The Grim Reaper
by Discover the bizarre origin of the Grim Reaper – harbinger of death.
EVERYBODY DANCES WITH THE GRIM REAPER

The grim reaper image by BossTycoon on Photobucket
The image of the grim reaper is emotive; a sense of fear and dread …making your blood run cold.
Images vary, but constant themes remain – always in a black hooded cloak, with a scythe, a harbinger of death, reaping souls from the living.
The origin of the symbol is interesting:-
The Black Death was one of the world’s deadliest pandemics; it swept through Europe during the 1340’s and 1350’s killing around 75 million people…returning in the 1600’s and 1700’s to wipe out thousands more.

Image Source
“They died by the hundreds, both day and night, and all were thrown in … ditches and covered with earth. And as soon as those ditches were filled, more were dug. And I, Agnolo di Tura … buried my five children with my own hands … And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world.”
-The Plague in Siena: An Italian Chronicle
Communities, villages, towns and cities were decimated – the few surviving European had a story to tell; and their stories were all the same……
They all reported that shortly before the plague hitting their community, hooded strangers with “fearful faces” were seen in the fields. The strangers were swinging what appeared to the villagers to be “hissing scythes” over the fields – the strangers left but foul smelling mists permeated in from the fields – some reported seeing lights / crafts in the sky preceding the arrival of the hooded figures.
Taken from “The Gods of Eden” by William Bramley.
Mass delusion? Covert germ warfare? Alien de-population?….whatever conclusion you draw, the fact is that these sightings spawned the enduring image of the grim reaper.

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Post Commentnobert soloria bermosa
On May 30, 2009 at 8:45 am
uhhh…the grim reaper…SUd
Princess Dre
On May 30, 2009 at 9:37 am
Interesting article.. so much death and dispair.. good write. Princess Dre
Will Gray
On May 30, 2009 at 9:42 am
Love it! Very educational!
Andrew Davies
On May 30, 2009 at 10:21 am
Interesting, I have never put much thought into the origin of Grim.
R J Evans
On May 30, 2009 at 11:52 am
Scary stuff!
Lucas Dié
On May 30, 2009 at 1:23 pm
I never had taken any thought on the source of the grim reaper – good information
clay hurtubise
On May 30, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Interesting piece.
Thanks,
Clay
Ruby Hawk
On May 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I didn’t know where the expression came from so now I know something new.
M J katz
On May 30, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Very interesting!! I never knew any of this.
I wonder if those Europeans had had a chance to speak with one another prior to giving their own account of what had been seen…or if these people had lived far enough away from each other and could never have just repeated someone elses’ delusion as fact.
Scary if they all said the same thing while never having spoken to one another…
Good article!! Now I have the chills!
nenen
On May 31, 2009 at 8:37 am
grim reaper is a very scary representation of death and now i know why.
Julius
On July 6, 2009 at 1:19 pm
This is wrong and just plain stupid.
I took this from answerbag.com and verified it with other sources:
“Our earliest records of the Reaper date back to Greek civilization. Gaia and Uranus were Kronos’ parents. Uranus, fearful of all his children including Kronos kept them constrained inside Gaia. Gaia wished to free her children and decided to give Kronos a sickle. With this sickle Kronos eventually castrated his father and bled him to death. Knowing how he had killed his father, once Kronos had children of his own, he feared his fate would be the same. As each child was born he swallowed them one by one.
From ancient folklore and other anthropological sources it is believed that Kronos was a harvest god worshipped by a culture before the Greeks. It is understood that his sickle was used in harvesting grain. Harvest was also associated with death because it signaled the end of the growing season and the beginning of Winter. Time devouring all things was represented poetically by Kronos eating his own children. It was the Greeks very dramatic way of saying nothing lasts forever.
The Grim Reaper wielding a sickle and, at times, an hourglass is directly derived from Kronos. One must understand how important grain was to these ancient civilizations. How horrible the thought of some mystic creature with the power to swipe away their whole harvest with a single swing of the mighty sickle. Not to mention the flock of famished crows, which would accompany such a terrible figure. It undoubtedly symbolized death in an extremely effective way. Though the Grim Reaper poses no real threat to our life, his legacy, which has been handed down from generation to generation, has instilled in us all the fear we need to ensure the desired effect. Hopefully, this answer aided you in understanding the significance of such a relevant myth”.
Aleksandar Radojicic
On March 14, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Very interesting article. Flashing lights? Sounds all like the modern bull we take from the society today. Anyways great article…Again
realityspeaks
On November 20, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Informative article
realityspeaks
On November 20, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Informative information
TheBlackDeathReader
On April 10, 2011 at 11:22 am
Thanks..It Helped Me Alot With My Homework
Keep Posting! 