Revenant

Lore & Background

Revenants are part of the legend of various cultures, including Celtic and Norse mythology. Stories of supposed revenant visitations were documented by English historians in the Middle Ages. Archaeologists have found revenant graves throughout Europe, characterized by bodies that had precautions taken to prevent them from rising up, such as stones placed over the legs, stones placed in the jaw, bodies lodged with bricks, or body parts removed. The oldest known graves are as old as 4,000 years BP from the Bronze Age. Roman literature contained writings about revenants. They were common throughout the Middle Ages, and 17th-century Poland was reportedly a hot-bed of revenant superstition. The term has been used interchangeably with 'ghost' by folklorists. While some maintain that vampires derive from Eastern European folklore and revenants derive from Western European folklore, many assert that revenant is a generic term for the undead. Revenants appear in Nordic literature, mythology, and folklore, variously called aptrgangr, haugbui, or draugr. Revenant-like beings can also be found in Caribbean folklore and Brazilian folklore.

In Their Own Story

The corridor was cold. Not the cold of a broken air vent or a sub-basement, but the cold of something that had been dead a long time and was still angry about it. Duke heard it before he saw it—a wet, dragging whisper, like a voice trying to remember how to speak. He raised the shotgun. The thing floated around the corner, translucent as old smoke, its face a suggestion of features rather than a face. It opened its mouth, and the sound that came out was the sound of a room going silent. Duke pulled the trigger. The blast passed through it. It kept coming. He fired again, and this time the light inside it flickered, dimmed, and for a moment the corridor was just a corridor again. Then it was gone, and the cold followed it out the far end of the hall, and Duke stood there breathing hard, wondering if he'd just shot a ghost or if the ghost had just decided to stop being interesting.

Reader's Guide

The source article does not provide a guide for dealing with revenants in any game or practical context. It only describes historical and folkloric accounts, such as the removal of the head or burning of the corpse to ensure destruction.

Did You Know?

• The word revenant is derived from the Old French word revenant 'returning', related to the French verb revenir 'to come back'.
• Augustin Calmet conducted extensive research on revenants in his 1751 work Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c.
• In some accounts, revenants could be laid to rest by performing baptism or other Christian rites.