thorgunna dies", p. 158 – "Ch. 54 More ghosts", p. 166ff</ref>

A more speculative case of vampirism is that of Glámr, who was asked to tend sheep for a haunted farmstead and was subsequently found dead with his neck and every bone in his body broken.<ref>{{harvp|Eiríkur Magnússon|Morris (trr.)|1869}}. ''Grettis saga''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtdUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA102 p. 102]</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Note similarity to a shepherd killed by Thorolf's ghost, also found with every bone broken.<ref>{{harvp|Pálsson|Edwards (trr.)|1973}}. ''Eyrbyggja Saga'', "Ch. 34: Thorolf's ghost".</ref>}} It has been surmised by commentators that Glámr, by "contamination," was turned into an undead (''draugr'') by whatever being was haunting the farm.<ref>{{harvp|Ármann Jakobsson|2009|pp=310–311}}: "This creature [evil spirit] contaminates Glámr"; {{harvp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=297}}: " some kind of infection is also apparent in the account of Glámr".</ref>

== Physical traits ==

Draugrs usually posses superhuman strength,{{sfnp|Lindow|1976|p=95}} and are said to be "generally hideous to look at", bearing a necrotic black or blue color,{{sfnp|Smith|2007|p=15}}{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82}} and being associated with a "reek of decay"{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82–83}} (a common trait in [[ghostlore]]), or more precisely, inhabited haunts that often issued foul stench.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|pp=291–292}}

In the Old Icelandic sagas, Draugrs were said to be either ''hel-blár'' ("death-blue") or ''nár-fölr'' ("corpse-pale").{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82}} Glámr in [[Grettis saga]], when found dead, was described as "''blár sem Hel en digr sem naut'' (black as hell and bloated to the size of a bull)".<ref>{{harvp|Boer (ed.)|1900}} ''Grettis saga'' Kap. XVIII.9, [https://books.google.com/books?id=T-UOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA64 p. 64];</ref>{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The color is literally 'blue', thus "blue as hell, and great as a [[wikt:neat#etymology2|neat]]" is the rendering in {{harvp|Eiríkur Magnússon|Morris (trr.)|1869}}, {{URL|1=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtdUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA99 |2=p. 99}}.}} Þórólfr Lame-foot, when lying dormant, looked "uncorrupted" and also "was black as death [ie, bruised black and blue] and swollen to the size of an ox".<ref>{{harvp|Pálsson|Edwards (trr.)|1973}}. ''Eyrbyggja Saga'', p. 187; Pálsson & Edwards (trr.) (1989). pp. 155–156, quoted by {{harvp|Keyworth|2006|p=244}}.</ref> The close similarity of these descriptions have been noted.<ref name=smith_gregg_a/>{{sfnp|Boer|1898|p=55}} ''[[Laxdæla saga]]'' describes how bones were dug up belonging to a dead sorceress who had appeared in dreams, and they were "blue and evil looking".<ref>{{harvp|Magnusson|Pálsson (trr.)|1969}}, ''Laxdaela Saga'', p. 235.</ref>{{sfnp|Bennett|2014|p=44}}

== Magical abilities ==

Draugrs are noted for having numerous magical abilities referred to as {{langx|non|trollskapr}} ({{lit|troll-ship}}, roughly "sorcery-ness") resembling those of living witches and wizards, such as [[Hamr (folklore)|''hamr''-shifting]] (shapeshifting in Nordic folklore), controlling the weather, and seeing into the future.<ref name="davidson1943-p163">{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Hilda Roderick Ellis |author-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |title=The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1943 |page=163 }}</ref> The prefix, {{langx|non|troll-}}, which is the same word as the creature [[troll]], which initially meant something akin to "malevolent esoteric supernatural being" (demon, devil, ghost, jötunn etc), was by extension, specifically in compounds, also a word for the sorcery and dark arts of said beings;<ref name="SAOB troll"/> compare {{langx|sv|trolla}} ("to perform sorcery"), {{lang|sv|trolleri}} ("sorcery"),<ref name="SAOB trolla"/> {{lang|sv|trollkarl}} ({{lit|troll-man}}, "sorcerer"),<ref name="SAOB trolla"/> {{lang|sv|trollgumma}}, {{lang|sv|trollpacka}} ({{lit|troll-lady}}, "witch"),<ref name="SAOB troll"/><ref name="SAOB trollpacka">{{cite web |title=trollpacka sbst. |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=trollpacka&pz=1 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-01-29}}</ref>

{{quote|nature of a troll, witchcraft|{{cite book |title=A concise dictionary of Old Icelandic |date=1911 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |page=442}}}}

