But the stranger ran at him and hit his arms around him. Kristensen knew though, that he was alone there, so he knew what sort of man this was, and tried to run into the house to light some fire. Just as he was about to get into the lodgings, a man came after him and asked him to follow him down to the sea again. It was the darkest night when he came and got to land. “One time the business man Kristensen Husby was supposed to spend the night at Floholmen outside of Lovunden in the Trænfjord.

There are basically two sort of versions: one where you are able to keep alive long enough, and one where you quite understandable meet your untimely demise. A creature there in one second, and then gone before you can really make him out, and the sea is often what will claim you in the end, there are also stories of those that has fought Draugen in a man to… creature all out fight to the death. While most stories of Draugen tells of a dread at sea as you hear him scream and warn of death or a sudden weight in the boat as he has entered and are slowing you down. Some also claims he changed into birds at times, and one story in Seggelvik in Troms tells of a bird on the water, that dove under, showing those that watched it had boots on its feet. In some stories it might not have gone as well, and in some the people were even rude enough to yell after him after giving him a beating that he couldn’t expect more when he laid down close to people’s boats. But his friends all grabbed the other side, and draugen had to let go. At midnight the door sprung open, and in came a long arm with a claw and grabbed the boy. They all agreed that when they had all gotten the evening food down, they would all lie down on the floor, with their feet towards the door, and the kid in the middle. Everyone understood it was draugen that he had seen, and that he would return to get revenge for the beaten he had received. The boy ran back to the cabin to tell everyone about what had happened. Then to his horror he got to see that the ‘stone’ was alive and jumped into the water so it splashed round it.

He found a fitting tangstein, and started slapping his gloves against it. The water was low, and it was dark and black as well. “One day the cooking boy in one of the Medfjord’s cabins down to the water to beat his gloves. Other stories often involved what would happen to those that hit something against the stone in passing. This you could never put into your boat, cause you never knew what could happen with that fellow on your boat. One form he had, was of a seaweed covered stone, a ‘tangstein’. Usually his form was not as important as the dread the stories of him conveyed. From headless creature of the sea, to a half fish creature like a merman, even a human appearance or just different kinds of seal. Even if Draugen is often shown as a decaying human like creature with more seaweed covering him than skin, there are also some stories where he has made himself into objects.

Sea draugen