Unto Death - and beyond.

I've been doing a bit of reading today about some of the more interesting Northern European folklore (reading about the Morrigan, some Norse myths, some swedish, etc.) and came across the following.  For reference, Vikings were cremated with their personal belongings, though some were buried as corpses.  A draugr was a creature believed to be the body of the deceased, i.e. a person can come back as a draugr, which have all kinds of mythical traits (can change size, shape-shift, etc.), but nonetheless, check this out:

It was Christmas Eve, and Ola went down to his boathouse to get the keg of brandy he had bought for the holidays. When he got in, he noticed a draugr sitting on the keg, staring out to sea. Ola, with great presence of mind and great bravery (it might not be amiss to state that he already had done some drinking), tiptoed up behind the draug and struck him sharply in the small of the back, so that he went flying out through the window, with sparks hissing around him as he hit the water. Ola knew he had no time to lose, so he set off at a great rate, running through the churchyard which lay between his home and the boathouse. As he ran, he cried, "Up, all you Christian souls, and help me!" Then he heard the sound of fighting between the ghosts and the draugr, who were battling each other with coffin boards and bunches of seaweed. The next morning, when people came to church, the whole yard was strewn with coffin covers, boat boards, and seaweed. After the fight, which the ghosts won, the draugr never came back to that district.

Communion of Saints anyone?  I also always have liked how in some of the transitional cultures (i.e. old Pagan cultures that have by-and-large converted to Christianity but still have some of the survivals of the Old Ways) the idea exists that both the old Gods/spirits/demons exist alongside the Christian ones, and it seems that usually the Christian Saints and/or Angels and/or Faithful always triumph.  But that story, man - entertaining and cool in its implications.