Draugr: The Undead Nordic Zombie | Monstrum

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateStoried
↓ More info below ↓

Don’t miss future episodes of Monstrum, subscribe! http://bit.ly/pbsstoried_sub
What do the Sagas of the Icelanders and Game of Thrones have in common? Dr. Zarka answers this question and explores how the draugr, Nordic undead monsters, bear a striking resemblance to the White Walkers—and more importantly, how these monsters connect to the history of Ancient Nordic peoples.

The concept of medieval-era and older undead beings fighting and terrifying the living isn’t new; it’s a part of Nordic, particularly Icelandic, history. The Draugr Myth, popularized by games such as Skyrim and God of War, offers insight into the burial practices, religious beliefs, cultural attitudes, and gender roles of Vikings and other Ancient Nordic people. #whitewalkers #zombies #MonstrumPBS

Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka
Director: David Schulte
Executive Producer: Amanda Fox
Producer: Stephanie Noone
Illustrator: Samuel Allen
Editor: Sara Roma
Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios.

Special thanks to:
Dr. Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir: @sagaknitter

Follow us on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs/
-----------
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Baier, Katharina and Werner Schafke. “When the Dead No Longer Rest: The Religious
Significance of Revenants In Sagas set in Viking Age Settlements Around the Time of Conversion.” Death in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times: The Material and Spiritual Conditions of the Culture of Death, edited by Albrecht Classen, De Gruyter, Inc. 2016, pp. 131-154.

Chadwick, N.K. “Norse Ghosts (A Study in the Draugr and the Haugbúi).” Folklore, vol. 57, no. 2, 1946, pp. 50–65.

Eyrbyggja Saga. Sagas of Icelanders: The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, including 49 tales, edited by Viðar Hreinsson, Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997.

Grettir’s Saga. Translated by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson, 1990.
https://sagadb.org/grettis_saga.en.

Hawes, Janice. “The Monstrosity of Heroism: Grettir Asmundarson as an Outsider.”
Scandinavian Studies, March 1, 2008, pp. 19–50.

Laxdaela Saga (The Saga of the People of Laxardal). Translated by Keneva Kjunz. The Sagas of the Icelanders, Penguin Books, 2000.

Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1. Bantam, 2012.

Sayers, William. “The Alien and Alienated as Unquiet Dead in the Sagas of the Icelanders.” Monster Theory: Reading Culture, Ed. Jeffery Jerome Cohen, 1996, pp. 242–263.

Smith, Gregg A. The Function of the Living Dead in Medieval Norse and Celtic Literature: Death and Desire. The Edwin Mellen Press, 2007.

Teichert, Matthias. “‘Draugula’: The Draugrin Old Norse-Icelandic Saga Literature and His
Relationship to the Post-Medieval Vampire Myth.” The Universal Vampire : Origins and Evolution of a Legend, ed. by Barbara Brodman and James E. Doan, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2013.

The Saga of Kind Heidrek the Wise: Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices. Translated by Christopher Tolkien, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., 1960.

Видео Draugr: The Undead Nordic Zombie | Monstrum канала Storied