The [[Swedish Academy]] gives the following description for the word {{lang|sv|trollskap}} in Swedish:

{{quote|(ability or power to exercise) witchcraft/sorcery; also of (especially evil) action arising from such ability, etc.; earlier also concretely, about objects or tools and the like equipped with or produced by such ability and so on...<ref>{{cite web |title=trollskap sbst. |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=trollskap&pz=1#U_T2555_69299 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-01-29 |date=2008}}</ref>}}

Synonyms to {{lang|non|trollskapr}} and {{lang|sv|trollskap}} include: [[Old Icelandic]]: {{lang|is|trolldómr}} and {{langx|sv|trolldom}}, {{langx|sv|trollkonst}} and {{lang|sv|trollkraft}} etc ("sorcery").<ref name="SAOB troll">{{cite web |title=troll sbst. |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=troll&pz=1 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-01-29}}</ref><ref name="SAOB trolldom">{{cite web |title=trolldom sbst. |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?seek=trolldom&pz=1 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-01-29}}</ref><ref name="SAOB trolla">{{cite web |title=trolla v.1 |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=T_2555-0054.IKDf&pz=5 |website=saob.se |publisher=[[Swedish Academy]] |access-date=2025-01-29}}</ref>

=== Shapeshifting ===

{{main|Hamr (folklore)}}

The undead Víga-Hrappr Sumarliðason of ''[[Laxdaela saga]]'', unlike the typical guardian of a treasure hoard, does not stay put in his burial place but roams around his farmstead of Hrappstaðir, menacing the living.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|p=290}} Víga-Hrappr's ghost, it has been suggested, was capable of transforming into the seal with human-like eyes which appeared before Þorsteinn svarti/surt (Thorsteinn the Black) sailing by ship, and was responsible for the sinking of the vessel to prevent the family from reaching Hrappstaðir.<ref>{{harvp|Magnusson|Pálsson (trr.)|1969}}, ''Laxdaela Saga'', Ch. 18, pp. 79–80; introduction, p. 12; index of names, [https://books.google.com/books?id=um91wPf9c7MC&pg=PA255 p. 255]</ref> The ability to shapeshift has been ascribed to Icelandic ghosts generally, particularly into the shape of a seal.<ref>{{harvp|Magnusson|Pálsson (trr.)|1969}}, p.78, n1</ref>{{sfnp|Keyworth|2007|p=71}}{{sfnp|Caciola|1996|p=33, n102}}

A draugr in Icelandic folktales collected in the modern age can also change into 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 their victim suffocated.<ref name="JS166">{{cite book|author=Jón Árnason |author-link=Jón Árnason (author) |editor-last=Simpson |editor-first=Jacqueline |editor-link=Jacqueline Simpson |title=Icelandic Folktales and Legends |publisher=University of California Press |year=1972 |page=166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HY-DCKd6UgUC |isbn=978-0-520-02116-7}}</ref>

Draugrs have the ability to enter into the dreams of the living,<ref name="davidson1943-p163"/> and they will frequently leave a gift behind so that "the living person may be assured of the tangible nature of the visit".{{sfnp|Chadwick|1946|p=54-55}} Draugrs also can curse a victim, as shown in ''Grettis saga'', where Grettir is cursed to be unable to become stronger. Draugrs also brought disease to a village and could create temporary darkness in daylight hours. They preferred to be active during the night, although they did not appear vulnerable to sunlight like some other revenants. Draugr can also kill people with bad luck.

A draugr's presence might be shown by a great light that glowed from the mound like [[foxfire]].<ref name="FP36">{{harvp|Fox|Pálsson (trr.)|1974}}, ''Grettir's Saga'', p. 36.</ref> This fire would form a barrier between the land of the living and that of the dead.<ref>{{harvp|Davidson|1943}}, ''The Road to Hel'', p. 161.</ref>

The undead Víga-Hrappr exhibited the ability to <!--"swim" through solid rock-->sink into the ground to escape from [[Olaf the Peacock|Óláfr Hǫskuldsson the Peacock]].<ref>{{harvp|Magnusson|Pálsson (trr.)|1969}}, ''Laxdaela Saga'', p. 103</ref>

