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Abhartach

Also called: Avartagh, neamh-mairbh
Folklore and mythUndeadSorcery1500 to 1899

Abhartach is a dwarf sorcerer-king of Ulster legend who would not stay buried. In the version Joyce printed in 1870 he is killed and interred upright three times, and only burial head-down ends his returns. The blood-drinking and the term 'walking dead' belong to later tellings, especially Bob Curran's. The story is regularly proposed as an Irish source for Dracula, though the claim remains speculative.12

⚔️ Battle it
First recorded
1870
First recorded by Patrick Weston Joyce in The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (1870)
Origin
Irish
United Kingdom, Ireland
What causes it
Sorcery
He was a magician in life, and his own powers bring him back from the grave.
How you become one
A dwarf tyrant and sorcerer killed by a neighbouring chieftain and buried standing upright.
Intelligence
Clever
Weak spots
  • burial head downwards
  • a sword of yew wood (modern versions)
  • thorns around the grave and a great stone on top (modern versions)

When did it first appear?

Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1870

First recorded by Patrick Weston Joyce in The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places (1870)

field notes

What the sources say

1

The name is an Irish word for 'dwarf'12

2

Killed and buried upright, he came back twice before a druid advised burying him upside down12

3

Some tellings credit the killing to Fionn mac Cumhaill; modern ones name a chieftain Cathain12

4

Modern retellings call him one of the neamh-mairbh, the walking dead, and add blood-drinking12

5

His grave is identified with the Slaghtaverty Dolmen in County Londonderry12

6

Bob Curran argued in 2000 that the legend may have influenced Bram Stoker's Dracula12

Sources

  1. Abhartach - Wikipedia
  2. Vampire folklore by region - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.

Folklore from the same lands

Revenant (medieval England)Medieval English, 1100Berwick revenantMedieval English / Scottish borders, 1198Buckinghamshire revenantMedieval English, 1198Byland Abbey revenantsMedieval English, 1400Dearg DueIrish (modern legend)Drakelow revenantsMedieval English, 1090

Same era: 1500 to 1899

JiangshiChinese, 1789Zombi (Haitian)Haitian (Vodou folklore), 1750StrigoiRomanian, 1714Vampir (South Slavic)South Slavic (Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Bosnian), 1725Arnold PaoleSerbian, 1732ChurelSouth Asian, 1880