Supernatural the book of monsters, demons, spirits and ghouls

Draugr/Draug

The draugr haunted the graves of dead Vikings, but also returned from the dead to cause death and chaos in settled villages; in Eyrbyggja saga, a draugr named Thorolf kills so many people that the entire valley it haunts is abandoned. Draugrs are also mentioned in Laxdaela saga and, of course, Grettir's saga. If haunting the grave of a wealthy man, the draugr would guard the treasure and hunt down any man who stole from the tomb. Hugely strong and deathly pallid, the draugr could also change its size, and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was often immune to ordinary weapons wielded by ordinary men. It usually took a hero to dispatch a draugr, which easily killed with brute force before eating its victims and drinking their blood. Some tales have the draugr leaving its grave as a plume of smoke before assuming humanoid shape. Heroes in the sagas frequently confront the draugr without weapons, wrestling it into submission. Not always, though: Grettir, after an exhausting fight that wrecks the hall where it begins, kills the draugr known as Glam with a blow from his sword.

Unless the draugr's body was disposed of in some drastic way, it could come back. Like some accounts of the disposal of the bodies of revenants, the Icelandic sagas suggest that the best way of getting rid of a draugr for good is to decapitate it, burn it, and then pour the ashes into the sea.

Eyrbyggja saga: Thorir Wood-Leg kills several men, who then go all undead. Cut to the sea, where six men die and then return to the farm, equally undead and dripping wet. The two sets of revenants fight, and then the draugr Thorolf kills so many that his valley is evacuated.

Laxdaela saga: Regarding the draugr named Killer-Hrapp, "Difficult as he had been to deal with during his life, he was now very much worse after death, for his corpse would not rest in its grave."

Some draugrs were able to leave their dwelling place, the burial mound, and visit the living during the night. Such visits were universally horrible events, often ended in death for one or more of the living, and warranted the exhumation of the draugr's tomb by a hero.

Some draugrs, known as haugbui, haunted grave sites only and left mortals alone unless their graves were violated or approached too closely.

The draugr had a crafty cousin known as the draug, which is more closely identified with sea life. Draugs were known to make sailors slip dangerously on wet rocks as they came ashore-this variety is known as the gleip-and although they usually have a human appearance, there are some major differences. Sometimes the draug's head is composed of seaweed; other times it doesn't have a head at all. (And if you're supposed to decapitate revenants, what do you do with the headless ones?)

Draug sometimes swim alongside boats, waiting for the chance to dupe sailors into slipping on the rocks. Some tales say they can change shape to appear as seaweed or slippery stones. Unless a sailor spits on one of these stones, stepping on it will be fatal. Another malevolent use of the stone shape is when sailors unknowingly bring a draug aboard a ship in the guise of a stone. Once the ship sails, the draug returns to its natural shape, causing a shift in weight that capsizes the ship.

In addition to being major trouble on their own, draugs are death omens. Seeing or hearing one is assumed to be an indication that tragedy is just around the corner. We've never run into one, but just knowing about them is enough to make us want to stay off boats. And out of Scandinavia.