Draugr: The Mysterious Viking Undead
For many people, Draugr are basically the Viking equivalent of zombies. But what if we told you they were much stranger (and sometimes downright odd)?
As the nights get longer and the days get colder we turn our attention to the spooky and the scary. For some All Hallow’s Eve (that’s Halloween in non-fancy speak) is the scariest time of year. Others find Christmas or Yule to be the time to gather around the fire to tell ghostly tales (although we don’t think today’s subject got a Muppet adaptation… yet).
A Quick Note on Viking Names: Some Viking names might be hard to pronounce. Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to say them. We’ve included a simple pronunciation guide the first time each name appears.
For Vikings, the world was filled with gods and monsters but few filled them with more dread and fear than the Draugr (drow-gr). Draugr were, essentially, the dead brought back to life. They are pale with many sagas saying their skin is blue, their bodies become heavier and, well, obviously, they are a smidge smellier. And while they might sound like Viking Zombies, that’s a bit of a simplification. Draugr were unpredictable. In some stories they come back from the dead and act as they did in life. In the really memorable tales it’s all about greed.
Draugr guard their burial mounds and treasure hoards. Some stories have greedy mortals incur a Draugr’s wrath by stealing their treasure. Interestingly, many of these tales come from Iceland, a land known for its long nights and harsh winters. Whether that had anything to do with the stories is something we’ll leave you to decide. Instead we’ll share a couple of tales from Skalds past…
Grettir the Strong
This saga dates back to the 11th century (roughly 1,000 years ago) and tells the tale of Grettir Asmundarson (gret-tir ows-mun-dar-son), an outlawed Viking warrior in search of fame and glory. Grettir had already faced a Draugr when he attempted to loot the burial mound of Karr the Old (kawr). Karr took exception to his things being stolen and the pair fought with Grettir winning by chopping Karr’s head off. Feeling very proud of himself (and perhaps a bit cheeky) Grettir placed his foe’s head by his bum instead of back on his shoulders! This was highly disrespectful but that didn’t seem to bother Grettir who claimed the dead warrior’s treasure and sword as his prize. But as he would soon find out not all Draugr were easy prey…
Not long after a shepherd named Glamr (glaum-r) was violently killed by an unknown magical (or supernatural) force after he refused to participate in a traditional Yule feast (kind of like Christmas dinner with less Brussels sprouts and more sausages). When Glamr’s body was discovered, it was somehow so heavy that no one could move it. With no other choice they placed a burial mound on Glamr. However, Glamr soon burst out of the ground. He was an enormous, blue-skinned, undead monster and began to terrorise the countryside.
Word of this monster soon reached Grettir and, being proud and strong (the name kind of gave it away), he decided to challenge Glamr. He had already taken a Draugr down before how hard could this be?
When the pair finally met it was an almighty (and quite brutal) fight. Eventually Grettir won by cutting Glamr’s head off and then proceeding to burn the body so that he couldn’t return. Grettir’s victory came at a cost. As Glamr died a second-death he revealed he was no mindless monster. He placed a curse on Grettir that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Thou hast acted madly in seeking to match thyself with me. Now learn that henceforth ill-luck shall constantly attend thee; that thy strength shall never exceed what it now is, and that by night these eyes of mine shall stare at thee through the darkness till thy dying day, so that for very horror thou shalt not endure to be alone.”
In case you don’t speak curse it translates to
“You have acted foolishly in fighting me. From now on bad-luck will follow you; your strength will never be greater than it is now, and at night my eyes will stare at you in the dark until the day you die, you will be so terrified that you will not be able to bear being alone.”
For his trouble Grettir was banished and spent the rest of his days on the run until he found himself alone on an island, an outcast from society. That was until some of his enemies tracked him down and murdered him just one day before he would have completed his sentence as an outlaw. It seems Grettir’s curse came true after all…
The Tale of Thorgunna
Our next tale comes from the Eyrbyggja Saga (air-big-ya sah-ga), which is full of stories about sorcery, ghosts and supernatural goings-on but it is the tale of Thorgunna (thor-gun-na) that is the strangest? Thorgunna was a middle-aged woman from the Hebrides (the islands off the west coast of Scotland) who sailed to Iceland bringing exotic goods. This caught the attention of a woman named Thurid (thoo-rithr), who was particularly interested in a beautiful set of bedding Thorgunna owned. Thorgunna refused to sell it, but Thurid had taken a liking to her and offered her a place to stay in Frodriver (froh-tha).
One autumn day the people of Frodriver set out to work. The sky was clear and bright, but not for long. Soon a black cloud appeared on the horizon, approaching with unnatural speed. While everyone else ran inside, Thorgunna kept working, thinking, what’s the worst that could happen?
It was no normal torrential rain that fell. It was blood.
Thorgunna returned inside, removing her clothes which were now stained red. Not long after, she was taken ill. Knowing that the end was near, she summoned Thorodd, Thurid’s husband. She asked that she be buried at the church in Skálaholt (skow-la-holt) and that her ring be donated to the church. Thorodd and Thurid could keep all her goods as thanks for their kindness, except her bedding. She wanted that destroyed in a fire, as it would be of no use to anyone.
Not long after, Thorgunna died, and Thorodd followed nearly all her wishes…
While taking her body to Skálaholt, her burial party stopped at a farm. The owner refused to offer them any food or drink, leaving them to find their own shelter for the night. This poor hospitality soon came back to haunt him when Thorgunna rose from her coffin (completely naked, we might add) to prepare breakfast. The farmer and his family rightly apologised for their poor hospitality. With her point made, Thorgunna returned to her coffin, leaving everyone to enjoy a rather awkward (albeit well-prepared) breakfast.
Thorgunna’s burial didn’t end things. Back in Frodriver, Thurid had convinced Thorodd not to burn Thorgunna’s bedding. A Moon of Weird appeared in the sky, Draugr stalked Frodriver and, at one point, an undead seal crashed up through the floorboards. For the unabridged version, we have a whole podcast about it here.
Eventually, Thorodd’s young son Kjartan (kyar-tan) destroyed the bedding by throwing it into the fire. He then put the Draugr on trial for the crimes they had committed. Yes, you read that correctly: when faced with an undead infestation, the people of Frodriver took them to court.
What Made the Draugr So Terrifying?
If these tales weren’t scary enough for you, you might be wondering what made the Draugr so frightening to the Vikings?
It was probably their unpredictability. Not only may the dead return, but they could come back a little different to how they were in life, just a smidge paler and smellier. Or they could return to wreak havoc as an inhumanly strong, impossibly heavy, blue-skinned monstrosity. Even when they supposedly returned to punish a specific mortal or crime, it didn’t stop them inflicting their wrath on whole communities.
In an age defined by raiding and pillaging, where the line between life and death was already so perilously close, can you blame anyone for fearing a visit from the ultimate unexpected house guest?