Editing Draugr (section)

== 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 shape-shifting, 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>

Icelandic linguist [[Geir T. Zoëga]] (1857-1928), in his book "A concise dictionary of old Icelandic" (1910), defined [[Old Icelandic]]: {{lang|non|trollskapr}} as:
{{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>

=== Shape-shifting ===
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 shape-shift 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>

=== Other magical abilities ===
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>