The original fantasy dwarves were in Norse myths and forged masterworks from metal, and the original fantasy zombies were from Haitian mythology and were undead slaves raised to work on sorcerers' farms and increase the spiritual wealth of the sorcerer. They possessed only half their souls and were condemned to be slaves if they had displeased Baron Samedi, who took the good dead Haitians to paradise. When considering depictions of a fantastic creature, it is best to go back to the original stories.
Eastern Germanic traditions in the iron age(so, BC, and predating Haitin zombies by about a millenia, atleast) held that the dead could and would rise from the grave, filled with a thirst for blood and a taste for human flesh. This belief was widespread enough to influence both burial traditions, and the tactics of specific tribes. Through-out the eastern stretches of Germania(into Pomerania, Prussia, Poland, Mazovia and Ukraine) there were pre-christial burial where the traditional gravegoods of warriors are ritually burned and broken. Swowrds would be broken, their hilts burnt, shields would be burnt, helmets crushed and burnt, etc. The belief was that whiel a warrior needed his goods in Valhalla, if you left them on earth, when the corpse rises, it would have weapons. Corpses were also burnt and placed in urns, rather than buried.
A specific tribe, probably in the Sil;esia region(so modern Czech Republic) known as the Harri took advantage of this belief by painting themselves black and cultivating a reputation that they devoured the corpses of their foes, and were the dead unleashed from Hel. They ustilized this in ambushes and night attacks, which were traditional German tactics, but they were noted as being particularly fearsome on account of their reputation and apperance.
In the Old Norse traditions(which carry on from Germanic traditions, hence Wotan becomes Odin, Thunorozz becoms Thor, Tiawaz is Tyr, and much of the mythic structures are retained) have numerous forms of undead, with the Draugr and Haugbui. The Draugr were described as blackish-blue(reference that black body paint of the Harri!), often of immense supernatural strength(and sometimes size!), sometimes immune to weapons, sometimes not. Those slain by the Draugr would often return as Draugr themselves.
I'll also note these Eastern Germanic beliefs are probably also a root origin for the Vampr: proto-slavs and eastern germans interacted a great deal, to the extent that there's difficulty identifying different settlements remains, because of the very similar material culture.
So, yeah, There's older myths of walking dead who desire to kill all life, that are internal to the same mythic system that developed the concept of Dwarves. Probvably good to go with that tradition, rather than something completely unconnected.
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Topic: Undead should not be intelligent, they should be slow and unable to block/dodge. (Read 26477 times)