File No. 023 of 446
Haugbúi
Also called: haugbui, mound-dweller, howe-dweller, hogboon
The haugbúi is the stay-at-home variant of the Norse walking dead: a corpse that lives on inside its burial mound and guards what was buried with it. It is dangerous only to those who enter, which makes it the standard opponent of treasure-seeking saga heroes such as Grettir and Hrómundr. Scholars treat it as a sub-type of the draugr, and the two terms are often used loosely for the same beings. Its literary afterlife runs through Tolkien's barrow-wights into modern fantasy.12
First recorded
1250
Icelandic sagas written down in the 13th and 14th centuriesOrigin
Norse
Iceland, Norway, United KingdomWhat causes it
Other
The dead man remains animate inside his own burial mound, usually alongside his grave goods.How you become one
A dead person laid in a howe stays there as its occupant and guardian.
How it moves
Barely moves
Unlike the roaming draugr it does not leave the mound; it attacks only those who break in or trespass on its ground.Intelligence
Some intelligence
Weak spots
- defeating it in a fight inside the mound
- decapitation
- burning the body
When did it first appear?
Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1250Icelandic sagas written down in the 13th and 14th centuries
field notes
What the sources say
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
Draugr
Abhartach
Glámr
Revenant (medieval England)
Asvith
Berwick revenant
Vetala
Upiór
Buckinghamshire revenant
Byland Abbey revenants
Drakelow revenants
Hrappr