Jawnomicon

Kirkegrim

Also called Kyrkogrim, Church Grim.

The Kirkegrim is the churchyard guardian of Scandinavian and English tradition, an animal buried alive in the foundations or the ground so that its spirit would keep watch over the graves thereafter.

At a glance

Tradition
Danish folklore
Region
Nordic Regions (place of origin)
Kind
British black dog
Trait family
The Threshold-Keepers

Near this figure

and 6 more

Traits

Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.

Behaviour

  • Buried beneath foundation as ward
    why

    The Kirkegrim arises from a practice recorded in Scandinavian and English folk tradition: an animal — most often a black dog, sometimes a lamb or, in the Danish material especially, a sow — was buried alive when a church or its graveyard was founded, and its spirit thereafter guarded the ground.

Omens

  • Portent sound precedes death
    why

    It keeps out those who would disturb the graves — sorcerers, thieves, the irreverent — and in some accounts it appears to warn of a coming death, or is seen by the person about to die.

Defensive powers

  • Guardianship
    why

    The Kirkegrim arises from a practice recorded in Scandinavian and English folk tradition: an animal — most often a black dog, sometimes a lamb or, in the Danish material especially, a sow — was buried alive when a church or its graveyard was founded, and its spirit thereafter guarded the ground.

Curses

  • Death omen
    why

    It keeps out those who would disturb the graves — sorcerers, thieves, the irreverent — and in some accounts it appears to warn of a coming death, or is seen by the person about to die.

Roles

Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.