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Mallius Odium
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- Apr 16, 2020
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Wights... Are not undead. At least, not before William Morris's translation of the Grettis Saga. In that translation, haugbui, a type of undead closely related to the Draugr, was translated as barrow-wight.
So, if the word wight did not mean a specific undead creature, what did it mean? It meant 'creature' or 'living being'. It's closest etymological relation is the Dutch wicht, which specifically means 'little girl'.
So then, where does the concept of wights as undead come from? For that, we can thank our old friend Tolkien, who, as he did with so many other concepts, heard about the barrow-wight in the Grettis Saga, and fleshed out the concept into something he could use for his stories.
The Haugbui
From the translation of the Grettis Saga by William Morris, we know what the barrow-wight is in its first appearance as an undead. Haugbui are a type of undead closely related to the Draugr of Norse mythology. Terrifying undead mages, these shapeshifters are a terrifying mix between the modern liche and revenant. Haugbui are the draugr who are tied to a specific place, a haugr (Old Norse for barrow). They only attacked those who entered their home.
Sometimes they would leave their barrows, though only alone, they would travel by boat or just swimming through the waters. They are either capable of shapeshifting themselves, or just disguising themselves as a moss-covered rock or passing for seaweed.
In the Grettis Saga, Grettir, the main character, fights with Glamr, when the man returned from being missing presumed dead for a year. Glamr cursed Grettir with the last of his power, leading to Grettir's unlucky life after the encounter, ending in Grettir being declared an outlaw.
Tolkien's Barrow-wights
Tolkien had heard of wights, and used them in his work. In earlier notes on LOTR, the Nazgûl were simply horsed wights, but that connection was lessened to the wights being spirits summoned by the Witch-king. A wight was the spirit that almost killed Frodo and the others at the start of the journey.
They are tied to the Barrow-Down, where they had been sent by the Witch-king to prevent the resurrection of the kingdom Cordelan, a Dunedain kingdom. The Witch-king had stayed in Barrow-down for a time when the events of the books were starting up, in order to rouse the Barrow-wights.
The wight was defeated by Tom Bombadil, through his magical power, though no mention is made on whether they were defeated permanently or not.
Dungeons and Dragons
In Dungeons and Dragons, there are a multitude of different wights, of all shapes and sizes. Wights in 5e are undead who retain their autonomy, swearing allegiance to the dark force that resurrected them and pursuing their own agenda when not ordered to work for said dark force. They are people who were awful in life and do not want to pass on. When they die, their soul screams out for another chance at life, and it is granted. In undeath.
Wights still possess their memories from who they were in life, a difference from most undead in DnD. They had a 'bright spark' in life, that is now gone, and replaced by a hunger for all those who do still possess it. Their attacks can drain the life energy of the target and reduce the target's maximum health by the damage dealt. If a living being (there are no restrictions other than that it is living) is slain in this manner and not resurrected or otherwise prevented from rising in undeath, the wight gains an additional zombie for its retinue. These zombies do not have any special powers.
Wights do not feed by draining the energy of the living, though it might seem as such at times. When draining the energy, it passes through them and causes them to feel vitality as though they are alive for a moment. The main reason they do this though, is to cause pain and suffering to their victims, and to desecrate those they kill.
The reason that wights in DnD are usually found in barrows and other gravesites is because they dislike the sun, though it does not do them any actual harm. They prefer to hide away in barrows and travel during the nights.
Wights in Deadhaus Sonata
So what does it all mean for Deadhaus Sonata? Well, since Wights are on the extreme of the Essential part of the Trinary Archetype system, playing of their power over souls could be played off. They could curse their target's souls, draining away their ability to deal damage, to regenerate, or even, to raise them as zombies when they die.
Wights could be the magic knight to the other two 'extreme' archetype wizard (liche) and warrior (revenant). Normally I would suggest something along the lines of rogues, but with wights ultimately coming from the Draugr, I think a warrior mage who deals damage to the enemy's soul, debuffing them with max-health reduction, lesser crit chances (if that's a thing) and lesser healing would be more appropriate.
But ultimately this is a collection of what little lore there is on actual wights, since these are based on draugr, maybe I will collect information on those later, but this is it, for the wights.
