folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

, a revenant is a spirit or animated corpse that is believed to have been revived from death to haunt the living. The word ''revenant'' is derived from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th French verb ). Revenants are part of the legend of various cultures, including Celtic and Norse mythology">Celtic mythology">Celtic and Norse mythology, and stories of supposed revenant visitations were documented by English historians in the Middle Ages.

Revenant graves

Archaeologists have found revenant graves throughout Europe, characterized by bodies that had precautions taken to prevent them from rising up and causing mischief for the living, such as stones placed over the legs, stones placed in the jaw so it could not speak, bodies lodged with bricks, or body parts removed. The oldest known graves are as old as 4,000 years BP from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Roman literature contained writings about revenants, they were common throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and 17th-century Poland was reportedly a hot-bed of revenant superstition.

Comparison to other undead

The term "revenant" has been used interchangeably with "ghost" by folklorists. While some maintain that

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s derive from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

an folklore and revenants derive from

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

an folklore, many assert that revenant is a generic term for the undead.

Augustin Calmet Antoine Augustin Calmet, (; 26 February 167225 October 1757), a French Benedictine abbot, was born at Ménil-la-Horgne, then in the Duchy of Bar, part of the Holy Roman Empire (now the French department of Meuse, located in the region of ...

conducted extensive research on the topic in his work titled '' Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c.'' (1751) in which he relates the related rumors of the time. Calmet compares the ideas of the Greek and Egyptian ancients and notes an old belief that magic could not only cause death but also evoke the

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s of the deceased. Calmet ascribed revenants to sorcerers who sucked the blood of victims and compares instances of revenants mentioned in the twelfth century in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

as similar to those of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, but "in no history do we read anything so usual or so pronounced, as what is related to us of the vampires of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, Hungary, and

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

." Revenants appear in Nordic

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, and

, variously called ''aptrgangr'' (, "again-walker(s)"), ''haugbui'' (, "howe-dweller(s)", i.e. barrow-wight(s)), or ''

draugr The draugr or draug (; ; ; , ''drauv''; , ''dröger'') is a corporeal undead creature from the sagas and folktales of the Nordic countries, with varying ambiguous traits. In modern times, they are often portrayed as Norse mythology, Norse super ...

'' (, "phantom(s)" or "ghost(s)"; usually conceived as being corporeal). Modern scholarship and readily accessible references on the web tend to use the terms interchangeably, with a seeming preference for ''

''. Stories involving these creatures often involve direct confrontations, including slayings as part of a hero's land-cleansing. Those in burial mounds resist intruders and are sometimes immune to conventional weapons, rendering their destruction a dangerous affair only to be undertaken by heroes. To ensure thorough destruction, the creature's head is often removed, sometimes placed by the corpse's buttocks; sometimes the corpse is burned instead, especially in the case of

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. In the folklore and ghost stories of Eastern

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, Finnish "dead-child beings" are described as revenants animated by restless spirits that could be laid to rest by performing

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

or other Christian rites. Revenant-like beings in Caribbean folklore are often referred to as "the '' soucouyant''" (or "''soucriant''") in Dominican, Trinidadian, and

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

an folklore, also known as ''"Ole-Higue"'' or "'' Loup-garou''" elsewhere in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Selected stories

William of Newburgh

Belief in souls returning from the dead was common in the 12th century, and ''Historia'' by William of Newburgh (1136–1198) briefly recounts stories he heard about revenants, as do works by his contemporary, Walter Map. William wrote that stories of supposed revenants were a "warning to posterity" and so common that, "were I to write down all the instances of this kind which I have ascertained to have befallen in our times, the undertaking would be beyond measure laborious and troublesome." According to William, "It would not be easy to believe that the corpses of the dead should sally (I know not by what agency) from their graves, and should wander about to the terror or destruction of the living, and again return to the tomb, which of its own accord spontaneously opened to receive them, did not frequent examples, occurring in our own times, suffice to establish this fact, to the truth of which there is abundant testimony." One story involves a man of "evil conduct" absconding from justice, who fled from York and made the ill-fated choice to get married. Becoming jealous of his wife, he hid in the rafters of his bedroom and caught her in an act of infidelity with a local young man, but then accidentally fell to the floor mortally wounding himself, and died a few days later. As Newburgh describes: A number of the townspeople were killed by the monster and so: In another story Newburgh tells of a woman whose husband recently died. The husband revives from the dead and comes to visit her at night in her bedchamber and he "...not only terrified her on awaking, but nearly crushed her by the insupportable weight of his body." This happens for three nights, and the revenant then repeats these nocturnal visits with other nearby family and neighbours and "...thus become a like serious nuisance," eventually extending his walks in the broad daylight around the village. Eventually the problem was solved by the bishop of Lincoln who wrote a letter of absolution, upon which the man's tomb was opened wherein it was seen his body was still there, the letter was placed on his chest, and the tomb sealed.

Abbot of Burton

The English Abbot of Burton tells the story of two runaway peasants from about 1090 who died suddenly of unknown causes and were buried, but: The villagers became sick and started dying, but eventually the bodies of the revenants were exhumed, their heads cut off, and their hearts removed, which ended the spread of the sickness.

Walter Map

The chronicler Walter Map, a Welshman writing during the 12th century, tells of a "wicked man" in

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

who revived from the dead and wandered the streets of his village at night calling out the names of those who would die of sickness within three days. The response by bishop Gilbert Foliot was "Dig up the body and cut off the head with a spade, sprinkle it with holy water and re-inter it."

Popular culture

Nordic-style revenants appear as barrow-wights in Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', and L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter's " The Thing in the Crypt" is essentially a retelling of Grettir's encounter with Kar the Old. Revenants feature prominently in

tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a Table (furniture), table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, Tabletop role-playing game, tabletop role-playing games, or ti ...

s and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s as either resurrected beings, as forms of the

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...

or as general character class archetypes. Most notable games include '' Doom'', '' Dungeons and Dragons'', '' Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare'', '' Phasmophobia'', ''

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game The ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'' is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The first edition extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition ''Dungeons ...

'', ''

Guild Wars 2 ''Guild Wars 2'' is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedi ...

'' and the eponymous '' Revenant''. The title of the 2015 film '' The Revenant'' alludes to the ordeal that Hugh Glass had to endure in order to return to civilization after being left for dead following a

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...

mauling.

References

* * * * * *

Footnotes

External links

* {{wiktionary-inline, revenant Corporeal undead Medieval European legendary creatures Zombies