Editing Draugr (section)

== Physical traits ==
[[File:Norse draugr by Kim Diaz Holm.jpg|thumb|upright|Modern depiction of a Norse warrior turned draugr]]

Draugrs usually possessed superhuman strength,{{sfnp|Lindow|1976|p=95}} and were "generally hideous to look at", bearing a necrotic black or blue color,{{sfnp|Smith|2007|p=15}}{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82}} and were associated with a "reek of decay"{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82–83}} or more precisely inhabited haunts that often issued foul stench.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|pp=291–292}}

Draugrs were said to be either ''hel-blár'' "death-blue" or ''nár-fölr'' "corpse-pale".{{sfnp|Curran|2005|p=82}} Glámr 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}}

Þráinn (Thrain), the [[berserker]] of [[Valland]], "turned himself into a troll" in ''[[Hrómundar saga Gripssonar]]'', was a fiend (''dólgr'') which was "black and huge.. roaring loudly and blowing fire", and possessed long scratching claws, and the claws stuck in the neck, prompting the hero Hrómundr to refer to the draugur as a sort of cat ({{langx|non|kattakyn}}).<ref name=hromundar-saga-kershaw-p68>Chadwick (1921)/{{harvp|Kershaw|1921|p=}} ''The Saga of Hromund Greipsson'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=sAEzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA68 p. 68]</ref><ref name=davidson1958/>
<ref>{{harvp|Clemoes|Dickins|1959|p=}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=TGo0AAAAIAAJ&q=Hr%C3%B3mundr+draugr p. 188]</ref> The possession of long claws features also in the case of another revenant, Ásviðr (Aswitus) who came to life in the night and attacked his foster-brother Ásmundr (Asmundus) with them, scratching his face and tearing one of his ears.{{efn|As related by [[Saxo Grammaticus]], hence the Latinized names.}}<ref>{{harvp|Andrews|1912–1913|}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=fSE_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA603 p. 603–604]</ref><ref>{{harvp|Jón Hnefill Aðalsteinsson|1987}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=JqwSAQAAIAAJ&q=%C3%81svi%C3%B0r pp. 9–10]</ref>

Draugrs often give off a morbid stench, not unlike the smell of a decaying body. The mound where Kárr the Old was entombed reeked horribly.{{sfnp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|loc=p. 291, n43}}<ref>{{harvp|Boer (ed.)|1900}} ''Grettis saga'' Kap. XVIII, [https://books.google.com/books?id=T-UOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA125 p. 125]; {{harvp|Eiríkur Magnússon|Morris (trr.)|1869}} Ch. 18, p. 47: "{{lang|non|þeygi þefgott}} (and smell there was therein none of the sweetest)". Literally ''þeyg'' ("not") + ''þefr'' ("smell") + ''gott'' ("good").</ref> In ''[[Harðar saga ok Hólmverja|Harðar saga]]'' Hörðr Grímkelsson's two underlings die even before entering Sóti the Viking's mound, due to the "gust and stink ({{lang|non|ódaun}})" wafting out of it.<ref>{{harvp|Ármann Jakobsson|2011|loc=p. 291, n42}}, citing ''Harðar saga''. Þórhallur Vilmundarson; Bjarni Vilhjálmsson (edd.), p. 40.</ref> {{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Also Þráinn's " barrow was filled with a horrible stench" in ''[[Hrómundar saga Gripssonar]]''.<ref name=hromundar-saga-kershaw-p68/>}} When enraged Þráinn filled the barrow with an "evil reek."<ref name=hromundar-saga-kershaw-p68/>