Gjenganger
A Gjenganger, hailing from Scandinavian folklore, is not your typical ghost. In fact, many Scandinavian people fear that when they die they may come back a Gjenganger. A Gjenganger, at its most basic, is a ghost that has been revived from death to purposefully haunt the living.
The word “Gjenganger” is a combination of the words ‘again’ and the word ‘ganger’ means ‘foot’ or ‘walker’ so Gjenganger translates to ‘walking again.’ This is even more fitting because Gjengangers usually look wholly corporeal and real and not at all “ghostly.”
Typically, Gjengangers are those who died before their time, usually a victim of murder, suicide, or another crime or accident. These revenge-motivated ghosts are extremely vicious and with the goal of seriously disturbing the lives of those who wronged it in life.
Gjengangers mostly commonly attack in the dead of night while their victim is fast asleep. The Gjenganger will then pinch the sleeping person and flee the scene. When the victim awakens they’ll notice a strange, blue spot where the Gjenganger pinched them. This is a sign of coming sickness and death for that person.
In addition to attacking specific people who have wronged it, Gjengangers also seem to enjoy wreaking havoc among all the living. They are adept at spreading sickness and, if it touches you, even if it is just a brush, your flesh will soon begin to slough away as the virus reaches your heart.
To avoid Gjengangers there are some practices that can be put in place to avoid the creation of them. A person who has the potential to become a Gjenganger must be buried in a specific way with a specific runic inscription being written inside the coffin to prevent any waking up and walking around.
Interestingly enough a lot of the symptoms caused by the Gjenganger seem to mimic real-life diseases that were common at the time. Could the skin sloughing disease be necrotizing fasciitis which often occurs after an injury or even simple abrasions or cuts? Furthermore, could the pinching-based disease be a symptom of cancer or other internal issues?
The above image is entitled Porteous Mount Moriah Cemetery, Philadelphia PA. It was taken by Flickr user Thomas. It is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).