Some draugrs are immune to weapons, and only a hero has the strength and courage to stand up to a formidable opponent. In legends, the hero often wrestled a draugr back to his grave to defeat them since weapons would do no good. A good example of this is found in ''[[Hrómundar saga Gripssonar]]''. Iron could injure a draugr, as with many supernatural creatures, although it would not be sufficient to stop it.<ref name="JS107">Simpson, ''Icelandic Folktales and Legends'', p. 107.</ref> Sometimes, the hero must 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 sure that the draugr was dead and gone.<ref name="VA">{{cite web|url=http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ghosts.shtml |title=Viking Answer Lady Webpage - The Walking Dead: Draugr and Aptrgangr in Old Norse Literature |publisher=Vikinganswerlady.com |date=2005-12-14 |access-date=2010-07-01}}</ref>

== Behaviour and character ==

=== Sitting posture and evil eye ===

== Folklore ==

=== Icelandic sagas ===

One of the best-known revenants in the sagas is ''Glámr'', who is defeated by the hero in ''[[Grettis saga]]''. After Glámr dies on Christmas Eve, "people became aware that Glámr was not resting in peace. He wrought such havoc that some people fainted at the sight of him, while others went out of their minds". After a battle, Grettir eventually gets Glámr on his back. Just before Grettir kills him, Glámr curses Grettir because "Glámr was endowed with more evil force than most other ghosts",{{sfnp|Scudder (tr.)|2005}} and thus he was able to speak and leave Grettir with his curse after his death. (Note that the saga does not actually use the term ''draugr'' for Glámr, per above.){{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

A somewhat ambivalent, alternative view of the draugr is presented by the example of [[Gunnar Hámundarson]] in ''[[Njáls saga]]'': "It seemed as though the howe was agape, and that Gunnar had turned within the howe to look upwards at the moon. They thought that they saw four lights within the howe, but not a shadow to be seen. Then they saw that Gunnar was merry, with a joyful face."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Robert |title=Njal's saga|date=2001|publisher=Penguin |isbn=0140447695|location=London|oclc=47938075}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=We need a source describing the ghost with these words, otherwise this is original research.|date=January 2019}}

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.<ref name="Curran-pp81-93"/>

=== Norwegian folklore (sea draugr){{anchor|Sea draugr}} ===

[[File:Draug.jpg|thumb|upright|A "draug" from modern Scandinavian folklore<ref name="JL2">{{cite book |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13508/13508-h/13508-h.htm |title=Weird Tales from the Northern Seas |author=Housman, Laurence (illustrations) |author2=R. Nisbet Bain (1893 translation) |author3=Jonas Lie (original Danish) |year=1893 |access-date=2014-03-17}}</ref> aboard a ship, in sub-human form, wearing oilskins]]

In contrast to the Icelandic sagas, in later [[Scandinavian folklore]], the term ''draugr'', is described akin to spirits, ghosts or revenants in general, sometimes with no clear distinction at all.<ref name="dialektl 0132">{{Runeberg |filename=dialektl |htmlno=0132.html |name=Svenskt dialektlexikon : ordbok öfver svenska allmogespråket : drög}}</ref>

In Norway, however, the term draugr ({{langx|no|draug/drøg/drog}}, or {{lang|no|drauv/drøv/drov}}) instead became associated with ghosts (and thereof) of people lost at sea, sometimes specified as "sea draugr" ({{langx|no|havdraug}}, ''sjødraug'') relative to "land draugr". The sea draugr occurs in legends along the coast of Norway, either at sea or along the beach. In later folklore, it became common to limit the figure to a ghost of a dead [[fisherman]] who had drifted at sea and who was not buried in Christian soil. It was said that he wore a leather jacket or was dressed in [[oilskin]], but had a bundle of [[seaweed]] for his head. He sailed in a half-boat with blocked sails ([[Bø Municipality (Nordland)|Bø Municipality]] in [[Norway]] has the half-boat in its coat of arms) and announced death for those who saw him or even wanted to pull them down. This trait is common in the northernmost part of Norway, where life and culture was based on fishing more than anywhere else. The reason for this may be that the fishermen often drowned in great numbers, and the stories of restless dead coming in from sea were more common in the north than any other region of the country.

[[File:Landdraug vs seadraug (cropped).png|thumb|upright|left|Modern art of the Christmas story, by Norwegian artist Kim Diaz Holm (den unge herr Holm), depicting the ghosts (land draugs) fighting off the sea draug]]

