The Malleus Mortuis: Hammer of the Dead

We did it all proper and tidy, just as the old skald told us. The unruly corpse went in a sturdy coffin of oak, sealed shut with iron nails taken from a shield bloodied in battle. Then I hammered three more nails to the foot of the coffin. As I hammered with my left hand, no easy task, I repeated these words:   <i>Blessed Realm and Blessed Host,</i> <i>Nail the draugr to the post.</i> <i>Thrice I strike with holy crook,</i> <i>One for Wod, one for Thor, and one for Lok.</i> It didn’t take. Thing burst out of the coffin like a ravenous wolf pup eating its way out of the womb. Come to think of it, maybe the coffin was supposed to be made of yew. Anyway, we did it pretty much almost exactly as the skald told us.