Ahh, Skyrim. I barely recall anything during the two weeks following the release of this game; it sucked me in like a black hole, infected me with some sort of obsessive zombie-ism, and kept me awake all hours of the night, wasting away and forgetting to eat. I became a sleepless, gaunt, starving zombie. Skyrim was the brains to my desires. Fortunately, I escaped its clinging hold and now have other games to occupy my time, but I'd like to bring everyone's attention to one particular Skyrim monster:
This charming fellow is called a draugr (or draugar, draugur, etc., there are many names), meaning something like "one who walks after death" (sound familiar?). Draugr are not monsters created specifically for Skyrim; they are part of Nordic mythology. In myth, draugr were said to live in the tombs, crypts, and graves of the dead, and their jobs mostly included guarding the graves of particularly important men -- and especially the particularly important men's treasure. In a way not unlike Haitian zombies, these draugr became undead slaves with only one purpose: to act as bodyguards for their lord, even after his (and their own) deaths. No retirement benefits for these dudes, no sir.
And by warlord, of course, I mean deathlord. Look at this guy! Would you want to meet a zombie like him at the end of a long, deserted alleyway? Hell no, not without a conveniently-placed Harrison or Casper family to throw as bait while you run for the hills.
These deathlords also possess something that you, as Dragonborn in the land of Skyrim, are one of the very few left who possess: the Shout ability. It may sound silly, but this ability provides your voice with the power to, say, set shit on fire, stop time, or even to just shove somebody 500 feet away. Deathlords really, really like to shove you very far away, and they utilize this Shout -- called FusRohDah -- often and without restraint. There's nothing quite like trying to run away from a rampaging zombie beast only to find yourself flying into a wall and wasting precious time recovering before he catches up to you.
If you squint, it almost looks like he's happy to see you and not getting ready to Shout in your face.
My question is, are draugr zombies? They're certainly undead, reanimated corpses who walk around and mindlessly attack anything that moves. But they don't eat flesh, and certainly don't infect anyone with "draugr" with a bite -- however, in some stories, it is said that anyone a draugr kills rises the next night as a draugr, regardless of bite-status. They are superpowerful, there are many of them, and some even have magic of their own. In Nordic mythology, draugr are said to be able to enter the dreams of the living, curse victims, and even be able to shape-shift, control the weather, and see into the future.
However, we certainly can't forget the Raise Zombie spell, which brings back anything you've killed and binds it to your will for a short time. Interesting that it isn't called "Raise Draugr" -- then, in Skyrim, are the two not one in the same?
At the end of one Skyrim quest, I found myself locked into a room that filled to the brim with draugr. I had my own zombie horde to contend with, and it was truly one of the most difficult quests in the game for me. I died again and again, overwhelmed by the sheer number of draugr clawing at me on all sides. I only wished I had a tank to crawl into...
One last thing: I found a Skyrim mod that can be added to the computer version of the game that creates a zombie apocalypse in the world. Check it out, it's pretty awesome! And take a gander at the youtube comments, where you can see silly people arguing over whether or not draugr are zombies. Talk about meta.
Oh man November of 2011 is such a blur. I always considered the Skyirm draugr to be zombies and nothing more until I read this post. The fact that you do not turn into one upon being stricken/killed, especially when compared to how easy it is to contract Vampirism, makes me think that they're a completely unique subset of undead.
Loading screen text:
"Woe to the unwary explorer who delves deep into the burial crypts of the ancient Nords, and disturbs the Draugr that dwell within."
and:
"No one is quite sure why the Draugr walk the halls of Skyrim's burial crypts, but some believe they once served the dragons ages ago... and have been cursed with undeath for their treachery."
Which is an interesting use of the passive voice. WHO cursed the Draugr? Probably not the dragons they served. Why would the sentient races do that? It's like punishing felons by making them into Wolverine. "Oh, yeah, that'll teach him! It hurts every time he extends his [razor-sharp adamantium] claws." D'oh!
I as well remember those few weeks being a blur. I wonder if the next Elder Scrolls will have some sort of zombie sickness you can catch from the Draugr. Then seem to be pulling in more and more ailments or shape-changing, i.e vampires and werewolves. I have no doubt that they will continue to impress us, but a Zombie feature would be an awesome feature
I am currently too engrossed in playing Guild Wars 2, and there is a similar situation with the Risen in this game. The Risen are controlled by one of the Elder Dragons named Zhaitan as a huge army and navy to fight on his behalf. They are no where near as intimidating as that Draugr sitting in the throne though.
Zhaitan creates the Risen by transporting corpses from other parts of the GW2 world to an ossuary in his domain in Orr. I'm not too sure what happens in the ossuary, though. I think some risen priests perform some ritual. I don't really pay attention to the lore; I just kill everything.
I'm betting the fight you describe at the end is the Gaulder Amulet quest? That battle was ridiculous, it turned into hacking draugr apart, then desperately re-animating them to draw some of their former undead comrades. That teleporting deathlord is probably second only to some of the dragon priests in "undead I have cursed the loudest at."
As for draugr vs. zombies of skyrim, it seems like the draugr, whatever they used to be, now have malevolent purpose/agency(guarding tombs) and will actively fight to the death for that goal. The re-animated zombies however, groan and attack, but sometimes as they re-die they whisper "thank you." The draugr were either evil people, or perhaps utterly corrupted adventurers, whereas the zombies are bound to a sorcerer in a much more voodoo-way(soul-trapping is also extremely reminiscent of the darker side of voodoo). They are mindless but retain some of what they were. Because of this, when I got (perhaps a little too)into the role-playing, I would make a point of soul trapping or permanently zombie-enslaving particularly aggravating/obnoxious enemies...I love conjuration...
Sorry, Osezno - if you're loving GW2 you're in trouble. The next Elder Scrolls game seems to be The Elder Scrolls Online - an MMORPG:
http://youtu.be/0jNT5cMwxw0
Aedra help us all.
I absolutely adore GW2! I didn't even think of Zhaitan and the risen while I was writing this, I feel so dumb now. God, the risen are even worse than the draugr when it comes to swarming, never mind the risen abominations. Have you come across a risen giant, yet? I got flattened so badly.
Blair, that is exactly the quest I'm talking about! I completely forgot the name, but yes, that's it. I played as a mage, so I kept frantically fireballing all the draugr with one hand while swiping at them with my Dawnbreaker sword in the other -- it was such a mess! I didn't have Raise Zombie yet, as I was going for a more elemental mage, so I had quite the challenge. Interesting that you can raise draugr again with Raise Zombie...I do recall the "thank you"s. Chilling.
Professor Parent, GW2 already took over my life, I'm not at all certain I can handle an Elder Scrolls MMO! Hide me, hide me forever.
The risen hoards have been nerfed in Orr though. They are fewer in number, and they don't use as many crowd-control attacks, so it's actually possible to clear those maps and even farm it now. The risen giants terrify me, and I circumvent their aggro radius as much as possible. Their screams... ugh.
And I agree about not needing another MMO to consume me!
They are definitely a combination of various zombie aspects that we know about. I never thought to try using the Raise Zombie spell on a draugr. What do you even call them at that point? Re-undead? I played as a destruction mage, so stun locking the annoying teleporting shouting draugrs made it a lot easier. Still a pain in the ass! It seems that in most games with zombies that they can kill you but you never turn into a zombie yourself (you just have to start over at the checkpoint or what have you). I wonder if they will make a game where you CAN be turned and play as a zombie (and perhaps be cured too??)