{{blockquote|text=It was [[Christmas Eve]], and Ola went down to his boathouse to get the [[keg]] of [[brandy]] he had bought for the holidays. When he got in, he noticed a draugr sitting on the keg, staring out to sea. Ola, with great presence of mind and great bravery (it might not be amiss to state that he already had done some drinking), tiptoed up behind the draugr and struck him sharply in the small of the back, so that he went flying out through the window, with sparks hissing around him as he hit the water. Ola knew he had no time to lose, so he set off at a great rate, running through the churchyard which lay between his home and the boathouse. As he ran, he cried, "Up, all you Christian souls, and help me!" Then he heard the sound of fighting between the ghosts and the draugr, who were battling each other with [[Coffin|coffin boards]] and bunches of seaweed. The next morning, when people came to church, the whole yard was strewn with coffin covers, boat boards, and seaweed. After the fight, which the ghosts won, the draugr never came back to that district.<ref>{{cite book |title=Norwegian-American Studies and Records - Volume 12 |date=1941 |publisher=Norwegian-American Historical Association |pages=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=no7XAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>}}

[[File:Theodor Kittelsen - Sjøtrollet, 1887 (The Sea Troll).jpg|thumb|A sea draug as depicted by [[Theodor Kittelsen]]]]

The cultural link between draugrs and Christmas in Norway goes back to the 1800s, probably much earlier. Sea draugrs and drowned people are mentioned as being part of the [[Wild Hunt]] in Norway,<ref name="Sydsvenskan">{{cite news |title=Själ och kropp i primitiv folktro |url=https://tidningar.kb.se/8s71lnpx6rs1nctw/part/1/page/3?q=draug |access-date=2025-01-26 |work=[[Sydsvenskan]] |date=1907-08-04 |page=3 |language=sv}}</ref> and the old Nordic Christmas tradition of leaving out food and beer on Christmas night, as to wellcome spirits of the deceased, [[household spirit]]s and thereof into the house, includes draugrs in Norway; the beer left out being called "draug-beer" ({{langx|no|drøv-øl}}, from the form ''drauv'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Før kunne du få bot hvis du ikke brygget juleøl |url=https://www.oblad.no/ol/olbrygging/historier/for-kunne-du-fa-bot-hvis-du-ikke-brygget-juleol/f/5-68-354543 |website=oblad.no |access-date=2025-01-26 |location=Norway |language=no |date=2017-12-25 |quote=Årsaken var at også de underjordiske skulle få noe å bite i. På Nordmøre ble det som var igjen i ølkruset julaften, kalt «drøv-øl» (draug-øl). Ølet sto fremme for dødningene, og ingen måtte drikke av det.}}</ref><ref name="Sydsvenskan"/>

The modern and popular connection between the draug and the sea can be traced back to authors like [[Jonas Lie (writer)|Jonas Lie]] and Regine Nordmann, whose works include several books of fairy tales, as well as the drawings of [[Theodor Kittelsen]], who spent some years living in [[Svolvær]]. Up north, the tradition of [[sea draugr]] is especially vivid.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20krz85 |title=Beasts of the Deep |date=2018-02-02 |publisher=John Libbey Publishing |isbn=978-0-86196-939-5 |editor-last=Hackett |editor-first=Jon |editor-last2=Harrington |editor-first2=Seán}}</ref>

[[Arne Garborg]] describes land-draugs coming [[Haugtussa|fresh from the graveyards]], and the term ''draug'' is even used of [[vampires]]. The notion of draugrs who live in the mountains is present in the poetic works of [[Henrik Ibsen]] (''[[Peer Gynt]]''), and [[Aasmund Olavsson Vinje]].{{citation needed|date=February 2025}}

=== Sámi folklore ===

In [[Pite Sami]], [[Lule Sami]], and [[Northern Sami]], the cognates are more analog to the Norwegian [[#Sea draugr|sea draugr]],<ref name="kirken.no"/><ref name="munin.uit.no"/> in Northern Sami also called {{lang|se|čáhcerávga}} ({{lit|water rávga}}).<ref name="nrk.no"/> They are said to be the shadows of drowned people, living in a lake or stream. They were considered very dangerous, as they tried to pull the living into the water.<ref name="samer.se"/><ref name="samer.se/1192">{{cite web |title=Sagor och sägner |url=https://www.samer.se/1192 |website=samer.se |access-date=2025-06-16}}</ref> Akin to the [[Nixie (folklore)|Nixie]] in Nordic folklore, these stories are used like the [[boogieman]] to scare children from visiting potentially dangerous water areas.<ref name="nrk.no"/>

The 2024 Icelandic horror film ''[[The Damned (2024 Palsson film)|The Damned]]'' features a draugr tormenting the inhabitants of an isolated, winter, fishing post after they let the survivors of a shipwreck drown.