As there are wights in GoT and ASoIaF, but since I have not watched or read it, I left them out of the explanation. What little I have seen, they fit with the DnD version of wights.
So, if the word wight did not mean a specific undead creature, what did it mean? It meant 'creature' or 'living being'. It's closest etymological relation is the Dutch wicht, which specifically means 'little girl'.
So then, where does the concept of wights as undead come from? For that, we can thank our old friend Tolkien, who, as he did with so many other concepts, heard about the barrow-wight in the Grettis Saga, and fleshed out the concept into something he could use for his stories.
The Haugbui
From the translation of the Grettis Saga by William Morris, we know what the barrow-wight is in its first appearance as an undead. Haugbui are a type of undead closely related to the Draugr of Norse mythology. Terrifying undead mages, these shapeshifters are a terrifying mix between the modern liche and revenant. Haugbui are the draugr who are tied to a specific place, a haugr (Old Norse for barrow). They only attacked those who entered their home.
Sometimes they would leave their barrows, though only alone, they would travel by boat or just swimming through the waters. They are either capable of shapeshifting themselves, or just disguising themselves as a moss-covered rock or passing for seaweed.
In the Grettis Saga, Grettir, the main character, fights with Glamr, when the man returned from being missing presumed dead for a year. Glamr cursed Grettir with the last of his power, leading to Grettir's unlucky life after the encounter, ending in Grettir being declared an outlaw.
Tolkien's Barrow-wights
Tolkien had heard of wights, and used them in his work. In earlier notes on LOTR, the Nazgûl were simply horsed wights, but that connection was lessened to the wights being spirits summoned by the Witch-king. A wight was the spirit that almost killed Frodo and the others at the start of the journey.
They are tied to the Barrow-Down, where they had been sent by the Witch-king to prevent the resurrection of the kingdom Cordelan, a Dunedain kingdom. The Witch-king had stayed in Barrow-down for a time when the events of the books were starting up, in order to rouse the Barrow-wights.
The wight was defeated by Tom Bombadil, through his magical power, though no mention is made on whether they were defeated permanently or not.
Dungeons and Dragons
In Dungeons and Dragons, there are a multitude of different wights, of all shapes and sizes. Wights in 5e are undead who retain their autonomy, swearing allegiance to the dark force that resurrected them and pursuing their own agenda when not ordered to work for said dark force. They are people who were awful in life and do not want to pass on. When they die, their soul screams out for another chance at life, and it is granted. In undeath.
Wights still possess their memories from who they were in life, a difference from most undead in DnD. They had a 'bright spark' in life, that is now gone, and replaced by a hunger for all those who do still possess it. Their attacks can drain the life energy of the target and reduce the target's maximum health by the damage dealt. If a living being (there are no restrictions other than that it is living) is slain in this manner and not resurrected or otherwise prevented from rising in undeath, the wight gains an additional zombie for its retinue. These zombies do not have any special powers.
Wights do not feed by draining the energy of the living, though it might seem as such at times. When draining the energy, it passes through them and causes them to feel vitality as though they are alive for a moment. The main reason they do this though, is to cause pain and suffering to their victims, and to desecrate those they kill.
The reason that wights in DnD are usually found in barrows and other gravesites is because they dislike the sun, though it does not do them any actual harm. They prefer to hide away in barrows and travel during the nights.
Wights in Deadhaus Sonata
So what does it all mean for Deadhaus Sonata? Well, since Wights are on the extreme of the Essential part of the Trinary Archetype system, playing of their power over souls could be played off. They could curse their target's souls, draining away their ability to deal damage, to regenerate, or even, to raise them as zombies when they die.
Wights could be the magic knight to the other two 'extreme' archetype wizard (liche) and warrior (revenant). Normally I would suggest something along the lines of rogues, but with wights ultimately coming from the Draugr, I think a warrior mage who deals damage to the enemy's soul, debuffing them with max-health reduction, lesser crit chances (if that's a thing) and lesser healing would be more appropriate.
But ultimately this is a collection of what little lore there is on actual wights, since these are based on draugr, maybe I will collect information on those later, but this is it, for the wights.
As there are wights in GoT and ASoIaF, but since I have not watched or read it, I left them out of the explanation. What little I have seen, they fit with the DnD version of wights.