Draugr!

Tired of the ol' skeletons? Thinking the zombies are to cliché? Then allow me to welcome you to Skyrim, where neither exists. Instead, we have a wonderful hybrid: The Draugr.

The Draugr are undead, but not the dull old type of undead. These bad boys retain not only their bones, but also their cold, dead flesh, and full control of their bodies. This enables them to also use armor and weapons - ergo, a hybrid of the Skeleton and the Zombie from Oblivion. They also have beards!

The dreadful Draugr

So the Draugr, which we are going to be seeing a lot of throughout our adventures in the land of Skyrim, are basically just undead Nord warriors, risen to do battle with you, because you are being a dick and disturbing their resting place, which you definitely will, because you are a daredevil.
Dovakiin! Dragonslayer & Disturber of the Dead!



Sound good?
...
...
Yeah, it does!!

There were also Draugr in Arena, but I really doubt that anyone remembers them. Or can recognize them for that matter, since they are not, like 5 pixels anymore (Exaggeration.)

But are the Draugr Bethesdas idea? Well, to put them in the game, sure, but they actually hold their origin in the cold Scandinavia, which, as you might have guessed, means that it's Viking stuff.

D&D = Dungeons and Draugr

I don't know what is is with the sudden fixation on Vikings and Norse mythology, but it is getting more and more known, as well as popular. I guess that the WoW expansion "Wrath of the Lich King" helped it along, but its been in the spotlight before that, only growing.

In plain old Danish, the word is Draug and the plural is Draugar. It seems that Bethesda has decided to use Draugr for both the singular and plural words. They come from Norse mythology. ANother word for them is aptrgangr, Old Norse for "again-walker" (apt = again, still) (gang = to walk, to stroll.)

In Norse mythology, the Draugr have superhuman capabilities, being able to achieve superhuman strength, as well as adjust their size as they please. The only actual way to get rid of them, was to make a hero wrestle the draugr back into his grave, which would give him rest. They are basically immune to weapons. They usually either bothered their old family, you know, from before they died, or else they were guarding graves, which were filled with riches (The Vikings left the valuables of the deceased with them.)

Battling the Draugr

Although Norse mythology dictates that there are both land and water draugr, I think we'll only be able to enjoy the land Draugr in Skyrim. But enough of Norse mythology... For now.

In Skyrim they seem to attack in groups. That is, after the awesome animation of seeing them rise from their graves, 'cause they don't just stand around, you know! When fighting them, they seem able to, well, not move retarded as enemies id in Oblivion. In the footage I have spotted that they don't move independent of each other, but rely on each other, which means that the way one Draugr moves, can affect on the way another one does. It looks like combat with these bad boys is going to be... What's that word again?

... Oh, that's right! AWESOME!