Draugr The Draugr are a type of " barely living " men found in the province of Skyrim . They are , along with Dragon Priest s , classified as undead , despite carrying a " whisper of life . " Dialogue indicates that they consider themselves to be dead . Background . The Draugr are what remains of men of Atmoran and Nord ic origin whose souls never left the bodies . This feature is likely related to their relation to the Dragon Cult and its priests , to whom the Draugr act as immortal servants . The Skaal seem to believe that the Draugr were cursed with undeath by the All - Maker , due to having feasted on their comrades after becoming trapped on the island of Solstheim . Others believe that they were cursed to never die by the Dragons , after Men betrayed them in the Dragon War . In her book , " Amongst the Draugr " , Bernadette Bantien from the College of Winterhold tells the story of her stay in a Dragon Priest ' s resting place . She says that , after about seven months within the location , the Draugr gradually ceased their attempts to eliminate her and returned to their daily routine , at which point she was able to make great progress in her research . As for the reasons for the behavior , she suggests that they might have simply decided that she posed no threat to them ; or perhaps a communicated agreement , as she reports them uttering words in their " heathen tongue . " Behavior and origins . Bantien mentions that , different from other creatures , in which hostility is easy to read , " these most peculiar of the living dead " were different , due to the large disparity in their gait and speed . She used their general movements towards her and the tone of voice used , as well as the glowing eyes of the Draugr , in order to better predict their intent . The eyes , she says , " seem to be key to their intent . " She describes the routine of the Draugr . Every day , a different set of them would awaken and make their way to their priest . Once at the sarcophagus , they would prostrate themselves before it for several hours , meticulously cleaning the area afterwards ( which she associated to a continuous worship , even after hundreds or thousands of years ) . By setting scrying spells around the tomb , Bantien was able to safely look deeper into this ritual . When a group of Draugr entered , she noticed a transferral of magic al energies , which she describes as " a distinct flow of life force between the adherents and the master . " It was then that she understood the Dragon Cult ' s notion of resurrection , in which eternal life was only promised to those who ascended to priesthood , and the lesser functionaries contributed their life force in order to sustaining them indefinitely . Bantien does not seem to know where such endless , rechargeable life force ( which she refers to as an " eternal wellspring " ) comes from , but understands that each Draugr carried " only the barest whisper of life in it , " and speculates that they were in fact buried fully as men and women ( as opposed to dead , although there are cases of reanimated Draugr ) . She completes the speculation by saying that , in that case , it was the thousands of years underground , performing the ritual , that gave the Draugr an undead appearance ; and that if one were to visit a barrow directly after its construction , they might not have even known any of its inhabitants were dead . Mythological connections . Draugr take their mythological inspiration and several traits from the , undead creatures from Norse mythology . It should be noted that one differentiates between sea - draugar and land - draugar ( draugar being plural of draugr ) : while land - draugar were simply undead with numerous magical abilities , sea - draugar were fishermen who had drowned at sea , thus being denied the privilege of being buried . In Norse mythology Odin was the ruler of draugr and could raise them using a secret , magic song .