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Illustration of Drakelow revenants
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
File No. 010 of 446

Drakelow revenants

Also called: the two peasants of Stapenhill
Folklore and mythUndeadVariesA curseMiddle Ages

The Drakelow case is among the earliest detailed walking-dead reports from England. Two fugitive peasants die suddenly, return carrying their own coffins and bring a deadly sickness to the village of Drakelow. With episcopal permission the bodies are dug up, beheaded and their hearts cut out and burned. The procedure, especially the head laid between the legs, matches so-called deviant burials that archaeologists find across medieval Europe.12

⚔️ Battle it
First recorded
1090
Events of about 1090, recorded by Abbot Geoffrey of Burton in the early 12th century
Origin
Medieval English
United Kingdom
What causes it
A curse
In the abbot's telling, the men were struck dead after wronging Burton Abbey and its saint.
How you become one
Two runaway peasants of the abbey who died suddenly and were buried.
How it moves
Varies
They walk through the village at night with their coffins on their shoulders, sometimes in the shape of bears or dogs, shouting at the houses.
Intelligence
Some intelligence
Weak spots
  • exhumation
  • decapitation, with the heads placed between the legs
  • tearing out the hearts and burning them

When did it first appear?

Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1090

Events of about 1090, recorded by Abbot Geoffrey of Burton in the early 12th century

field notes

What the sources say

1

They reappeared on the very evening of their burial12

2

Villagers sickened and died after the visits12

3

Three men obtained the bishop's permission to open the graves12

4

The bodies were found intact12

5

The sick recovered but the survivors abandoned Drakelow12

Could you outrun it?

Speed class from how the sources describe it (varies), not a measurement.

You, walking about 5 km/h
You, jogging about 10 km/h
Drakelow revenants about 10 km/h
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h

Sources

  1. Elif Boyacıoğlu, 'The Revenant on the Threshold', Folklore 62 (2015)
  2. Revenant - 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

AbhartachIrish, 1870Revenant (medieval England)Medieval English, 1100Berwick revenantMedieval English / Scottish borders, 1198Buckinghamshire revenantMedieval English, 1198Byland Abbey revenantsMedieval English, 1400HaugbúiNorse, 1250

Same era: Middle Ages

DraugrNorse, 1250VetalaHindu (Indian), 1070GlámrNorse (Icelandic saga), 1300UpiórSlavic, 1100AsvithNorse (Danish chronicle and Icelandic saga), 1200HrapprNorse (Icelandic saga), 1245