<ref name=smith_gregg_a>{{cite book|last=Smith |first=Gregg A. |author-link=<!--Gregg A. Smith--> |others=Paul G. Remley (foreword by) |title=The Function of the Living Dead in Medieval Norse and Celtic literature : Death and Desire |date=2007 |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|isbn=9780773453531 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ckgiAQAAIAAJ&q=draugar |page=14|quotation=<!--draugar-->}}</ref>

* {{cite journal|last=Andrews |first=A. LeRoy |author-link=<!--Albert LeRoy Andrews, 1878-1961--> |title=Fornaldarsǫgur Norðrlanda (cont.) |journal=Modern Philology |volume=10 |issue= 3 |date=1912–1913 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSE_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA604 |pages=601–630|doi=10.1086/386906 |s2cid=224836243 |url-access=subscription }}

* {{cite journal|author=Ármann Jakobsson |author-link=Ármann Jakobsson |title=The Fearless Vampire Killers: A Note about the Icelandic ''Draugr'' and Demonic Contamination in ''Grettis Saga'' |journal=Folklore |volume=120 |issue= 3 |year=2009 |pages=307–316 |doi=10.1080/00155870903219771|s2cid=162338244 |jstor=40646533}}

* {{cite journal|author=Ármann Jakobsson |author-link=Ármann Jakobsson |author-mask=2|title=Vampires and watchmen: Categorizing the mediaeval Icelandic undead |journal=Journal of English and Germanic Philology |year=2011 |volume=110 |issue=3 |pages=281–300 |doi=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.3.0281 |s2cid=162278413 |jstor=10.5406/jenglgermphil.110.3.0281}}

* {{cite journal|author-last=Bennett |first=Lisa |author-link=<!--Lisa Bennett--> |title=Burial Practices as Sites of Cultural Memory in the Íslendingasögur |journal=Viking and Medieval Scandinavia |volume=10 |date=2014|pages=27–2 |doi=10.1484/J.VMS.5.105211 |jstor=48501879}}

* {{Cite journal|editor-last=Boer |editor-first=Richard Constant |editor-link=Richard Constant Boer |title=Zur Grettissaga |journal=Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie |volume=30 |year=1898 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbVDAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1 |pages=1–72}}

* {{cite journal|author-last=Caciola |first=Nancy |author-link=<!--Nancy Caciola--> |title=Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual in Medieval Culture |journal=Past & Present |number=152 |date=August 1996|pages=3–45 |jstor=651055}}

* {{cite journal|last=Chadwick |first=N. K. |author-link=Nora Kershaw Chadwick |title=Norse ghosts: A study in the ''Draugr'' and the ''Haugbúi'' |journal=Folklore |year=1946 |volume=57 |issue=2 |pages=50–65 |doi=10.1080/0015587x.1946.9717812 |jstor=1256952}}

* {{cite journal|last=Chadwick |first=Nora Kershaw |author-link=Nora Kershaw Chadwick |author-mask=2 |title=Norse ghosts II|journal=Folklore|year=1946b|volume=57|issue=3|pages=106–127|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1946.9717823}}

* {{cite book |last1=Clemoes |first1=Peter |author1-link=Peter Clemoes |last2=Dickins |first2=Bruce |author2-link=Bruce Dickins |title=The Anglo-Saxons |publisher=Bowes & Bowes |year=1959 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGo0AAAAIAAJ&q=draugr }}

* {{cite journal|author=Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson |author-link=Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson |title=Wrestling with ghosts in Icelandic popular belief |journal=Arv: Nordic Yearbook of Folklore|volume=43 |year=1987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqwSAQAAIAAJ&q=%C3%81svi%C3%B0r |pages=7–20|isbn=9789122012436 }}

* {{cite journal|author-last=Keyworth |first=G. David |author-link=<!--G. David Keyworth--> |title=Was the Vampire of the Eighteenth Century a Unique Type of Undead-Corpse? |journal=Folklore |volume=117 |number=3 |date=December 2006 |pages=241–260 |doi=10.1080/00155870600928872 |jstor=30035373|s2cid=162921894 }}

* {{cite book |author-last=Keyworth |first=G. David |author-link=<!--G. David Keyworth--> |author-mask=2|title=Troublesome Corpses: Vampires & Revenants, from Antiquity to the Present |publisher=Desert Island Books |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cq4qAAAAYAAJ |pages=29–35 |isbn=<!--1905328303, -->9781905328307}}

* {{cite book|last=Lindow |first=John |author-link=John Lindow |title=Comitatus, Individual and Honor: Studies in North Germanic Institutional Vocabulary |publisher=University of California Press |year=1976 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHAbAQAAIAAJ&q=draugr |series=University of California Publications in Linguistics 83|isbn=9780520095496 }}